Improving the Effectiveness of Occupational Health and Safety Committees
 

Public hearings have been scheduled by Worksafe BC on proposed regulatory changes, including proposed changes to joint health and safety committees.
 

New sections of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation related to joint committees are:

• 3.26, Rights and Responsibilities, evaluation for joint committees
• 3.27, Rights and Responsibilities, minimum training requirements for new joint committee members and worker health and safety representatives
• 3.28, Rights and Responsibilities, participation by employer or representative of employer and worker representative in employer investigations
   

WorkSafeBC Regulatory Practices has prepared a draft Joint Health and Safety Committee Evaluation Tool, for stakeholders to provide their written comments. The draft evaluation tool, and information on how to provide feedback, can be accessed through this link.

Public Hearing Details
 

September 21, 2016
Coast Victoria Harbourside Hotel & Marina
146 Kingston Street, Victoria, B.C.

September 27, 2016
Best Western Hotel
2402 Highway 97 N, Kelowna, B.C.

September 27, 2016
Via video conference - Community Futures
110A Slater Road NW, Cranbrook, B.C.

October 4, 2016
Ramada Prince George
444 George Street, Prince George, B.C.

October 6, 2016
Executive Airport Plaza Hotel & Conference Centre
7311 Westminster Highway, Richmond, B.C.

Session Times:
3 to 5 p.m.
7 to 9 p.m.

The issues being discussed at the public hearings are very important to the BCGEU. In particular the new sections proposed for joint committee training, evaluation and participation in investigations. Your OHS Officers have been actively involved in the public consultation phase of the proposed regulatory changes, and have been advocating for language that will benefit our members.
 

We will ensure that we have a strong presence from the BCGEU leadership at these public hearings to see that we achieve the best language in the regulation for joint committees, worker representatives, and worker participation. You also have the right to speak to all of the proposed changes as a worker in British Columbia.
 

For more information, visit the Worker Compensation Board’s website:

https://www.worksafebc.com/en/law-policy/public-hearings-consultations/current-public-hearings-and-consultations/2016-public-hearings-proposed-regulatory-changes

If you have any feedback or questions about our position on the proposed regulation, contact your OHS Officers at 604-291-9611 or by emailing us at [email protected]

Download PDF of notice here

UNIFOR467/MoveUP

BCGEU members that work at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam continue to face unacceptable levels of violence and risk of serious injury. Our members were directed by the employer to release patients from seclusion rooms in spite of contrary advice by the care team. The patients were secluded due to incidents of violence against other patients and workers. They were still exhibiting aggressive behaviours at the time of the direction to release.

Immediately following release, these patients were involved in a violent incident which put our members at risk of serious injury. This employer has repeatedly displayed an unwillingness to hear the worker’s voices and to recognize that their opinions and concerns have merit. Front line workers know the patients and their tendencies better than an employer that rarely comes onto the floor.

Forensic Psychiatric Hospital falls under the mandate of the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA). The PHSA is responsible for thirteen organizations and the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital has an obviously poor record when it comes to violent incidents. In a recent annual review, the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital accounted for almost 55% of lost time compensation due to violence - $123,879.50 out of a total of $226,881.18. Days lost to violent incidents for the thirteen organizations totalled 1297 with Forensic Psychiatric Hospital accounting for 837 of those lost days – 64.5%.

We want to remind our members of their right to refuse unsafe work – a right that is protected by the law in British Columbia.

• Step 1 - If you have reasonable cause to believe that carrying out a work process will create an undue hazard to the health and safety of any person, do not carry out the work and report this to your supervisor. The supervisor’s responsibility is to investigate your concern and to eliminate the hazard. If the supervisor doesn’t eliminate the hazard and/or disagrees there is a safety issue, go to
• Step 2 - report the issue to an OHS worker representative of your choice. The OHS worker representative assesses the situation and if the issue is still unresolved, go to
• Step 3 – you and the supervisor must call WCB and report your refusal of unsafe work. A WCB officer must then investigate the issue without undue delay and make a decision.

Only when the WCB officer deems it safe to proceed with the work should you carry out the work.

Keep your OHS worker representative, steward, staff representative or BCGEU OHS officers apprised of the situation so that you can receive the support you need. Under the law in BC, you must not face any discriminatory action for invoking your right to refuse unsafe work. Discriminatory action can include demotion, loss of wages or work, intimidation or discipline.

Click here to access a “refusal of unsafe work” pocket card (Print double-sided and cut to pocket size) and a link to the WCB website. Call us at 604-291-9611 or [email protected] if you have any questions.

