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WorkSafeBC to hold public hearings in November
Proposed regulations for pre-payment in gas bars, violence/working alone, young or new workers, and hollow-bore needles/sharps
Richmond, B.C., October 20, 2006 — WorkSafeBC's Board of Directors has determined that WorkSafeBC will hold public hearings into the following matters in late November 2006:
- Pre-payment for gasoline at service stations in urban locations during late night and early morning hours. This proposed regulation is being introduced at the request of the Minister of Labour who referred to it as “Grant’s Law” in recognition of the tragic death of gas station attendant Grant De Patie;
- the orientation and training needs of young or new workers, and
- safety engineered devices for all hollow-bore needles and other medical sharps.
The public hearings will take place on the following dates, locations, and times:
| November 20 | Coast Inn of the North, Prince George |
| November 23 | Vancouver, Sheraton Wall Centre Hotel |
| November 27 | Best Western Hotel Conference Centre, Kelowna |
| November 30 | Coast Bastion Inn, Nanaimo |
Session times will run from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Proposed regulatory changes to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation concerning prepayment for petroleum products result from a request from the Minister of Labour and Citizens’ Services to WorkSafeBC’s Board of Directors in October 2006.
Regulatory amendments relating to the orientation and training needs of young or new workers were originally scheduled to go to public hearing in May 2007 as part of WorkSafeBC’s ongoing regulation review process. That schedule was advanced to coincide with proposed changes for the prepayment of gasoline during specific hours. Going forward, WorkSafeBC continues to look at other potential measures to improve worker safety in situations concerning violence and working alone.
Proposed regulatory amendments regarding safety engineered devices for hollow-bore needles and other medical sharps are the result of extensive consultation with B.C.’s worker and employer communities over the past year. The matter of safety engineered needles first went to public hearings in May 2006. As a result of input received from stakeholders in these hearings, the Board of Directors determined that an additional public hearing should be held to consider expanding the scope of requirements to include all hollow-bore needles (intravascular, intramuscular, subcutaneous) and other medical sharps.
Detailed information on the proposed amendments can be found at WorkSafeBC’s web site at www.worksafebc.com.
Public hearings by WorkSafeBC are conducted under the authority of the Workers Compensation Act, which provides that WorkSafeBC may make regulations it considers necessary or advisable in relation to occupational health and safety and occupational environment.
The purpose of the proposed amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation is to reduce injuries. WorkSafeBC is committed to reviewing aspects of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation on an ongoing basis to ensure regulations are current and meeting the needs of B.C.’s workers and employers to support safe and healthy workplaces.
Serving nearly two million workers and about 185,000 employers, WorkSafeBC is a provincial statutory agency governed by a Board of Directors and funded by employers. WorkSafeBC was born out of a compromise between BC’s workers and employers in 1917 where workers gave up the right to sue their employers or fellow workers for injuries on the job in return for a no-fault insurance program fully paid for by employers. WorkSafeBC is committed to a safe and healthy workplace and to providing return-to-work rehabilitation and legislated compensation benefits to workers injured as a result of their employment.
For more information please contact: |
Scott McCloy
|