NAOSH Week events at Hilltop

 

By Rechell McDonald

North American Occupational Health and Safety Week took place from May 1-7^th, and Hilltop High School students got take advantage of some great learning experiences and presentations that evolved around workplace safety, ethics and challenges.

Students had the opportunity to do and learn some great stuff throughout the week, including using driving simulators to demonstrate the consequences of distracted driving and what it is like to drive in dangerous conditions, and methods for handling those conditions. Official distracted driving laws pertaining to phones and texting

, gps use, eating, drinking and navigating, are relatively new to the province and have been a big use amongst youth drivers. This experience was certainly a great way to convey just how dangerous distracted driving can be.

There were also presentations about sexual harassment in the workplace, presented by Juanita Murphy from CEASE, and a talk from Alberta Newsprint safety auditors regarding workplace hazards identification, assessment and inspections. Drug safety and testing in the workplace was also covered, and students participated in a ‘safety in sports’ talk given by former Edmonton Eskimo Patrick Kabongo, as well as a personal protection equipment fashion show, in which Kabongo and players from the school’s CATS football team hit the catwalk for in the trade show over the weekend.

Special thanks goes out to Patrick, Juanita, Timea and Alberta Newsprint for making this week-long awareness event such a success.