Canadian Occupational Safety

May/June 2021

Canadian Occupational Safety (COS) magazine is the premier workplace health and safety publication in Canada. We cover a wide range of topics ranging from office to heavy industry, and from general safety management to specific workplace hazards.

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22 www.thesafetymag.com/ca P E O P L E I N D U S T R Y P R O F I L E HEALTH AND SAFETY FOR ALL B.C. Minister of Labour Harry Bains weighs in on the challenges that British Columbians are facing at work and the initiatives put into place by the ministry to ensure healthy and safe workplaces across the board they are applied — and that, if a person is sick or becomes ill in the workplace, they are treated with respect and dignity and get the support that they need." Bains says that changes were also made to the Workers Compensation Act to improve worker safety and keep premiums that are paid by the employer stable. In addition, these changes ensure that WorkSafeBC has the tools it needs to improve the investigation of serious injuries and fatalities in the workplace, as well as deal with injured and sick workers in a timely fashion. Economic recovery "I continue to remain focused on supporting workers and employers as we move through the pandemic to economic recovery," says Bains. Looking toward the post-pandemic landscape, "this pandemic [has] actually identified a number of gaps in our workers' support in workplaces," says Bains, notably in regard to workers' lack of access to paid sick leave. "We are working, and will continue to work, with the federal government to deal with those gaps to ensure that workers COS recently spoke with Harry Bains, British Columbia's minister of Labour, who walked us through the ministry's (very) busy portfolio. Bains has been the NDP MLA for Surrey-Newton, B.C. since 2005 and has been minister of Labour since 2017. In addition, he was an elected officer of Steelworkers-IWA Canada 2171 for more than 15 years. Much of the discussion covered the ministry's response to the pandemic — rightfully so. As one can imagine, COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the ministry's mandate over the last year. But British Columbians continue to face a number of other issues, including workplace harassment and bullying, which need to be addressed. who are ill or sick… can stay at home," says Bains. This will help reduce the transmission of the virus in workplaces, keep them safe and ensure that businesses are able to continue operating. "In the coming year and beyond, my priority will be the health and safety of workers through employment standards improvements, providing protections for gig and precarious workers and supporting a strong economic recovery." Bains says that the ministry and the B.C. government will continue to work with the federal government to improve any programs that support workers during the pandemic, especially those that help to reduce or limit the spread of the virus in workplaces. For example, he says that they have identified some gaps in the Federal Sick Leave Program that need improvement. Fairer wages for workers Another welcome development is that, as of June 2021, the province's minimum wage will be increased to $15.20 and from then on will be linked to the rate of inflation. Equally in June, liquor servers' wages, which were lower than the minimum wage, will be raised to the new minimum wage, thereby eliminating this discriminatory wage. Bains highlights that 82 per cent of these workers are female, and that offering them the same protection and wages as other minimum wage workers helps put an end to what he believes was a discriminatory policy from the previous Liberal government. He also mentions the Fair Wages Commission, which was established during the early part of his mandate. The commission is currently examining the gap between the living wage and the minimum wage in B.C. and will report back on how to handle the discrepancy. The minister says it will be developing a strategy to help workers, notably gig economy and precarious workers, benefit WorkSafeBC COVID-19 RESPONSE "In the coming year and beyond, my priority will be the health and safety of workers through employment standards improvements, providing protections for gig and precarious workers and supporting a strong economic recovery." B.C. Minister of Labour Harry Bains A challenging pandemic "Since the beginning of the pandemic, WorkSafeBC has risen to the challenge, working collaboratively to help keep people safe in the pandemic," says Bains. "Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our workers and of our population." WorkSafeBC played a key role in reducing outbreaks in B.C. workplaces since the early days of the pandemic, requiring businesses to develop safety plans and conducting inspections to ensure compliance. At the time of the interview, Bains said WorkSafeBC had conducted more than 23,000 COVID-19 workplace inspections. Responding to COVID-19 Bains highlights a number of changes that the ministry has enacted to better support workers and employers amid the pandemic. For example, the minister says that WorkSafeBC was instrumental in creating safety plans in 32 specific economic sectors. Within those sectors, each business was helped to devise its own safety plan suitable to their needs. Bains also says that the government made changes to the Employment Standards Act. Such changes include unpaid job protected leave, which was added for people who are unable to work due to certain circumstances related to COVID-19. Furthermore, workers can now take up to three days of unpaid job protected leave each year if they cannot work due to illness or injury. This is a permanent change that was made in March 2020 and will remain in place after the pandemic, he says. "We have a strong enforcement regime in place to ensure that health and safety protocols are met and that The agency has conducted more than 21,813 workplace inspections It has issued at least 1,553 orders for workplace health and safety violations The service sector is most affected, with 8,105 inspections and 470 orders (this includes hotels, restaurants and gyms) Remote inspections account for one in five inspections Source: WorkSafeBC (January 2021 statistics)

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