June is National Safety Month

According to the National Safety Council, June marks National Safety Month (NSM). The National Safety Council states that the goal of this annual observance is to educate and influence behaviors around the leading causes of preventable injuries and deaths. Throughout June, the council offers themes that organizations can take part in to promote awareness of critical safety issues. The themes for 2012 are:

• Week 1: Employee Wellness and the Presidential Active Lifestyle (PALA) Challenge
• Week 2: Ergonomics
• Week 3: Preventing slips, trips and falls
• Week 4: Driving safety

To view the full list of themes or to sign up for monthly updates, visit the National Safety Council website.

SPOTLIGHT

Cyberbullying in Texas

With increased media attention surrounding cyberbullying, many states are creating laws and mandates to prevent future cases from arising. In June of last year, for example, three Texas girls were sued because they posted a threatening video about another girl on Facebook. The father of the girl who was threatened filed a defamation of character lawsuit against the three girls.

Texas House Bill 1942 encourages staff training in preventing, identifying, and responding to reported incidents of bullying. PublicSchoolWORKS offers a series of courses to address this Bill. This training is available for all school staff and officials to better assist them in handling and responding to incidents of bullying.

SPOTLIGHT

Jason Flatt Act

According to an article on Metro News, on March 13, 2012, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin signed the Jason Flatt Act, a bill that will require the West Virginia Center for Professional Development to provide training resources on suicide prevention for state schools. According to the article, the goal of the bill is to train teachers on the warning signs of depression and suicide. The Jason Flatt act was created after the 1997 suicide of Jason Flatt. Following his son’s passing, Clark Flatt, Jason’s father, pushed state legislators to pass a law that would help prevent future suicides from occurring. At the time the article was published, West Virginia was the seventh state to pass the act, but has since been followed by both Utah and South Carolina.

Does your school currently offer suicide prevention training for staff? No? Share your comments with us on Twitter @PSWORKS.

SPOTLIGHT

New Colorado Transportation Mandate

According to a Teller County news source, luckily the 14 children on board the school bus traveling to Colorado Springs Christian School were all released to their parents following a school bus crash this past January. The driver, however, was sent to Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs and was unconscious following the accident. The article reports that the accident was the result of an illegal turn made by the bus driver that resulted in the bus being hit by an oncoming car. The two occupants from the oncoming car were taken to Pikes Peak Regional Hospital. Their injuries were reported to be minor.

Colorado is instituting a mandate that transportation staff must now get six hours of training. The mandate also states that the training cannot be completed all at one time. PublicSchoolWORKS offers training to fulfill the mandate requirements for all Colorado transportation staff and a system that helps districts to deliver training while reducing the time and effort normally required to manage online training. To ensure that your district is in compliance with this new mandate, email sales@publicschoolworks.com.