Regina, Sask., May 18, 2022 – Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Dan Comiskey knows what it’s like to lose a loved one while working on the job. In 2001, Comiskey’s brother was electrocuted and killed while working as an electrical lineman because he was wearing the wrong gloves. Comiskey’s family also experienced a workplace tragedy when his father-in-law was hit on the head by a piece of rock while on his first day on the job at a mine in the Northwest Territories. Now a professional safety speaker, Comiskey uses his world of sports and family to spread the message of creating habits to keep all workers safe at work.
“We need to use everything at our disposal to protect ourselves and the ones we love from life-altering or life-ending injuries. One of the biggest weapons that we all have in this journey is the ability to create our own habits,” says Comiskey. “We can either use the power of habits to help us create a safe work environment and a safe home life or we can choose to ignore the power of these behaviours. If we choose to ignore this power, we could be missing the opportunity for success in life.”
Comiskey is one of the featured speakers at the second day of the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board’s (WCB’s) annual free event, Compensation Institute, held May 17-18. The final day of the 24th event focuses on the power of habit when it comes to safety in the workplace, cultivating safe habits and tools to enhance work-life harmony.
Comiskey, who lived in Regina, played as an offensive lineman in the Canadian Football League for 13 seasons – including four years with the Saskatchewan Roughriders – before retiring in 2010 as a perennial all-star, but more importantly to him, as part of two Grey Cup championships with the Edmonton Eskimos.
This afternoon’s featured presenters include:
- Amy Zuk, an Alberta-born safety facilitator and coach for the last 12 years, witnessed her father lose a finger, an uncle hitting an overhead powerline with a cultivator, the home fuel shed burning down and her mom screaming to find where her three children were.
- Jessica Grass, a therapist, educator and facilitator from MyWorkplaceHealth, will provide attendees with skills and strategies for cultivating increased harmony or integration between work and personal lives to enhance psychological well-being.
Compensation Institute attendees will be able to learn more about the WCB, including employer accounts, prevention of serious injuries and the claims process.
The event is being presented online for workers, employers, WCB partners, key stakeholders and members of the media throughout the province.
“The theme of this year’s conference is to eliminate injuries and restore abilities, which is also the WCB’s vision,” says Kevin Mooney, the WCB’s vice-president of prevention and employer services. “Compensation Institute is an important avenue in support of our vision. This event presents just one opportunity where we can connect and engage with our customers and partners on workplace safety. It is also a chance to learn about the workers’ compensation system.”