The purpose of our new winter initiative, Think Smart: Injuries Aren’t Accidents, is to address steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of experiencing an injury at any age, from infant to older adult.  Injuries are a serious concern for all of us. Topics covered include: distracted driving, preventing injuries in young children, safe winter walking, and home safety.

Planning a theme-related event is a great way to let employees know about upcoming activities, contests, resources, and information available to them. By doing this, you will help employees make the connection between the event or activity and the other components of your campaign for this initiative. Below are a variety of ideas that can be organized as stand alone events or integrated into upcoming    at-work activities.

Distracted Driving Simulation

Nearly 80% of car crashes involve some form of driver inattention within three seconds before the collision. Invite a “Be Smart. Be Safe.” speaker (Insurance Bureau of Canada) to discuss the dangers of distracted drivers. This can be done as part of a health fair, a lunch and learn, or as a stand alone activity.  As part of the event, the D.U.M.B (Distractions Undermining Motorist Behaviour) car can be booked. It is, an interactive driving simulator. This car will provide a dramatic demonstration of what happens when you don't keep your eyes on the road. For more information contact Karen Martin, Insurance Bureau of Canada at kmartin.to@sympatico.ca.

“Lunch and Learn” Workshop or Presentation

Kick off your Think Smart initiative by inviting a guest speaker to present a “Lunch and Learn” workshop. For example:

• Invite a local physiotherapist or fitness professional to present on strength and flexibility exercises to prevent injuries during winter/spring months.
• Invite a guest speaker to present information on safe winter driving techniques. Consider including a demonstration on vehicle safety, tire inspections, or samples of emergency winter survival kits.
• Invite an optometrist to speak about eye health, eye check-ups, and signs and symptoms of eye conditions, such as night blindness.

Fire Safety

Hold a fire safety event by inviting the local fire department to come in and give safety demonstrations, such as how to properly use a ladder and trying your hand at putting out a fire with an extinguisher. As part of the event, different types of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors can be on display and even given away as a prize. The day before the event, employees can be encouraged to check the batteries on their alarms. On the day of the event, appropriate disposal containers can be provided for old batteries. This is a great way for employees to learn about practicing good fire and home safety and at the same time learn about how to properly dispose of old batteries. Contact your local municipal waste management services for the proper handling procedures of old batteries.

Think Smart Fair

Organize a health fair at your workplace. Invite organizations to provide handout materials and introduce employees to the issues related to the theme. Professionals to invite could include the fire and police departments, CAA, Insurance Bureau of Canada, physical activity specialists, car seat inspectors/educators and internal Health and Safety representatives from your workplace. Feel free to expand on this list to include additional organizations that may have valuable information, which fits into the Think Smart Injury Prevention theme. As part of the health fair, information about health screenings could also be included, such as what regular tests should be done throughout your lifespan, and gender specific screenings.

Active Family Outing

Foster social connections and physical activity by organizing a family outing. Consider renting a room at a community centre, indoor facility (e.g. skating rink, swimming pool), or outdoor recreation area (e.g. local farm/orchard, municipal park). The event could be seasonal or related to an upcoming holiday.  Have prizes and offer nutritious snacks. You may want to use a theme related to this initiative, and remember to include posters and take-home information.

Car Seat Inspection Clinics          

Consider hosting a child car seat inspection clinic for employees with young children or grandchildren. Have employees bring in their vehicles and car seats for an inspection by certified, trained professionals. Employees can learn about choosing the appropriate car seat based on their child’s age, height and weight, as well as valuable tips for parents when buckling their children safely in their vehicles. Offer handouts and include an educational presentation on the importance and proper use of child car seats. Contact the Children’s Safety Village of Windsor and Essex County at 519- 945-5500 or your local police department for details regarding hosting an inspection or presentation on child car seat safety.

Walk Across Canada

Encourage friendly competition in your workplace by organizing a “Walk Across Canada” or “Physical Activity Challenge”. Employees can compete individually or form teams to accumulate enough kilometres to travel across the city, region or country. Teams can be made up of employees from different floors, departments, or other groups found in your workplace. To make it easier for participants to complete the challenge, use a formula to calculate how much distance each minute of exercise equals (e.g., 1 minute of activity = 2 kilometres). Team members must track the number of kilometres they cover, and group leaders gather and report the total mileage for the team. Set a reasonable time limit for the challenge (e.g., 2 weeks to 2 months). Provide individual participants or team captains with a list of rules/guidelines that helps to define the types of physical activity that can be included in the contest. Alternatively, a pedometer can be used to count the number of steps taken by each participant. This can encourage employees to include walking in their day, which is a great part of an active living lifestyle.

Post a large map for the teams to see and mark the kilometres or steps as they are completed each week.  Participants can exercise during their breaks or after work.  The team that has travelled the furthest distance at the end of the challenge will be the winner.   

