Tennessee Tow Show Hosts Second Annual Safety Symposium

WINTER SPRINGS, Fla., July 9, 2019 (Newswire.com) - The Tennessee Tow Show this year will host its second annual Towing Safety Symposium in October in Chattanooga to help address the predicament of towing operators whose lives often are endangered as they work by the roadside. 

Five state and national organizations, plus a Canadian group, will help lead the symposium, among them the Emergency Responder Safety Institute, the National Safety Council, the Tennessee Department of Transportation, the Tennessee Highway Patrol and Cone Zone = Slow Down based in British Columbia, Canada. 

Roadside injuries and fatalities can strike any company at any time. Unfortunately, tow truck operators have a high risk of fatality.

According to the National Institute of Safety and Occupational Health, motor vehicle towing operators have a fatality rate that is nearly 15 times greater than workers in other private industries. Their injury rate also is twice that of other private industries.

What can company owners do to help prevent a tragedy? Topics planned are aimed at helping towing company owners, operators and managers address critical safety issues and navigate safety requirements. They include:

• What companies should do before and after an emergency
• What additional safety steps should state towing associations take to help their member companies
• How to establish a safe work zone
• How to protect tow truck drivers
• What OSHA expects of tow truck drivers and company owners

Returning presenters include Bill Giorgis of Mike's Wrecker Service in Saginaw, Mich., one of the industry's leading safety advocates. The opening panel discussion will be moderated by towing industry attorney and safety advocate Michael McGovern, who also held the floor last year. The four-hour Safety Symposium is sponsored by Zip's-AW Direct.

Attending the safety symposium could save your life or that of a driver. While entrance to the Tennessee Tow Show exhibit floor is free, the Safety Symposium requires a seminar pass – $50 per person in advance or $75 at the door. 

The Tennessee Tow Show is co-hosted by TT Publications Inc., publishers of Tow Times magazine, and the Tennessee Tow Truck Association. To learn more about the Tennessee Tow Show and to register for the Second Annual Safety Symposium, visit TennesseeTowshow.com or contact Brenda Faulman, 407-936-2494, or [email protected].

Source: Tow Times magazine