BY GERI GRIGG
HSA OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY OFFICER
On March 13, the Toronto Star printed an article calling the incidence of violence toward health and social services workers an epidemic.
HSA disagrees. The incidents of violence occurring in all HSA worksites, without a common cause is a pandemic.
Brenda Hauck, X ray technologist at Saanich Peninsula Hospital and Karen Hamilton, CT Technologist at Saanich Peninsula HospitaL, shared the 2017 David Bland Award.
Employers in BC are legally required to investigate certain workplace incidents.
Those include events involving an injury to a worker where medical treatment was required, but also include minor injuries or near-miss events that had the potential to cause serious injury. Near-miss or close call events imply that if things had gone a little bit differently, a worker could have been seriously injured or suffered a health threatening exposure.
With flu season around the corner, HSA members are reminded of the provincial influenza control policy in effect in BC.
In spite of changes in other provinces, the flu prevention policy in BC has not changed, and health care workers who choose not to be vaccinated have options available to them, including wearing a surgical mask.
Health care workers must report their vaccination status confidentially through an on-line form.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Your elected HSA representatives and staff have been hard at work since the union's 45th convention in May. The upcoming regional meetings will be a good opportunity to provide updates on that work, and a chance for stewards and other activists to connect and discuss the issues in your region.
In preparation for those meetings, please take a few minutes to review some of the important work HSA has been involved in.
BY DAVID DURNING, HSA OHS OFFICER
In recent months there have been reports of hazardous asbestos abatement incidents in several BC health care facilities and labs.
This is potentially exposing workers and members of the public to deadly asbestos fibres.
Activists from around the province gathered in early June for a conference on occupational health and safety.
The OHS conference provided an opportunity for OHS and Enhanced Disability Management Stewards to come together, share experiences and find solutions to health, safety and injury prevention concerns in their workplaces. Seventy-five activists spent time in plenary sessions and workshops discussing a wide range of issues important to HSA members.
CHANGES TO BC LAW WILL REQUIRE MORE EMPLOYEES TO SUBMIT MANDATORY FINGERPRINTS
A CANCER CLUSTER IS FOUND
HSA members Katrina Hammer and Anne MacFarlane, and HEU member Patricia Schmidt, all worked in the laboratory at Mission Memorial Hospital. All three contracted breast cancer, and an investigation into the cancer identified there was a cancer cluster in the laboratory – where the incidence of breast cancer was eight times the rate of breast cancer in BC.
THEIR CLAIMS ARE DENIED
BY DAVID DURNING, OHS OFFICER
The Canadian Mental Health Association's annual Bottom Line Conference brings together workers, employers and researchers to find ways of improving mental health in Canadian workplaces.
This year, HSA sponsored two members to attend the conference held recently in Vancouver.
