BC employers are now required to provide orientation and training on safe work procedures, plus how to recognize hazards on the job, to all workers who are exposed to new workplace hazards, all new workers and all workers under age 25.
Implemented in 2007 as an amendment to WorkSafeBC Occupational Health & Safety Regulations, the requirements are specifically intended to address the extraordinarily high injury rates sustained by new workers during their first month in the workplace, and by young workers.
Resources
The new regulations, including explanatory notes and the Occupational Health and Safety Guidelines, can be found here.
Another helpful resource, particularly for employers who employ young workers, including student workers, is the WorkSafeBC Rights and Responsibilities Program. This is a self-paced, interactive, curriculum-based program that helps new and young workers understand their health and safety rights and responsibilities in the workplace.
The program is designed for three primary audiences:
- New workers, including student workers
- Teachers facilitating work experience programs for students
- Employers and supervisors
The WorkSafeBC Rights and Responsibilities Program can be found here.
Summary of the new requirements and supporting statistics
Statistics show that more than half of all work-related incidents occur during a young worker's first six months on the job. In 2008, 1730 of the 5561 traumatic injuries that resulted in time loss in the tourism/hospitality industry were to young workers age 15 to 24 – that’s over 31% versus only 17% for all industries combined.
The injury rate of young workers is more than twice that of the overall worker population — and that statistic is on the rise. New workers, regardless of their age, carry five to seven times the risk of sustaining a workplace injury in their first month on the job.
As of July 26, 2007, every employer hiring new or young workers must comply with new regulations relating to orientation and training. All employers will be required to ensure that young or new workers are given health and safety orientation and training — specific to their workplace — before they begin work.
In the regulations, a young worker is any worker under age 25. A new worker is anyone who is new to the workplace, returning to a workplace at which hazards there have changed, affected by a change in the hazards of a workplace, or relocated to a new workplace (if the hazards there are different from the hazards in the worker's previous workplace).
The required orientation and training must address 13 subject areas. These include information on workplace health and safety rules, hazards to which the worker may be exposed (including risks from robbery, assault, or confrontation), working alone, personal protective equipment, and violence in the workplace. The complete list of required topics may be accessed from WorkSafeBC's home page at www.worksafebc.com.
Additional training must be provided if the employer detects that a young or new worker is unable to perform work tasks or work processes safely, or when a young or new worker requests additional training. The employer must document all its orientation and training efforts.
These regulatory changes appear to be, at least partially, in response to the 2005 death of gas bar attendant Grant DePatie in Maple Ridge, BC. DePatie was killed after being dragged a lengthy distance by a vehicle whose driver was trying to leave without paying. That workplace tragedy sparked a province-wide debate about workplace safety rules.
The above is excerpted with permission from BC HRMA ©2006 All rights reserved. The author is Robert Smithson, a partner at Pushor Mitchell LLP in Kelowna, practising exclusively in the area of labour and employment law. For more information about his practice, please visit www.pushormitchell.com. This material is provided for general informational purposes only and is not intended to be relied upon as legal advice.
