Headlines      2002 Dick Martin Scholarships Awarded

In memory of a tireless health and safety advocate
Dick Martin, 1944-2001

In the spring of 2002, CCOHS Council of Governors established an occupational health and safety scholarship fund in the memory of Dick Martin, a tireless pioneer of workplace health and safety in Canada. This annual, national award is available to post-secondary students enrolled in occupational health and safety programmes. For 2002, CCOHS proudly awarded a $1000 scholarship each to Joan Saary, Etobicoke, Ontario, Karen McCaig, Vancouver, British Columbia and Kristin Holm also of Vancouver, British Columbia.

The three 2002 recipients of the first Dick Martin Scholarship Award come from as different educational and professional backgrounds as could be imagined yet share a common desire to make new inroads in the occupational health and safety field.

Dr. Joan Saary, M.D., M.Sc., one of our Dick Martin Scholarship recipients, is not only enrolled in University of Toronto’s postgraduate medical specialty training program in Occupational Medicine as well as the Clinician Scientist Program, she is also pursuing her P.h.D. in medical science. Growing up in a family that included a millwright, an auto mechanic and an occupational nurse, Joan described her interest in occupational health as “only natural”. Although occupational medicine is a relatively new field, Joan feels the need is growing considering the challenges of a healthcare system that is treatment–based rather than prevention focused. Expressing her appreciation for a scholarship specifically targeted to occupational health/medicine, Joan described the funding in occupational medicine research as a struggle. Upon completion of her studies, she will be in the position to conduct independent research in occupational medicine and feels it is important for her to use her acquired skills to empower change in our approach to occupational health and our healthcare system.

Karen McCaig, B.Eng., our second scholarship recipient, hails originally from Northamptonshire in the U.K. Karen graduated with her Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mining from ACSM in the U.K. at the top of her class. Karen worked in mining for eight years but it was during her five years with a mining company in Bolivia that she developed an interest in the impact of mining on communities and workers. During that time Karen designed and conducted environmental contamination workshops for Bolivian mining cooperatives and participated in many health and safety initiatives. She is currently completing her first of a two year M.Sc. program at the School of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, University of British Columbia and working on her thesis: Development of human health impact indicators on the evaluation of mining projects. Karen is a self professed world traveler and describes herself as “working her way around the world”.

The third recipient of the Dick Martin Scholarship Award is Kristin Holm, B.A., a native to British Columbia. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Simon Fraser University, Kristin extended her summer job to a full time position, driving a Greyhound bus through the Rocky Mountains on the Calgary to Vancouver route, a vocation not without risk! She is also a world traveler having spent extended vacations in India and Nepal. It was her participation on her workplace Health and Safety Committee that inspired her to take various courses in emergency preparedness and leadership, ultimately leading her to enroll in the Occupational Health and Safety Diploma at the B.C. Institute of Technology. She will graduate in May 2003 and is hoping to apply her accumulated skills to make a difference in an organization, helping to foster a health and safety culture and create a workplace that is safe.

As part of the evaluation criteria for the award, applicants submitted essays related to their aspirations in occupational health and safety and were judged on their knowledge of the subject matter, understanding the principles and values of Dick Martin, and understanding the role of CCOHS. You can read the essays submitted as part of the scholarship application:

More information about Dick Martin
How to apply for Dick Martin Scholarship Awards

The Council of Governors of CCOHS is paying tribute to his tireless efforts with The Dick Martin Scholarship Award program. This annual, national award will be available to students enrolled in occupational health and safety programmes. This year, there are three, $1000 awards to be presented.

The CCOHS Council of Governors announced this past Spring 2002 that they were establishing an occupational health and safety scholarship fund in the memory of Dick Martin, a pioneer of workplace health and safety in Canada.

Martin, who died at 57 of cancer in October 2001, was a CCOHS Governor. He joined the Council in its early days and returned again, ending his second term in 2000. He was also instrumental in the establishment in 1984 of the Canadian National Day of Mourning, April 28, to honour workers killed or injured on the job. The Day of Mourning, timed with the country's first comprehensive workers' compensation legislation, is now recognized in 80 countries. Martin, born in southern Ontario, became a labour activist after he took a job in a nickel mine in Thompson, Manitoba. He once described the conditions as "appalling". Eventually, Martin became president of his steelworkers' local, which led to a six-year presidency of the Manitoba Federation of Labour. In 1982, he became the founding chairperson of the board of directors of the MFL Occupational Health Centre, the first of its kind in Canada.

Two years later, Martin was elected an Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress and, in 1992, elected by acclamation as Secretary-Treasurer. "Dick will be remembered across the country and around the world for his fervour in advancing the cause of health and safety in the workplace and his strong-minded anti-poverty activism," said Nancy Riche, who succeeded Martin as Secretary-Treasurer. In 1997, he was elected president of the 43-million member Inter-American Regional Labour Organization (ORIT), the only English-speaking president in the organization since it was founded in 1949.

How to apply for Dick Martin Scholarship Awards

Descriptions of the criteria and eligibility can be found in the two downloadable PDF documents below.

1. Award criteria (PDF)

2. Award Application Form (Word)

To view PDF files, you need the Adobe Acrobat Reader software available free from Adobe.

More information about Dick Martin

Principles and Values of Dick Martin

http://www.uswa.ca/eng/tributes/dmartin.htm

http://www.whsc.on.ca/NEWS/DickMartin.html

CCOHS Media Release

Making Donations to the Dick Martin Scholarship Fund

Please contact CCOHS at 1-800-263-8466 or email scholarship@ccohs.ca