SiS Custom Courses

In addition to our extensive HSE library donated by SWIFT Learning, SiS has also developed many courses based on actual workplace accidents and deaths. We work closely with the Alberta Government through their creative sentencing program and other stakeholders to develop courses designed to prevent similar tragedies from occurring again.

We begin with gaining an understanding of the circumstances that led to the incident often speaking with the company that was responsible for the incident. This understanding allows us to develop a program that identifies what measures and actions could have been implemented to prevent a similar accident from happening again.

We often have an opportunity to speak directly with the victim. There are few things more impactful then hearing a workplace victim describe their accident and its lasting impact on them and their loved ones. These are the “lucky ones” that lived to tell their story.

Click any course title to view the full description.

Alberta Off-Campus Education Safety Awareness,
Heavy Machinery – It Always Wins,
Internal Responsibility Systems,
Intro to Auto Shop Safety,
Propane and Natural Gas Safety at Home,
SAHARA 4 Energy, Resources & Industry,
SAHARA 4 Service Hospitality and Tourism,
SAHARA 4 Welding,
That’s Got to Hurt! Lessons from the Workplace,
The Hole You Dig,
Tragedy at the Quarry
Welding Safety Awareness
Your Mental Health and Well-being

Alberta Off-campus Education Safety Awareness

This two hour course was developed for teachers by SWIFT Learning based on the Alberta Off-campus Education Handbook and applicable OHS legislation.

Off-campus education is a vital part of the Alberta education system. Work experience, work-study, apprenticeship, and internship programs give students the opportunity to develop valuable knowledge, skills and experience that can give them a head start on a fulfilling career. These programs also make it possible for students who learn more effectively in a hands-on environment to thrive. Off-campus education programs involve many partners, all of whom share responsibility for student learning, development and health and safety. This course was developed as a result of a student injury during an off-campus work experience program and is intended to support teachers who are involved in work experience and career development programs to be able to better arrange and monitor students’ off campus experiences.

Upon completion of this course, teachers will be able to:

Recognize potential hazards in different work environments
Identify the 4 types of potential hazards
Assess the potential severity of hazards
Identify the 4 levels in the hierarchy of hazard controls
Perform a Job Hazard Analysis
Communicate employer and employee rights and responsibilities to students and alert them to where to find this info in the provincial OH&S Regulation and Code
List the key components of a proper workplace orientation
Identify best practices for placing and supervising students in off-campus work experience programs as per the Alberta Off-Campus Education Handbook
List several lessons learned from the case study incident
Refer to a resource package for further information and related safety training courses

You can register for in this course through the Teacher Dashboard.

Digger’s Guide to Safe Bone Burying

This course was developed in partnership with the Alberta Common Ground Alliance and was our first foray into developing resources for elementary school aged children.

This course introduces students to the basic concepts of safe digging and the need to CALL or CLICK before you dig.

You can register your students in this course through the Teacher Dashboard.

Heavy Machinery – It Always Wins

This 30-minute course introduces students to the dangers of working with or around heavy machinery.

Students taking this course will learn about the importance of conducting a proper Job Hazard Analysis, communicating effectively with Equipment Operators, and other important things to know in order to stay safe around this kind of equipment. Students are then taken through a series of case studies of real-life incidents in which people were severely injured or killed working with Heavy Machinery. Learning from the real-life experiences of others helps students to understand that safety is not just an abstract idea or a box to tick in the morning.

We recommend this course as an addition to your safety curriculum in high school shop classes, and to any student who is interested in or about to begin any job that involves working with or near heavy machinery.

You can register your students in this course through the Teacher Dashboard.

Internal Responsibility Systems

This two-hour course was developed by SWIFT Learning and well-known, highly respected industry professionals.

The Internal Responsibility System (IRS) is the foundation upon which Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) legislation is built and designates who is obligated for what in terms of workplace safety.

This course looks at the interconnectivity between various levels of obligations and accountability and how decisions at every level impact people at other levels. Specifically, this course examines the roles of workers, supervisors and employers in promoting workplace safety and mitigating hazards.

In addition to examining the legislated rights and obligations at each level, this course also uses three real-life examples to demonstrate how decisions have a ‘ripple effect’.

The answer to the question “Who is obligated?” is always a resounding “EVERYONE!”

Starting with yourself, because the person ultimately obligated for keeping YOU safe is … YOU!

Upon completion of this course you will be able to:

List some of your key rights and obligations as a worker, supervisor, or employer,
List the key elements of a good IRS,
Recognize the benefits of having a strong IRS in place,
Identify the hazards and decisions that led to each case study incident, and
Explain your obligations as a worker, supervisor, or employer as they pertain to the 10 main areas of obligations.

