August 20, 2013 – Ontario’s Veridian Connections (Veridian) says its vice-president of operations, Mark Turney, has been appointed to the Infrastructure Health & Safety Association’s (IHSA) board of directors.

“Establishing a culture of safety, where everyone shares equally in the job of creating and promoting a workplace free of injury, is the foundation for a successful business,” said Turney, a former director of the Electrical & Utilities Safety Association (a.k.a. E&USA, one of the industry associations merged to form IHSA). “I’m looking forward to working alongside my board colleagues, who are also committed to the elimination of all occupational illnesses and injuries in the workplace.”

“IHSA is a very unique safety education organization. We have over 100,000 Member Firms in 27 Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB) rate groups in the Construction, Transportation, Natural Gas and Electrical Utilities sectors,” explained IHSA president and CEO Al Beattie. “Mark will be representing three rate groups on the IHSA board: 833 Electric Power Generation; 835 Oil, Power and Water Distribution; and 838 Natural Gas Distribution. These are three of the safest high-risk rate groups in North America.”

IHSA is a developer and provider of prevention solutions for work environments involving high-risk activities, such as working at heights and working with energized high-voltage power systems. It is also involved with powerline technician apprenticeship, driving motor vehicles, transporting dangerous goods, working on suspended access equipment and utility line-clearing.

“The IHSA board, along with the utility sector, will benefit tremendously from Mark’s knowledge and expertise in workplace health and safety,” said Veridian president and CEO Michael Angemeer. “We are very proud of Mark, and all of us at Veridian extend our congratulations on his appointment.”