Thanks to reader Ian Wilson for submitting this press release about the Put Yourself in Our Boots campaign.
Put Yourself in Our Boots PSAs, safety video and website highlight workplace safety campaign; urge people to make life-saving changes
Calgary, AB – Turn off the lights, trigger the alarm and put yourself in the boots of emergency responders – police, firefighters and paramedics – who could be at your place of work in dark, unfamiliar surroundings and under stressful circumstances. Your workplace is their workplace … is it safe?
The John Petropoulos Memorial Fund (JPMF), an Alberta-based non-profit organization, is pleased to announce the launch of its Put Yourself in Our Boots public awareness campaign, which aims to reduce preventable injuries & fatalities and promote workplace safety for emergency responders – because their workplace is every place.
“We want to create a culture where safety for emergency responders is an integral aspect of every workplace,” says JPMF board chair Maryanne Pope.
“Companies often think about workplace safety from the perspective of their own employees. We want them to consider the fact that emergency responders – police, fire and EMS personnel – may need to respond to their businesses at any time of day and often when no one is around. Is your workplace safe for everyone?”
The Put Yourself in Our Boots campaign includes a series of 30-second televised public service announcements (PSAs), which reflect the dangers faced by police, fire and EMS personnel at unsafe workplaces, as well as a 10-minute safety video – available on DVD – and a website at www.OurBoots.ca. The PSAs begin airing throughout Western Canada on Feb. 1st.
Future phases of the campaign include the release of radio and print PSAs, further media events and participation in community events
“Ultimately, by making workplaces safer for emergency responders, we’re making workplaces safer for everyone else. It’s not just police officers, firefighters and paramedics who will benefit from this,” says Pope, whose husband, Calgary Police Service Const. John Petropoulos, passed away on Sept. 29, 2000 after falling through a false ceiling at a break-and-enter call at an unsafe warehouse.
The Put Yourself in Our Boots workplace safety campaign is supported by the Calgary Police Service, Calgary Fire Department, Alberta Health Services – Emergency Medical Services (Calgary zone), Calgary Police Association, CUPE Local 3421 Calgary Paramedics, EMS Foundation, Work Safe Alberta, Alberta College of Paramedics, Alberta Centre for Injury Control & Research, Edmonton Police Service, Joe Media Group, Alberta Occupational Health & Safety and the Government of Alberta.
For more information about Put Yourself in Our Boots, please contact:
Ian Wilson
Managing Director
John Petropoulos Memorial Fund
403-891-4269
ian@jpmf.ca
