Safety talk targets complacence

Safety advocate Gord Moker spoke to a crowd at St. Gerard's Hall about Saskatchewan's "injury epidemic" at a public luncheon last Wednesday.

Moker, CEO of not-for-profit organization Safe Saskatchewan, was invited to the city by Terry Ortynsky's Royal Ford, who sponsored the lunch during North American Occupational Safety and Health Week.

Moker's presentation dealt more with attitudes towards safety than with specific injury prevention measures: particularly with safety considerations at home, where most accidents happen.

"Safety stops at five o'clock in Saskatchewan," lamented Moker, referring to the greater emphasis placed on safety and emergency procedures in the workplace compared to at home.

Saskatchewan's injury rate is among the worst in Canada. One person dies of a preventable injury every day in the province and ten more are permanently disabled, said Moker.

With injuries being responsible for 40 to 60 percent of emergency room visits and a third of healthcare costs, Moker argued that eliminating accidental injuries represents a "huge potential" for cost savings and an opportunity to put those resources to better use.

"This is the silver bullet to eliminating most of our problems in this province."

The key to achieving this goal, said Moker, is to increase investment into injury prevention and to change cultural attitudes that view accidental injuries as an acceptable and inevitable fact of life.

About 150 people attended the luncheon.