Resources > Health and safety
David Bland Memorial Award
The David Bland Memorial Award was established by the HSA Board of Directors in 2007. It recognizes HSA members who have championed a local occupational health and safety issue, with their leadership making a difference in the lives of their colleagues.
The award honours David Bland, a vocational rehabilitation counselor from Richmond Mental Health who was murdered at his workplace by a former client in 2005. His death galvanized the health care sector around exposing the need to step up the work on preventing violence in the workplace.
Nomination Form - David Bland Memorial Award
2010 Recipient – Shannon Breeze
 According to Workers Compensation Board data, the Eric Martin Pavilion in Victoria is one
of the most dangerous worksites in the province. Registered psychiatric nurse
Shannon Breeze has been calling attention to the need for better measure to
protect against violent incidents there.
One of her colleagues praised Shannon’s courage and dedication. “Shannon’s positive
attitude, tenacity and spirit – along with her tireless work to support and
encourage all coworkers, even those represented by other unions – has helped
begin the process towards change at our workplace,” said Johanna Lisakowski, a
colleague whose words were read during the awards ceremony at HSA’s annual
general convention.
“Whenever a violent incident ocurred, Shannon would
give us the courage to fill out the incident reports, and then would follow up
to make sure investigations were happening. Many times, we got negative
reactions from managers, but Shannon would always keep in touch with the
member, accompany them to all the necessary meetings, and advocate on their
behalf, at times even coming under fire herself from managers.”
2009 Recipient – Allen Peters
A dramatic incident can be a great wake-up call, says Allen, but ensuring workplace safety is an ongoing, everyday process. “We need to continue to be vigilant, to stay informed, and to make sure programs are in place and people are accountable for their actions.”
Allen has been doing just that for the last 20 years. It was a dramatic incident that motivated him to get involved in occupational health and safety activism.
“What started the whole ball rolling for me was the day I lost one of my co-workers in my department. It happened in a split second.” The co-worker was injured while assisting a patient off an x-ray table and ended up on long-term disability.
Allen participated on HSA’s OH&S Committee when he was a Member at Large for Region 8 and then went on to serve as co-chair for the Thompson Regional Joint Committee for Occupational Health and Safety.
Allen has worked in virtually all positions possible in our health and safety structure. These days he is perhaps best known around BC as an educator for the Occupational Health and Safety Agency for Healthcare in BC, a volunteer job he has been doing since the OHSAH program was established in 1999.
2008 Recipient – Jackie Spain
Jackie is a former member of the union’s board of directors and over the years developed a passion for occupational health and safety issues into more than just a passion, but a second career. A lab technologist at Golden Hospital, she is also the coordinator and a facilitator for the B.C. Federation of Labour’s Health and Safety project for the East and West Kootenays.
On her own initiative, she became a local expert on the issue of the transportation of dangerous goods. Her commitment to the issue was recognized by the Occupational Health and Safety Agency for Health Care, which took her off the job to teach employees throughout the province the necessary skills to safely transport dangerous goods.
As chair of the union’s OHS committee for five terms, she raised such key issues as chemical exposure, ergonomics, workplace stress, including the effect of on-call on health care workers. Within her own profession, Jackie also advocates on health and safety issues on provincial and national lab committees.
2007 Recipient – Bev Banfield
After years of complaints about incineration fumes and other air quality concerns in the laboratory, one of her colleagues was diagnosed with cancer. Then another. And another. And yet another.
Bev knew she had to act. Her efforts eventually led to the identification – and official investigation – of a cancer cluster at Mission Memorial Hospital. Her work in identifying and investigating the problem started in 2003 with a letter-writing campaign to various employer representatives. She chaired a sub-committee of the hospital’s safety committee formed to dealt with the investigation and subsequent recommendations. She sorted through boxes of old hospital records, collected her own air quality samples, organized meetings between staff, management, HSA and legal advisors, and championed the issue in the media.
Bev continues to be a forceful advocate for her colleagues at Mission Memorial Hospital. |
