Thousands of people and businesses worldwide will again join with the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), representing more than 32,000 occupational safety, health and environmental professional members, the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE), and OSHA’s Alliance Program participants in raising awareness of the importance of being safe at work during the annual North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week this May 2-8 and Occupational Safety and Health Professional (OSHP) Day on May 5, according to an ASSE press release.

In addition to activities scheduled worldwide by ASSE members and OSHA Alliance Program participants, NAOSH week events and educational programs are scheduled for Washington, D.C., May 2 and 3, along with a roadway safety event May 5 in Portland, Oregon. The NAOSH kick-off events in D.C. will be held at the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Capitol, the Smithsonian and the National Zoo and will feature panel discussions on new industry workplace safety and health efforts as well as recognizing the winners of the 8th annual ASSE kids’ ‘safety-on-the-job’ international poster contest for children aged 5-14. The NAOSH 2010 theme is ‘Mission NAOSH 2010: Safe Workplaces’. Attending the events will be ASSE members and their families from around the globe, federal and state officials, and officials from ASSE, CSSE and OSHA and OSHA’s Alliance Program participants.

“ASSE members continue to lead pioneering efforts in work safety for businesses, workers and communities,” ASSE President C. Christopher Patton, CSP, said today. “NAOSH week is another tool we use to educate people on the positive benefits of protecting people, property and the environment. While millions of people go to work each day and leave there injury and illness free, still close to 6,000 people in the U.S. die each year from on-the-job injuries and 4.4 million more suffer illnesses. We continue to provide services and information that will reduce that number. NAOSH helps us reach millions of people and tens of thousands of businesses on the importance and long-term benefits of workplace safety and health and provide them with resource information.”

Past NAOSH Week events have included fleet safety classes, ergonomic awareness events, a workplace-oriented one-day free preparedness Web Expo, update on mining safety programs, a laser safety seminar, roadway work zone safety programs, corporate workplace safety and health days, teen worker safety programs, city and state work safety fairs, symposiums on a variety of topics, projects to assist charities, personal protective equipment (PPE) fashion shows, and much more. For a listing of activities from last year along with photos please go to www.asse.org/naosh09.

“Today’s economic downturn is tough for everyone and some businesses believe they can save funds by cutting back in safety. That’s not a good move from a business perspective,” Patton added. “Businesses have spent about $170 billion a year on costs associated with occupational injuries and health care, and about $1 billion every week on injured employees and their medical providers — costs that take away from company profits, research and growth — costs that continue to go up as cuts in safety are being made. Indirect tangible costs of injuries may be as much as 20 times the direct costs, including costs from accident investigation, low employee morale, retraining workers and repairs and production delays, while the intangible costs of losing a loved one, a friend and a co-worker go beyond a price tag.”