With planning now underway by the British Columbia Lotto Corporation (BCLC) and your employer to reopen casinos in B.C., your worksite occupational health and safety (OH&S) committees have been working hard to ensure that your worksite will be safe for your return to work.
 
To make sure the committees cover all of your concerns, we recently asked you to participate in an online survey and we received an excellent response. You told us what is important to you and we will be delivering your feedback to your employer in an upcoming return-to-operations discussion taking place in the coming weeks.
 
Here is what we learned:

• You want more information about who your worksite OH&S committee members are
   
• You know how to report a safety concern and you know that by law you can refuse unsafe work
   
• You support the use of face masks in the casino and you want there to be ongoing sanitization of surfaces
   
• You know that you play a part in keeping the workplace clean and sanitized, and this includes the employee common areas as well as other assets
   
• You want social distancing protocols to be established and followed
   
• You will feel safer knowing that guests and coworkers will not be allowed access to the casino if they exhibit any of the COVID-19 symptoms
   
• You are happy to know that BCLC will be monitoring and adjusting their COVID-19 protocols and how they apply specifically to casinos in B.C.; that there will be limits to the number of people who can come into the casino; and that players will be restricted in how they can access assets, and in their interactions with staff

We had participation from the following worksites:

Cascades Casino (Kamloops)
Elements Casino (Victoria)
Grand Villa Casino (Burnaby)
Hard Rock Casino (Coquitlam)
Lake City Casino (Vernon)
Playtime Casino (Kelowna)
River Rock Casino (Richmond)
Starlight Casino (New Westminster)

We learned a lot from you on how you want the OH&S committees to advocate for worker rights. Your OH&S committee looks forward to sharing this feedback with your employer.
 
Thank you for participating in the survey. Let's all do our part to make sure the return to work will be safe for everyone! 

In solidarity,

BCGEU Staff Representatives assigned to casinos
Your worksite OH&S representatives

UWU/MoveUP