We all want the best for our children. We know how hard it is in this economy to find good employment. We also know how hard it is confront and address hazards on the job. This can be especially true for
work in the construction industry. We need only look to news headlines to know this much. Further, research and our experience tells us workers from
vulnerable populations are at greater risk of suffering from work-related injury, illness and death.
For all these reasons the Workers Health & Safety Centre (WHSC) is a
proud partner of the Central Ontario Building Trades (COBT) Hammer Heads program. Working together we are determined to help provide
potentially life-saving health and safety training for this unique apprenticeship program — one aimed at helping at-risk youth aged 18 to 26 from under-resourced and Aboriginal communities access gainful, full-time employment in the unionized constructor sector.
Hammer Heads is a comprehensive skills development program that introduces these youth to the construction trades, while providing them with critical job and life skills training. For our part, WHSC offers some 3,000 hours of health and safety curriculum to the Hammer Heads program each year. Delivered by WHSC-qualified instructors at COBT affiliate union training centres, the program provides a solid foundation of health and safety knowledge for young building trades’ workers.
With 30 years’ experience,
WHSC is a trusted provider of health and safety and construction-specific skills-based training. Our training helps workers not only identify work hazards, but also understand how to participate in addressing them through meeting legal requirements and developing safe work procedures and effective controls.
We offer a growing list of worker operator training programs, including training for operators of skid-steers, mini excavators and elevating work platforms. Most recently, we have begun working with many COBT affiliate unions to train their members in our approved
Working at Heights training program, one that meets new regulatory changes set out by the Ontario Ministry of Labour's Chief Prevention Officer.
As such,
COBT and WHSC work to secure lives and livelihoods. The Hammer Heads apprenticeship is an important part of this work, one WHSC pledges to continuously support.
To learn more, please visit
hammerheadsprogram.com.