You can register your students in this course through the Teacher Dashboard.

Introduction to Automotive Shop Safety

This 30-minute course introduces students to the common hazards that they will encounter working in a retail or commercial automotive repair shop, common injuries sustained in this industry, and their shared responsibility with their employer when it comes to workplace safety.

Students are given examples of what a safe and responsible workplace looks like and the types of information that they should expect to be given during their training and orientation when beginning a new job at an automotive repair shop. The course utilizes a case study of a severe injury sustained by a 17-year-old worker in a retail automotive shop to drive home the importance of working safely and the consequences that can occur when you don’t.

You can register your students in this course through the Teacher Dashboard.

Life Lessons – Learning the Hard Way

This 30-minute video was designed by your SiS team to give students a look into the real lives of people who have suffered workplace injuries and fatalities and their loved ones.

This video introduces students to some of their basic rights and responsibilities in the workplace and then takes them through three filmed interviews by two people who suffered severe workplace injuries as young workers, as well as one father who lost his son in a preventable falling incident at an Alberta worksite.

We recommend this course as an addition to your CALM curriculum, and to any student who is about to begin working. Click to view this video.

Propane and Natural Gas Safety at Home

This 30-minute course teaches young people how to use, store and transport propane and natural gas safely. The course includes barbecue safety, transportation and storage, signs of carbon monoxide poisoning, the differences between propane and natural gas and more. The course also includes a look at some real-life incidents that have occurred when people did not take proper precautions.

You can register your students in this course through the Teacher Dashboard.

SAHARA 4 Energy, Resources & Industry

Are you able to recognize the safety hazards in your workplace? Did you know that your mental health can be one of them?

This one-hour course was developed by the SiS Foundation with support from Alberta’s Creative Sentencing program and is based on a real-life workplace incident that resulted in the death of a young worker. In the course, you’ll meet a worker who survived an accident with serious injuries who explains how a momentary bad decision changed his life forever, plus examine the chain of events leading up to another real-life incident which resulted in serious injuries as a result of peer pressure.

In addition to lessons on hazard recognition and controls, this course examines concepts like peer pressure, team dynamics, optimism bias and personal risk tolerance, with an emphasis on the connectivity between your mental health and safety on the job.

We also provide examples of the how the patent-pending SAHARA App is used to help you assess hazards and your mental health before starting your work – the only hazard assessment technology that combines a personal wellness self assessment with on-the-job hazards to determine your risk level in real-time.

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

Explain how SAHARA helps you to determine your risk level,
Describe how to perform basic hazard assessments,
Assess your Total Risk Level for different hazards,
Identify Optimism Bias, Peer Pressure and Negative Team Dynamics in the workplace,
Differentiate between Acceptable Risk Level and Personal Risk Tolerance,
Recognize and control factors that affect your Personal Risk Tolerance,
Create Psychological Safety in a team environment,
Apply concepts of Personal Risk Tolerance to daily life,
Use SAHARA to learn about different hazards in the Energy, Resources & Industry sector and what risk level they pose, and
Describe how your mental health plays a role in everything you do at work, school, home and at play.

You can register your students in this course through the Teacher Dashboard.

SAHARA 4 Service Hospitality and Tourism

Are you able to recognize the safety hazards in your workplace? Did you know that your mental health can be one of them?

This one-hour course was developed by the SiS Foundation with support from Alberta’s Creative Sentencing program and is based on a real-life workplace incident that resulted in the death of a young worker. In the course, you’ll meet another worker who survived an accident with serious injuries who explains how a momentary bad decision changed his life forever.

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

Explain how SAHARA helps you to determine your risk level,
Describe how to perform basic hazard assessments,
Assess your Total Risk Level for different hazards,
Identify Optimism Bias, Peer Pressure and Negative Team Dynamics in the workplace,
Differentiate between Acceptable Risk Level and Personal Risk Tolerance,
Recognize and control factors that affect your Personal Risk Tolerance,
Create Psychological Safety in a team environment,
Apply concepts of Personal Risk Tolerance to daily life,
Use SAHARA to learn about different hazards in the Service Hospitality and Tourism industry and what risk level they pose, and
Describe how your mental health plays a role in everything you do at work, school, home and at play.

You can register your students in this course through the Teacher Dashboard.

SAHARA 4 Welding

Are you able to recognize the safety hazards in your workplace? Did you know that your mental health can be one of them?

