We had the opportunity to connect with more than 70 Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee (JOHSC) members at Health Sciences Association (HSA) Occupational Health and Safety Conference in Vancouver. JOHSCs are at the heart of health and safety programs throughout the health system.

SWITCH BC CEO, Victoria Schmid, presented the morning greetings to all the attendees, bringing awareness to SWITCH BC and providing an overview of our work ahead including Provincial Violence Prevention Curriculum (PVPC) Refresh and Community Physician Health and Safety.

SWITCH BC Manager, Health and Safety Gordon Lechner, lead a successful breakout session on the new provincewide Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) Resource Centre we are developing with all of our partners including HSA and with funding from the Nurses’ Bargaining Association, the Facilities Bargaining Association, and the Ministry of Health.

Conference attendees also shared their health mental health is a little bit worse now than before the pandemic and are experiencing more incidents of verbal and physical violence in their workplaces than the year before.