Safety Matters

Summer is finally here (or slowly making its way here) which means that highway crews will be out on Nova Scotia roads making much needed improvements.

The Provincial Government is working with the Nova Scotia Road Builders Association on a campaign to remind drivers to slow down in highway work zones as workers are finding that speeding drivers are an issue each and every year during roadwork season.

After such a long winter, Nova Scotians are rightly excited to get outside this summer to spend time at a cottage, visit friends, or travel to a new vacation destination in another part of the province. Summer is short, and you don’t want to spend your time stuck in highway traffic. That’s understandable, but everyone needs to remember that these highways are worksites for hundreds of Nova Scotians, and their safety must come first.

The provincial Department of Labour and Advanced Education and the Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia are working on a five year Workplace Safety Strategy with the long-term vision to establish Nova Scotia as the safest place to work in Canada. Part of that journey is creating a safety culture, where workplace safety is top-of-mind for employers, employees, customers and clients. Part of building this culture means getting to a place where Nova Scotia’s drivers would automatically respect that highways are a workplace during the summer season and act accordingly.

Everyone deserves to come home safe at the end of a shift, which is the message of our workplace safety campaign called “What Matters Most." The WCB is pleased that the Province and the Nova Scotia Road Builders Association have launched this highway safety campaign to make their industry safer, and to make all Nova Scotians more aware of the role they play in keeping road crews safe.