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IWIF's Safety Saves Week
Promotes Young Worker Safety
(TOWSON, MD) - June is National Safety month. Beginning June 19,
IWIF, Maryland's largest workers' compensation insurance carrier,
will sponsor a statewide initiative called Safety Saves Week. This
year, the theme is Safety Rules for Young Workers. IWIF sponsors
Safety Saves Week each year to raise awareness among business owners
about the importance of making safety a top priority in the workplace.
With young people flocking to summer jobs during this school vacation,
employers should be aware of these statistics from the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH): Workplace
accidents injure about 230,000 young employees-70 of them fatally--every
year. Maryland Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH) estimates more
than 4,500 young workers ages 24 and under are injured on the job
every year in Maryland.
Thomas Bromwell, IWIF President and CEO, says: "In 2004, more
than 15% of the private-industry claims made to IWIF for on-the-job
injuries came from workers ages 16 - 24. Our corporate goal is to
work with employers to help eliminate all workplace injuries, especially
those involving young workers."
To create awareness about IWIF's Safety Saves Week and young worker
safety, IWIF developed an information kit titled Safety Rules! Young
Worker Safety for Employers. The kit will be distributed to IWIF's
2,500 largest policyholders and Maryland's top independent insurance
agents. The free kit will also be available for order on IWIF's
web site www.iwif.com.
In addition, IWIF will run a two-week radio and television public
awareness campaign in June that targets business owners, independent
insurance agents and the working public.
IWIF's Safety Saves Week was proclaimed official by the Maryland
Governor's office in 2001.
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