Forest Industry Forms Safety
Council
BC
Forest Safety Council to be Permanent Safety Organization
November 4th 2004, Forest
safety is becoming a high priority for the forest
industry and the Workers’ Compensation Board
(WCB) in British Columbia. Today the creation of
the new BC Forest Safety Council (the Council) was
announced simultaneously in Prince George and Nanaimo.
The Council’s mandate is to work within the
forest industry to eliminate fatalities and serious
injuries and create an environment of working safely
and encouraging improved health and safety programs,
performance, and results.
Bringing together the entire forest sector under
one organization, the Council will be developing
programs and initiatives in four critical areas.
|
Promoting
Cultural Change to ensure that safety
is treated as an over-riding priority and
a shared responsibility throughout the sector. |
|
Promoting a
Safety Conscious Legal Regime in which
the laws, regulations and compliance programs
encourage and support safety. |
|
Developing a
Competent and Confident Workforce where
workers are trained and certified and encouraged
to work safely. |
|
Encourage Qualified
Companies where safety programs are
encouraged and rewarded. |
The interim senior officers of the Council are:
Chair Jim Shepherd, Chief Executive Office of Canfor;
Vice Chair Keith Playfair, independent contract
faller; and Secretary Treasurer Ron Corbeil of the
Steelworkers – IWA Council.
 |
| BCFSC Chair, Jim Shepherd |
“The BC Forest Safety Council will be a permanent
organization, dedicated to implementing and coordinating
policies designed to reduce death and injury in
the forests,” said the Council’s Chair
Jim Shepherd. “The creation of the Council
is our commitment that action will be taken on the
Health and Safety Accord, to which all forest industry
organizations and the Steelworkers – IWA Council
agreed to support,” Shepherd added.
“As minister responsible for the Workman’s
Compensation Board, I commissioned the Forest
Safety Task Force to find ways to reduce the unacceptable
number of fatalities and injury in the forest
sector,” said Skills Development and Labour
Minister Graham Bruce. “I am very pleased
with the creation of the Council as a key first
step in our determination to address this serious
issue,” said Minister Bruce.
|
