WorkSafeBC Promotes Safety Campaign for Three Factors Where Negligence can Result in Injury

How PPE, protocols, and knowledge play a large part in worksite duties

WorkSafeBC initiates a safety campaign for the month of April, following a press release. This campaign strongly revolves around three factors which they list during their press release. These factors include PPE, or personal protective equipment, and whether the employee has access to the equipment or has been given a reasonable amount of time and notice to purchase and bring the equipment for the task. The second involves safety protocols and whether the employee has been taught the proper protocols and if these protocols are readily available in the worksite. This can include a manual, or even a poster nearby which states how to safely perform the task and the steps required. Finally, the third factor involves knowledge, meaning is the employee sufficiently trained or received orientation to confidently perform this task being asked of them?

Although it’s known WorkSafeBC is always around in the case of an injury on the worksite, this campaign aims to feel like a nice reminder that WorkSafeBC is here and advocating for safe work practices, reminding everyone that ultimately the goal is to see employees able to go home every day, injury and illness free.

Some may ask what the point of this campaign is, and why specifically in April? Well there is no definitive reason for the campaign taking place in April, but the point is to increase awareness of these factors. We want people to know if they aren’t comfortably able to say they have these three factors available for the task at hand, that they can say no and perform the task another time when all three factors are present. Although these three factors seem fairly simple, they’re not always remembered or considered when performing a task, and commonly can result in workplace injury. While we are here to aid in the process after the injury occurs, our goal is to avoid it happening in the first place. Therefore, that is the main reason for why we are pushing out this campaign and would like to see the effectiveness of it and whether we see if it results in less workplace injuries and/or illnesses.