As wildfires continue to affect B.C.’s Southern Interior, employers and workers must remain vigilant about the potential health risks posed by smoke exposure, such as respiratory illness and eye irritation. by WorkSafeBC “Breathing in smoke can be dangerous for workers, as it is a form of air pollution that contains a complex mixture of harmful …
WorkSafeBC Urges Employers to Protect Workers from Smoke Exposure Read More »
Reprinted from WorkSafeBC, published April 2023 Incident summary In March 2021, a worker was in a parking lot where a client’s disabled pickup truck was parked. He was preparing to load the pickup onto the tilt deck of a flatdeck carrier. The tilt deck was raised and tilted under the back of the pickup. The …
Reprinted with permission from Speaking of Safety (edited) In a recent article with Percy Chua, a manager in WorkSafeBC’s Risk Analysis Unit, we discussed the need to raise employers’ awareness of electric vehicle (EV) safety. We focused on EV batteries and their potential fire hazard. It is important that anyone handling damaged EVs understand how to control and …
Online Courses for Workers Handling Electric Vehicles Read More »
WorkSafeBC has published a new guide and fillable template to help reduce the risk of struck-by incidents at your worksite. At many workplaces, workers are at risk of being struck by vehicles or mobile equipment such as forklifts, excavators, trucks, and graders. Reducing the risk of workers being struck by vehicles or mobile equipment: Guide …
WorkSafeBC’s Guide Helps Reduce Struck-By Incidents Read More »
WorkSafeBC is taking a step toward better protecting workers working near energized high-voltage electrical equipment or conductors. They have launched a revised version of the Assurance of Compliance with Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, Part 19 (Form 30M33). The purpose of Form 30M33 If you are a power utility system owner or an employer who …
A new traffic control online training aims to help tow operators get the knowledge, confidence, and resources to do their job safely. Towing and recovery is a high-risk industry characterized by a unique combination of workplace hazards. Managing risk at the worksite, including controlling traffic, helps tow operators conduct their job safely. Unlike other roadside …
On January 7, 2022, the provincial health officer announced an order requiring employers to reinstate those site-specific, prescriptive COVID-19 safety plans to address the elevated risk currently facing us with the Omicron variant. While communicable disease prevention plans and COVID-19 Safety Plans share some of the same fundamental principles, COVID-19 Safety Plans are formal, written …
COVID-19 Safety Plans Reinstated for B.C. Employers Read More »
As a member of the Work Zone Safety Alliance, the Automotive Retailers Association (ARA) would like to invite all roadside workers, including tow truck operators, to participate in the following short online survey. Your responses will help the Alliance to understand how to improve the safety of those who work roadside. Responses will remain anonymous. Please …
Recovering a heavy-duty vehicles requires advanced math skills, proper training, and great communication skills. The job of a tow operator is not limited to the highway recoveries; they have to be ready to respond to any accident, whether it is recovering a vehicle on unmaintained logging road, pulling a fully-loaded semi truck out of a …
Communication and Training: Key to Operator’s Safety Read More »
At its April 2021 meeting, WorkSafeBC’s Board of Directors approved the 2020 amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation. These amendments will come into effect on September 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 …