Safety Fest Feb. 19-21 at NIC Workforce Training Center
Posted: Wednesday, Jan 22, 2025
Safety Fest of the Great Northwest is set to take place Feb. 19 to 21 at the NIC Workforce Training Center, 525 S. Clearwater Loop, Post Falls.
In its 17th year, this three-day event gives front-line workers, safety professionals and the public an opportunity to receive free training from the area’s best safety instructors.
Registration is now open, and the more than 80 scheduled classes are filling up fast. Anyone interested in participating is encouraged to sign up soon. A class schedule and registration instructions are available at nic.edu/safetyfest.
“The training is serious, but the atmosphere is fun. We have hundreds of people coming together for a very important, very positive, common purpose: to create safe work and living environments in our region,” said Colleen Hoffman, event organizer and NIC Workforce Training customized training manager.
Safety Fest events occur throughout the state each year. The classes offered at the North Idaho event cover a broad range of topics, including fall protection awareness, mine safety, hazardous waste operations, active shooter training, ladder and work platform safety, work zone flagging, air quality, boating safety, heat illness prevention, suicide prevention, cyber safety, and much more.
The North Idaho Safety Fest comes together through the combined efforts of many. Large and small businesses, industry, nonprofits, and municipal agencies all join together to promote safety and health for workers and in everyday life.
“There is tremendous support from our community and partner organizations,” Hoffman said. “We are all working toward the same goal. If it can save one life, it’s more than worth it.”
Greg Rodriguez is the Safety and Environmental Officer for Ginno Construction, a Coeur d’Alene-based builder and one of the organizations that helps sponsor Safety Fest each year.
“Employers like Ginno find Safety Fest an important event because it provides another resource for training employees as well as access to subject matter experts,” Rodriguez said. “It also allows contractors that work with Ginno, that may not have a full-time safety person, to get the training their employees need for the job, while helping their employees understand why doing their job safely is important.”
The free classes teach the most up-to-date best practices for safety and are presented by expert instructors who volunteer their time. Some of these industry professionals teach at the Workforce Training Center and many come from businesses and other agencies that help make Safety Fest a success each year in North Idaho.
The classes are always well attended. In 2024, Safety Fest attracted 535 students who completed a total of 1,308 classes over the three-day event.
“These classes are open to anyone interested in safety-related training, but they fill up fast,” Hoffman said.
For more information, visit nic.edu/safetyfest.
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