Page 45 - GBC summer 2015

Sound Off!
FrOm T e OperaTOrS
At the end of the season, we administered the survey again and were pleased to learn that more of our employees were covering up with long pants and long sleeves, wearing sunglasses, and seeking shade when possible. It is also interesting to note that the percent- age of staff who were very confident that they knew how to protect themselves from the sun rose from 27% to 60% and the percentage who were not very confident fell from 18% to 0%.
Implementing this program was easy and the costs (about two hours of wages per participant) were offset by the rewards. Our employees felt valued and the sun safety table increased sales in the pro shop. Our initial concern that the health unit would have unrealistic expectations (for example, that we would pull our employees off the
course during the peak sun hours of 10am to 3pm) were unfounded. Their nurses worked with us to come up with sustainable, practical tips that our employees could integrate into their workdays.
Our plans for the future are to make sun safety part of new employee orienta- tion with a video (provided by the health unit) and an information package with the first paycheque of the year. We have always encouraged the use of sun screen at the maintenance shop, but having a program in place makes it official that we care about our employees’ health.
Jennifer Kells, Owner / Operator
Heron Landing Golf Club, Peterborough, ON
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at shunter@ngcoa.ca.
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