Regional Council Information Package, March 24 th, 2006

Transcription

1 Regional Council Information Package, March 24 th, 2006 National Sleep Awareness Week 27 March - 2 April 2006 Spring forward the clocks... lose an hour of sleep One of the hallmarks of spring is the switch to Daylight Saving Time. Many people look forward to having an extra hour of daylight at the end of the day to enjoy outdoor activities. But for some Canadians, the time change can also mean losing a precious hour of sleep - something most of us can't afford to give up. Sleep well tonight for a better tomorrow This year's National Sleep Awareness Week (27 March - 2 April) coincides with the beginning of Daylight Saving Time, when clocks are moved forward one hour at 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday in April and millions risk losing an hour of sleep. The campaign aims to raise awareness about the importance of sleep to health, productivity and safety.

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16 March 23, 2006 Issue #20 *Distributed biweekly across the entire BC Forest Sector Safety in Forestry Transportation TruckSafe Rumblings is published biweekly to keep you informed on what is happening in forest hauling safety in BC. Call MaryAnne Arcand to provide input or get the news out on best practices and concerns in the industry. ROGER HARRIS TO BE FIRST FORESTRY OMBUDSMAN The BC Forest Safety Council announced last week that Roger Harris will be BC s first Forestry Ombudsman. Roger comes to the position with a wealth of personal experience, as he has been a faller, was injured on the job, worked in industry and then in politics. Roger will be able to bridge the gaps between workers, industry and government. While the Ombudsman position does not have legislative authority, it does have the legitimacy of being backed by the BC Forest Safety Council, which is comprised of BC s four logging associations, the Steelworkers Union, the Council of Forest Industries, Coast Forests, the Western Fallers Association, Western Silviculture Contractors Association and government, including WorkSafeBC and the Ministry of Forests and Range. Having an Ombudsman to appeal to gives people a safe place in which to deal with issues that might otherwise be left alone because they re so complex or overwhelming. We welcome Roger to the BC Forest Safety Council team and look forward to working together to resolve some of these longstanding situations. FORESTRY TRUCKSAFE HOTLINE CALLS The hotline has been pretty busy these past couple of weeks with calls from upset, angry and scared members of the public, moms and wives, - lots of stories about near misses. The most common complaints about logging trucks are speeding and unsafe passing- all over the province. Calls have come from Vancouver Island, about logging trucks speeding through a school zone around Lake Cowichan. A story in the Kelowna newspaper cites a situation where a logging truck forced a woman in her van off the road near Vernon the van rolled, and the logger kept going. A Telkwa mom has called about speeding trucks through that village while she s walking her little ones to school along the side of the highway and there s nowhere else for her to go. We had two crashes with logging trucks this week in which someone died. Hundreds of trucks are running night shift, adding to the risk. Lots of them are hauling in unfamiliar areas, trying to get another couple of weeks in. We have to share the road better. Don t be the next statistic! We re into the last couple of weeks before breakup in most of the province so slow down, stay alert, and let s get through the rest of the season safely. HOURS OF SERVICE LAST CALL FOR INPUT 16

17 Here s your last chance to give us input on the recommendations for hours of service that we re going to make to the National Safety Code folks in April. NSC regulations that will come into effect Jan 1/07 are for 13 hours per day driving, + 1 hr service time, to a max of 120 hours in 14 days, with one 36 hour period off. We re looking at 13 hours driving + 2hrs service time, a max of 80 hours per week, and only 6 days per week, with a minimum 36 hours off per week. We re also looking at dropping the 160 km log book exemption, as log haulers are so transient in the current forest economy. That way, everybody is required to keep track of their on duty and off duty hours in the same way. If you want to have your voice heard on this issue, call or Keith Playfair (kplayfair@kdlgroup.net) or Roy Nagel (cilar@pgonline.com) before March 28, Improving Safety and Efficiency of Log Hauling on the Coast A workshop today in Campbell River reviewed numerous safety issues especially relevant to coast and Vancouver Island log haulers. The whole morning was dedicated to looking at safety issues, including log truck braking guide for hauling on steep grades, proposed WorkSafe BC guidelines for hauling on steep grades, load securement regulations, progress on the Forestry TruckSafe Action Plan, and other issues. Earlier Forestry TruckSafe manager MaryAnne Arcand met with Island loggers who educated her on the differences between on highway and off highway hauling, working conditions for drivers on the Island, and the kinds of issues they face, including their frustration that most of the focus on forest safety in the hauling sector seems to be on the central interior. There are commonalities, such as sharing logging roads with the public campers and tourists, issues with light duty vehicles, a shortage of machine operators, driver training and education needs, speeding, and getting safety policies implemented on the ground. A working group has been formed of Island folks from licensee reps, to contractors/truckers, and regulatory bodies. Better communication with, and inclusion of, the Island and Coastal drivers in the Forestry TruckSafe picture will be one of the positive outcomes of MaryAnne s visit to the Island. *************************************************************** YOUR VOICE - Public Perception of Log Truck Drivers: something to think about Hello, Well, if you want to know why there are so many logging truck drivers killed each year, take a drive between Prince George and Chetwynd. You will take your life into your own hands each time you set out on that road, especially past Mackenzie turnoff. It is absolutely ridiculous. I had to pull over to the shoulder the other day because I was facing two logging trucks abreast where the line on the highway was solid. If I didn't pull over and stop, I would have been killed. Are these guys absolutely crazy, or maybe stoned. They have no sense for anyone else on the road. One of the lowbed drivers said these guys are so high on drugs that he is afraid to drive anymore. I think I will send this along to the mill manager in Chetwynd, or maybe I could get enough people together that we could blockade the road, then what would they do. We could sure draw some unfavorable press to the loggers if we did this. Come on, why does this have to continue? P.M. *************************************************************** TruckSafe Trivia : In BC, autopsies on 227 fatally injured drivers found 31% positive for only alcohol, 9% for drugs only, and 11 % positive for both, for a total of 40% of fatalities in which drivers had drugs and/or alcohol in their system. ( Source, MADD) If you know someone who would be interested in receiving TruckSafe Rumblings, please forward this along. Signing up is easy. Just click here and you will be taken to our new sign up page. If you know someone who d be interested but doesn t have , forward their fax number to us at arcand@bctrucksafe.org 17

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