Safe Communities Humboldt and Area celebrated 10 years with a look back while looking forward to an even safer community at a community luncheon on Oct. 16.
Safe Communities coordinator Tracey Shewciw says it is a fantastic feeling to reach the 10 year milestone. The grassroots movement is making a difference, she said.
“Injury prevention is one of those things that (is) so difficult to measure but we know that we’re changing lives,” she said.
Emcee Collette Lessmeister is not only involved with Safe Communities but knows from experience that the programs they provide work.
She told the story of her 13-year-old daughter babysitting her brother and cousin when a fire broke out. Her daughter knew exactly what to do through visits from the Fire Department and the Safe Communities Agriculture Farm Safe Day.
Guest speaker Gord Moker with Safe Saskatchewan had one simple message: don’t just look after yourself at work; look after yourself at home and at play too.
“The injury rate for Saskatchewan workplaces has gone down steadily since its all-time high in 2002...but unfortunately with many people, safety stops at five o’clock and when they get home from work, they put on the shorts and sandals to cut the lawn,” he said.
Moker said that this is not a selfish concept, since practicing safety and preventing injury saves your family and the healthcare system a lot of heartache. That is the goal of Safe Saskatchewan and its Mission Zero campaign.
Moker said the next step is focusing the health and safety efforts to the community.
“That’s where we have to focus our efforts. Don’t ignore workplace safety because that is important , but let’s start focusing out efforts on health and safety in the community,” he said.
Moker said he was privileged to be a part of Safe Communities right from the start when it was just in the planning stages. Moker is happy to see the group thrive and is very proud of the efforts of the whole community.
“I’ve actually gone to events and talked about Humboldt and the great community efforts because without people at the grassroots in the community, injury prevention can only go so far,” he said.
Shewciw said that they went from people not knowing what Safe Communities was to people and businesses jumping on board without being asked.
Ten years is a big milestone, especially when you see so many community groups fizzle out after four years, Moker said. Collaboration has been a big part of Safe Communities’ success.
“What I see in Humboldt, unlike many other communities, is the community is growing around injury prevention. There are investments made in injury prevention to keep this initiative going,” he said.
He added that everyone needs to come together, including government, industry and communities. He said it’s possible to do in Saskatchewan, using Humboldt as an example.
Safe Communities programs are based on injury prevention, especially when it comes to educating children to create this culture of safety. Moker said if we are able to provide the teachers with the resources, the outcomes will spread from the classroom to the community.
The programs and responsibilities are only going to grow from here, and Shewciw.
“I foresee us growing, I forsee us having more partneers in the future. Injury prevention is getting to be something that in every household, everyone wants to be a part of it so I see us growing.”
