It’s no surprise that here at SafeStart we believe in the importance of safety training.

In fact, all of our employees are trained in the SafeStart process and you don’t need to look any farther than our head office for examples of how safety training can benefit everyone.

Kara Hepburn, a SafeStart account manager for the Steel and Fabricated Metals Industries, shares a story of how increased awareness helped avert not one but two potentially serious collisions:

I have a desk job and my risk of injury at work is low. Other than paper cuts, improper workstation set up, or hits to my ego, it’s unlikely I will get seriously hurt on the job. The most dangerous task I perform on and off the job is driving.

The SafeStart training process asks you to commit to working on developing and improving skills and habits, even if you feel that you’re already good enough. Although I have an A+ driving record, I choose to develop skills to increase my awareness of potential oncoming traffic at intersections. Even when I have the right of way, and other cars are supposed to stop, there is a chance that they won’t. Seriously, can you say that you have never accidentally run a red light?

By improving my safety awareness skills for this particular task I avoided two serious collisions within the past 6 months. My first close call was when I was about to go on a green and someone ran the red light. The other incident was when a car failed to stop at a crossroad and drove directly into my path. By improving my awareness skills at intersections and developing the habit of observing other cars, I saw the oncoming vehicles in time to avoid collisions. Had I been distracted, even for a second, I would not have had time to react and the collisions would have been unavoidable.

Safety training like SafeStart applies to everyone no matter what their job is—and we know from personal experience just how important it is to build strong safety habits.

To learn more about the training that helps people like Kara get to and from work safely every day you can read an overview of the SafeStart process.