Put on your Skull Screws and be safe
<p>Trey Haworth of Filtration Plus Inc. gives a demonstration on a special filtration system on Wednesday at the North Idaho College's Safety Fest in Post Falls. This system is designed to clean air in work environments of combustible dust particulates.</p>
<p>Mark Wagar tells a frightening experience while teaching a class about overhead utility safety on Wednesday at Safety Fest in Post Falls.</p>
POST FALLS - Safety doesn't have to be all about regulations or managers' fears that it slows production.
Take the seventh annual Safety Fest of the Great Northwest at North Idaho College's Workforce Training Center, for example.
Instructor John Zeman, a safety specialist with Timber Products Manufacturers, offered Skull Screws as a way to prevent hearing loss.
"You can even feel like Frankenstein," Zeman joked to students during his class on manufacturing safety about the earplugs with handles so they can easily be pulled out. "You can jam them in, but they are comfortable to wear."
Even the old standby class - Basic First Aid - has flair.
"The First Aid class always gets filled first," said Becky Colotti, a training specialist with Hecla Mining who has helped organize Safety Fest since its inception.
"We have body parts and fake blood. We make it fun."
About 950 workers from throughout the region and a variety of fields are enrolled in the free training being offered at Safety Fest, which started on Wednesday and runs through Friday.
"We put caps on (enrollment) so one company can't fill a class," Colotti said. "We try to help the mom-and-pop outfits that need the training and can't afford it."
Instructors in the more than 40 classes ranging from workplace violence to the Ebola virus volunteer their time.
"We try to cover everything," Colotti said of the topics. "A lot of the classes are required (for certifications)."
Several vendors of safety-related products and services are on site.
A Post Falls Police K-9 demonstration was also among the courses.
"My K-9 handlers focus on community safety when the patrol dogs are out of the vehicles on incidents such as yard-to-yard searches, evidence searches and physical apprehensions with the dogs," Sgt. Gary James said. "The general public needs to understand that these K-9s are working dogs and should not be approached at anytime as their sole purpose is apprehending suspects or searching for narcotics and/or evidence.
"Sometimes the general public likes to approach K-9 officers and their vehicles when they see them on patrol or they are physically out of their vehicles conducting K-9 maintenance. The K-9s are not standard dogs. They are mission-specific and trained to react to critical incidents involving high-risk situations and are very protective of their handlers and patrol vehicles."
Kootenai County Fire and Rescue Chief Warren Merritt covered a change in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration standard on how chemicals are classified and labeled in the workplace. He also gave a practical overview of reporting work-related injuries.
"Site inspections, responding to concerns by employees and safety committee are important in order to avoid a similar event in the future," he said.
Colotti said Safety Fest attendees are encouraged to collaborate with each other and share ideas and workplace experiences.
"It's a great networking opportunity," she said. "Just having the knowledge of what to do will save lives, and we're offering that for free. There's a lot of gratification to do something like this for the community."
Colotti said teacher evaluations and student input are part of the event to keep topics fresh and informative.
"We try to have something new every year," she said, adding that a concrete safety class and a Mine Safety Health Administration refresher course are new this year.
"By Friday, we'll start evaluating our classes and set our dates for next year."