Who are they?

Forest Safety Advocates are here to coach you through the SAFE Companies process.

They are folks with many years experience in the forest sector in BC. They all have on-the-ground experience developing, implementing or managing health and safety programs for a variety of forest industry activities. They are trained by the BC Forest Safety Council to review small forest companies’ health and safety programs.

The Council currently has six Safety Advocates who are available at no charge to companies preparing to get SAFE Certified.

Advocate Code of Ethics

Our Safety Advocates adhere to a Code of Ethics, which you can download and read here.

What do Advocates do?

The Safety Advocate will work with you to:

• Assess your current safety program and practices, and provide advice for improvement;
• Assist you with implementing the Council’s Safety Toolkit;
• Review your SEBASE Audit  before submission and provide guidance and assistance where needed;
• Generally, help you improve worker safety in your operation.

How much time can a Safety Advocate spend with my company?

Usually they will spend one day, but it’s possible for this to be adjusted, or for a follow up to be scheduled, depending on a company’s need. Please discuss this with your Safety Advocate.

How do I access a Safety Advocate?

In order to use the services of a Safety Advocate, your company needs to be registered in the SAFE Companies Program and you need to have completed the required SAFE Companies training.  This is a requirement to ensure that you have begun the basic steps of building a health and safety program when the Advocate begins to work with you

If you are interested in receiving the assistance of a Safety Advocate, please submit a completed application form (Interactive PDF document).

I applied for a Safety Advocate, what happens next?

Applications are handled on a first come first served basis.

Accepted applications will be forwarded to a Safety Advocate in your area and he/she will contact you to make arrangements for your session.

Please note we currently have a limited number of Safety Advocates and there is no guarantee of immediate service.

How much will it cost?

Forest Safety Advocates are free of charge to registered SAFE Companies.