EDMONTON – Members of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees have been asked to nominate past and present Alberta government employees for a new occupational health and safety award.

The winner of the Harold Gerling Memorial Award for Dedication to Occupational Health and Safety will be selected by a joint committee of AUPE and the Alberta government’s Personnel Administration Office.

"The award will bring profile to the safety program among our members in the government sector," said AUPE Union Representative Grace Dykau, who is co-chair of the committee. "Our hope is it will make people more aware of health and safety in their own worksites."

AUPE President Dan MacLennan called workplace health and safety "an extremely high priority for AUPE.

"We welcome the province’s commitment to continuing their efforts to co-operate with their employees through AUPE to ensure safe working conditions in government worksites," MacLennan said.

The award, created as part of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the joint AUPE-Alberta government Occupational Health and Safety Program, will be presented on Oct. 1, 2002, at a ceremony at Government House in Edmonton.

Oct. 1 marks the official Silver Anniversary of the co-operative program.
Gerling was the PAO’s health and safety manager for 21 years, and co-chaired the joint union-management safety committee.

Under the rules of the contest, all nominations must be made by and received from co-workers of the candidates named. Nominations must be submitted by July 31, 2002.

All nominations must include the following information:

" The name of the nominee.
" The department in which the nominee works or worked, and the work address, e-mail address and phone and fax numbers of the nominee. " Whether the nominee served on or is currently a member of a health and safety committee – including information on the nature of the worksite and department, and the structure of the committee. " A description of the significant or sustained contribution to workplace health and safety made by the nominee. This should include specific events, issues and activities with which the nominee was or is involved. " The name of the nominator.
" Contact information for the nominator, including work address, e-mail and fax number.

Nominations should be e-mailed to AUPE Union Representative Grace Dykau at g.dykau@aupe.org or faxed to Dykau’s attention at 780-930-3392.
AUPE has donated $3,000 toward the cost of celebration events. AUPE’s government sector locals are also planning donations to the events.
A one-day Going For Gold seminar is also planned for Oct. 30. The seminar, which will be organized by staff and members of AUPE and staff from the PAO, will be open to interested AUPE members and joint worksite health and safety committee members.

For more information, contact:
Dan MacLennan, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-910-8392 (cellular phone)
Grace Dykau, Union Representative, AUPE, 780-930-3343
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)

To go to the PAO’s Web site, click here…

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