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

Explain how SAHARA helps you to determine your risk level,
Describe how to perform basic hazard assessments,
Assess your Total Risk Level for different hazards,
Identify Optimism Bias, Peer Pressure and Negative Team Dynamics in the workplace,
Differentiate between Acceptable Risk Level and Personal Risk Tolerance,
Recognize and control factors that affect your Personal Risk Tolerance,
Create Psychological Safety in a team environment,
Apply concepts of Personal Risk Tolerance to daily life,
Use SAHARA to learn about different hazards in the Welding industry and what risk level they pose, and

Describe how your mental health plays a role in everything you do at work, school, home and at play.You can register your students in this course through the Teacher Dashboard.

That’s Got to Hurt! Lessons from the Workplace

This 30 minute course is the result of a series of contests that we ran throughout 2015 and 2016.

Students sent in essays and videos to us describing a workplace incident that they either witnessed or experienced and what they learned from that experience. This course is easily relatable to young workers, as it features the real-life experiences of people their own age in workplaces similar to their own.

We recommend this course as an addition to your CALM curriculum, and to any student who is about to begin working.

You can register your students in this course through the Teacher Dashboard.

The Hole You Dig: Ground Disturbance Gone Wrong

This course was developed in partnership with the Alberta Common Ground Alliance.

After a brief introduction to ground disturbance and locates, this course focuses on the widespread impact that digging gone wrong can have on the surrounding community, residents, and businesses.

We recommend this course to any student who may take part in projects at home or at work which involve digging of any kind.

You can register your students in this course through the Teacher Dashboard.

Tragedy at the Quarry

This 50-minute course introduces students to common hazards, injuries and fatalities in the gravel crushing industry and how to mitigate those risks, with a significant focus on the importance of equipment guarding and training.

The course centres on the case study of a real-life fatality that serves as a tragic reminder of the severity of impact when something goes wrong in this kind of industry. In the course, students will see filmed interviews with the mother of a 15-year-old worker killed on an Alberta gravel crushing site as well as the owner of the company at which the fatality occurred.

You can register your students in this course through the Teacher Dashboard.

Welding Safety Awareness

This two hour course was developed specifically for SiS in consultation with the Manufacturers’ Health and Safety Association (MHSA) and industry experts based on a real life workplace fatality that resulted in the death of one worker and serious injuries to two others.

While this isn’t a course on How To Weld, every welder – apprentice or Red Seal tradesperson – should take this course. There are a few different types of welding and, while they share some hazards in common, each also comes with a few unique hazards all its own. For example, welding in a confined space isn’t like welding on top of a skyscraper, which isn’t like welding underwater, which isn’t like welding in a fabrication plant. That’s why it’s so crucial not just to know about existing hazards, but to know how to look for and recognize hazards in your immediate work environment.

This course will discuss some common welding hazards and best practices for mitigating them, as well as an examination of the factors that led up to the real life incident and some ways it could have been avoided to provide you with a solid safety awareness foundation on which to build a safe and successful long-term welding career.

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

List the four dimensions of worker vulnerability,
Recognize potential hazards at a work site,
Describe what a Job Hazard Analysis is, when and how to do one,
Use the SAHARA App to assess your own work site risk level,
Identify possible controls for work site hazards,
Describe the elements of a proper employee orientation and what questions to ask,
Recognize your rights and responsibilities under OHS legislation,
List the different types of welding,
Identify common welding hazards,
List the best practices for welding hazard controls and safety,
Identify causal factors in the Case Study incident presented and suggest some ways it might have been prevented,
Review a custom Manufacturers’ Health and Safety Association website and several other sources for more information, and
Access additional related safety and certification courses.

You can register your students in this course through the Teacher Dashboard.

Your Mental Health and Well-Being

Developed in partnership with Service Hospitality, mental health affects everything in a person’s life, including relationships, success in school, and even physical health. Anxiety, stress and change are a normal part of life that everyone faces, but how individuals deal with them can have a big impact on mental health.

This one-hour course is designed to help students develop mental health coping skills.

Upon completion of this online course, students should be able to:

Understand and define mental health, mental illness, and anxiety;
Describe some of the common causes and symptoms of anxiety;
Analyze and establish effective strategies for dealing with stress, anxiety and change, and for helping others manage stress, anxiety and change;
Understand the benefits of helping themselves and others manage stress, anxiety and change; and,
Understand when and how to seek support for their mental health.

Your Mental Health and Well-Being is an excellent addition to Saskatchewan’s Health Education and Wellness Education curricula.

You can register your students in this course through the Teacher Dashboard.

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