BARRHEAD-A Barrhead teen, Jayleana Baron, knows a little about the importance of having a safe working environment.
Growing up on a farm recognizing the hazards on a job site and taking appropriate safety measures is paramount.
However, having a safe working environment goes beyond knowing how to deal with the physical dangers of a job. It was being able to articulate some of these dangers, especially harassment on the job that earned the Grade 11 Barrhead Composite High School (BCHS) student a gold medal at Skill's Canada provincial competition in the Workplace Safety category.
Skills Canada is a non-profit organization founded in 1989. Its mandate is to actively promote careers in skilled trades and technologies to youth.
To advance to the Skills Alberta, in many categories normally students have to qualify in the Top 3 in a regional contest, however, due to the coronavirus outbreak, the requirement was waived.
In fact, due to COVID-19, the provincial event that usually takes place at Edmonton's Expo Centre, was in doubt. The organizers had gone as far as cancelling the event but at the last minute, they were able to devise a virtual format. All totalled more than 300 students from 78 different schools participated.
Baron noted this is the second time she has participated in a Skills Canada competition. Last year she competed in the Fashion Technology category.
"I had a good run and I enjoy sewing, but I knew it wasn't for me," she said.
As a result, Baron, she didn't plan to take part this year.
But she changed her mind after automotive technology teacher Daniel Sribney approached her asking her to reconsider.
"He knew I grew up on a farm and was interested in workplace safety and that I had experience in public speaking from my involvement in 4-H so he thought it would be a good experience for me," she said.
Skills Canada Alberta competition
As for the competition itself, since there were no regional qualifying events, the provincial competition was open to any interested student with the endorsement of one of their teachers.
Normally the competition is held over two days at the previously mentioned Expo Centre.
But in the virtual competition students had more time to complete their projects, two weeks to be precise. Along with their projects, competitors also had to submit safety checklists to show they were aware of any hazards that might be around them during the competition.
"[The workplace category] was divided into two sections," Baron said, noting the first being a hazard assessment.
The assessment came in the form of a fillable PDF document in which competitors had to identify six hazards from three different scenes, a crew pruning trees, an automobile garage and an industrial kitchen.
"After spotting the hazard we had to say exactly what it was, classify it. Was it an ergonomic, a workplace or safety issue, that sort of thing," she said. "Then we had to explain what would happen if it wasn't removed and how to remove the hazard."
For their second assignment, participants had the option of creating their own Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) presentation on one of three topics that pose dangers in the workplace hazardous chemicals, ergonomics (human factors) that contribute to accidents or harassment.
"I chose to work with the topic of harassment and violence in the workplace as I feel this is something I can connect with the most," Baron said.
The presentation was six minutes long and was a combination of a PowerPoint presentation and lecture which was filmed by her sister.
She said workplace harassment is something many people put up with or they don't realize it is happening to them because they feel it is just part of the job.
"That is not the case," she said, noting workplace harassment and violence is something that there needs to be more education about. "A lot of times workers are unable to identify or explain what harassment would look like in their workplace."
Reach beyond the Skills Alberta
In addition to the judges being impressed by Baron's presentation, it turns out it made an impression beyond the competition itself. One of Skills Alberta's sponsors is the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) who in turn forwarded Baron's presentation to bobsleighs' reigning gold medallist Justin Kripps. He won the gold medal at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics with brakeman Alexander Kopacz in the two-man bobsleigh event. Kripps is part of RBC Training Ground program for promising Olympic calibre athletes.
He reached out to Baron, even though he is not an expert in workplace safety, he said it is important to minimize the hazards of every workplace, regardless of the field of work.
Kripps, a Calgary-native, also encouraged her to "keep pursuing excellence, honing her skills, and use the free time created by the pandemic productively."
The future
The Grade 11 student plans to continue to work towards her high school graduation in preparation for her goal of becoming a secondary school teacher.
"I'm not sure what I want to specialize in, maybe a science, social studies or a CTS [career and technology studies] teacher," she said.
She also plans to compete in her third Skills Alberta competition in the Workplace Safety category. In a normal year, her victory would have secured a place to the Skills Canada national competition but it has been cancelled due to COVID-19.
"[The virtual competition] was simpler than in years past," she said, "I think when we have the opportunity to have an actual hands-on, in-person competition it will be more challenging and I am looking forward in being able to have the complete experience."
She also wanted to thank the other BCHS students and staff saying without them she wouldn't have been able to achieve what she did.
"Even though I couldn't see my BCHS team members or teachers in person it was great to know I had their support and encouragement along the way," Baron said.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
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