Page 44 - GBC summer 2015

What do you do for your employees to deal with extreme heat at your facility in
the summer?
Sun Safety for the Team!
In the golf business, owners and operators are sometimes so busy thinking about customers that they overlook the needs of their employees. Yet we all know the importance of retaining good staff, and that it takes more than decent wages to do so. With this is mind, Heron Landing Golf Club teamed up with the Peterborough County-City Health Unit in the spring of 2014 to offer our outdoor workers a unique experience aimed at keeping them healthy: a sun safety pilot program specifically designed for those who earn their living outside. One in seven Canadians will develop skin cancer (and outdoor workers are especially susceptible) but 90% of skin cancer cases can be prevented.
With the help of public health nurses, we began with an educational session for our grounds crew and player’s assis- tants. First, we did a short survey to give us an initial benchmark of their attitudes towards sun safety. Then we presented
Heron Landing Golf Club grounds crew at educational session with one of the public health nurses.
an interactive video on the health effects of UV radiation and how to prevent skin cancer. We ended the session with freebies: water bottles, sunglasses, and sun screen supplied by the health unit and much appreciated by the staff.
Next, we set up a sun safety table in the pro shop in a location our employees pass every day. Items on the table included litera- ture provided by the health unit and the day’s UV index reading. Also on the table was merchandise such as sun screen, lip balm, brimmed hats and cooling towels (all sold at cost to staff). The table proved to be of interest to golfers as well and we capitalized on this by giving out a ballot for a monthly free golf draw when- ever a purchase was made. Incidentally, we sold out of cooling towels and hats.
44 Golf Business Canada