¢ National I.W.A. president Dave Haggard, seen with Canfor president David Emerson (seated) spoke on the
union’s position regarding discipline for safety infractions and the rights of disabled workers.

SAFER holds its most
successful conference to date

Conference organizers for this
year’s SAFER (Safety Advisory Fund
for Education and Research) confer-
ence in Victoria were overwhelmed
with the positive response and high
level of participation at the two day
event held-at the Victoria Confer-
ence Centre.

Union and management represen-
tatives from forest industry opera-
tions on the B.C. Coast and Interior
and the provinces of Alberta,
Saskatchewan, Manitoba and
Ontario were in attendance at the
conference’s main session and seven
workshops.

Opening the conference were the
I.W.A. national first vice president
Neil Menard and SAFER co-chair
who thanked the crowd and co-chair
Anna Berry, an independent truck
logging owner from Port Alberni,

Ms. Berry told the crowd that the
workshops would offer many innov-
ative solutions to health and safety
issues in the industry and encour-
aged full participation.

Brother Menard briefed the audi-
ence on the I.W.A. and the forest
industry’s efforts to develop a safety
association for the industry and the
fact the Workers Compensation
Board of B.C. has donated $50,000
to help look into the feasibility of
such an association.

“It’s another way that we think
we can do the job right and that we
will be able to lessen the fatalities
and lessen injuries in our industry,
which should not be acceptable for
any of us,” he said.

Also opening the conference were
guest speakers Dave Haggard, the
I.W.A.’s national president and
David Emerson, chief executive offi-
cer of Canadian Forest Products.

Brother Haggard geared his
remarks toward the issues of the
union’s proper role in taking disci-
plinary action against workers for

safety infractions and the I.W.A.’s

growing commitment to disabled
workers and return-to-work pro-
grams.

Mr. Emerson spoke on the issue
of Canfor’s growing commitment to
health and safety as it’s most impor-
tant core value and the cost effec-
tiveness of running proper programs
with a high level of worker partici-
pation.

Haggard acknowledged there are
many different views on the disci-
pline issue.

He said that although the union
believes in cooperation and supports
such initiatives as negotiated part-
nerships, “that doesn’t bring us into
the realm of (participating in) disci-
pline (for safety infractions).”

“I believe that safety policies
should be developed jointly to talk
about how to overcome accidents
and how to make the workplace a
safer place to be,” he said.

“I also believe that discipline is
strictly the jurisdiction of the
employer.”

“If you as company representative
have some policy in place that you
believe people are breaking the
rules, then you should discipline
them — then you should do that and
we should have the right to grieve it
if we think it is unjust,” he said.

Haggard acknowledged that dis-
cussion on the role of the union in
disciplining workers is out there.

On the topic of rehabilitating
injured workers, Haggard that the
“we are only scratching the surface
of the whole issue.”

“J think that until we accept the
responsibility as management and
as a union, to implement proper
return to work policies and proper
disability management policies,
then we will not succeed in doing
our job...” he said.

He said leaving a disabled worker
at home is a social and economic
waste.

“We talk about the economy of

running a business. What could be
more proper than putting people
back to work and lowering costs in
that arena and giving somebody
back dignity and pride in being able
to do a job properly and safely,” he
added.

Haggard said that both compe
nies and the union have the ability
and intelligence to make such pro-
grams work and he criticized employ-
ers who have resisted change.

Canfor’s David Emerson said that
in his company’s 26 mills safety is
Being held as the number one prior-
ity.

“I believe that safety is an excel-
lent focal point for people, union
and non-union, it doesn’t matter,”
he said.

“It helps us to understand work-
place processes, yes, with a safety
focus.”

“It enables us to communicate
with each other in ways that are
non-adversarial and constructive.
We're dealing with a common
enemy,” he added,

Emerson said the I.W.A. commit-
ment to safety has been from the
top of the union on down as has the
company’s commitment.

He said that the work of Canfor’s
safety program is part of the corpo-
ration’s annual report.

“The investment community reads
that kind of thing with great inter-
est,” he said. “We like to think our
safety performance is just as impor-
tant as our financial or environmen-
tal performances.”

The CEO said it’s important for
Canfor to get workers to be involved
at the ground level on project design
and that those involved in safety get
in at the front end.

“To a very great degree I believe
safety and ease of maintenance go
together and the way we design
plants and equipment is extremely
important to a safe operation later
on,” added Emerson.

Workshops
see 350
participate

The response to the 2001 SAFER
conference was, to use one word,
overwhelming. There were nearly
350 people in attendance including
I.W.A. and company members of
joint oerubateeeinesit and safety
committees in logging and forest
products operations, I.W.A. safety
directors, health and safety coordi-
nators and trainers, and senior
operations and human resources
personnel.

Safety consultant and one of the
conference organizers Randy Kel-
bert told the audience that the 10
workshops offered at the SAFER
conference were based on the needs
of OH&S committees that were sur-
veyed. The survey results revealed
that committees wanted more in-
depth subjects at the conference.

ix 3 hour in-depth workshops
were offered along with 4 shorter 1-
1/2 hour workshops.

The workshops offered were
“Walking the Talk,” an examination
of critical issues on leadership in
safety, presented by Bob Patterson
and Ron Tramer of Weyerhaeuser’s
Safety Team; “Invisible Disabili-
ties,” a look at unseen epidemics in
the workplace, led by John Beckett,
safety manager at the Vancouver
International Airport and Dr. Ray
Baker; “Peer Safety Audit Systems,”
led by Lorne Pelto of the WCB and
consultant Jim Allman; “Peer and
Self Observations for Safety,” a look
at Behavior-based Safety models,
conducted by Mr. Kelbert; and
“Effective Committees,” a review of
new changes under the B.C. WCB
act that can help employers and
workers, conducted by representa-
tives from the Compensation Advi-
sory Service of the Ministry of
Labour.

Other workshops were “Influenc-
ing Attitudes and Behavior,” a
review of a national-wide study on
these issues, conducted by Michel
Perusse, the corporate director of
safety for Noranda; “Perception
Surveys,” attempts to measure
safety “attitudes,” conducted by
Dave Fennell, senior safety advisor
at Imperial Oil in Calgary; “Proac-
tive Trauma Management,” a proac-
tive treatment to trauma interven-
tions in the workplace in the
community, led by Dr. Toby Snel-
grove of Haston Sueleraye) “Disas-
ter - Too Late for Planning,” an
examination of how the prepare for
emergencies in the workplace or
community, conducted by Sheena
Vivian, the emergency planner for
the city and Township of Langley;
and “Finding the Neutral Zone,” a
look at how joint occupational health
and safety committees can tackle
conflicts of many different types,
led by I.W.A. national safety direc-
tor Tom Lowe. £

The Safety Advisory Foundation
for Education and eee is fae
by employers on a half-cen
employee per hour basis. The SAFER
fund was negotiated by the L.W.A. in
1988 forest industry negotiations
and has celebrated over a decade of
success on the coast of B.C. and the
southern interior of the province.

One of its main mandates has
been to create awareness education
on occupational health and safety
naa and taney workers pod

loyers in e lo; i ilvicul-
ture, lumber and Ae eee

‘We're really pleased about the

level of participation we got thi

year,” said Neil Menard, recta
first vice president of the I.W.A.
and co-chair of the jointly trusteed

program.

aS

-12/LUMBERWORKER/April,.2001