WorkSafeBC gives safety tips to agricultural workers
Posted September 20, 2012 4:12 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
LANGLEY (NEWS1130) – Thousands of employers in the agriculture industry are getting tips from WorkSafeBC about the dangers of working in tight spaces. This is a follow-up on recommendations made after a deadly mushroom farm accident in Langley in 2008.
“I’m hopeful this is not a substitute for the recommendations being implemented. That’s my understanding. This is in addition to those recommendations,” says Jim Sinclair with the BC Federation of Labour.
He believes the WCB is moving in the right direction, but says employees, not just their bosses, need to be involved in the new safety training.
“The recommendation was those employers should send back a form saying they’re complying with the law. They have safety committee meetings, and they’re training their employees. If there are dangerous situations on their work sites, they’ve got proper training to deal with that and proper protection.”
Four members of the company pleaded guilty to 10 of 29 charges. They were fined $350,000.
Thirty-five year-old Ut Van Tran, 47-year-old Han Duc Phan and 55-year-old Jimmy Chi Wai Chan died when they overcome by toxic fumes on the Langley farm. Two others workers survived but suffered brain damage.
