The City of Chestermere has been recognized for its commitment to workplace safety with a Training Award from the Alberta Municipal Health and Safety Association (AMHSA).
“It means the city understands the importance of health and safety to both its staff and the residents,” said City of Chestermere Safety Advisor Rob Friesen of the award.
Mayor Marshall Chalmers and the rest of city council took time at the beginning of their Nov. 20 council meeting to recognize Friesen and the Training Award.
“Rob not only makes sure employees are properly trained, he also maintains the importance of workplace safety that keeps co-workers and the community safe,” said Chalmers.
Friesen said that in being recognized for safety training, it shows the city’s commitment to both protecting city employees and also that they are committed to keeping the costs associated with lost time accidents down as well.
AMHSA and the Training Award is the highest level of recognition for a municipality for health and safety.
Friesen has been with the City of Chestermere for the past six years. This is the first time since he started with the city that Chestermere has received the training award.
It has also been two-years and counting since the last lost time injury among City of Chestermere staff.
In deciding the Alberta municipalities that are recognized, AMHSA looks at the number of employees that take health and safety training courses.
This year, Friesen said that they ran all of the city’s supervisors through a Leadership for Safety Excellence three-day course.
“That’s probably why the quantity,” he said.
Friesen had the supervisors take the Leadership for Safety Excellence because of their role in the respective city departments.
“Our supervisors are very key to our safety program,” he said, “They’re the ones that are out there enforcing all the safety rules.”
“They need to be the experts in safety,” said Friesen.
He said that the leadership and safety knowledge of city staff is why the city has been able to maintain its excellent safety record.
Whether it is through training and education or at work in the city, Friesen said that safety is always the focus.
“Safety is always our top priority,” he said.
“We’re always looking for opportunities to ensure new learning opportunities for our staff to do their jobs safely,” said Friesen.
