Human 'Cost' Of Doing Business in Forestry Not Acceptable
By 250 News
Thursday, December 08, 2005 04:00 AM
David Anderson, Pres & CEO of WorkSafe BC, formerly Workers' Compensation Board
"A human life is not an acceptable cost of production in this province," says the President and CEO of WorkSafe BC.
And yet, David Anderson, says society seems to accept that forestry and other resource-based industries are dangerous and that nothing can be done about it. He says that's just not true. "What we really need to do is accept the cost of safety in the price of two-by-fours that we make in this province."
He points to the airline industry, "There's nothing inherently safe about airplane flight, you've got tons of steel flying through the air, at hundreds of miles an hour, with hundreds of people on-board, hundreds of feet above the ground -- that's just a recipe for disaster, but we spend the time and we spend the money to build safety into planes." He says the cost of that safety is reflected in the price of an airline ticket.
"We accept the cost of safety 'cause we know we're worth it."
In 2004, 16 people died in the forest industry, this year the toll is 40. But Anderson says the lower figure is actually the anomoly, "We're having a pretty typical year, but the problem is a typical year is God-awful." He says that's the issue that needs to be focused on to get at the underlying causes driving the fatality rate.
Anderson says WorkSafe BC is doing its part, hiring an additional 20 specialists, officers to put in the field, investigators and case workers. He says there are 35 full and 35 part-time people, but says, "There's 4,000 fallers doing business in thousands of locations -- we can't drive safety, the industry has to drive safety for themselves and they are stepping up to the plate."
Anderson was speaking at a Chamber of Commerce gathering in Prince George.
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Posted by: camoose on December 8 2005 10:59 AM
Over the years there have been many hell stories of injured workers who did not receive "just" compensation for their injuries (I personally know of several cases), I am also aware of some minor "fraudulent" claims for which the WCB were not interested in hearing about, a minor claim can mean a "higher premium return" - get it? Although WCB has come a long way in redefining their purpose, there was a time when they were nothing more than a Provincial "cash cow".
My Point? Safety issues and especially the costs have always been the responsibility of the employer, an employee is made aware of safety procedures, but at that point their responsibility seems to end. Until employees have to take more responsibility for the costs of compensation and for lack of safety compliance, injury claims will not decrease. You can spend as much money as you want to on extra WCB workers in the field "checking up" on employers, but until the employee actually discovers that it might come out of "his" pocket, you won't see much change out there. Imagine, your employee is breaching a safety issue and "you" the employer - gets the fine! Hmmmm... Forget trying to fire the guy too, because then you have to deal with Employment Standards and Labour Relations, and oh yes, Human Rights Commissions and before you know it some minority group will be formed to haunt you.