( Added: June 1, 2009 ) - IAPA has officially opened its call for nominations for the 2010 IAPA Russ Ramsay Media Awards for Excellence in Health and Safety Reporting.

All print (consumer and trade), radio, and television media distributed and broadcast in Ontario are invited to submit work focusing on workplace health and safety for award consideration. New this year, university and college student entries will also be accepted. Entry categories include:

- Trade Media:

- Excellence in print feature reporting

- Consumer Media

- Excellence in print feature reporting (newspapers and magazines) - Excellence in radio feature reporting - Excellence in television feature reporting

- Student Media:

- Excellence in print feature reporting (newspapers and magazines) - Excellence in radio feature reporting

The IAPA Russ Ramsay Media Awards for Excellence in Health and Safety Reporting was established by IAPA to honour outstanding journalism that enhances the public awareness and understanding of workplace health and safety issues. This is the third year IAPA will be presenting the award. Past award winners include, Dan Birch - OHS Canada magazine (2009), Kellie Hudson - CBC Radio (2008), and Michelle Morra - Canadian Occupational Safety magazine (2008).

"At IAPA, we understand the critical role media play in helping us achieve our mission to improve the quality of life in the workplaces and communities we serve," says Maureen Shaw, IAPA President and CEO. "We are proud to acknowledge journalists who not only excel at their craft, but who show a dedication to sharing health and safety knowledge with the public and hope that this award encourages more media to pursue these important topics in the future."

"I am extremely excited that we were able to expand the award to include student media and see this as a fabulous opportunity to have health and safety information circulate among younger audiences."

For award consideration, all materials must be submitted by Tuesday, February 9, 2010. Only work published or aired between January 1 and December 31, 2009 will be eligible. There is no fee for participating in the award process. All entries will be judged by a comprehensive panel of media professionals and IAPA staff and will be evaluated based on how well the issue of workplace health and safety is covered, the quality of story delivery, and how in-depth and accurate the coverage is on the issue.

The award nomination package, entry form, and additional information are available on the IAPA website, www.iapa.ca, under the 'Outreach' section. The IAPA Russ Ramsay Media Awards for Excellence in Health and Safety Reporting are presented annually at IAPA's national conference and trade show, Health & Safety Canada - the largest event of its kind in Canada. The 2010 awards will be presented during the conference dates of May 3 - 5, 2010 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Ontario.

Russ Ramsay was IAPA's fifth and last general manager (1987 - 1995). He was a broadcaster, a legislator, and a pioneer in the promotion of workplace health and safety as a critical societal issue. He was affiliated with the broadcasting industry for more than 30 years, holding such esteemed positions as President of the Central Canada Broadcasters' Association and a Board member of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters. He was a former Minister of Labour for the Province of Ontario and was also a recipient of the Order of Canada.