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VICTORIA – A regulation requiring a mandatory prepayment system at service stations throughout the province will be in effect Feb. 1, 2008, to help protect employees who work late at night, Labour and Citizens’ Services Minister Olga Ilich said today.
“Government’s priority is to protect all workers in British Columbia,”
said Ilich. “We want to make sure that people return home safely after a day’s
work.”
The regulation makes a prepayment
system mandatory in service stations across B.C. 24 hours a day, seven days a
week. This expands on other regulations brought in following the tragic death
of station attendant Grant De Patie in 2005.
Minister Ilich thanked Grant’s parents Doug and Corinne De Patie, as well as grandparents Chet and Florence Crellin, for their tireless efforts to have British Columbians remember Grant through improved safety measures for thousands of workers throughout the province.
“On behalf of the De Patie and Crellin families, I
want to thank the government for ensuring that something positive has come out
of Grant’s tragic death,” said Doug De Patie. “Minister Ilich has been a real
champion for this cause, and has kept up the momentum towards these changes
during the past year. We are pleased and proud that the government has followed
through with these new rules that will mean more safety for workers who face
the kind of risks that Grant did.”
As well as a mandatory prepayment
system, WorkSafeBC earlier amended requirements for orientating and training
new workers, including those at service stations. As of July 2007, every new
worker and returning worker must be given health and safety orientation and
training that is specific to that employee’s workplace. With the regulation
approved yesterday, on what would have been Grant’s 27th birthday,
the second component of “Grant’s Law” will be in effect in February.
“Safety is government’s number one priority, whether you're a forest worker, or a gas station attendant, or late night convenience store worker,” said Ilich. “We’ll continue to work with WorkSafeBC to help employers achieve safe work environments to avoid the kind of tragedy that took the life of Grant De Patie two and a half years ago.”
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Communications Manager Ministry of Labour and Citizens’ Services 250 387-0172 |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. |
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