Early Safety Training is an important tool for all young workers. In order to assist youth with the cost of basic safety courses, the Â鶹´«Ã½AVeast Education Foundation and the Early Safety Training Steering Committee are co-hosting the 13th annual Early Safety Training Golf Classic. This year's tournament will be held on May 28 at the Weyburn Golf Club.
Early Safety Training director, Abby Kradovill of Miller Well Servicing, said that Early Safety Training is valuable to all youth seeking employment, not just those seeking employment in the oilfield.
"This program serves all industries," said Kradovill. "People can get hurt anywhere."
Kradovill said that the program helps students learn their rights as workers, too.
The Early Safety Training (EST) program emphasizes safe living and working practices, supporting youth working in all sectors, including oil and gas, hospitality, tourism, agriculture and construction.
Kradovill said that youth seeking work in the oilfield are particularly targeted for Early Safety Training because the new workers are more likely to get injured on the job.
"It gives them a step up and they're more likely to get hired as well," said Kradovill.
Kradovill added that the training provided by the Â鶹´«Ã½AVeast Regional College's EST program looks great on a resume.
The Early Safety Training program is designed to provide southeast Saskatchewan youth with safety training and skills that they can apply throughout their lifetime, both on and off the job.This training is highly recognized and valued by most employers, and provides students with a leading edge in obtaining summer or full-time employment.
To make safety training more affordable, Early Safety Training bursaries of up to $200 are available to students who are between 16 and 21 years of age, reside within Â鶹´«Ã½AVeast Regional College boundaries, are independently responsible for their own training costs, and have successfully completed three core and one elective courses.
Core courses include Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS), First Aid, CPR "A" and AED, and Ready for Work (OH&S) or the Young Worker Readiness Certificate or CODC Rights & Responsibilities.
Some schools, such as Assiniboia Composite High School, have integrated the Early Safety Training program into their curriculum. The goal of the EST Steering Committee is to have safety training integrated into all Saskatchewan high schools and recognized through special high school credit.
The golf tournament is the EST program's biggest fundraiser of the year.
"The Early Safety Training Program depends on fundraisers and donations such as this to provide students with bursaries to help with the cost of safety training," said Kradovill. "This golf tournament raises the majority of funds for the EST program and therefore the success of the program and number of students receiving bursaries is greatly affected by our tournament's success."
Kradovill encouraged all industries to support the EST program. She said the program is a "huge benefit" to employers because when workers come to the job site with basic training it saves the employer the cost of training their employees.
Gerard Rieger, Early Safety Training co-chair, agreed, "Safety is an important issue for our industries and we know that our industries and others benefit when young people gain safety knowledge and skills at an early age, skills they carry into living and work practices. We are impressed that this training takes place in locations across Â鶹´«Ã½AVeast Saskatchewan, where our industries operate."
Since 1996, the Early Safety Training Program and Fund has provided affordable basic safety training to eligible young people. Participants successfully completing four courses within one year are eligible for a bursary from the EST Fund. Training is offered at various Â鶹´«Ã½AVeast Regional College (SERC) campuses during special training weeks and throughout the year.
A steering committee made up of industry, education, agriculture and government representatives provides direction to the Early Safety Training program and oversees the fund.
