Workplace health programs have power to save lives. (Special Report: Health).

The workplace safety program in place Eat St. Marys Paper Ltd. has become an integral component of the company's foundation and commitment to their employees.

With a progressive approach, the company has established a program that is not only beneficial to employees, but to their families and the community as well.

"Keeping your employees healthy and happy is a large part of having a successful business," says Steve Taylor, plant safety supervisor.

Taylor believes the initiatives taken have drastically improved employee health and their awareness of health-related problems.

"We have a large cross-section of programs our joint health and safety committee and the company feels are important to our employees," says Taylor.

The company holds an annual health and safety awareness day at the plant for the employees every November. It takes place during the workweek and every employee is given ample time and opportunity to explore and investigate the booths set up in the conference room. There are a wide variety of groups and programs set up for the employees to interact with. An employee can have his or her blood pressure tested or ask questions about problems one of their family members is having.

"It gives the employee an opportunity to pick up literature on health and safety concerns and ask medical professionals questions. It is quite a resource for our employees," says Taylor.

One of the major components of the program is the prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing. This program is an early detection method for identifying prostate cancer. It costs about $25 per person. The process involves taking a small sample of blood and testing it for PSA. The results are usually revealed within a month and are mailed to the employee's family physician. Last year the company had about 70 people tested and as a result, one employee was found to have prostate cancer.

"The employee had no symptoms of prostate cancer and was considered healthy," says Taylor. Catching prostate cancer in its early stages is beneficial to helping the person get help.

The PSA testing came about when two employees were diagnosed last year with prostate cancer prior to the health and safety day and they helped bring the awareness program to the plant.

Taylor believes the tests are important to the company, which has a large percentage of male employees.

"This proved very worthwhile to us. Anytime you can discover health problems in their infancy and catch it, the sooner you can provide some type of remedy," says Taylor.

There have been no challenges in implementing the program into the plant. Taylor contacts the groups well in advance to get their participation and the plant has a huge conference room capable of accommodating the booths and people.

"It is a case of co-ordination more than anything, getting started early and contacting the groups," says Taylor.

Taylor believes it would be beneficial to other companies to have a health and safety day and would be willing to give tips or hints on getting the event organized. He can be reached at 1-705-942-6070, ext. 2322.

"The amount of time we spend on the day is very rewarding and worthwhile," says Taylor.

The health and safety day at St. Marys Paper Ltd. has been going strong for seven years. In that time Taylor believes the programs have saved lives over the years.

"We have had individuals in the past that have had their blood pressure checked and rechecked and been told by nurses to leave and go to the hospital or to their doctor immediately, their blood pressure was that high," says Taylor.