A Million Acts of Safety was launched in October 2009 to challenge people to think differently about their role in safety and inspire people to get involved with the goal to show how small acts of safety can have a major impact. The individual and team that logged the most acts of safety and reached the most people during the campaign’s first year will be recognized at the NSC National Awards Celebration in San Diego.
The A Million Acts of Safety campaign has been promoted in communities and workplaces across the country. As of Sept. 28, 4,270 acts were logged and more than 7 million people were reached. Cathy Seifried of Severn Trent Services in Kingwood, Texas, was the individual to perform the most acts and reach the most during the campaign’s first year. The team that performed the most acts and reached the most people was the Lathrop, Calif., facility of Swift Transportation Co., which had more than 100 participants.
When asked why she participated, Seifried said, “During a safety meeting, I stated we could all make a difference by reminding each other to work safely. One employee asked, ‘How can one person make a difference?’ That question had a profound impact on me. I decided to track my safety acts through the NSC A Million Acts of Safety campaign. The smallest safety act may have the biggest impact. If I can make a difference, anyone can.”
“Swift Transportation Co. participated in the A Million Acts of Safety campaign to practice and encourage others to observe safety acts on and off the job. Safety is very important at Swift, from the CEO to our drivers, shop and office staff. Employees were encouraged to log at least one safety act daily, including those occurring at home on the weekends,” said Vivian Navarro, Lathrop team leader of the A Million Acts of Safety campaign. “Once everyone got the idea, a few employees were even researching and sharing safety tips on camping, fireworks and how to avoid dehydration. I believed we learned a behavior – how to identify safety acts and the impact of sharing them,” she said.
“In 2008, more than 25 million unintentional injuries and 118,000 deaths occurred. To change this trend, everyone needs to get involved in safety and think about how their actions can impact others,” said Janet Froetscher, president and CEO of NSC. “We applaud the actions of this year’s honorees who spread the message of safety to tens of thousands of people.”
The A Million Acts of Safety campaign continues as NSC captures what people are doing to keep others safe one act at a time.