HEALTH + SAFETY & ENVIRONMENT (HSE) COMMITTEE

Your Local Union established a HSE Committee in order to ensure that the health and safety of our members is a priority, as well as protected under the Mines Code and our Collective Bargaining Agreement. If you are interested in being a part of this committee, please contact the Committee Chair or the Union Hall at 250-828-2860 for more information on how to be a committee rep, our next training schools, etc.

To View The Current HSE Committee list, CLICK HERE

HSE LANGUAGE – HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT

11.01 The Company and the Union acknowledge their common concern for maintaining a safe and healthy working environment to prevent industrial injury and illness. In order to effect a thoroughly understood and accepted Safety and Health Program for employees at work, it is agreed that joint and cooperative methods shall be encouraged.

To this end, Joint Occupational Health, Safety and Environment Committees (OHSEC) will be established. In addition, the President of the Local Union, the Chair of the Health, Safety and Environment Committee of the Union, the appropriate Departmental Safety Representative and/or Crew Safety Representative and, with the permission of the Industrial Relations and Personnel Department, a representative of the International Union shall have the right at any time to discuss

matters dealing with health, safety and environmental conditions and shall have the right of access to the Company’s operations to investigate such matters. Access for such investigations shall be arranged expeditiously if requested, and Company officials shall accompany the Union officials on such investigations.

The Company shall continue to make provisions for the health, safety and environment of the employees.

11.02

(a) The Joint Occupational Health, Safety and Environment Committee shall be composed of the Superintendent Safety, the Superintendent Environment Services, the Union Health and Safety Chair and the Departmental area Safety Representatives. There shall be two (2) co-chairs, one (1) a Union representative and the other, a Company representative.

(b) All accidents, dangerous occurrences and near-miss incidents shall be investigated by persons knowledgeable in the type of work involved and the co-chairs of the OHSEC or their designates.

Further, any incidents that, in the opinion of the Supervisor and the Health and Safety Representative requires investigation, shall be investigated by persons knowledgeable in the type of work.

(c) The Joint Review Committee composed of co-chairs of the Joint OHSEC, the President of the Local Union, the Superintendent Industrial Relations, the Superintendent Environment Services and one (1) other union member of the Joint OHSEC shall meet every three (3) months at mutually agreeable times. At such meetings the parties shall deal with recommendations and unresolved matters received from the Departmental OHSEC’s and submit its findings to the General Manager.

(d) The Company agrees to fully cooperate with all OHSEC’s and will provide them with every reasonable facility for carrying out their inspections and investigations, and access to all reports, plans, and records pertinent to the work of the OHSEC’s.

(e) The manager agrees to develop a Mine Health, Safety and Environment program which includes the following sections:

i) a written policy, statement;

ii) general safety rules;

iii) safe working procedures on a Departmental basis;

iv) a list of hazardous materials, safe handling procedures, and antidotes;

v) provisions for regular monthly crew safety meetings;

vi) procedures for accident and serious incident investigation; and

vii) procedures for safety tour inspections.

(f) The Co-chairs of the Joint Occupational Health, Safety and Environment Committee or their designates shall accompany an Inspector of Mines during official investigations as per the Mines Act.

11.03

(a) Department Occupational Health, Safety and Environment Committees will be established and will meet twice each month. The purpose of these committees is to review the ongoing Health, Safety and Environmental Programs, exchanging information and considering specific health, safety and environmental problems at work locations within the Departments. The Department Committees shall review the Mine Health and Safety Program for completeness and effectiveness on an ongoing basis and submit its findings to the General Manager, and the Co-Chairs of the OHSEC.

(b) The Mine, Mill and Administration Department Committees shall consist of the area representatives from the Department and the crew safety representative on shift at the time of the month end meeting and the Department Manager and two (2) other Company designates. The Local Union and the Company shall each designate one (1) member as co-chairs of the Committee.

(c) The Department Committees shall designate one (1) member selected by and from the Union and one (1) member selected by and from the Company, from each Department to form a Departmental Joint Safety Inspection Team. This Inspection Team shall conduct safety inspections once monthly at a mutually agreeable time within the Company’s operations. The Departmental Joint Safety Inspection Team shall report their findings to the Departmental OHSEC and the appropriate Department head immediately following the inspection.

The Departmental OHSEC shall meet, as soon as possible after the inspection, to discuss its findings and any other matters concerning health, safety, or the environment. The co-chairs shall alternate chairing the meetings.

11.04 Health, Safety and Environment Committee representatives shall be paid their hourly rate as defined in Article 19.08 for time lost during working hours while attending meetings, inspection trips of their committees and accident or dangerous occurrence investigations. Such time will be considered as time worked for the purposes of computation of pay under the overtime provisions of this C.B.A.

