Category: Managing risks & hazards

Photo of worker wearing a yellow vest, carrying aluminium stepladder and tool box at construction site

Take a few minutes to ask some important questions before using a stepladder. It can help prevent falls and injuries.  I’ll never forget the time I saw a grocery store worker fall off a stepladder. It was a rainy day, and he was standing on the very top of the ladder (where you’re not supposed […]

Photo of Photo of two workers looking at a computer in a factory, working

See how a woodworking firm uses incident statistics to educate staff and focus the prevention efforts of their health and safety committee.  Dennis Trill is the production manager at Towne Millwork — an architectural woodworking firm that creates custom designs for hospitals, banks, schools, stadiums, and other commercial buildings throughout North America. In 2004, Dennis […]

Photo of road repairs underway after flood and landslide damage on BC Highway 3 between Hope and Princeton, November 17, 2021

Thank you to B.C.’s roadbuilding crews for working day and night in adverse conditions to repair flood and landslide damage.  Praise for B.C.’s roadbuilders echoed through the mountains of our province when the Coquihalla Highway reopened ahead of schedule. It was closed after major damage occurred during the “atmospheric river” storm in mid-November. Initially, the […]

Photo of woman in her bakery store showing COVID-19 safety by wearing medical face mask, while holding tray of croissants.

Proper training for new tasks, ongoing communication, and reviewing health and safety plans are some ways to keep remaining staff safe.  First off, I send my sympathies and best wishes to everyone sick with COVID-19. The Omicron variant of COVID-19 has spread rapidly, leaving many workers sick and unable to go to work. Let’s look […]

Photo of warehouse worker pulling hand pallet truck at warehouse storage facility.

Learn these five factors and consider them in your workplace to reduce the risk of incidents involving mobile equipment.  Workers being struck by vehicles and mobile equipment (also known as “struck-by incidents”) are one of the most common serious injury claims in B.C. (You can see WorkSafeBC serious injury claims by incident type in WorkSafeBC […]

Photo of a loaded logging truck driving on a resource road.

A new video gives recreational drivers important information about safety on resource roads.  Once upon a time, back in the 1990s, I went camping with some friends near Bella Coola. We drove to a beautiful spot, up a logging road — also known as a “resource road.” I was sitting in the passenger seat, gazing […]

Photo of mule deer emerging from underpass wildlife crossing

If you drive for work, or even drive to and from work, familiarize yourself with measures that can help prevent collisions with wildlife.  Hitting wildlife with a vehicle can be very hazardous for people as well as animals. On average, each year in B.C. 4 people die and 870 are injured in collisions with wildlife. […]

Photo of no access sign on gate to protect workers

Learn how managing risk and involving workers in safety planning are keys to safety for conveyor systems in manufacturing and other industries.  A worker at a B.C. wood products manufacturing plant was adjusting a waste conveyor after clearing the equipment of debris. The worker became entangled in the tails pool of the moving conveyor and […]

Photo of two workers at the pulp dryer area of the Domtar Kamloops Mill.

Process safety management is a practice used in high-hazard industries like pulp and paper mills to help protect workers and the surrounding community.  You may not know what process safety is. “In a simple way, it’s keeping the stuff that’s supposed to be in the tanks and pipes in the tanks and pipes,” says Tony […]

Photo of a snowplow plowing snow on the road in winter

Snowplow drivers work long hours — and often overnight — to keep us safe by clearing our roads and highways. They deserve our thanks and appreciation!  While we may not see snow often in Metro Vancouver, much of the rest of the province sees snow regularly, and we should be prepared for ice and snow […]