Mountain View County staff have attended the annual Health and Safety Kickoff workshop to begin another season of working the right way.
The meeting had multiple purposes, from educating employees on proper workplace practices to team-building exercises, explained Jessica Krause, health and safety coordinator for the county.
“We have year-round staff and we have summer staff, so we bring everybody in,” said Krause. “It's always in May and as soon as all our term employees are hired, we bring them in.”
The daylong program promoted health and safety, welcomed everybody back, and gave staff a chance to get together and meet any new staff, as well as returning seasonal staff, she said.
“It's a meet and greet, as well as an orientation about recent changes in projects, and anything of health and safety importance,” she said.
The focus varies every year, she added, though safety and workplace hazards are always on the forefront.
“For our kickoffs, one big main item is always hazard identification, assessment and control, because in a health and safety management system, hazard identification goes along with every element,” she said.
“If we're not controlling our hazards, are not aware of our hazards, then we're not doing anything…if we're not taking care of that, guaranteed, there's going to be illnesses, injuries and unsafe conditions.”
Various county departments had set up informational booths at the gathering to talk with other employees so attendees could get a good overall understanding of what the county does as an organization.
“And they talk about the key highlights, important factors of each department, and doing this - bringing this together for the safety day - brings in operational and agricultural service outside staff. It helps them to be aware of the inside departments and what they do so that we're all working together,” she said.
“We're taking away that separation between inside staff and outside staff.”
They always invite different speakers, she added, noting that last year they had fire extinguisher training sessions and a defibrillator, whereas this year they had an ergonomics presentation and information as to what to expect when you call 911, along with team-building exercises and other presentations.
“We value health and safety,” she said. “It's a valuable component to our organization. It starts with councillors and CAO managers, all the way down to the workers.
“It's everyone's responsibility, and this day helps us. It motivates and encourages people, and gets everybody thinking a little more about health and safety.”
There were roughly 70 to 90 attendees at any one time, and she noted operational and agricultural staff attended the entire day and the county office staff split into two groups and switched out at lunchtime so the office could stay open all day.
“It was raining outside, and we really need to know if our road's flooding or if we have to get called out, so we can't exactly shut everything down,” she said.
Clayton Schultz, an employee in the operations arm of the county, said he enjoyed the wide variety of presentations and speakers and likes that the county took the initiative with the event.
“It was great to see the county caring about their employees, first off,” said Schultz. “It really shows they're taking interest in us. Health and safety is everyone's responsibility, and by having that workshop, it really brought awareness to the issues and tasks that we deal with.”
One of the big messages Schultz pulled from the day's activities was that each employee needs to be accountable for safety in the workplace.
“It helped relay the message to us - through the videos and through the speakers - that we all have to take steps to prevent injuries and near-misses. So I think that was the largest message that was sent, to me,” he said.
“You can get hurt in a hurry so you've really got to watch what you do and do it correctly.”
He also enjoyed the team-building exercises, and said it was a nice way to meet everyone, both the people he will be working with this season as well as the office staff.
“It was a great way to meet the other employees, all the people in the office and I quite enjoy that the county is taking the direction they are in regards to safety and well-being. It's a good place to work,” he said.
"One big main item is always hazard identification, assessment and control."Jessica Krause, health and safety coordinator
