For Immediate Release
24-003
January 25, 2024

BC FERRIES PRIORITIZES EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING

VICTORIA – Improving the health and safety in the workplace is at the top of a list of recommendations BC Ferries will action after an extensive engagement with its people about how to help improve safety and employee well-being.

SailSafe is BC Ferries’ employee-centric program that focuses on all aspects of worker safety and welfare. Over the past year, it hosted a series of engagement sessions, pop-ups and town halls, to gather feedback on possible safety improvements. This resulted in two major recommendations in today’s final report – to make investments across five prioritized areas of interest and to develop a psychological health and safety framework.

“We’re a people business at our core, and it was critical that we hear what safety at work means to them, the challenges they face and the improvements they want to see,” said Nicolas Jimenez, President and CEO. “The actions we’re taking will put people’s interests first through a holistic approach that addresses physical, psychological and emotional workplace safety.”

While taking action on the recommendations is expected to be a multi-year process, work is already underway across the top areas where staff identified interest:
 

1. Workforce Planning and Support
2. Supervisor and Manager Leadership Training
3. New Hire Orientation
4. Internal Communication and Access to Information
5. Formal Mentoring Program

BC Ferries is now working on prioritizing the report’s safety recommendations and determining steps to best implement them, including work required to develop a psychological health and safety framework.

Every person who works at BC Ferries had the opportunity to participate in the engagement. Overall, approximately 1,500 pieces of feedback were received from 1,000 employees at 27 different worksites.

SailSafe began more than 17 years ago with the goal of the program being to enhance the safety and work culture at BC Ferries, making it a preferred organization to work for and one that people choose to build a long-lasting career with.

Learn More:
View the SailSafe Engagement Report and Recommendations here.
Media Contact:
BC Ferries, Media Relations
(250) 978-1267
media@bcferries.com

Customer Contact:
Victoria: (250) 410-1465
Toll-free: 1-888-BCFERRY (1-888-223-3779)
 

• reopened wage negotiations early in order to improve compensation for our people;
• implemented a guarantee for our casual workers that includes nine shifts a month in off-peak season and 15 shifts a month in peak season;
• continuing to grow the recruitment process to add more hires across the company to areas that need additional support;
• increased the regularization of operational positions and are reviewing hours of work, looking at day-for-day opportunities, starting with the Northern Gulf Islands to improve work life balance;
• final development stages of a new required course on respect in the workplace;
• further evaluation underway to develop and deliver required programs to set supervisors and all employees up for success;
• “Welcome Fairs” for new employees were piloted last year and will resume this spring;
• the new hire orientation program is in the process of being redesigned to be more effective and responsive to the feedback received;
• development of new tools and tactics is underway to better reach all our people with the right information at the right time, including those who don’t have easy access to email during their shifts; and,
• additional SailSafe engagement activities to share information and continue to gather inputs from our people.