Safety in Schools Foundation
Educating and empowering young people at school, work, home and at play 4 life!
Summer 2022 Newsletter
A New Chapter
In textbook terms, 2022 can be thought of as a year we turned the page. It’s the start of a new chapter – or maybe a new book even – one where we can meet with friends again, at school, work, home or at play.
Here at SiS, we are dedicated to preparing students to live their best lives! That’s a big reason why we’ve expanded our course curriculum to include several new mental health and well-being related courses to complement our industry-recognized safety training library. Courses like Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention, Your Mental Health and Well-being, Bullying Prevention, Psychosocial Workplace Safety and Working Alone.
In keeping with this new direction, our SAHARA program launched earlier this year, takes an entirely unique approach to mental health in the workplace. SiS is committed to educate and empower your students with programs like SAHARA that highlight the connectivity between personal mental health and well-being and how that impacts every aspect of their lives – big or small. In fact, we know that mental health plays a bigger role in decision making that leads to accidents in and outside the workplace then physical hazards.
As your students graduate and go out into the world, this is probably the most important lesson you can instill in them. “Be a ‘safety first’ thinker. Don’t be in a rush. Don’t fall victim to peer pressure. You only have one body, one brain and, one life – and YOU are the one most responsible for keeping yourself safe.”
Congratulations to the class of 2022, and best wishes for a safe, healthy, and happy summer from your friends at SiS!
Welcome Aboard!
SiS is pleased to welcome two new members to the SiS Board of Directors.
Lee-Anne Lyon-Bartley, affectionately known as ‘Canada’s Safety Diva’, is the Executive Vice President, Health, Safety, Environment and Quality at Dexterra Group Inc, a leading integrated facilities management, workforce accommodations, forestry, and modular building service provider. Under her leadership Dexterra was awarded Canada’s Safest Employer gold award for young worker safety. She has sponsored the “Safety Diva Canada Award” scholarship for a student pursuing their studies in occupational health, safety, or public health. Most recently, she’s been listed as a Top Women in Safety 2021 and 2022 by Canadian Occupational Safety Magazine (Key Media) and was appointed to the Prevention Council of Ontario to serve a three-year appointment. With Dexterra being based in Ontario, SiS now has representation from east to west.
Lee-Anne stated that, “I was recently interviewed by Canadian Occupational Safety magazine and was lamenting about the lack of safety related training in secondary and postsecondary schools. Kim Adolphe happened to read that article and reached out to me. That was a pivotal moment. Here was an established foundation delivering free industry-recognized safety training courses looking to expand into every secondary school across Canada. Not only that but they also offer a unique technology that calculates physical and psychosocial well-being to calculate risk levels. This was right in my wheelhouse, and I am excited to get down to work to help raise awareness and expand SiS across the country.”
SiS also welcomes Karen Cunliffe to the Board. Karen is currently the Vice President of Risk & HSE for Lochend Group of Companies, North America, oil and gas sector, where she oversees all aspects of Occupational Health and Safety, Risk, Environmental Stewardship and Indigenous Relations. Karen brings a wealth of knowledge and depth of experience in the field of occupational health and safety, having worked in a variety of different industry categories, including energy resources and at Alberta Health Services.
Karen is a strong proponent of lifelong learning who, in addition to completing many professional development courses, holds professional designations in both Risk Management and is a Canadian Registered Safety Professional. She’s also a member of the Women in Occupational Health and Safety Society, the Canadian Society of Safety Engineers, Young Women in Energy and Calgary Women in Energy, plus has previous Board experience with organizations like the Insurance Brokers Association of BC, the QEII Hospital Foundation in Grande Prairie as well as Safety City.
“Safety in Schools first captured my attention five years ago when I moved from Grande Prairie to Calgary. I sat on the Safety City, Safe Communities Board for some time in Grande Prairie and wanted to find a similar organization in Calgary. For various reasons it didn’t pan out back then. Fast forward five years, University credentials attained and looking for a board whose organizational vision aligned with my own”.
Karen’s interest in youth health, well-being, and safety stems from raising her own kids and realizing that our public-school programs on these elements are, to put it mildly, somewhat inconsistent. “Trade school programs cover industrial safety and some health-related topics in ‘general terms’, but if youth aren’t enrolled in a trade stream, they don’t receive even a fundamental understanding of OH&S in life, work, and recreation. So, when I researched the breadth and scope of SiS programs and met with Kim Adolphe to discuss casting a wide net, I knew immediately that this was an organization that I could feel enthusiastic about helping by joining the Board of Directors.”
“I couldn’t be more delighted to welcome Lee-Anne and Karen to the SiS Board of Directors,” said Kim Adolphe, SiS Chairman and Co-Founder. “Their passion and willingness to roll up their sleeves to get things done is inspiring and contagious! I look forward to working with all our Board members to fulfill our mission of being in every Canadian high school so we can educate and empower young people to stay safe at school, work, home, and at play for life.”
- voluntary – set of tools, not rules,
- aligned on existing standards and tools,
- applicable to any organization, and
- intended to enable employers and employees to measure progress.
Have You Tried SAHARA Yet?
SAHARA ™ (Safety and Health Awareness Risk Assessment) is a unique patent-pending workplace hazard assessment technology that combines a personal wellness self-assessment with on-the-job hazards to determine your risk level in real-time and then automatically links to recommended training courses.