11.05 For time spent attending to Health, Safety and Environment issues, meetings, tours, accident or dangerous occurrence investigations, and training as required by the Company which require time off work, Safety Committee Representatives shall be paid their hourly rate as defined in Article 19.08. As much as possible the tour and meetings will be scheduled when the majority of the Union Committee is on day shift. For the date of the tour and meeting the remaining committee members will be transferred to day shift.

11.06 The Company will provide minutes of all Health, Safety and Environment Committee meetings within five (5) working days following such meetings, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and recognized holidays.

11.07

(a) The Company will provide the OHSEC and the Department Health, Safety and Environment Committees once a month with a daily and monthly summary of injuries for review and discussion by the Committees. The Company will also provide the Local Union with summaries and copies of all crew safety meeting minutes, first aid reports for the month, Workers’ Compensation Board Forms and a list of all employees who the Company is aware have applied for Weekly Indemnity, Workers’ Compensation Benefits or are utilizing the modified work program.

(b) Should the Company request a meeting with an employee to discuss his claim with the Workers’ Compensation Board, he will be entitled to a Union representative, with preference given to members of the Union W.C.B. Committee.

(c) The Company shall provide the Union with copies of claim related information it submits to the Workers’ Compensation Board and the Union shall provide the Company with copies of claim related information it submits to the Workers’ Compensation Board.

(d) Employees will be given a copy of the First Aid Report at the time it is completed by the First Aid Attendant.

11.08

(a) The Union Co‑Chairs or his designate and a member of the appropriate Department Health, Safety and Environment Committee, shall be notified immediately in order that he may be accompanied to the site of an accident or dangerous occurrence required to be reported pursuant to the Mines Act, Health, Safety & Reclamation Code.

(b) The accident or occurrence site shall not be disturbed, except for the purpose of saving life or relieving human suffering, until the employee members referred to in Article 11.08(a) have had the opportunity to inspect and investigate the site, and the Inspector of Mines or the employee member referred to in Article 11.08(a) authorizes such disturbance. (In the event of a fatality the site can only be released by the Chief Inspector of Mines).

11.09 If an employee suffers a fatal accident while at work, the Company shall notify the President of the Local Union in order that he may designate two (2) employees who shall, within sixteen (16) hours of such fatality, be accompanied on an inspection of the accident site and, at the same time, be provided with all available pertinent information concerning the fatality. Each such employee shall be given a leave of absence of one (1) day with pay.

11.10 The Company and the Union agree to cooperate in developing and maintaining a strong sense of safety awareness among employees and Supervisors. It is, therefore, recognized that every employee has the right to refuse work if he has reasonable cause to believe that to do so would create undue hazard to the health or safety of any person.

11.11

(a) An employee who refuses to carry out any work or operate equipment, tool or appliance in compliance with Article 11.10 shall immediately report the circumstances to his Supervisor.

(b) The Supervisor receiving the report shall immediately investigate the matter and ensure that any hazardous condition is remedied without delay, or if in his opinion the report is not valid, he shall inform the employee who made the report.

(c) If the employee continues to refuse to carry out the work, the Supervisor shall make an investigation in the presence of the employee who made the report, together with a Union member of the OHSEC, or his designate, and a crew safety representative having knowledge of the work in question.

(d) If following the investigation set out in 11.11(c) above the matter is still unresolved, the matter shall be referred to the OHSEC who, together with the Department Manager, shall investigate and make recommendations to the General Manager on a resolution to the matter. The General Manager shall make a final determination in the matter, subject to review by the Ministry of Mines.

(e) While the matter is under investigation, the employee(s) who refuses to work is entitled to be reassigned alternate work with no loss of pay and to return to the job in question when it is determined safe to do so. No employee will be required or permitted to perform work, where another employee has refused to work, unless the alternate employee in the presence of the Union member of the OHSEC has been informed by the Supervisor of the reason for the refusal.

(f) A Supervisor shall not knowingly perform or permit a worker to perform work which is, or could create, an undue hazard to the health or safety of any person.

11.12 The Company shall send copies of government report materials to the Union regarding Health, Safety or Environment matters affecting employees at work. These copies will be sent whether initiated by the Company or the Government. The Union shall reciprocate with report material whether initiated by the Union or the Government.

11.13 The Company and the Union agree that the U.S.W. Local 7619/H.V.C. Safety Complaint forms will continue to be utilized so that employees can document and register recommendations for approval by the OHSEC. Safety complaint forms that first line Supervisors are unable to address immediately, shall be responded to in writing within four (4) working days.

