Welcome to February as construction activity, BCCSA announcements ramp up
We begin to receive more daily sunlight the day after winter solstice, but by the beginning of February it’s easy to appreciate that the sun feels warmer and the days are becoming noticeably longer. It’s a good thing too, considering the way construction activity is ramping up — every minute of additional daylight is a bonus.
We’re preparing for a busy month at the BCCSA as well, and we’re particularly excited about two new developments.
In this issue, read about the growing interest from parties across North America in the BCCSA’s Certified Concrete Pump Operator (CCPO) program. As the first and most rigorous standard of its kind, the BC construction industry is setting the pace for other jurisdictions looking to make concrete pumping safer.
Also, later this month, we’ll be announcing an event and discuss some surprising preliminary findings from Blueprint for Action. It’s a joint research effort by the BCCSA and the Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction at Simon Fraser University (SFU), supported by our Research, Development and Opportunity fund. The goal of the study, headed by SFU’s Dr. Julian Somers, is to understand the impact of alcohol and other drugs on construction workers in British Columbia, and to provide evidence-based programs and training to best target substance use disorders.
We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank the more than 600 construction workers who completed surveys to help us collect valuable data. Your participation was essential to this research. Look for an announcement regarding the date of the Blueprint for Action event, which will be held in Vancouver.
