BETHLEHEM TWP., Pa. — People from different career fields came together to improve their safety skills this week. The Lehigh Valley’s annual Safety & Health Expo welcomed around 150 people.
“I came to re-educate,” said Jodi Simon, an occupational health nurse for Cisco. “I think a key point is the points of safety, no matter what business you're in, and it's extremely important to get top management involved in it.”
The Lehigh Valley Safety Committee (LVSC) hosts its annual Safety & Health Expo at Northampton Community College.
“All the companies are here in the valley getting information and education on health and safety topics,” said Judith Rex, dean of NCC's School of Health Sciences in Education. “We have a health and safety plan, and we make sure that we're safe and our employees are safe and our students are safe, but also the community members.”
Rex said the LVSC is a volunteer organization sponsored by the individuals and companies involved. The program was free and included presentations on risk assessment and management, safety culture and leadership, Stop the Bleed, workplace ergonomics and occupational safety and health compliance.
“These people are all in some way involved in safety at their workplace. They're either safety directors or possibly first aid people, so they're actually responsible for this type of thing at their workplace,” said John Evans, the program manager for EMS education at Northampton Community College.
He taught the Stop the Bleed program.
“We just wanted to make everybody aware of it, give them a little hands-on demonstration, and hopefully they'll be able to take something back to the workplace that would be of value,” Evans said.
Many of the people in attendance are responsible for the safety practices implemented at their own workplaces.
“It's always good to see what different best practices are or ideas to bring back to the university."Eric Snyder, environmental health and safety officer, Moravian University
“It's always good to see what different best practices are or ideas to bring back to the university,” said Eric Snyder, the environmental health and safety officer at Moravian University.
The goal of the annual event is to update those in attendance on current health and safety practices. Attendees are also encouraged to take the information they learned and implement it where they work.
