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Vancouver Island student wins WCB-Science Fair prize
Richmond B.C., June 6, 2005—Vancouver Island student Elycia Hardy has won a $100 B.C. Science Fair Foundation award sponsored by the Workers' Compensation Board.
A
student at Lighthouse Christian Academy in Victoria, Hardy won for her
project Burn Risk and Skin Care Products testing whether certain
skin lotion products can increase the risk of a radiant burn after being
exposed to heat and was initiated after the grade 7 student's mother burned
her hands from the heat of an oven.
"We noticed that burns developed over parts of the hands where lotion had been applied. While both of her hands were exposed in the same way to the oven heat, the only sections of the skin that were affected creating the burn were those where lotion had been used," said Hardy.
To determine whether certain skin care products can produce different burn effects, Hardy covered sausages (in place of human skin) with a variety of products such as sun screen, hand lotions and oils and exposed each to the same thermal environment. The results showed that the skin care products used on sausages retained the heat longer and in most cases caused the skin to become hotter than those that were not covered. A number of skin care products resulted in temperatures well above the control sausage at levels capable of producing third degree burns.
Hardy received the WCB's Al Appleton WorkSafe Award which recognizes excellence in science fair projects that demonstrate occupational hygiene principles — anticipating, recognizing, evaluating and controlling health hazards in the workplace. The award was designed to honour 20-year WCB occupational hygiene officer Al Appleton who died in 2002 who was deeply committed to educating people about the importance of on-the-job health and safety.
"Hardy's project more than satisfied the award criteria of creativity, innovation and enthusiasm and we're proud to have it associated with Al Appleton's name," said Peter Newman, WCB Regional Manager for the Victoria/Nanaimo/Courtenay area. "The award is intended to raise young people's awareness of on-the-job health and safety before they start working. Workers in B.C. aged 15 to 24 years have the province's highest on-the-job injury rate, with half of all injuries occurring in the first six months of employment," said Newman.
The Workers' Compensation Board is an independent provincial statutory agency governed by a Board of Directors that serves nearly two million workers and approximately 179,000 employers. The WCB was born out of a compromise between B.C.'s workers and employers in 1917 where workers gave up the right to sue their employers or fellow workers for injuries on the job in return for a no-fault insurance program fully paid for by employers. The WCB is committed to a safe and healthy workplace, and to providing return-to-work rehabilitation and legislated compensation benefits to workers injured as a result of their employment.
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For more information please contact: |
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| Gladys Johnsen Public Affairs Manager Prevention Division, WCB 604 214-5441 or toll-free in B.C. 1 888 621-7233, local 5441 Or cell 604 908-0876 |
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