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As the BC Forest Safety Council began operations in 2005, forestry workers and employers of all kinds said there needed to be a way to raise safety concerns in an open manner.
The changing structure of the sector and the changing relationships of parties within the sector had created concerns that raising safety issues might result in adverse repercussions.
To be blunt, the Ombudsman exists so that people can raise issues without fear of losing their jobs.
To deal with this issue a new and innovative approach wa need to show that the discussion of safety issues, difficult though they might be, would be encouraged and supported.
The forest sector took the bold step of creating the position of Forest Safety Ombudsman in order to provide an impartial, confidential and fair avenue for safety issues to be raised.
BC's first Forest Safety Ombudsman is Roger Harris. Roger Harris has experience in many areas of the forest sector. He has worked as a dishwasher in a logging camp, been a board member for a Local of the IWA and has owned and operated his own phase logging contract business.
Harris knows firsthand the importance of safety and the impact that injuries and fatalities can have on workers and their families. In 1986 while working as a falling contractor, his right hand was nearly severed when his chainsaw kicked back. His brother-in-law was killed in a forestry accident at age 18.
"I have a passion for the woods becoming a safe place because I've been there. I've lived the worst side of it, but I think it's still the greatest occupation in the world. I want the Ombudsman's office to be a vehicle that deals with issues before we have incidents."
- Roger Harris
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