Sherry Ogasawara,  BCGEU Vice President, Health Services Component 4

Wendy Mah, BCGEU OH&S Officer         

Sean Antrim,  BCGEU Staff Representative

"2 Day Joint OHS Committee Training" will be held on Tuesday August 9th and Wednesday August 10th. This course will be held at the BCGEU area office, 8555 - 198A Street
Langley from 9:00 am - 4:30 pm each day.

In the Joint OHS Committee Training course you will learn:

• Worker OHS rights, including the refusal of unsafe work procedure
• OHS legislation
• Roles and responsibilities of employers, workers, supervisors and committees
• Hazard identification and control measures
• How to conduct effective workplace inspections and incident investigations
• Resources available to the committee

This course is limited to 22 seats so register early at https://gww.gov.bc.ca/ (click on Learning on the Left Hand side of @Work Home Page) to avoid disappointment.

Don't miss out on this opportunity to improve your ability to advocate for workers' health and safety rights - register today.

Note: If you have not taken your annual education leave, as mandated by the Workers' Compensation Act and your Collective Agreement - apply for this employer paid leave through your employer.

Register now for the BCGEU Region 4 Women’s Conference, September 23-24, 2016 in Prince George. The Conference is open to all BCGEU women in Areas 06, 10, 11 & 12.

The Conference commences on Friday evening at 7:00 pm at the Ramada Hotel, 444 George St., Prince George with a panel session which will include a dynamic group of guest speakers. The evening will wrap up with social with lights snacks and a cash bar.

The conference continues on Saturday, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm with a plenary session on "Women in the Union Movement" as well as participants taking part in workshops throughout the day.

Travel, leave of absence and accommodation, if required, are paid by the union. Space is limited so register early!

REGISTRATION CLOSED/ALL SPACES FILLED

Download conference agenda

Download PDF of event notice

UNIFOR467/MoveUP

Canada Post’s announcement that they will lock out Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) members as soon as Friday is an attack on collective bargaining, its workers and its customers.

Canada Post is refusing to do the work of collective bargaining with CUPW by demanding massive rollbacks on the union’s hard fought gains.

Those rollbacks include moving all new hires from a defined benefit pension plan, similar to those enjoyed by many BCGEU members, to a defined contribution savings plan. There is no need for this change, as postal workers’ current pension plan is self-funded, self-sustaining, and has a $1.2 billion surplus.

Despite what people may hear in the media, Canada Post has been profitable for the last two decades and is the largest parcel delivery company in Canada. There is no need to demand sweeping concessions from Canada Post workers.

CUPW members are fighting for gender equity in pay and benefits (rural carriers, who are mostly women, receive 28% less than their mostly male counterparts in urban areas) and against two-tiered agreements that would see younger members get substantially less than their older co-workers.

We encourage BCGEU members to show solidarity with CUPW members by supporting CUPW workers on their picket lockout lines and by contacting their MP to demand that Canada Post negotiate an agreement that treats all workers equitably. 

Since mid-May, Mexican teachers have launched a nation-wide protest against new government measures that seek to shut down teacher (normal) training schools, base continued employment on teachers’ results on standardized written exams, and eliminate the need for pedagogical training for new teachers. The government’s response has been a wave of violence that includes the abduction and arbitrary detention of teacher union leaders, the firing of eight thousand teachers, and violent attacks on teacher and parent protests, which reached their worst point in Oaxaca on June 19 when security forces opened fire on protesters, killing 8 and wounding at least 45.

Working with CoDevelopment Canada, the BCGEU wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking him to press the Mexican Prime Minister on their government's human rights record during the summit in Ottawa at the end of June.

Read the letter here. 

Today the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) released a study on poverty in Vancouver. The report, Working Poverty in Metro Vancouver, presents sobering details on the increasing levels of poverty in the region. It also dispels an important myth about poverty: that getting a job will help lift a person out of poverty.

Poverty in B.C.’s largest city is increasingly a story of low paid and precarious work. Many of the jobs created since the recession of 2008 are part-time, temporary and low paid. Metro Vancouver’s otherwise strong economy increasingly relies upon these workers in security, catering, cleaning and other services.

Toronto and Vanouver have the highest working poverty rates in the country. Making the lives of the working poor even more difficult, they also have the highest costs of living in the country.

In Metro Vancouver in 2012:

• Just over half (54 per cent) of the working poor were married or living common law
• 42 per cent had dependent children
• 24 per cent were between the ages of 18 and 29

The CCPA’s report presents a way forward, and suggests several measures that can begin to eliminate working poverty. Detailed policy recommendations include raising the minimum wage, strengthening employment standards, creating affordable housing, providing high quality childcare, and other changes and investments in our social infrastructure. These are investments that are long overdue. They should be made now.

