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New TruckSafe strategy will make B.C.'s highways safer

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Richmond, B.C., September 20, 2005 — B.C.'s truck drivers and the general public will be safer with the implementation of the new TruckSafe Strategy developed by stakeholders and WorkSafeBC (the Workers' Compensation Board).

The TruckSafe Strategy, released at Newlands Golf Course in Langley today, is a common sense, community-based strategy that relies on partnerships to eliminate or reduce serious injuries and deaths resulting from truck collisions or incidents.

Coordinated by WorkSafeBC, TruckSafe will also develop a sustainable safety network of practical, cost-effective and workable solutions for improving the safety of the truck driver, the truck, its loads, and the roads for all types of trucking. TruckSafe will create independent project teams made up of partners at the federal, provincial, municipal, community and industry levels.

According to WorkSafeBC, in the five years from 2000 through to 2004, there were 21,700 time loss claims, including 116 fatalities and 533 serious injuries, resulting in more than 650,000 productive work days lost. These injuries and fatalities cost the BC trucking industry $101 million in workers' compensation costs alone.

The term "truck driver" represents a broad range of transport occupations from log haulers, heavy transport operators, and owner/operators to couriers, public school bus drivers and the bread deliverer.

Over the past several years WorkSafeBC has consulted extensively with industry associations, labour unions, and municipal, provincial, and federal governments and agencies to develop a strategy that would support Road Safety 2010, a national initiative focused on making Canada's roads the safest in the world and the BC Road Safety Plan that identifies strategies and actions that will substantially reduce serious injuries and deaths on B.C.'s roads.

"This government is committed to the safety of all travelers on our roads and highways," said Kevin Falcon, Minister of Transportation. "Through the TruckSafe Strategy, and others, my ministry will continue to work with local and federal partners as we make the commercial vehicles of B.C. the safest anywhere."

"Implementation of this Strategy will result in greater safety for all drivers on B.C.'s highways," said Paul Landry, president and CEO of the BC Trucking Association. "Improving the public's understanding of the importance of the trucking industry to our economy and how to share the road with this industry will go a long way to reducing injuries and fatalities." BC Trucking Association members operate more than 13,000 vehicles, employ in excess of 26,000 workers and generate approximately $2.3 billion annually in revenues in B.C.

Diana Miles, Worker and Employer Services Vice-President at WorkSafeBC agreed, saying, "The trucking industry and this province cannot afford the continuing human and financial cost of these injuries and fatalities. WorkSafeBC and our partners are committed to implementing the TruckSafe Strategy which will create safer highways for all."

BC Fraser Canyon Truck Safety Corridor
The BC Fraser Canyon Truck Safety Corridor exemplifies the TruckSafe community-based, partnership approach. When the collision histories of Highway 1 (the Fraser Canyon) and Highway 5 (Hope to Merritt section of the Coquihalla) were compared the highest number of truck-related incidents resulting in serious injury and fatality were on Highway 1.

Activities of the Fraser Canyon Traffic Safety Committee and the Fraser Canyon Truck Crash Review Committee, resulted in ICBC, the RCMP Fraser Valley and Southern Interior Traffic Services departments, the Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement Branch and South Coast Region of the Ministry of Transportation, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada - Labour Programs, the Bobell Group of Companies and WorkSafeBC developing initiatives and committing resources to improving safety in the Fraser Canyon corridor.* These initiatives are based on the three-E approach (engineering, education and enforcement) to road safety.

Sharing the Road with Trucks
Sharing the Road with Trucks is a public awareness initiative to be undertaken by all TruckSafe partners. It focuses on, among other things, making the public more aware of time and distance it takes a truck to stop in all weather conditions and how to share the roads with trucks safely.*

Serving nearly two million workers and about 179,000 employers, WorkSafeBC (the Workers' Compensation Board) is a provincial statutory agency governed by a Board of Directors and funded by employers. WorkSafeBC was born out of a compromise between B.C.'s workers and employers in 1917 where workers gave up the right to sue their employers or fellow workers for injuries on the job in return for a no-fault insurance program fully paid for by employers. WorkSafeBC is committed to a safe and healthy workplace and to providing return-to-work rehabilitation and legislated compensation benefits to workers injured as a result of their employment.

*To receive a fax or an e-mail of a description of the B.C. Fraser Canyon Truck Safety Corridor or the Sharing the Road with Trucks information please call Roberta Sheng-Taylor, Manager, General Industries, at 604-231-8347, local 8347.
For more information or to arrange interviews please contact:

Gladys Johnsen
Manager, Prevention Public Affairs
604 214-5441 or toll-free in B.C. at 1 888 621-7233, local 5441
Or cell 604 908-0876