Government implementing numerous recommendations to improve safety for employees following double-murder suicide at a Kamloops office last year
British Columbia is taking steps to improve workplace safety for its employees in the wake of last year’s shooting at a provincial office that left three men, including the shooter, dead.
On Oct. 15, 2002, Dick Anderson walked into the Land, Water and Air Protection office in Kamloops and opened fire with a handgun, just hours after being fired from his job. He shot and killed Dave Mardon and Jim McCracken before turning the gun on himself. Mardon was a union steward with the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union (BCGEU) and McCracken was Anderson’s supervisor.
In June, a coroner’s jury in British Columbia came forward with eight recommendations for government employers. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Workers' Compensation Board and a joint union-management commitee subsequently conducted independent investigations of the tragedy.
Now the government has responded, and has a plan to implement numerous changes in an effort to make workplaces safer.
Soren Bech, of the BCGEU, said the plan is a good first step, but told the CBC there should be a provision added to protect employees who speak out about workplace safety issues.
“If they feel that they’re going to get penalized in some way for making a complaint, then it tends to prevent them from making the complaint, and then the situations go on and fester,” said Bech. He also wants to see periodic reviews to make sure the changes are taking place as planned.
Vince Collins, Deputy Minister of the B.C. Public Service Agency, said the government is making every effort to ensure a tragedy like the Kamloops shooting doesn’t happen in the future.
“We cannot perfectly predict the future, nor what is in someone else’s mind,” Collins wrote in the report on Aug. 15. “Therefore it is unlikely that we will be able to completely prevent the unanticipated and the unthinkable. But we must try our best. To do less would not honour those whose lives were taken, or their families, friends and co-workers who were touched deeply by this tragedy. I am hopeful that the changes we have made and the further changes we intend to implement will make our workplaces safer for everyone.”
What the government is doing
Actions currently underway, or to be completed across the B.C. government, include:
•A risk-assessment tool will be developed by Sept. 30, 2003, to assist managers when the potential for violence may exist.
•Avenues for addressing potential violence and safety concerns will be discussed by all employees and their supervisors by Sept. 30, 2003.
•The standards of conduct for public-service employees will be amended to express that violence and threats in the workplace are unacceptable, will not be tolerated and will be dealt with immediately. Supervisors and employees will receive the new standards and discuss their rights to and responsibilities for a safe workplace by Sept. 30, 2003.
•Annual performance reviews and development plans, which include information on employee interaction with staff and supervisors, are to be completed for all managers by the end of this fiscal year, and for all other employees by 2004-2005.
•A 360-degree feedback and evaluation tool, which provides for peer and subordinate input, is now available to assess the performance of managers.
•Existing mandatory harassment awareness training will be revised to include prevention of worker-to-worker violence by Sept. 30, 2003.
•A new leadership program is now available to all supervisors that prepares them to provide coaching, progressive discipline and conflict resolution.
•Hiring practices and training and development for managers now emphasize proficiency in leading and managing others, as well as technical skills.
A full copy of the report, in PDF format, is available at www.bcpublicservice.ca/down/pdfs/Kamloops_report.pdf.
On Oct. 15, 2002, Dick Anderson walked into the Land, Water and Air Protection office in Kamloops and opened fire with a handgun, just hours after being fired from his job. He shot and killed Dave Mardon and Jim McCracken before turning the gun on himself. Mardon was a union steward with the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union (BCGEU) and McCracken was Anderson’s supervisor.
In June, a coroner’s jury in British Columbia came forward with eight recommendations for government employers. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Workers' Compensation Board and a joint union-management commitee subsequently conducted independent investigations of the tragedy.
Now the government has responded, and has a plan to implement numerous changes in an effort to make workplaces safer.
Soren Bech, of the BCGEU, said the plan is a good first step, but told the CBC there should be a provision added to protect employees who speak out about workplace safety issues.
“If they feel that they’re going to get penalized in some way for making a complaint, then it tends to prevent them from making the complaint, and then the situations go on and fester,” said Bech. He also wants to see periodic reviews to make sure the changes are taking place as planned.
Vince Collins, Deputy Minister of the B.C. Public Service Agency, said the government is making every effort to ensure a tragedy like the Kamloops shooting doesn’t happen in the future.
“We cannot perfectly predict the future, nor what is in someone else’s mind,” Collins wrote in the report on Aug. 15. “Therefore it is unlikely that we will be able to completely prevent the unanticipated and the unthinkable. But we must try our best. To do less would not honour those whose lives were taken, or their families, friends and co-workers who were touched deeply by this tragedy. I am hopeful that the changes we have made and the further changes we intend to implement will make our workplaces safer for everyone.”
What the government is doing
Actions currently underway, or to be completed across the B.C. government, include:
•A risk-assessment tool will be developed by Sept. 30, 2003, to assist managers when the potential for violence may exist.
•Avenues for addressing potential violence and safety concerns will be discussed by all employees and their supervisors by Sept. 30, 2003.
•The standards of conduct for public-service employees will be amended to express that violence and threats in the workplace are unacceptable, will not be tolerated and will be dealt with immediately. Supervisors and employees will receive the new standards and discuss their rights to and responsibilities for a safe workplace by Sept. 30, 2003.
•Annual performance reviews and development plans, which include information on employee interaction with staff and supervisors, are to be completed for all managers by the end of this fiscal year, and for all other employees by 2004-2005.
•A 360-degree feedback and evaluation tool, which provides for peer and subordinate input, is now available to assess the performance of managers.
•Existing mandatory harassment awareness training will be revised to include prevention of worker-to-worker violence by Sept. 30, 2003.
•A new leadership program is now available to all supervisors that prepares them to provide coaching, progressive discipline and conflict resolution.
•Hiring practices and training and development for managers now emphasize proficiency in leading and managing others, as well as technical skills.
A full copy of the report, in PDF format, is available at www.bcpublicservice.ca/down/pdfs/Kamloops_report.pdf.