The first release of SAHARA was for the Service Hospitality and Tourism industry, where many young people get their first job. We will launch several other programs this fall including SAHARA 4 Welding and SAHARA 4 Youth Mental Health. All your students should have access to the SAHARA 4 Youth Mental Health program to use for whatever life may throw at them! Check your SiS dashboard and watch for social media announcements on these new SAHARA programs.
To use SAHARA, just register them in the SAHARA 4 Service Hospitality and Tourism course and then have them download the free SAHARA App from the Apple or Google Play Stores. They can sign in with their SiS username and password. Your students can also use SAHARA at work to help keep them safe!
The SAHARA course educates students about hazards, while emphasizing that they are ultimately responsible for their own personal safety and, therefore, should use all resources at their disposal to make decisions to stay safe at work, school, home and at play!
A testimonial from Kelley Christopherson, Tourism and Culinary Arts Instructor, Regina Public School about SAHARA.
“As a service hospitality teacher, I was delighted to discover that the SiS Foundation had developed this incredible new technology and training program, SAHARA. I have delivered it to my students, who liked the idea of downloading the app so they could access everything including the training right from their phone. Getting them to think about and identify workplace hazards was an eye-opener but combining that with answering questions about their mental health and well-being to determine their overall risk level is truly novel and empowering. SAHARA then provides a list of eLearning courses based on their responses, it’s fantastic! Thanks for this, SiS!”
In The News
SiS and SAHARA were recently the focus of an article in Canadian Occupational Safety’s online publication of The Safety Mag. You can read the entire article here.
October 10 is World Mental Health Day
Making mental health and well-being for all a global priority
The goal of World Mental Health Day is to raise awareness of the stigma surrounding mental illness and the importance of promoting mental health. Many aspects of mental health have been challenged, and already before the pandemic in 2019 and estimated one in eight people globally were living with a mental disorder. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a global crisis for mental health, fueling short- and long-term stresses and undermining the mental health of millions. Estimates put the rise in both anxiety and depressive disorders at more than 255 during the first year of the pandemic. At the same time, mental health services have been severely disrupted and the treatment gap for mental health conditions has widened.
For more info, visit https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-mental-health-day/2022
Six Summer Safety Tips 4 Youth
Use Your Hazard Awareness Skills to Stay Safe at Work, Home & Play
Wear Sunscreen – Reduce your skin cancer risk (and the early onset of wrinkles!) by wearing sunscreen daily. Dermatology experts recommend applying sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher, and wearing sunglasses. Be Fire Smart – It only takes a second for a serious accident to happen around fires, especially if kids are around. Establish campfire area rules and enforce them. Only have fires in designated areas. Swim Safely – It’s important to remember drinking alcoholic beverages and swimming don’t mix. Don’t overestimate your swimming abilities and avoid swimming alone, especially where there are reported strong currents in natural bodies of water. Drive Defensively – Every summer, more drivers hit the road for vacations. Put your cell phone away, pay attention, slow down and enjoy the journey. Remember, getting there is half the fun. Boat Cautiously – Make sure you know the rules and follow them. Have enough life vests onboard, check the weather before heading out, don’t consume drugs or alcohol when driving the boat, watch-out for non-motorized watercraft, be aware of ‘ no wake’ zones, etc. Mow Slow – Wear long sleeve pants, close-toed shoes, and safety glasses when mowing.Five Cool New Courses
- Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention
- Psychosocial Workplace Safety
- SAHARA 4 Service Hospitality & Tourism
- Working Alone
- Welding Safety
Healthy Habit Tips 4 All
Good Sleep Practices
With summer vacations and long summer days and evenings ahead of you, it’s easy to mess up your sleep routine. But experts say skipping out on quality sleep can put a damper on your health. Do your best to wake and fall asleep at the same time each day to keep your sleep patterns regular.
Eat Healthy Food
Summer is bountiful in its harvest of fruits and veggies. Make a stop at the local produce stand or farmer’s market to pick up fresh, seasonal produce. And instead of automatically reaching for a soda pop next time you’re thirsty on a hot day, maybe try a fruit juice. It’s still got plenty of sugar, but it’s a lot better for you.
Feel Good Stuff!
Giving Back Feels Good – it’s a win-win partnership when you support SiS!
Get SiS on Your School Website – Add our logo and we can provide a description and a link to SiS. This one action alone would help us to raise awareness and it costs nothing.
Share a Story – Do you know of a student who has benefited from our SiS courses in some way? Maybe you just believe in the work we do for schools and youth. We’d love to hear from you!
Follow SiS – Follow us on social media, tag us in a tweet or post, comment on one of ours, or all the above!
Donate to SiS – No amount is too little and helps us to help more young people! Click here to donate.
Subject Matter Experts – Do you have a course idea? We are always looking for great new content. Immortalize your expertise and create a SWIFT course to give back to the SiS community.
Volunteers – Contact us and let us know how you would like to get involved. With your permission we’ll add your name to our website.
Corporate Sponsors – Share our story and help us to attract more potential sponsors so we can keep expanding our reach to empower and educate young people to live their best life at school, work, home and at play 4 life!
Last But Never Least
Our Sponsors, Partners, and Friends that make what we do possible!
A Special Thanks To:
- TC Energy, who has sponsored SiS since 2015
- SiS co-founder SWIFT Learning
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