BURSTB.C. announced a pair of workplace safety changes on Tuesday, introducing stronger crane safety protections and expanding presumptive cancer coverage for firefighters.
The proposed crane safety changes follow seven worker fatalities over the past five years. In response to those incidents, the Labour Ministry created a crane safety working group that includes government, labour, industry and regulators. The changes will require legislation to take effect.
“It was clear that what we have in place is not sufficient,” Labour Minister Jennifer Whiteside told Black Press Media on Tuesday (March 3).
Changes will include the introduction of a mandatory crane licensing and permitting program. Currently, 373 cranes are operating in B.C., up from 261 in 2021.
Additional cancer coverage for firefighters, which will not require new legislation, will be extended to include eight additional types: skin cancer, mesothelioma, soft tissue sarcoma, as well as laryngeal, tracheal, bronchial, nose and pharynx cancers. This presumptive coverage will be provided for professional, volunteer and wildland firefighters.
These firefighters will no longer need to prove a link between these illnesses and their work — this will be assumed.
“What that means is that when a firefighter is diagnosed with a cancer that’s on the list, when they receive that terrible news, they will know, they can be assured, that their process through the workers’ compensation system will be seamless and easy,” Whiteside said.
This brings the total number of cancers covered to 26, which Whiteside said is the highest level of presumptive coverage in Canada.
The B.C. General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) issued a statement welcoming the news and calling for broader protections as fire seasons get longer and more extreme.
“They put their health on the line for British Columbians, and they deserve to know that the province will stand behind them if they get sick,” BCGEU President Paul Finch said in a written statement.