Government Actions to Protect Farm Workers

May 8, 2008
Ministry of Labour and Citizens' Services

VICTORIA – The Province introduced additional protections for farm workers on May 3, 2007. All measures have either been implemented or have been initiated and are continuing.

Farm workers make a valuable contribution to our province and, like all workers in B.C., they deserve safe work places. These actions will ensure that those people working in the agriculture industry are protected and are treated fairly.

• Mandatory seatbelts for all passengers – Every seat in a farm worker vehicle must have a seatbelt, and employers, vehicle owners and drivers can now be fined for allowing a vehicle to be operated over capacity or without seatbelts.
  Status: Complete
• Inter-agency enforcement, prevention and education – The inter-agency committee was formally established on May 4, 2007. Commercial Vehicle Inspection Branch, in conjunction with WorkSafeBC, Ministry of Labour and Citizens’ Services, Fraser Valley RCMP Traffic Services and Delta Police, has completed a number of inspection blitzes. The blitzes will continue during this spring growing season. As a result of these efforts, the vehicle failure rate in the targeted inspections has fallen to three per cent.
  Status: Initiated and continuing
• Additional Employment Standards Branch (ESB) resources for agriculture sector – Two ESB staff hired June 1, 2007 with ongoing site inspections and end-of-harvest audits. Status: Complete Dedicated WorkSafeBC inspectors – WorkSafeBC has hired six additional officers committed to the agriculture industry and continues to recruit for an agricultural safety officer in the Kelowna region.
  Status: Complete
• Prohibit growers from using unlicensed farm labour contractors
  Status: Complete
• Suspend farm labour contractor’s licence for safety violations – Offenders will face suspension or loss of their operating licence if they violate WorkSafeBC or Motor Vehicle Act regulations.
  Status: Required legislation recently passed. Regulations to complete this initiative are expected this spring.
• Provide transportation for workers – Workers being transported in a vehicle that is taken off the road for being unsafe are provided with safe transportation.
  Status: Initiated and continuing
• Costs for providing alternative transportation to farm workers will be charged to the farm labour contractor – When a farm labour contractor’s vehicle is taken off the road for being unsafe, the cost of providing alternative transportation for farm workers will be charged to the contractor.
  Status: Required legislation recently passed. Regulations to complete this initiative are expected this spring.
• Post safety information in farm vehicles – Penalties for farm labour contractors who do not post in each vehicle translated information on seating capacity and safety requirements.
  Status: Complete
• Mandatory penalties for non-compliance with provincial employment standards
  Status: Complete
• Farm and Ranch Safety Health Association (FARSHA) to work directly with farm labour contractors on safety education – FARSHA has expanded many of its training programs through its field safety co-ordinators. This includes working with major labour contractors to provide in-house training to their workers and ensuring appropriate health and safety programs are in place.
  Status: Complete
• Strengthen Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the farm sector – The scope of the MOU has been expanded to focus on safety issues in addition to employment standards.
  Status: Complete