This year the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) selected numerous topics to focus on for Health, Safety and Wellness. Healthy Eating, Physical Activity, Cardiovascular Health and Daily Healthy Living were topics addressed last year. These topics are chosen by the Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee (JOHSC), and our Wellness Committee.

Our 2010 NAOSH (North American Occupational Safety and Health Week) activities and presentations were; Glucose/Diabetes Wellness, Canadian Blood Services/Blood Type, Alzheimer’s Awareness, Workplace Violence and Victims of Workplace Tragedy.

The “Steps for Life” walk was held for the first time in Windsor this year. This was for Threads of Life, a Workplace Tragedy Family Support Group, which is a support group for families who have lost a member due to a workplace accident or made drastic changes in their life, due to a severe accident suffered by a family member. Members of our Health and Safety and Wellness Committees took part and donated close to $300.00 total. Diabetes Screening and Healthy Eating presentations are a yearly activity as part of this week.

The Workplace Violence, Discrimination and Harassment Policy recently expanded to a national recognition, with an aggressive passing of Bill 168. The WSIB has always recognized this and updated our Administrative Workplace Violence and Discrimination Policy in depth, with input from the Windsor Office.

There was a detailed focus on Cardiovascular Health this past year. This included seminars, presentations and numerous activities for our staff to take part in for Heart and Stroke Foundation Awareness. In addition to this, Daily Living topics such as Driving Safety, Save Our Environment and Family Network Issues were all addressed over the past year.

The WSIB continues to identify the Health, Safety and Wellness needs for staff, family and the community. As new issues and needs continue to arise and affect our society, we continue to grow in our knowledge in order to promote healthy daily living.