“Try it”… you may like it

Two of the many barriers that prevent individuals from being active are lack of skill and feeling uncomfortable performing a new activity. To help your employees overcome these barriers, try offering the opportunity to “try out” a new activity. For example, once every month or two bring in an instructor to introduce employees to the basic skills involved in the activity. The “try it” session could be held during a break, meal break, after work or a time that is best for your workplace. A few examples of activities to consider are volleyball, basketball, tennis, Tai Chi, in-line skating, bowling, or golf.  The activities to showcase can be developed from feedback submitted by employees. Be sure to insist that all required safety gear and precautions are followed during the demonstrations.

Special Theme Events

Tie in activities with national, provincial, or local awareness events.  Examples include: Heart Health Month (February), International Women’s Week (March), National Nutrition Month (March), Daffodil Days for the Canadian Cancer Society (April), and many more.  Some ideas for theme events are expanded below.

• Heart Month: Be Sweet to Your Heart

February is “Heart Month” and the Heart and Stroke Foundation has several activities to raise awareness of heart disease and related factors including tobacco, stroke, obesity, healthy eating, and resuscitation/(CPR). Contact the local Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada office for display resources, a guest speaker, or have a heart healthy recipe swap.

• Valentines Day

Organize a Valentine-o-gram campaign in the workplace.  Employees can send personalized valentines to their co-workers that focus on positive compliments.  This activity can also be used as a fundraising event, with a small fee being charged for the purchase of a Valentine-o-gram and the proceeds being donated to charity. Or, plan Valentine’s Day events that focus on heart healthy living, a group walk at lunch, a display of smoking cessation information, or a heart healthy recipe contest.

• Nutrition Month

March is Nutrition Month.  Invite a Registered Dietitian (RD) to promote this year’s theme, “Make Wise Food Choices Wherever You Go”.  An RD can coordinate a “Get Caught Making Wise Food Choices” activity with a lunch bag analysis where employees can be rewarded with a prize for making healthy choices. Or have the RD conduct a Label Scene Investigator (LSI) training session to educate employees on the new food labels that became mandatory in 2006.

• St. Patrick’s Day

On St. Patrick’s Day, March 17^th   2007, organize a social event that features green salads and veggies with heart healthy dressings and provide employees with healthy eating resources.  Prizes could be awarded to the person wearing the best green outfit or for other fun ideas that link with the  St. Patrick's Day theme. 

• Daffodil Days

April is National Cancer Month, and the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) has several awareness campaign ideas. The Daffodil Days promotional tool kit assists workplaces in raising funds for cancer research and education by encouraging staff to show their support through the purchase of daffodils. The CCS also provides ideas for supportive activities such as Name That (Yellow) Tune trivia game or a Yellow Thumb Gardening trivia game.

Earth Day (April 22) Cleanout :

• Medicine Cabinet Cleanout:

Organizing a medicine cabinet cleanout is a great way to dispose of these items in an environmentally friendly fashion, and to protect employees and their families from inadvertently consuming a medication that is no longer appropriate. A cabinet cleanout can encourage employees to properly dispose of expired and unwanted medications safely. Set up disposal stations at work on predetermined dates and ask them to return expired and unwanted medications in paper bags that you have supplied. Be sure to let everyone know that you will not be collecting information on any one person’s medication usage. Encourage employees to black out or tear off the labels on the pill containers if they are concerned with confidentiality. 

• Battery Cleanout:

Another event that encourages employees to be environmentally friendly is to organize a day where staff, are asked to bring in any old batteries that have expired. Set up disposal stations (bins) on predetermined dates and have them drop off any expired batteries. Contact the local municipal waste management department to assist and to ensure that the batteries are being disposed of in a safe manner.

For more information on how to set up a medicine cabinet cleanup, please contact the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit at 519 258-2146 ext. 3100.

Give the Gift of Life

Canadian Blood Services reported in 2003 that only about 3.5% of eligible Canadians gave blood. With an aging population more blood is needed to meet increasing demands. Single donations of blood can save lives. Now think about how many lives can be saved if a group of employees give blood together. Consider donating as a team by joining the Canadian Blood Services’ Partners for Life Program.

Also, at any given time, about 250 Canadians are waiting for a bone marrow match to be found. Yet, fewer than 30% of them will find a family member with compatible bone marrow to donate. Offering to join the Unrelated Bone Marrow Donor Registry (UBMDR) increases the chance that a match can be found for a patient in need. Organize an information session to encourage employees to sign-up with this life saving registry. For more information on the Partners for Life Program or on joining the UBMDR, visit www.bloodservices.ca or call 1-888-2-DONATE (1-888-236-6283).

Visit the Safety Village

Set up a trip for employees and their young children to the Children’s Safety Village of Windsor Essex County, 519-945-5500 (Lauzon ParkWay and Forest Glade Drive). This is a fun, entertaining, interactive, and valuable way for children to be exposed to many safety messages. Follow this activity with nutritious snacks and draw prizes that promote being active (e.g. balls, frisbees, and kites).

Bicycle Tune-up and Family Ride  

Contact a local bicycle shop to host a “Bicycle Tune-up” event followed by a family ride on local trails or parkways. Enter all participants’ names in a draw for prizes (e.g. bicycle water bottles, bells for their bicycles, flashing reflectors). Finish off the event with nutritious snacks (e.g. fresh fruit, trail mix) and water.