POLICY GUIDANCE | JULY 2021 This document echoes the call for a human rights-based response to the pandemic. It offersgeneral advice on how duty bearers can respect human rights when developing policies that treatpeople differently based on whether or not they have been vaccinated against COVID-19. In thisdocument, we refer to such polices as “vaccination…
Read MoreWorkSafeBC Vaccination Mandate Announcement
The following email was sent to WorkSafeBC Staff on October 22, 2021: As you know, our primary focus throughout the pandemic has been — and continues to be — your health and safety, alongside our service to B.C.’s workers and employers. Those priorities have been front and centre in our decision-making, and we have continued…
Read MoreAsbestos Control Training (ACT)
This fall, the BC Construction Safety Alliance (BCCSA) will launch Asbestos Control Training (ACT) a series of 5 courses beginning with Asbestos 101 (Awareness Training) with specialty courses to follow. Courses are self-paced and accessible online 24/7. Asbestos Control Training is complimented by BCCSA’s newly developed Asbestos Control Tool, an easy to use resource that…
Read MoreVirtual BC Construction Health & Safety Conference
BCCSA is delivering the good news that the 2021 Virtual BC Construction Health & Safety Conference will take place on Thursday, October 14, 2021. This year’s conference will look at the theme of the construction industry’s capacity to embrace and overcome the challenges of the future. Hosted by CBC radio personality and educator Kathryn Gretsinger, conference…
Read MoreAlan Webster, instrumental in establishing the VRCA, passes away
Journal of Commerce | DCN-JOC News Services | September 20, 2021 VANCOUVER — Alan Rodger Webster, one of the founders of the Vancouver Regional Construction Association and a leader in the Metro Vancouver construction sector, has died at 82. According to his obituary, Webster died Aug. 23 after battling a brain disease. He arrived in Canada…
Read MoreMandatory vaccinations on jobsites? DCN-JOC poll results are in
Journal of Commerce | DCN-JOC News Services | September 17, 2021 ith the story continuing to evolve as more construction companies consider implementing mandatory vaccination policies for jobsites, the Daily Commercial News and Journal of Commerce wanted to get a sense of where stakeholders stood on the matter. We conducted a poll and posed this question…
Read MoreCOVID-19: ‘I am not prepared to commit fraud’ by writing false vaccine exemptions, B.C. doctor says
Vancouver Sun | September 10, 2021 | Denise Ryan After a surge in demand for medical letters for vaccine exemptions, Dr. Shane Barclay has reached his limit. In a letter to patients this week, Barclay said no exemption letters will be written for patients unless they meet the criteria set out by health authorities. A physician who…
Read MoreSt. Louis marks the front line of construction’s opioid battle in U.S.
Journal of Commerce | Don Wall | September 10, 2021 Part one of Cracks in the Foundation: Mental Health, Substance Use and Construction, examines the current state of substance use across the country, with experts painting a picture of how the industry has been specifically impacted. The fourth and final article in this DCN-JOC Special Feature…
Read MoreBoard of Directors approves 2020 and 2021 amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation
At its July 2021 meeting, WorkSafeBC’s Board of Directors approved 2020 and 2021 amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation. These amendments will come into effect on December 1, 2021. Strikethrough versions of the amendments with explanatory notes can be accessed below. Deletions in the regulatory amendments are identified with a strikethrough and additions are in bold text and highlighted…
Read MoreWestern construction workers heavily represented in overdose deaths
Journal of Commerce | Russell Hixson | September 9, 2021 Part one of Cracks in the Foundation: Mental Health, Substance Use and Construction, examines the current state of substance use across the country, with experts painting a picture of how the industry has been specifically impacted. The third article in this DCN-JOC Special Feature Series delves into…
Read MoreExciting News for BC’s Concrete Industry!
On September 2, 2021, WorkSafeBC’s Board of Directors announced the results of its July 2021 meeting approving amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, including Part 20, certification of concrete pump operators. What does this mean for industry? Effective December 1, 2021, certification will become mandatory for all concrete pump operators in British Columbia. Operators and companies…
Read MoreIndustry reacts to Kiewit, Fitzpatrick decision: ‘There is no justice here’
Journal of Commerce | Russell Hixson | September 2, 2021 When Sam Fitzpatrick’s father Brian died four years ago, Mike Pearson made a promise. “I promised Brian I would keep on fighting to the last man standing,” he said. Despite many setbacks and more than a decade of fighting, it’s a promise he intends to keep….
Read MoreOntario’s ‘other pandemic’: Construction most impacted industry
Journal of Commerce | Angela Gismondi | September 8, 2021 Part one of Cracks in the Foundation: Mental Health, Substance Use and Construction, examines the current state of substance use across the country, with experts painting a picture of how the industry has been specifically impacted. The second article in this DCN-JOC Special Feature Series delves…
Read MoreSafe Screen BC
The Business Council of British Columbia is pleased to announce the launch of Safe Screen B.C., a program developed in partnership with the British Columbia Ministry of Health and the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) to advance British Columbia’s Point of Care Testing Strategy. The program aims to help B.C. businesses access and make use of…
Read MorePandemic a factor in increased substance use among construction industry workers
Journal of Commerce | Angela Gismondi | September 7, 2021 Shift work. Access to alcohol or drugs. Long hours. High stress work. The stigma about getting help. These are just some of the regular factors contributing to an increasing problem in the construction industry: substance use. Add in the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and…
Read MoreBC Fed calls for reform after failed Kiewit prosecution
Journal of Commerce | DCN-JOC News Services | September 7, 2021 VANCOUVER – The BC Federation of Labour (BC Fed) is calling for reform after the BC Prosecution Service’s case against Kiewit collapsed just days before trial. The Crown cited differences between experts and the changing testimony of witnesses as reasons why it did not believe…
Read MoreUpdate on Vaccination Policies in Canada
Gowling WLG | August 31, 2021 | Link to Page As the COVID-19 situation progresses in Canada, many employers across the country are assessing whether and how to implement vaccination policies. Since the government of Canada’s August 13 announcement (detailed below), the trend to mandate COVID-19 vaccination in the workplace and beyond appears to be…
Read MoreTop 10 Considerations for Employers in Implementing a Vaccination Policy
Gowling WLG | August 31, 2021 | Link to Page As the COVID-19 situation progresses in Canada, many employers across the country are assessing whether and how to implement vaccination policies. Following are 10 key factors to consider in evaluating whether a vaccination policy can reasonably be implemented in your workplace: The duty to ensure…
Read MoreBREAKING: Criminal charges stayed against Kiewit, managers
Journal of Commerce | Russell Hixson | August 31, 2021 Construction company Kiewit and several of its managers will no longer face criminal charges for the death of a worker who was crushed by a boulder at a B.C. work site. The BC Prosecution Service (BCPS) announced today that a stay of proceedings has been entered…
Read MoreNew traffic control training provider approved in B.C.
Journal of Commerce | Peter Caulfield | September 1, 2021 WorkSafeBC (WSBC) recently approved Universal Health and Safety Inc. of Burnaby as the second provider of traffic control training and certification in the province. Until the end of June 2021, the BC Construction Safety Alliance (BCCSA) had an almost 20-year run as the only traffic control…
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