Paul Kells delivers poignant message about workplace health and safety
[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Kells_Paul.jpg” caption=”Paul Kells addresses an audience in the Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery. Photo credit: Chantall Van Raay”]In the time since Paul Kells woke, to the moment he stood in front of a McMaster classroom this morning at 9 a.m., one person under the age of 25 was taken to hospital with a workplace injury. “And it will happen again in the next four hours, and then in the next four hours after that, and that's only in Ontario,” said the victim of a workplace tragedy.
As Kells stood in front of a lecture hall in the Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery, a photo of his 19-year-old son Sean displayed prominently on a wall behind him. Kells spoke candidly about his son's death, which happened 10 years ago in a warehouse explosion, just three days after he started the part-time job. And Kells encouraged the approximately 100 McMaster faculty, staff, students and St. Mary's high school students to educate themselves about the risks they confront on the job. “Just being aware is not enough,” he said. “Being aware is not the same as being informed.”
Kells is the executive director of the National Passport to Safety program. His talk, hosted by Environmental & Occupational Health Support Services, was the keynote address for the North American Occupational Safety & Health Week taking place this week.
Passport to Safety encourages workplace safety training for young workers – aged 15 to 24. Youth qualify for a passport by taking a workplace safety test online. The passport can be updated as they achieve qualifications in First Aid, CPR, swimming, driving and other safety-related areas.
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