City of Powell River’s health and safety practices are keeping workers on the job and are saving the city money.
At the Thursday, September 4, council meeting, Mike Roberts, BC Municipal Safety Association manager of audit and training services, said he was pleased to be in attendance to present the Certificate of Recognition (COR), which is a joint program of the association and WorkSafeBC.
“It was developed with the goal to encourage and reward employers that not only meet WorkSafeBC regulations, but exceed them, by developing strong safety management initiatives and strong safety cultures within their organizations,” Roberts said.
Achieving the COR requires the organization to successfully complete an audit of its safety management systems.
“The city successfully completed its audit and scored very high in different elements,” Roberts said. “Some of the elements they scored very highly in were training and education certification, as well as inspections in the worksites.
“Powell River, and in particular, Powell River’s staff, is to be commended for leadership in health and safety,” he added. “Achieving COR is no simple matter. The heart of COR is a commitment from the top down, from council, directors, managers and supervisors, to do whatever it takes to improve and ensure worker health and safety.”
The program in place here is one of continual improvement. An action plan has been created and recommendations for improvement from the last audit have been made. Another safety audit will be completed and continuous improvement will be monitored and maintained.
Roberts presented the COR to city representatives.
Ron Van’t Schip, occupational health and safety coordinator for the city, said there had not been a lost time incident since November 2013.
Mayor Dave Formosa said over and above the human implications, there is financial incentive for the city to run a safe operation. “It keeps costs down, not only from lost time,” he said.
Barb Mohan, the city’s director of human resources and corporate planning, said that when the city achieves the COR audit standard, it is eligible for a 10 per cent rebate every year on WorkSafeBC premiums. She said the WorkSafeBC bill runs about $175,000 per year, so “10 per cent is a significant saving.”
The objective is to reinvest the savings back into safety programs, she said.
