British Columbia Safety Council

The British Columbia Safety Council is a provincial, non-profit, charitable organization dedicated to safety, helping business and individuals prevent injury through safety education and awareness throughout British Columbia, Canada.

Mission

The British Columbia Safety Council's mission is to assist the Province's citizens in preventing injuries arising from work, travel, home or leisure activities through safety education and training, and through advocacy efforts for effective policy and regulation.

History

In December 1945, the B.C. Safety Council was established and also incorporated under the Society Act of British Columbia. Originally focused on war production, the Council was involved in traffic safety issues by the early 1950s. The Council introduced the Defensive Driving Program to B.C. Fatalities from road accidents were twice what they were in the early 21st century, so driver education became an urgent and top priority for British Columbia citizens. Licensing and monitoring of new drivers was not taken as seriously as it is today, and drinking and driving was not yet recognized as the social epidemic it later became. In the workplace, serious trauma injuries were almost commonplace, stress was thought to be just a part of the job and repetitive strain injuries hadn’t been defined yet in the popular jargon.

In the 1960s the BC Safety Council was concerned with issues such as convincing government and the public that seat belt and motorcycle helmet laws were necessary in order to ensure public safety. During this same period, the Council's Underwater Section provided training for fledgling scuba divers and continued to do so until the industry developed and instituted its own specialized training programs.

The Safety Council opened the Professional Driver Centre in 1971, at the unused Boundary Bay Airport in Delta. Their Class 1-3, Air Brake Courses and Motorcycle Rider Training Program provided professional, hands-on training to novice operators of these vehicles.

The Council's Industrial Section provided programs for supervisors, safety committees and managers. In the 1990s they moved into construction safety training with Safety Officer and Trade Safety Coordinator programs developed from scratch. The Blasting Course, which helped miners learn to properly prepare for blasting operations, was a new part of this training.

In its first 50 years they enjoyed public funding support via grants from the provincial government and the WCB, but that ended in 1995. Like many other not-for-profit groups, they faced a significant funding crisis that year, one that generated a fundamental change in their game plan. They became solely reliant on income from memberships and tuitions, making self-sufficiency essential. At the same time, the business world was now placing a new emphasis on marketing, sales and customer service, issues which became critical for their continued survival.

Council staffing levels, which had peaked at 24 in the early 1980s, went from 19 to 9 almost overnight, and programs that weren’t monetarily self-sustaining were chopped if they couldn’t be quickly reformed. Their non-fee community safety efforts had to be suspended or drastically cut back. Although the Council is a registered charity, they had to begin thinking like a business.

Today, the British Columbia Safety Council functions with a highly skilled but relatively small core staff; with the delivery of programs placed mainly in the hands of experienced and knowledgeable contract and part-time instructors. They offer a broad ranges of education and training programs in occupational, traffic and community safety. The Council offers training to its members and clients anywhere in B.C., 24 hours a day, seven days a week."Safety First" Online Newsletter (60th Anniversary), [http://www.safetycouncil.bc.ca/newsletter/2006/spring/pdfs/60anniversary.pdf BC Safety Council History] , Spring 2006]

Training and education

The BC Safety Council offers courses for motorcycle riding skills (performance management, hazard awareness and avoidance, maneuvering skills,etc.), occupational safety programs, driver education (air brake training, defensive driving, etc.), instructor training (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System, [http://safetynetwork.bc.ca/tcp.html Traffic Control Person Training administered by the Construction Safety Network] , etc.), community safety & awareness {mature driver evaluation, swimming, etc.), and forklift operator certification. They also offer awards for recognition of safety, used to promote awareness and encourage morale. Some of the awards include awards of merit and awards of honour and distinction.

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.safetycouncil.bc.ca/index.php BC Safety Council Website]
* [http://www.safetynetwork.bc.ca Construction Safety Network Website]
* [http://www.ridertraining.org/ Gearing Up]
* [http://www.safety-council.org/ Canada Safety Council Website]
* [http://www.worksafebc.com/ WorkSafeBC "(formerly Workers Compensation Board of BC)"]
* [http://www.tc.gc.ca/en/menu.htm Transport Canada Website]