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Award winners 'passionate' about workplace safety
LEADER-POST MARCH 27, 2012
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Leeanne Koshykowski, left, of River Heights Lodge in North Battleford, and James Kellett, senior vice-president operations and engineering of K-Line Group of Companies, pose with their awards on Monday at the Delta Hotel in Regina. Koshykowski won the safe worker award while K-Line won the safe employer award.
Photograph by: Troy Fleece, Leader-Post , Leader-Post
This year's safe worker award went to an employee of a long-term care facility whose "little idea" went a long way to make her workplace safer, while the safe employer award winner was an Ontario company that has made workplace safety "job one" throughout the entire organization.
Leeanne Koshykowski, a special care aide for the River Heights Lodge in North Battleford, was the 2012 Safe Worker Award winner for coming up with the idea of getting rid of the clutter of electrical cords in patents' rooms.
"There are many cords - from electric beds, oxygen cords, extension cords for their TV and phone - and it's a very small area we're working in," said Koshykowski, who has worked at River Heights since 2000 and has spent 20 years as a special care worker.
When working in close quarters around beds and walls, workers would frequently trip or slip on the cords, risking serious injury, she added. Her solution was simplicity itself.
"Just to get maintenance (staff) to secure the cords to the wall or in one place, so when you go behind the bed, you don't have to worry about them.'' This simple, cost-effective solution has improved safety for residents, staff, volunteers and visitors alike, reducing the number of slip, trip and fall injuries at River Heights Lodge.
The 2012 Safe Employer Award winner was K-Line Maintenance and Construction Ltd. of White City, a subsidiary of K-Line Group of Companies, which constructs, maintains and repairs power transmission and distribution lines for electric utilities, municipalities and private companies.
James Kellett, senior vice-president of operations and engineering for K-Line Group of Companies, said the company is committed to building and sustaining a safety-first culture at K-Line.
In fact, K-Line recently surpassed two million person hours without a losttime injury in the workplace. "The last time we had a lost time injury was 2003,'' said Kellett, who is also a board member of Safe Saskatchewan, an organization dedicated to reducing injuries at home, at work and at play.
K-Line was the first company in Saskatchewan to obtain a certificate of recognition with the Heavy Construction Safety Association. And the company is committed to Mission: Zero, the Workers Compensation Board's target of eliminating workplace injuries and fatalities.
Kellett says some people are skeptical that Mission: Zero is a realistic, achievable target, but he's not one of them. "My question is: What's more acceptable than zero?"
WCB chair David Eberle said people, like Koshykowski and Kellett, who are passionate about safety and prevention, are making
Mission: Zero a reality every day. "This is the ninth straight year that Saskatchewan has seen a drop in time loss injuries,'' Eberle said in a press release.
"Mission: Zero is possible in Saskatchewan if we all take responsibility for creating and supporting safe workplaces,"
added Mike Carr, deputy minister for Labour Relations and Workplace Safety.
The awards were presented Monday at the WCB's annual Compensation Institute, a two-day conference where 350 safety officers and human resources meet to learn about the latest trends and developments in workplace safety.
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