September 28, 2012 – EBMag was pleased to attend the Electrical Safety Authority’s (ESA’s) annual Ontario Electrical Safety Awards earlier this week. Each year, several individuals and organizations are recognized for “incredible achievements in advancing electrical safety and demonstrating their firm commitment to building a safety culture across the province”.

CLICK HERE to see our photos from the event.

This year’s winners are:

• Powerline Safety – Burlington Hydro – for its commitment to powerline electrical safety with targeted programs and awareness campaigns for elementary students, businesses and trades, and internal employees.

• Worker Safety – Electrical Safety for Emergency Responders Committee – for spearheading the development of a best practices handbook for emergency responders to prepare them to recognize and manage potential electrical hazards in rescue and fire situations. The project committee was a collaboration by Hydro One Networks, the Public Services Health & Safety Association and the Office of the Fire Marshal.

• Product Safety – Doug Geralde of Canadian Standards Association (CSA) – for his career-long dedication to product safety on a national scale, his leadership in the Anti-Counterfeiting Network, along with his work on root cause analysis and investigations into product failures.

• Consumer/Home Safety – Enersource Mississauga – for on-going public outreach with its e-SMARTkids website that provides students, teachers and families with electrical safety and energy efficiency information.

The need for collaborative efforts in advocating electrical safety was echoed in a number of speeches that evening. One of the evening’s emcees, ESA’s chief public safety officer Doug Crawford, says there are no electrical safety accidents.

“These incidents are preventable,” he said.

“Every year, we get closer to achieving our mission of eliminating electrical fatalities and serious injuries in Ontario. Once again, award winners and their organizations exemplify the leadership, innovation and determination that are needed to protect us from electrical hazards and make us all that much safer,” he continued.

Ewa Kozlowska of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) received a Special Recognition by Doug Crawford for “outstanding leadership and the life-saving actions” she took to protect TTC passengers when powerlines fell and disabled the bus she was driving on August 20, 2012.

Photo A. Dalton, September 2012.