Safety: Why it needs be a priority for Montana businesses

It is no secret that Montana continues to rank near the top for the number of lost time accidents, far outpacing the national average, and costs businesses millions. Although significant improvements have been made to our workers’ compensation system, we need to tackle the heart of the problem; preventing injuries before they happen.

At the Department of Labor & Industry, our goal is to make sure Montana’s workforce is going home safely each night to their loved ones. One successful method we are using to create safer workplaces entails education and training through our SafetyFestMT outreach program. Because we want to make safety training accessible to all of Montana’s businesses both large and small, there is no charge to attend SafetyFestMT seminars and classes.

SafetyFestMT: Havre will take place May 23-25, 2017 at Montana State University-Northern with more than 30 topics for participants to choose from including:

• Ag/ATV Safety

• Workplace Violence: Anticipating & Managing Altered Mental Status & Violent Situations

• Intro to OSHA

• First Aid/CPR/AED

• Defensive Driving

• Reasonable Suspicion Supervisor Training

• Fork Lift Safety

• Hazardous Waste 101

• Rigging Safety: Hoisting With Slings & Chains

• Farm Safety

• OSHA 10 Construction & General Industry

• Profiting From Safety

If you have not attended a SafetyFestMT training in the past, I strongly encourage you to take at least one class at the upcoming event in Havre. The trainings have no charge to attend and could help you prevent a workplace injury, which could save you money over the long-term. To see the full agenda and register please visit http://www.safetyfestmt.com.

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Commissioner Pam Bucy heads the Montana Department of Labor and Industry.