Bigger, better, safer

Safety Fest of the Great Northwest is back and even bigger this year, offering about 50 free classes on safety and health in the workforce, community and at home.

The North Idaho College Workforce Training Center will open its doors to hundreds of community members Feb. 22-24. Classes, demonstrations and workshops will be taught by labor industry experts, cybersecurity experts, local fire and police departments and human resources personnel.

“We couldn’t do this without the contributions and dedicated time of our volunteers,” said Marie Price, the director of workforce training and community education at NIC's workforce training center.

Safety Fest is geared toward people in general industry, transportation, mining, manufacturing, health care, contractors and any business or community member interested in safety-related training and education.

Some classes include a K9 demonstration by the Post Falls Police Department, manufacturing safety, OSHA 10 training, LEAD training, water safety, workplace violence and work-zone flagging.

Eleven of the offered courses include a certification, such as CPR/first aid, or are required training for industry workers.

To be fair to all participants, Safety Fest requests businesses limit themselves to five employees in each class.

Courses are already filling, with about a third of the spots still open. To sign up for free and for more information on the available classes, visit www.nic.edu/safetyfest.

Price suggests if a desired class is full, go ahead and put a name on the waitlist. The best thing to do, she said, is go to the class because spots may open and courses will accept as many people as possible.

“We are really committed to serving our workforce in gaining employment and advancing in the workforce,” Price said. “We want to partner with industry to make sure our workforce employees are safe.”