TRAINING UPDATE

Local 506 Family Picnic

On Saturday, July 9, Ambercroft will be host to the annual Local 506 Family Picnic. Many of the pictures of the Centre which can be viewed on this website were taken at last year’s picnic.

While the focus of the event is on good food and good fun (especially for the kids), we like to use the opportunity to get out information to Local 506 members, especially about safety. In fact, the safety of the event is always one of our concerns. We will have paid duty officers from the York Region Police to assist. A First Aid booth will be staffed by St. John Ambulance volunteers. The food service has been approved by Richmond Hill Health Services. (Given that the event is catered by Local 506 members from Metro Toronto Convention Centre, we have few worries about that.)

We hope that members will take advantage of the opportunity to look at the safety equipment which will be on display in the training arena. Two years ago, we distributed information about sun protection at the First Aid tent. Last year, we had a trailer where members could be fitted for Sonomax ear plugs. This year the entire arena will be taken over by displays of personal protective equipment – vision protection, hearing protection, safety vests, insoles for safety boots. All state-of-the-art products.

There will also be table in the arena where members can get assistance in applying for Grandparenting for Construction Craft Worker trade certification. We have applied for certification for some 200 members so far and hope to get to 500 soon. As we have been informing members, the certification may become more than a nice certificate to have in the future as owners and contractors become aware of its existence. Certification through Grandparenting will be available only for another year. After that, to get a certificate, individuals will have to get 70% on the trade exam.

We are getting more members certified every month; the Picnic presents us with one more opportunity to get more applications processed.

And, it will be a fun day for all.