Vancouver, BC – The Construction Foundation of BC announced today that their Project Shop Class initiative is back and this time, the focus is on safety thanks to a generous donation from the CWA Foundation.
“Supporting the Construction Foundation’s Project Shop Class initiative to ensure safety equipment is in shop classes across the province is something that we wholeheartedly support,” says Deborah Mates, Executive Director of the CWA Foundation. “One of the key mandates for the CWA Foundation is to increase awareness of safety in welding so this project will significantly impact this important message”.
Every day high school students are developing the attitudes, skills and knowledge that will support them into safe, healthy and successful career pathways. Enhancing the safety learnings available to secondary school students in British Columbia is an essential component of getting youth ready for work and keeping them safe. Schools recognize the need for more safety training and industry is ready to help.
“In the province of British Columbia, approximately 600 shop class teachers are giving high school students their first lessons about the trades and the construction industry,” observes Abigail Fulton, Executive Director of the Construction Foundation. “These classes all have some safety protocols in place, and we are focused on ensuring that these classrooms are outfitted with the Personal Protective Equipment they need to ensure students are being exposed to workplace safety before they get on the job site.”
WorkSafeBC statistics show that in British Columbia, one youth worker is injured every hour. As an industry, we aim to change this. The initial round of grants will be focused on providing funds to purchase safety glasses and hearing protection.
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For more information, please contact:
Construction Foundation of BC
Colleen McConnell
communications@constructionfoundation.ca
250 220 5861
BACKGROUNDER
About the Construction Foundation of BC
The Construction Foundation builds community through engagement in charitable initiatives and a commitment to industry focused education and research initiatives that benefit all British Columbians. Our latest initiative, LearnSafe, was designed to ensure high school students are accessing early training and understanding of construction site safety. www.constructionfoundation.ca
For more information on the Project Shop Class Safety grant visit: www.constructionfoundation.ca/psc-safety
About the CWA Foundation
The CWA Foundation is a National registered charity that supports the Canadian welding industry by increasing public safety awareness in welding, and addressing the welding skilled trade shortage in Canada. Through education based programs and initiatives, we continue to reduce barriers that affect key groups; elementary, secondary, and post-secondary students and educators, indigenous, women, at-risk youth, disabled, and the disadvantaged.
www.cwa-foundation.org