11.14 When an employee is injured at work and the examining physician recommends that the employee not return to work he shall be paid at his hourly rate of pay for the remainder of the day on which he was injured. When the examining physician states that the injured employee is able to return to work on the same day, the employee shall be paid his hourly rate of pay for the total time lost as a result of the injury. The Company shall provide any transportation required for employees injured at work, to their final destination, whether it be a hospital within a sixty (60) mile radius of the mine site or home.

11.15 In the event the Mines Act, Health Safety and Reclamation Code, does not cover a situation, the Industrial Health and Safety Regulations pursuant to the Workers’ Compensation Board under the authority of the Workers’ Compensation Act or any other applicable legislation shall apply.

11.16

(a) Having recognized the value of having trained First Aid personnel on the Company property, it being beneficial to the Safety Program, the Company will pay a thirty five (35) cent premium per hour to the holders of an Occupational First Aid Level III Certificate.

(b) Qualified members of the Emergency Response Team (ERT) will be paid a premium of fifty (50) cents per hour. The Company will determine who is qualified and will also establish the number of E.R.T. members on each shift and in each Department or area.

Qualified members must have:

i) A valid St. John First Aid Certificate

ii) A valid Mine Rescue Certificate

iii) Successful completion of six (6) elements of the Justice Institute of B.C. Level I Fire Fighters Course.

11.17

(a) The Company shall provide an adequate supply of standard protective safety equipment as required, which shall include:

leather faced work gloves

welding gloves

rubber boots / sockettes

asbestos gloves

high voltage gloves

mono goggles

safety glasses (prescription)

respirators

winter hard hat liners

safety belts

safety face shields

leather aprons

ear protection

aprons and face shields for handling corrosive substances

surveyor vests

welding jackets

asbestos suits

welding helmets

hot sticks

fresh air packs

knee pads

winter mitts

lead aprons

high visibility safety apparel

arc flash safety apparel

which shall be made available as determined to be necessary by the employee’s Supervisor. Subsidized payment shall be made by the Company on the basis of one-hundred percent (100%) up to one hundred and fifty dollars ($150.00) per pair for safety boots.

(b) The quality of the standard protective safety equipment contained in Article 11.17(a) shall be reviewed for effectiveness by the Joint Occupational Health, Safety and Environment Committee.

11.18

(a) The Company shall install, maintain in good condition and operate adequate heating and ventilating systems and shall comply with the requirements of all applicable laws.

(b) All lunchrooms to be adequately heated, lighted, supplied with hot and cold running water. Lunchrooms shall to the extent possible be sealed to prevent contaminants and noise from entering and shall be cleaned daily.

(c) Where it is not practicable to provide running tap water, potable drinking water in suitable, approved sanitary containers shall be provided, on a one time basis.

11.19

(a) A logbook shall be provided for and maintained by employees in each unit of mobile equipment over 7,000 kg gross vehicle weight.

(b) The operator of any equipment shall examine and check the equipment before putting it into use and if an unsafe condition is discovered, he shall:

i) note the unsafe condition in the vehicle logbook, and

ii) not operate the equipment until repairs have been made by a qualified person and noted in the logbook, or

iii) the qualified person has assured him it is not unsafe to operate the vehicle and noted the reason in his logbook.

(d) Prior to operating any unit of mobile equipment, the operator shall read any entries made in the logbook, and, if an unsafe condition has been recorded but not corrected, he shall not operate the equipment until repairs have been made by a qualified person and noted in the logbook, or the qualified person has assured him it is not unsafe to operate the vehicle and has noted the reason in the logbook.

(e) The Manager shall ensure that the logbook system is working effectively.

(f) A maintenance record shall be kept of all unsafe conditions reported and the repairs made to each individual piece of mobile equipment to correct unsafe conditions.

(g) Every notation made in the logbook, maintenance record, and every other record relating to the condition of the equipment shall show the time and date of the entry and the name of the person who made the entry.

11.20 The Company will continue with its Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) Training Program to ensure that all employees are kept up‑to‑date with material identification and use.

11.21

(a) Where an environmental problem exists in the workplace, at the request of either party, the Joint OHSEC shall investigate the problem. Trained members of the Emergency Response Team or the Joint OHSEC shall conduct the necessary monitoring to determine the nature or degree of the hazard or potential hazard. Equipment required for such monitoring shall be made available by the Company.

(b) The Company agrees to train and instruct all members of the Emergency Response Team and the Joint OHSEC in the correct use of monitoring equipment and in the techniques of sampling and analysis for potentially toxic substances occurring within the Company’s operation. This training will be done within three (3) months of any employee’s appointment to the Emergency Response Team or the Joint OHSEC.

11.22 The Company shall inform all Contractors of relevant Safety Rules and Procedures and shall ensure such Regulations and Safety Rules are enforced. An OHSEC member will be present at all Contractor accident and incident investigations.