Child, Youth and Family Services
April 29, 2015

The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Sandy Collins, Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services:

Game Show Highlights Importance of Safety Education

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the winners of SAFE Work NL’s – Who Wants to Save a Life? game show. Holy Spirit High School of Conception Bay South captured the win in the senior high school division, and Menihek High of Labrador City emerged as champions in the junior high division. Each winning team brought home $5,000 for their school. Furthermore, members of the winning high school team each received a $1,000 scholarship, while the junior high champion contestants each received an iPad Air.

Elementary school students also participated in exhibition game shows, Mr. Speaker, with St. Francis of Assisi School of Outer Cove and Hazelwood Elementary of St. John’s taking top honours. Each of the winning contestants received a $100 iTunes card, and the teams also received $500 for their schools.

In its seventh season, the trivia game is designed to educate and engage youth in workplace health and safety. It was developed and funded by the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission, in partnership with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

Mr. Speaker, like any valuable life lesson, the importance of safety is a message that needs to be continuously reiterated from a young age. Initiatives like this one are an effective tool to help deliver that message. Young workers aged 15-24 consistently have a lower lost-time injury rate than the provincial rate which is why it is so important to continue our efforts to build a strong safety culture among this group. Building such a foundation will ultimately lead to fewer workplace injuries and illnesses now and into the future.

In a strong safety culture, everyone feels responsible for safety and pursues it on a daily basis. Employee commitment is a hallmark of a true safety culture, and it is important that we instill this commitment at a young age, Mr. Speaker. I applaud the efforts of everyone involved in the delivery of this innovative game show which is helping influence our future workforce and community leaders.

The game show will air province-wide on Rogers Television this fall, and I encourage schools interested in the 2015-16 game show season to contact the commission for more information.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

2015 04 29                              2:50 p.m.