Setting the Pace for Safety in the Workplace – Here and Abroad

 

There is a movement afoot, here and in the rest of the world, to better protect workers against injury. Work accidents are no longer a matter relegated to insurance companies and workers compensation boards. It’s reassuring to know that a growing number of employers are committed to injury prevention through training.

Ontario-based Electrolab Training Systems has been serving the educational and industrial markets with resources for teaching safe work practices, technical skills, and human resources development.

An unparalleled range of products, sourced from leading producers around the world, and technical know-how allow Electrolab Training Systems to create complete, customized solutions for their clients. Planning assistance programs, videos, DVD, e-learning titles and print/text curriculum, and software and hands-on teaching equipment are some of the products the company offers.

In 1998, Electrolab Training Systems developed SafeStart, an advanced safety awareness and safety skills development training program. SafeStart consistently reduces work injuries by 30 to 70 per cent within two years – proven from more than 1,500 sites, 750 companies, and 1,000,000 people have now been trained.

“Training our staff on work safety is one of the greatest investments we’ve made’, said Brian Hatch, Field Manager, Hydro One Networks. “SafeStart not only instilled confidence in our people, but we’re now reassured that they are safer and their risk of injuries is greatly reduced.”

Electrolab Training System’s successful foray in the Canadian marketplace since the late nineties has led to the signing of a multi-million contract with a large American company to deliver training to 150,000 employees in 2,600 locations worldwide.

In order to manage the growth, deliver on spec and maintain its competitive edge in world markets, the growing firm has undertaken a major expansion program, which will:

• Lead to the creation of 25 full-time jobs over five years and support the creation of additional jobs at one of Electrolab’s suppliers.
• Cover the translation of the SafeStart program into an additional 11 languages.
• Support the development of Web-based training tools.
• Increase market reach and sales.

The multi-year expansion program is made possible in part through the Ministry of Economic Development’s $80 million, four-year Eastern Ontario Development Fund.

A family-owned enterprise founded in 1974 by Norm Wilson, Electrolab Training Systems continues to grow rapidly with the assistance of over 40 staff, operating under the leadership of second-generation Wilson’s: Barb Tait, Don Wilson, and Larry Wilson.

“Training for a skilled and safe workforce is our passion,” said Norman Wilson, President of Electrolab Training Systems. “We’re excited about the benefits of the government’s investment in our community and the prospect of expanding our product line and programs worldwide.”

With the expansion of SafeStart and the development of other custom-made safety products and services, the good folks at Electrolab hope that people will eventually be safe everywhere, at work, at school and at home – in Ontario, in the whole country, and abroad.

There’s nothing too ambitious about that!

www.electrolab.ca