Sep. 14—Utility workers got the chance to learn about safety on the job thanks to the "Show Me Safety" fair hosted by Missouri American Water.
The fair, held at Civic Arena, had interactive exhibits, presentations and 5.5 hours of training credit toward a drinking water, distribution or wastewater certification.
"Safety is such an integral part of what Missouri American Water does every day, I mean our job is to provide safe drinking water for our community (and) the surrounding communities," said Shaylynn Burnham, Missouri American Water operations specialist. "So, I mean we spend so much time just training employees and really engulfing safety in every aspect."
With four breakout sessions, frontline workers could learn things like injury prevention and working around gas and pump system curves to ensure safety in the industry.
Chad Birdsong, an employee of the Excelsior Springs public works, attended the Show Me Safety fair last year and highlighted its value.
"We came here last year, that's why we're back this year," Birdsong said. "We get the DNR credit for it also, but also it gives you valuable information that you can take back and use to improve the safety in your environment ... where you are working in your workplace."
In addition, the Missouri American Water team showcased that safety is beyond the proper uniform, but it's in companies like Athletico or ARC Physical Therapy, two valuable partners that provide and teach utility workers how to properly adjust their bodies to the work they partake in.
"We kind of specialize in the treatment of the injured worker, so we do see private care patients in clinic, but majority of what our clinics across the board is work comp," said Megan Leupold with ARC Physical Therapy.
Along with the other companies that attended, Missouri American Water had its own water truck present to showcase the clean and safe water that they provide to the community.
Though this event catered to utility and water frontline workers, the community can learn a valuable lesson from this event to keep professionals safe in their line of work and ensure that everybody can go home safely to their families.
Burnham advised that the general public can help keep utility workers safe by simply being patient with professionals who are out in the field working on pipelines in roadways, putting phones down while driving and staying alert in work zones.