Alberta students learn workplace health and safety in school

Students can show employers their Work Safe Passports

Edmonton... This morning, Centre High Campus hosted the official launch of new resources developed to teach students how to work safely before they enter the workforce.

“Educating students in the classroom about workplace health and safety is an excellent way to prepare them for the realities that they will face at school and on the worksite,” said Education Minister Gene Zwozdesky. “The workplace health and safety learning and teaching resources provide a comprehensive toolkit and binder to help teachers demonstrate to students how to keep classrooms and worksites safe.”

Students will receive a Work Safe Passport where teachers and employers can record the health and safety training completed. Courses recorded in the passport will be recognized by employers, and will make students more marketable when seeking employment. “Education is the best way to prevent injuries and suffering,” said Human Resources and Employment Minister Mike Cardinal. “The new Work Safe Alberta Passport will help employers and workers.”

“Training makes the students more aware of the environment they are working in,” said Bruce Graham of Western Materials Handling. “The Passport will be useful to employers because they will know that the workers are certified to operate equipment safely and properly.”
 
Resources are provided to assist teachers when workplace health and safety is covered in high school courses. These resources include teacher’s notes, handouts, posters and other helpful tools on a variety of topics such as emergency response plans, hazard identification, and workplace health and safety legislation.

The health and safety teaching resources are being made available to high schools across the province throughout the fall of 2006. Teacher preparation workshops will be offered to support the use of these resources. More information on this initiative is available online at http://www.hre.gov.ab.ca/whs-jointed.