As a Founding Partner of Safety in Schools, ComplyWorks is proud to announce the achievement of a major milestone – the award of 100,000 valid, workplace safety training certificates to high school students across Western Canada through this program.
That’s more than $3.5 million in value delivered at no cost to students or their schools to date!
What is Safety in Schools?
The Safety in Schools Foundation of Canada is a registered non-profit organization, formed by industry to address the high rate of workplace injuries among workers and committed to providing young workers with the opportunity to learn the basics about workplace safety before they begin working.
The goal is to prepare every young person entering the workforce with the knowledge they need to recognize hazards and mitigate risks, regardless of career path or industry.
Students at participating schools are provided access to an online library of valid, industry-recognized safety training courses, many of which are aligned to high school curriculum outcomes. These courses build awareness of essential workplace safety concepts and strategies and provide the knowledge young workers need to be active participants in their health and safety at work.
Safety in Schools also works with survivors of workplace injuries to help students understand the impact workplace injuries and fatalities have on the people involved through in-school presentations and online content.
Founding Safety in Schools
After reading an article about the large number of young people being hurt in the workplace, Cal Fairbanks, President and CEO of ComplyWorks, and Chairman and founding partner of Safety in Schools discovered a need to develop safety awareness with kids.
ComplyWorks values safety and the company’s role in business is to ensure that the workforce and their supply chain (third party contractors) are qualified to do their job with safety being a priority. Educating young people only made sense in order to prepare them for the future.
A meeting with the Minister of Education from the Alberta government confirmed there was a gap in the school system and a need to bring safety awareness programs into high schools.
Young workers are particularly vulnerable to workplace injuries because they are both inexperienced and their risk management skills are still developing. Safety in Schools reduces this vulnerability by teaching students how to recognize and manage risks, and by bringing awareness to the impact injuries and fatalities have on those affected.
Founding Partners
Resources weren’t available through the government, so Fairbanks looked to industry for potential partners and funding, finding partners among his personal contacts who were believers in the idea.
After conducting a feasibility study in 2010, ComplyWorks partnered with SWIFT Learning to create the Safety in Schools Foundation of Canada. Not long after, the program attracted current Lead Sponsor, TC Energy.
“There’s value to everyone in educating, changing behaviours, and creating a safety culture our youth can instill in both their work and home life,” said Fairbanks. “We need industry involvement, government support, and school and youth involvement. It’s about the next generation and who you’re hiring. Industries need to step up and get involved in this program and share costs. These high school kids are our future employees and workers.”
Success of Safety in Schools
Since launching a pilot program in one school in 2011, Safety in Schools has awarded more than 100,000 industry-recognized safety training certificates to students across Western Canada.
There are more than 320 participating schools in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia, with additional schools registering each year.
ComplyWorks is a proud founding partner of Safety in Schools. Our core value is safety in the workplace, and our end goal is to bring all workers home safe at the end of the day – including young people.
High school students who complete the safety training programs at school gain valuable insight and practice safety in the communities where they live and work. It's training for life.
Learn More About Safety in Schools
