Re: “WorkSafe B.C. serious about mental health,” letter, Jan. 8.
In his response to a letter about bullying in the workplace, Scott McCloy, director of community relations for WorkSafe B.C., does not state that all bullying/harassment must occur in one calendar year to be relevant to a worker’s case. He does not state WorkSafe will not even read your report if it falls outside of the one-year mandate.
During my eight-year employment, I wrote WorkSafe to ask for help. The safety inspector spent one hour on site and never discussed bullying/harassment, no one from WorkSafe ever followed up and I never saw him again.
WorkSafe is now forcing me to to appeal yet again in an attempt to have my whole file read.
WorkSafe will tell you to get help at the worker’s advisor’s office, but if you fall outside the one-year mandate, you are not entitled to help. WorkSafe will tell you to seek assistance from your union, but if you are dealing with WorkSafe, the steelworkers will refuse to answer even a simple question, leaving stressed-out, scared workers on their own to deal with the multitude of issues in the system.
WorkSafe is not just allowing workers to slip through the cracks, it is creating chasms and then blaming workers who do not know they exist.
I will be wearing a pink shirt for Pink Shirt Day today. Would WorkSafe like to borrow one?
Jackie Kirnbauer
Port Hardy
