Prince George will host its first Steps for Life Walk to benefit families of workplace tragedy on May 1.
And it’s all due to local veteran and health and safety officer Genevieve Fox.
“In February, 2015, I was on the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety website and I thought, ‘Ok, that looks interesting. I wonder what day it takes place in Prince George.’ And I called them and they said, ‘It doesn’t take place in Prince George. Would you like to bring the walk there?’And I said, ‘Yup.’”
It’s been a lot of work but Fox feels the endeavour is worth the effort.
“I didn’t know what it entailed at the time but after over a year of effort, my committee and I have brought the walk here. It’s the second walk location in BC so we’re hoping to really bring awareness not only to workplace accident prevention but to Threads of Life Services so that people here can start to use them.”
Threads of Life is a national organization that promotes workplace safety and offers support to families affected by on the job accidents and fatalities.
“Threads of Life helps families who’ve suffered as a result of workplace tragedy all across Canada,” says Fox. “It’s been around for quite a while now. 2,200 families across Canada are using the services that the funds go towards and across Canada there’s roughly 40 walks.”
Fox says her decision to bring the walk to our city was a personal one.
“As a veteran of the Canadian forces, I’ve seen a lot of people not only use their lives but be temporarily and permanently injured. We’ve lost a lot of people close to us. Services like this, I think they’re really really important. They cover a lot of the services gaps that provincial workers comp boards don’t provide,” Fox says. “It’s really important to me because I’ve seen directly the effects of what those tragedies do to people and families and the ripple effects through the communities…can last a really long time and I think these services, they are something that is very much in need.”
Although it’s a serious subject, Fox says Steps for Life has a fun contest going on to raise awareness in the run up to the event.
“We’re running a contest right now for PPE selfies. PPE is personal protective equipment so if your job has any PPE requirements, snap a selfie, jump onto our Facebook page and post it for a chance to win one of two $50 Home Depot gift certificates.”
The Steps for Life Walk will take place at Masich Stadium on May 1. Registration opens at 10AM and the walk will start at 11. Participants get a t-shirt and lunch for signing up.
You can learn more about the event on their Facebook page.