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Resource Roads Demonstration Project to improve worker safety
Additional resources
- Backgrounder: Project overview
- Frequently asked questions
- Introduction to Safe Practices on Resource Roads (PDF 633kb)
- Profile: Craig Payne (PDF 71kb)
- Incident Types on Resource Roads (PDF 212kb)
Richmond, B.C., October 30, 2008 — Today, WorkSafeBC introduces the Resource Roads Safety Demonstration Project – an initiative designed to improve safety for workers who travel along B.C.’s 400,000 kilometers of resource roads.
The Prince George Forest District is one of two project areas where WorkSafeBC and key industrial stakeholders will work to enhance best practices and find solutions to safety concerns.
Resource roads are not considered public highways and are commonly known as “logging roads,” “industrial roads,” “forest service roads,” and “petroleum development roads.”
“There have been too many serious injuries and fatalities on these roads,” said Betty Pirs, WorkSafeBC’s Executive Director of Prevention. “With better communication and understanding of who is responsible for health and safety on resource roads, we believe these numbers will come down.”
For many years, resource roads were built to access remote locations for a single user such as a forest company who constructed, maintained, and operated on the road. Today, a variety of industries and the general public often share that same road. As the number of users on existing resource roads increases, so does the number of roads built to accommodate the expansion of oil and gas, mining, and tree salvaging operations as a result of the pine beetle infestation.
“My hat is off to everyone involved in this project,” says Keith Playfair, member of the BC Forest Safety Council’s Board of Directors.“They have worked tirelessly for years to make the changes that we all know will improve safety for both industrial and other users of our resource roads.”
To plan and implement the Demonstration Project, WorkSafeBC worked closely with the Prince George Forest Road Safety Committee, comprised mainly of road licensees within the Prince George Forest District.
“When WorkSafeBC approached us,” says Chuck Carter, Senior Operations Supervisor at Canadian Forest Products, and Chair for the Prince George Forest Road Safety Committee, “we saw the benefit of coordinating our committee’s goals with their desire for increased worker safety.”
The Demonstration Project coordinates and builds upon the work that industry and others have been able to achieve to date, and adds a necessary component of shared responsibility for safety on the road systems.
Once complete, the Demonstration Project report will provide two examples of how safety responsibilities can be managed on resource roads and explore how new technologies may improve safety for users. The final report will be the basis for developing a provincial resource road strategy.
WorkSafeBC is an independent provincial statutory agency governed by a Board of Directors that serves nearly 2.2 million workers and more than 190,000 employers. WorkSafeBC was born from the historic compromise between B.C.'s workers and employers in 1917 where workers gave up the right to sue their employers and fellow workers for injuries on the job in return for a no-fault insurance program fully paid for by employers. The organization is committed to safe and healthy workplaces and to providing return-to-work rehabilitation and legislated compensation benefits.
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For more information, contact: |
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| Gladys Johnsen |
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