B.C. government hopes coroner and new safety standards reduce the number of forest fatalities
A special forest safety coroner will investigate British Columbia’s high number of forestry workers’ deaths in hopes of reducing the number of fatalities in the province’s forests, announced the B.C. Forests Minister this week.
The coroner will hold inquests into the deaths of some of the 43 forest workers who died on the job last year — more than twice the number who died in 2004.
Forests Minister Rich Coleman said the coroner and a new provincial safety officer, who will work with the senior manager for safety in the B.C. Timber Sales program, will work to determine why so many forestry workers are dying and investigate ways to bring this number down.
Victoria will provide about $200,000 a year for the new coroner's position. Coleman said he hopes, in time, the number of fatalities will decrease sufficiently to allow the coroner to work in other areas as well.
Coleman also announced a new set of safety standards designed to put unsafe companies out of business. Under the plan, auditors will examine company safety records and measure how well employees are trained.
A company that passes inspection will get a five per cent discount on workers' compensation payments. Companies that fail the safety audit won't be able to do any work on Crown land.
The new standards are expected to take up to two years to be developed, and the companies themselves will be expected to shut out unsafe subcontractors.
