Bay College Safety Conference said they hope all attendees take these kinds of training seriously as it could have life-altering consequences.

ESCANABA, Mich. (WLUC) - On Friday, Bay College hosted its annual Upper Michigan Safety Conference at the Besse Center on campus for work employees.

Almost 30 vendors were there from all over the U.P. to showcase and discuss safety. Bay College Business Development Manager Renee Lundberg said the conference is for all workforce fields.

“General industry to construction and that includes office workers, it includes anything,” said Lundberg. “What we provide here might not be specific to your industry, but the message remains the same: it’s Safety. It’s your personal safety.”

Renee also said they have hosted this conference for 20 years because safety is important for both employees and employers.

“We want everyone to come to work and do a great good job but be able to go home, and we need to always have safety at the forefront,” said Lundberg. “We need to recognize that our ultimate goal is to come home to our families.”

Rene also said this event also had almost 30 vendors from all over the U.P. to showcase and discuss safety. This year, Keynote Speaker Russ Youngstrom said he came to express the importance of safety in the workplace. Russ also says he lost the ability to use his legs 27 years ago because he didn’t take work safety seriously.

“My accident was my fault 100% the day I got hurt. I had two safety meetings that day and one was a fall protection safety meeting that I ignored,” said Youngstrom. “Then I’m on my way to the hospital an hour later.”

Youngstrom said his final message to all workers is to be aware of their surroundings to keep themselves and other employees safe.

“This will eventually happen to you if you’re unsafe and if you have workers like me, you need to fire them immediately,” said Youngstrom. “I would do that so they don’t hurt someone else or themselves.”

Organizers said they hope all attendees take these kinds of training seriously as it could have life-altering consequences.

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