Each year, April 28 is acknowledged as the Day of Mourning to remember workers who have lost their lives as the result of workplace injury, illness, or disease. Canada was the first country to recognize the day formally and, 24 years later, the Day of Mourning is observed throughout the world.

WorksafeBC statistics state that in BC an average of:

In 2007, 139 BC workers did not go home at the end of their workday. Of the 139 accepted work-related fatality claims, 71 were the result of occupational disease and six were young workers between the ages of 15 and 24.

OHSAH Chief Scientific and Medical Officer Jamie Guzman participated in the Day of Mourning ceremony on April 28 and laid a wreath at the Workers' Memorial in Vancouver's Hastings Park. Families, workers, employers, and others attended the ceremony.

The OHSAH staff team also marked the Day of Mourning by wearing orange ribbons to acknowledge the Day and observing a moment of silence to honour the memory of workers who have lost their lives as a result of workplace injuries.

For more information on the Day of Mourning, click here.

The North American Occupational Safety and Health Week (NAOSHWeek), from May 4 to 10, 2008, is a time to focus employers, employees, partners and the public on the importance of preventing injury and illness in the workplace, at home and in the community.

Across the country, NAOSH Week events and activities are coordinated as an opportunity to focus, reinforce and strengthen commitment to occupational safety and health.

For more information, click here.

Have you taken OHSAH's website survey yet!? We want to hear about which parts of our site you find useful or interesting and whether there’s anything else you want to see here.Thank you in advance! And don't forget to enter your name in our draw for a coffee card! Click here to reach the survey.

OHSAH is pleased to announce the launch of an exciting new initiative that reflects its core workplace values and hopefully make a real difference to our community - Team OHSAH.

Team OHSAH is an organization wide program where OHSAH staff come together to get involved and support a community charity of choice. For 2008, Team OHSAH is participating in the Hoodoo 500 - an 835km, 44 hour, ultra-marathon cycling race in Utah, US - in support of the BC Cancer Foundation. This is a unique event in North America that challenges riders' endurance through severe elements, steep inclines and fatigue. Two OHSAH teams (4 riders a piece), and a support crew are training intensively, preparing and getting geared up for possibly one of the biggest physical challenges of their lives!

You can help!

Donations are already coming in for BC Cancer Foundation in support of Team OHSAH and momentum is continuing to build! With only a few more months to the Hoodoo Challenge, please help the Team raise as much money as possible to make a difference for those battling this devastating disease!

Stay tuned for updates and tell your friends about Team OHSAH! Over the next few months you will hear more about our progress and preparation for the Hoodoo and our fundraising efforts on our website and in the Health & Safety e-Update.

For rider profiles, Team goals and to make a donation that will help Team OHSAH help others, please visit the BC Cancer Foundation at www.bccancerfoundation.com/hoodoo500.

For more information about our event and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Tony Gilligan at tony@ohsah.bc.ca.

OHSAH’s Injury Prevention Department is dedicated to producing practical tools and resources for the healthcare industry that can be used at all levels of the organization. We are excited to announce the publication of three new resources for healthcare:

1. “Elements of a Best Practice Violence Prevention Program for BC Healthcare” is a framework outlining the necessary components of an effective violence prevention program (VPP) and provides a best practice framework that any BC healthcare workplace can draw from to create their VPP.

2. The “Home and Community Care Risk Assessment Tool Resource Guide” is both a user manual and resource book for the home and community care risk assessment tool. Both were developed for OHSAH’s study “Improving the Health of Community Health Workers”.

3. A “Ceiling Lift Program Guide” is a workbook style guide designed to assist joint ceiling lift steering teams at long-term care affiliate facilities with planning and implementing a comprehensive ceiling lift program. The guide includes reference materials and practical tools to assist a steering team through the step-by-step process.

The Injury Prevention Department at OHSAH works with all of our stakeholders to develop guidelines and programs designed to reduce the risk of injury, primarily musculoskeletal injury, as well as the impact of injury to healthcare workers throughout the province. The Department focuses on initiatives in four major program areas: Ergonomics, Home and Community Care, Violence Prevention, and COSHARE.

For more information about all three new resources and to download copies please visit the OHSAH website at www.ohsah.bc.ca. Copies can also be accessed by calling OHSAH at 778.328.8000.