Five years ago, in 2005, David Bland, a vocational rehabilitation counsellor and HSA member from Richmond Mental Health, was murdered at his workplace by a former client. His tragic death served as a sombre reminder that more needs to be done to prevent incidents of violence in the workplace and to protect health care ands social services workers on the job.
There is still room available in the two-day OH&S Steward Training workshop on January 18 & 19, 2010 please register as soon as possible if you are interested in attending this workshop.
OH&S Steward Training: January 18 & 19, 2010
Eligible stewards should print a pre-registration form off the HSA website http://www.hsabc.org/ (go to Member Services, then Education) and return it to the HSA Office (Attention: Karin Herbert) as soon as possible. HSA will call you to confirm your registration.
Following the protocol issued by BCs Medical Health Officer, beginning next week health care workers will be offered vaccination against the H1N1 virus. This includes all HSA members who work with vulnerable populations.
HSA encourages members to participate in the H1N1 vaccination program.
When you receive your H1N1 vaccination, you will also be offered vaccination against seasonal flu.
Learning Opportunities Near You!
Union Affiliates and Labour Council Leadership, please forward to your Health and Safety Activists.
The Health Sciences Association of BC (HSA) today released a report by an environmental health expert that recommends a high standard of personal protective equipment use by health care workers to minimize the spread of the deadly H1N1 virus.
The World Health Organization has declared a world H1N1 flu pandemic. It is uncertain how serious this pandemic will be in terms of how many people infected will be severely affected. However, because H1N1 is a new virus, many people may have little or no immunity against it, and illness may be more severe and widespread as a result. In addition, there is currently no vaccine to protect against this virus, although recent reports indicate that one should be available by October.
HSA members and stewards, including OHS stewards, are encouraged to help the union gather information about the state of preparedness in your facility for a possible pandemic.
Please complete a short online survey to help HSA gather information about the extent to which Health Authorities are prepared to protect the health of employees, as well as patients and their families.
Ergonomic workstation resources available
The Injury Prevention department at OHSAH will release two new print items this month: a workstation assessment checklist (Computer Workstation Assessment Checklist) and poster (Avoid Discomfort at your Workstation). Both the poster and the checklist contain visual guidelines to personal workstation improvements.
To order your copy, you can contact webmaster@ohsah.bc.ca
or download them from our webpage.
In recent years, HSA activists at Mission Memorial Hospital have spearheaded efforts to call attention to a possible cancer cluster at their workplace. The employer, HSA, and The Occupational Heath and Safety Agency for Healthcare (OHSAH) participated in a lengthy process on this topic.
Following this investigation of the site, OHSAH is now conducting a survey of past and current employees of Mission Memorial Hospital to assess a broader range of possible exposures. HSA encourages you to participate.