Click here to read Working Poverty in Metro Vancouver.

UNIFOR467/MoveUP

The recent hot weather in our province generated several calls to the BCGEU Occupational Health and Safety department. Members want to know if the employer has the responsibility to protect workers from hot temperatures both indoors and out. The short answer is “YES!”

The Workers Compensation Act Section 115 mandates that employers must ensure the health and safety of all workers working for that employer and remedy any workplace conditions that are hazardous to their health and safety.

Working in high temperatures can be hazardous to your health as your core body temperature could rise above safe levels and you could be susceptible to heat stress. When heat is combined with other stresses such as hard physical work, loss of fluids, fatigue or some pre-existing medical conditions, it may lead to heat-related illness, disability and even death.  Workers should be able to recognize the symptoms of heat stress in themselves and coworkers. Signs and symptoms of heat stress include:

• Onset of a headache or nausea
• Decreased efficiency, co-ordination, or alertness
• Increased irritability
• Light-headedness, dizziness, fainting
• Hands, feet, and ankles swelling, usually one to two days after first exposure

The OHS Regulation Section 7.27 - 7.30 addresses heat exposure. The employer must have policies and procedures in place to address the risk of heat exposure. A heat stress assessment plan can determine the potential for hazardous heat exposure for workers. 

Factors to consider include:

• Environmental conditions (air temperature, radiant heat, and humidity)
• Acclimatization - whether or not workers are acclimatized to heat
• Work demands (metabolic rate category for the work) - light, moderate, heavy, or very heavy
• Work clothing

If a hazard is identified, the employer must implement engineering or administrative controls to reduce the exposure of workers.

Engineering control measures could include:

• The use of mechanical assistance (hoists, lift–tables, etc.)
• Control the heat at its source through the use of insulating and reflective barriers (e.g. insulate furnace walls)
• Exhaust hot air and steam produced by operations
• Reduce the temperature and humidity through air cooling and air movement
• Providing cool, shaded work areas or air conditioning

Administrative control measures could include:

• Increase the frequency and length of rest breaks
• Schedule strenuous jobs to cooler times of the day
• Provide cool drinking water near workers and caution workers to avoid direct sunlight
• Assign additional workers or slow the pace of work
• Make sure everyone is properly acclimatized
• Train workers to recognize the signs and symptoms of heat stress and start a “buddy system” since people are not likely to notice their own symptoms

Remember, the employer has a duty to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of their workers. Don’t wait for the next heat wave. Add heat stress to the agenda for your next JOHS committee meeting so you and your employer have agreed upon steps to take when the temperature rises. You have the right to work under safe and healthy conditions at all times.

Click here for more information or contact your BCGEU Occupational Health and Safety Officers at [email protected]

UNIFOR467/MoveUP

On June 21, 1996 the federal government declared the first National Aboriginal Day. Since that time, the BCGEU has joined the celebrations and the calls for increased support and recognition of Aboriginal peoples across Canada.

Over the course of those 20 years, Aboriginal peoples in Canada have fought for and won many advancements and reinforcements of their rights – sometimes through government initiatives, but often through rulings in Canada’s court system. (see cases below)

These decisions by Canada’s highest courts and Human Rights Tribunal have defined existing Aboriginal rights under Section 35 of the Constitution Act and helped to eliminate the systemic discrimination that past Canadian governments have imposed on Aboriginal peoples.

These court decisions, while at-times cumbersome and time-consuming, have helped inform Canadians of the constitutional rights and responsibilities which hold our governments accountable as we move forward as a nation. 

In addition to the court rulings, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report, released in 2015, chronicled the legacy of cultural genocide endured by First Nations peoples at the hands of the Canadian government. The report provides 94 recommendations representing calls-to-action to Canadians, including the initiation of a statutory holiday to reflect on the truth and reconciliation process. 

On this important anniversary, the BCGEU joins First Nations in calling on all Canadians to become familiar with the TRC calls-to-action and to honour the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. By building unity with Indigenous peoples, Canada can become an international example in advancing the rights of Aboriginal peoples.

Resources

• TRC Report
• UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
• Court Rulings
  • Delgamuukw v. British Columbia (1997)
  • R. v. Marshall (1999)
  • Corbiere v. Canada (1999)
  • McIvor v. Canada (2009)
  • Tsilhqot'in Nation v British Columbia (2014)
  • First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and the Assembly of First Nations and Attorney General of Canada (2016 CHRT 2, January 16, 2016)
  • Daniels v Canada (2016)