ITASCA, Ill., Dec. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The National
Safety Council has received a $500,000 grant from the Pittsburgh-based McElhattan Foundation to
launch the Work to Zero initiative, which will help educate
employers about new technological safety advancements that promise
to reduce and ultimately eliminate preventable deaths in the
workplace. NSC also will develop tools and resources for employers
who want to integrate potentially life-saving technology, including
comprehensive reports and a training program.
The grant is the largest single-payment grant in the history of
the McElhattan Foundation, established last year by Kent McElhattan, co-founder and chairman at
Industrial Scientific and former NSC Board of Directors
chairman.
"Fourteen people every day go to work and never return to their
loved ones," said Deborah A.P.
Hersman, president and CEO of the National Safety Council.
"Technology holds immense promise when it comes to mitigating human
error – we are seeing this on our roadways as our vehicles become
more automated, and we can see it in our workplaces, too. The
National Safety Council is very grateful to the McElhattan
Foundation for providing us with the financial tools needed to
advance safety in the workplace."
Kent McElhattan, chairman of the
McElhattan Foundation, said, "This year, in the USA alone over 5,000 men and women will lose
their lives on the job. Each fatality is a catastrophic,
unrecoverable loss for their families, co-workers and communities.
We are delighted to partner with the National Safety Council to
fulfill Industrial Scientific's vision of ending death on the job
by the year 2050."
Workplace deaths increased for a third straight year in 2016,
with work-related serious injuries totaling 4.5 million and
costing society an estimated $151.1
billion.
A 2017 Pew Research Center report indicates that Americans
anticipate technology will impact their work environments in the
coming years. The National Safety Council surveyed its 15,000
member companies to gauge their interest in workplace technologies,
and found 100 percent have a strong interest in knowing more about
technologies and how to implement innovations such as augmented and
virtual reality, artificial intelligence, sensors, wearables,
drones and robotics.
The National Safety Council plans to leverage The Campbell
Institute – the global center for EHS excellence at NSC – to pilot
technology training programs and evaluate results.
For more about the Council's workplace safety initiatives, visit
nsc.org/work-safety.
About the National Safety Council
The National Safety
Council (nsc.org) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to
eliminate preventable deaths at work, in homes and communities, and
on the road through leadership, research, education and advocacy.
Founded in 1913 and chartered by Congress, NSC advances this
mission by partnering with businesses, government agencies, elected
officials and the public in areas where we can make the most
impact.
About the McElhattan Foundation
The McElhattan
Foundation, established in 1994, originally served as the
philanthropic arm of Industrial Scientific Corporation, a company
founded by K.E. McElhattan and his son, Kent D. McElhattan. When the family sold
Industrial Scientific in 2017, a portion of the proceeds went into
the Foundation's endowment, and the Foundation chose "preserving
and enhancing human life" as its mission. Now, the Foundation
awards grants twice per year in four program areas: workplace
safety; education; palliative care; and community development in
Knox and Franklin, PA. More information is available at
mcelhattan.org.
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Connect with the McElhattan Foundation:
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SOURCE National Safety Council