Kieran Greening is a senior advisor with the Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

health and safety

SCSA tour includes stop in La Ronge

Jul 18, 2024 | 12:42 PM

Representatives with the Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association (SCSA) were in La Ronge this week for the first time as part of a safety and education tour.

“We are here to promote health and safety and engage with the companies, do some safety demonstrations and answer any safety questions and anything our membership might need,” said senior advisor Kieran Greening.

“We started out in Prince Albert. We went to Candle Lake, we were up at Waskesiu, Montreal Lake Cree Nation … and now La Ronge.”

The SCSA is a non-profit organization funded by the construction industry to provide cost-effective, quality safety training, programs and advice. Established in 1995, the SCSA is committed to injury prevention by aiming to reduce the human and financial losses associated with injuries.

Greening and two other colleagues arrived in La Ronge on Wednesday and are spending time with members such as Abben Heating, Plumbing, Electric and Carpentry, and more.

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“Construction has a lot of different risky things that can happen,” Greening explained.

“So, we are here to educate, promote companies and push them in the right direction to lower that incident rate in Saskatchewan, and make sure that companies protect themselves from the huge costs and the morality of a person getting injured and not being able to do their normal daily life things, as well as from that worker perspective, we want them to go home at the end of the day the way they came in or maybe even a little bit better.”

As part of their visit, the trio held a variety of demonstrations. For instance, they use a paslode air nailer that shoots nails at 100 kilometers per hour to demonstrate the safety of eye protect. They also show the difference between a travel restraint lanyard and a shock absorbing connecting linkage.

“We give people the information and discuss the legislation is a way and bring it back to the why,” Greening noted.

“Why does a worker want to do it? These are the reasons. It shows the force that could be applied to the body and we show the importance in how safety can prevent really bad outcomes from happening.”

According to the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board (WBC), the provincial workplace injury rate for 2023 was the lowest in recorded history. Statistics show the total injury rate for 2023 was 3.95 per 100 workers, down from 4.33 per 100 workers in 2022. That’s an 8.78 per cent decrease year over year.

From 2009 to 2023, the WCB’s total injury rate has fallen by 57 per cent.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com