The True Meaning of the Green Cross

For over 10 years, the Green Cross for Safety ® Awards have been synonymous with excellence, recognizing the best and brightest in safety. Individuals, small teams and large corporations have all shared this prestigious honor, and the uniting factor is always a passion for keeping people safe, finding new ways to solve existing safety challenges, and raising awareness for promising practices.

In short, each and every Green Cross for Safety ® award winner has done all they can and more to save lives and prevent injuries, from the workplace to anyplace.

Sharing their stories with the world is inspiring. I love hearing from individuals around the country about the innovative ways they’re meeting safety challenges at work, advocating for new approaches to keeping people out of harm’s way, and embodying safety excellence for their organizations. There’s so much more to safety than just the numbers alone. Each winner and finalist has a powerful story to tell.

La-Z-Boy may be a household name, but they also have a recognized commitment to ergonomic safety.  The 2020 Excellence award winner has improved manufacturing processes, employee programs and technology to help workers to safely manufacture the high-quality furniture they’re known for.

Driven to Protect Virginia, a finalist for the 2020 Innovation award, is advancing vehicle-integrated technologies to prevent impaired driving. They build public acceptance and awareness for the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) program, that can help keep road users safe and prevent deadly alcohol-impaired crashes - which still comprise a third of all roadway deaths in the U.S.

After experiencing the heart-breaking loss of their only son, Avi and Julie Israel founded Save the Michaels of the World (STM) to fill the unmet needs for addiction treatment and services in their community. The 2020 Advocate award winner has created a support system for other families while advocating for opioid treatment, recovery and eliminating the stigma that so often accompanies the struggle with addiction. Their success has meant life-changing access to treatment and improved recovery rates for thousands of patients and their families, and restored lives.

Whether it comes to workplace, roadway or impairment-related safety, there are countless individuals and organizations working tirelessly to make the world a better, safer place to be, and we want to highlight their accomplishments. Whose safety advocacy, innovation and excellence will we celebrate this year? That’s up to you.

The deadline for nominations is Feb. 28, 2021. The Green Cross for Safety® Awards will be given at the Green Cross Celebration on Oct. 11, 2021, in Orlando, Florida. To learn more about how your company can align its brand with NSC by supporting this special event, please contact Jamie Arquilla. 

There’s still time to submit and have your safety achievements recognized. We can’t wait to share your story.

By Tracey Scruggs

Courtesy of The National Safety Council's Safety First Blog

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