Improving the safety of employees working alone or in isolation was the focus of recent amendments to British Columbia’s Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, which came into effect this February.
The new changes to the regulation include mandatory pre-payment of fuel at all gas stations across the province, in a bid to reduce gas station employees’ exposure to safety risks, according to a statement from WorkSafeBC, which led a series of multi-party consultations and public hearings across B.C. between 2006 and 2007.
“We heard very strongly from stakeholders during the consultation process that they wanted these regulations to apply 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and the amendments reflect that,” said Roberta Ellis, vice-president of policy, investigations and review at WorkSafeBC.
The amendments to the OHS Regulation were designed to help protect people working on late-night shifts, particularly in retail environments such as gas stations, convenience stores and other outlets that are open to the public between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., according to WorkSafeBC. Employers with workers who work alone or in isolation and are at risk of harm or violence at work, are required to develop and implement written procedures for safe money handling of employees. Workers must be trained on these procedures, as well.
In addition, employers are required to install a physical barrier or lock between the workers and customers, or have at least two workers working during late-night shifts, the amendments indicated.
Examples of occupations falling under the “working alone or in isolation” category includes convenience store employees, taxi drivers, truck and delivery drivers, home care and social services workers, by-law officers and security guards, forestry workers who are “doing high-hazard work with no regular interaction with other people, warehouse workers in cold rooms or freezers, night cleaners and custodians in private and public building, and night-shift employees.
Employers of these types of workers must identify and inform their workers about hazards in the workplace, under the new requirements. They are also required to: eliminate or minimize these hazards by using engineering or administrative controls; develop and implement a written procedure for checking the well-being of workers, also called a person-check procedure; train workers on the person-check procedure; and review written procedures at least once a year, or more frequently in case of changes in work arrangements or if the procedures are ineffective.
The new requirements under the OHS Regulation, also called “Grant’s Law,” was a result of WorkSafeBC’s probe into the death of Grant DePatie, a gas station attendant who was killed in 2005 while trying to prevent a gas theft.
