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The BCFGA announced an additional incentive of $250 per BCFGA member that becomes safety certified through AgSafeBC’s Certificate of Recognition (COR) for On Farm Worker Safety program. The incentive is increased to $500 for members with more than 50 acres of tree fruits.
An employer’s commitment to a healthy and safe workplace results in decreased injuries, increased employee loyalty, morale, productivity and profitability. The COR program highlights risk assessment, processes and checklists that help make a safer workplace. A safer workplace means fewer injuries and less lost time to accidents.
Tony DiMaria, who participated in the COR program prior to retiring from growing tree fruit, noted that the program does require paperwork and time, which essentially balanced-out his effort and the savings in premiums. The checklists and documentation are important in reminding supervisors and employees about the basic safety checks needed for a safe workplace. Tony noted, “COR made my workplace safer. I want to know, if a serious accident ever were to happen, that I did everything I could to ensure my farm was as safe as it could be.
The COR program gave me that assurance”. Since Tony participated, the COR program has been streamlined and improved. Now, the BCFGA is providing an incentive to encourage BCFGA members to participate.
An information bulletin is also released, showing how an individual grower can calculate the monetary benefit of joining the Certificate of Recognition Program. The $250 to $500 BCFGA COR Incentive increases this level of savings for BCFGA members for a total projected benefit of $750 to $1,750 per farm. Regardless of the monetary savings, COR prevents the human cost of accidents.
An AgSafeBC team member will contact the grower to initiate the process by scheduling a free GAP Analysis of your safety plan. The process is composed of several steps, preparing the farm safety system (focusing on education, awareness and keeping appropriate records) and takes about 6 months to complete. It is up to the grower to make the commitment and to determine how fast to proceed in attaining COR certification.
When COR certification is completed, the BCFGA grower-member will complete a short application form to receive the $250 to $500 incentive. The BC Fruit Growers’ Association represents 325 growers operating tree fruit orchards After an individual grower decides to participate in the COR program, contact is made with AgSafeBC to express interest in participating and becoming accredited in the COR program.