Safety Symposium to be held at NMCC
PRESQUE ISLE — The second annual Aroostook County Safety Symposium will be held at Northern Maine Community College Tuesday, April 3. The daylong event, which is being offered through the Aroostook County Safety Directors Association, will feature tracts for general industry, construction, health care and municipal workers.
“We want to assist safety folks in getting the education they need. This is a chance to bring safety training to Aroostook County to help educate our colleagues and to offer a networking opportunity,” said Ed Plourde, ACSDA president.
Keynote speaker for the safety symposium will be NMCC President Tim Crowley, who will be addressing changes in the workplace. After his presentation, there will be two morning breakout sessions. During the first one, participants can choose from three workshops — “Ways and Means for Riggers & Signalmen Certification” with Mark Heffron from the U.S. Department of Labor; “Sharps & Blood Borne Pathogens” with Ann King from Cary Medical Center; and “Confined Space — What is it?” with Greg Buckley from MSA.
For their second morning session, workshop options will be “Investigating in the Workplace” with Plourde, who works at Columbia Forest Products; “Tailgate Talks Before Shift Meetings” with Joe Thibodeau from Maine Public Service Co., “Eating Healthy” with Cara Miller from Cary Medical Center, and “Flagging — Train the Trainer” with Peter Coughlin of MaineDOT.
In addition to the morning sessions, SafetyWorks! will have equipment and personnel on campus to offer a morning long “train the trainer” session in operating a forklift. Leading the training will be Joe Bergan. Those who complete this forklift training will be certified by SafetyWorks! to be able to provide forklift training to others at their own organization. Participants interested in this particular session must pre-register by calling 623-7922.
During lunch, Lois Smith from Maine Public Service Co. will be talking to participants about safety for life. This will be followed by two more breakout sessions.
The first afternoon session will offer four options — “Job Instruction Training” with Kevin Paradis of Columbia Forest Products, “Fall Protection Review” with Joe Ditzel of N.H. Bragg and Cliff Berry of SafetyWorks!; “Best Practices of Property Loss Conservation” with Greg Day, a Maine fire marshal; and “Trenching & Excavation Review” with Cliff Berry of SafetyWorks!
For the next session, participants will choose from “Ergonomics in Industry” with Dan Clark from MEMIC, “Effective Construction Jobsite Inspections” with Sonny Curtis, Tom Slattery and Bob McNeally from SGSA, Inc.; and “Pharmaceutical Waste Disposal” with Scott Austin from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
Participants who attend all four breakout sessions during the day can register for 0.5 CEUS through the college’s Continuing Education Division.
The cost to attend the symposium is $25 for those who pre-register or $35 at the door. The registration fee includes lunch. To register, please go to www.safetyworksmaine.com/symposium before the end of the day March 28. For more information, call 623-7922 or e-mail Jennifer.marlowe@maine.gov.
