Dick Martin Scholarship Award

• Program: Health and Safety or Public Safety
• Volunteer Experience (Not Required)

The CCOHS Council of Governors established this scholarship fund in 2002 in the memory of Dick Martin, a tireless health and safety advocate and a pioneer of workplace health and safety in Canada.

Awarded annually, this $3,000 national scholarship is available to any student enrolled, either full-time or part-time, in an occupational health and safety related course or program leading to an occupational health and safety certificate, diploma or degree at an accredited college or university in Canada. Programs include mine safety, occupational or industrial health and safety, industrial hygiene, safety management or other related safety degree program.

Marks on the entire application package will be weighted as follows:

• Application – 15%
• Letter– 25%
• Essay – 60%

The Essay will be evaluated based on:

• Intellectual content (original, thought-provoking) - 50%
• Practical value – 20%
• Theoretical value – 20%
• Presentation and style – 10%

Dick Martin, a CCOHS Governor, died of cancer in October 2001 at the age of 57. In the spring of 2002 the CCOHS Council of Governors established an occupational health and safety scholarship fund in his memory.

Dick Martin joined the CCOHS Council in its early days and returned again, ending his second term in 2000. He was 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.

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) has a vision: the elimination of work-related illnesses and injuries. We serve Canadians - and the world - with credible and relevant tools and resources to improve workplace health and safety programs. We believe that all Canadians have a fundamental right to a healthy and safe working environment. Through our programs, services, knowledge, commitment, and action, CCOHS will continue its efforts to advance health and safety in the workplace.

CCOHS was established in 1978 by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Act, which was passed by unanimous vote in the Canadian Parliament. CCOHS promotes the total well-being – physical, psychosocial and mental health – of working Canadians by providing information, training, education, management systems and solutions that support health, safety and wellness programs. A federal department corporation, CCOHS is governed by a tripartite Council - representing government, employers and labour - to ensure a balanced, approach to workplace health and safety issues. We offer a range of workplace health and safety services to help your organization raise awareness, assess risks, implement prevention programs, and improve health, safety and well-being.