Category: Training & education

Construction lead speaking to group of construction workers on site.

An online health and safety orientation course provides an introduction to how to work safely on a construction site.  Recently, I spoke with Erin Linde, director of health and safety services at the B.C. Construction Safety Alliance (BCCSA). Erin is the project lead for SiteReadyBC, an online health and safety orientation program that provides an […]

Photo of tattooed bar worker, pouring beer while standing in pub.

The recipe for safety culture at Vancouver Island Brewing includes safety awards for workers and new risk assessment training for its JHS committee.  Vancouver Island Brewing (VIB) is one of the most recent companies to earn the Occupational Safety Standard of Excellence (OSSE) certification They are the fourth brewery in B.C. to do this. (See […]

Photo of traffic cone on the highway, and behind it, is a tow truck driver towing a broken down car.

A new online traffic control course aims to make working around traffic safer for towing and recovery operators.  Workers in the towing and recovery industry spend a lot of their time working alongside moving vehicles. Whether they’re towing vehicles from an urban parking lane, assisting stalled drivers, or clearing vehicles from an accident scene, they […]

Photo of Group young people wearing face mask for preventing COVID-19 outbreak.

Students are invited to examine the topic of workplace mental health and wellness in WorkSafeBC’s 2022 Student Safety Video Contest.  According to an Angus Reid study, published in January 2022, 36% of Canadians say they are struggling with their mental health. The study also found that 7% of Canadians say they are “barely getting by” […]

Photo of a group of workers wearing hard hats and safety glasses, standing for a safety meeting

Read how to make the most of your safety meetings, so your workers learn and retain health and safety information.  Workplace health and safety training starts on the first day of work, with an orientation for new workers. It’s a regulatory requirement — part of an overall health and safety program. I wrote about this […]

Photo of Mitchell Martin, tow truck driver and owner of Mitchell's Towing, standing at the door of his tow truck.

Communication, training — and math — are all key for the crews who recover and lift heavy-duty vehicles from challenging terrain.  It’s a heavy responsibility that requires advanced math skills. “When you have a 100,000-pound load suspended in the air by a tow truck and have to move it as well, what kind of forces […]

Photo of a young woman checking her head injury in the bathroom mirror.

A sports injury specialist in concussions explains why immediately recognizing and responding to concussion-causing events is so important.  In my previous post, Stunt performers join forces to tackle concussion, I wrote about stunt performers too often repeating a stunt, even when they are feeling effects of concussion from a prior attempt. Concussions affect other workers […]

Photo of Trawler vessel at anchor in a calm bay at Roche Cove, Sooke, British Columbia.

Commercial fishermen are likely to meet Fish Safe teams on docks, where they’re sharing information about preventing collisions.  The Port of Vancouver receives 3,160 vessels each year — about 9 ships per day, and it predicts this could increase to about 12 ships per day by 2026, based on a 2016 analysis. More vessels, tug […]

Photo from safety videos shows lego figures as workers standing in a row

B.C. students get creative with the theme of this year’s WorkSafeBC Student Safety Video Contest — “I am doing my part.”  For a unique look at how young workers can stop the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases in the workplace, see the winning entries in the WorkSafeBC Student Safety Video Contest. Each video […]

Photo of engineer using virtual reality goggles outdoors on construction site

Workplace health and safety training programs use virtual reality to recreate hazards, incidents, best practices, and more.  Several industries are using virtual reality (VR) to deliver workplace health and safety training. Workers can don their headsets and see images that simulate real-life workplace experiences. “The sky’s the limit. You can recreate any incident, any safe […]