NAOSH Week 2018 is May 6 to 12. Everyone can participate; it doesn’t matter if your plans are big or small. Need inspiration? Here’s what others have done.
Photo credit: iStock.com/CharlieChesvick
North American Occupational Health and Safety (NAOSH) Week, also known as Safety and Health Week, is an annual event for employers, workers, and the community to talk about keeping people safe and healthy at work.
Some employers go all out during this week. Take the Sunshine Coast Regional District, for example. In 2017, they won an award for their NAOSH Week activities, which included an “Amazing Safety Race” challenge (modelled after the TV show) and a personal protective equipment (PPE) fashion show on a catwalk. For more details about that event, along with EV Logistics’ materials-handling rodeo and more, see page 25 of the March/April 2018 issue of WorkSafe Magazine.
For more examples of how companies participated in NAOSH Week last year, see this list of B.C.’s 2017 NAOSH Award Winners.
No idea too small to participate in NAOSH Week
NAOSH Week organizers are reminding employers that even relatively small efforts lead to important conversations during Health and Safety Week. It could be as simple as doing a PPE inspection, conducting toolbox safety talks, or discussing safe work procedures, says Kathy Tull, industry specialist with WorkSafeBC and president of the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering.
Says Kathy: “Employers can engage in so many different ways. They’re making a change. They’re committed to doing something – and they’ll be recognized for that. All they have to do is sign up on the website and they’ll get the acknowledgement.”
Participants can sign up and enter details about their Health and Safety Week activities
on the Canadian NAOSH Week website. They can also visit the site to download NAOSH Week posters for printing and posting.
As of the day I post this, there are still a few days left to plan something for your own workplace. Please tell me (in the Comments below) what you are doing for Health and Safety Week. In the meantime, here are some posts I’ve written about past NAOSH Week activities.
- Getting ready for NAOSH Week 2016
- NAOSH Week inspiration from Ladysmith
- Getting ready for NAOSH Week May 5 to 11
Visit worksafebc.com for more information about NAOSH Week and how you can participate. And last, but definitely not least, see this spoof of the TV show Law and Order by Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, which won Most Innovative entry during NAOSH Week 2014.
