Fire Safety Concerns Of Retail Businesses

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fire safety documents bagFire safety in workplace environments is a big concern for any business. Keeping employees as well as occupants of a building safe as well as protecting property and inventory free from the damage of smoke and fire is important for many reasons. While many use fire engineering to implant a fire safety plan and select fire safety equipment for retail stores this plan can be much more complex than for other businesses.

While any business will have the concern of ensuring that no human life is harmed during the course of a fire retail has a harder time doing this since the occupants of the building will vary from minute to minute. In office buildings and warehouses a company can practice fire safety drills so that everyone inside would know exactly what to do in the event of a fire. But in a retail environment the shoppers will not necessarily know what to do if a fire starts and the risk that comes with some of these individuals panicking can only make the situation possibly worse.

Retail stores in Vancouver will vary in structure requiring a different approach to each and every application. A well-trained fire engineer can access each retail building whether it is a strip style, multi-story, or part of a large complex in order to help set up the best possible fire safety plan for the retail store to implement. This will include the plans for which equipment to purchase and utilize for putting out fires as well as evacuation plans that will quickly and efficiently get everyone, employees and customers out of the building and the danger.

Each business in Canada will also have different requirements for their fire safety equipment based on the products that are in their store. The stock itself will be fuel should a fire begin and this stock will burn differently depending on what it is. Clothing stores and other places that are full of materials, which fall under the Class A fire category, will be using fire extinguishers designed for this purpose. While electronics stores with lots of electrical equipment will have different needs that will need addressed with the proper fire extinguisher that will safely put out these fires.

Of course even with all these employees should be trained in the use of the fire equipment as well as evacuating themselves as well as customers, according to this website. Employees in a retail store are so very important since they are the face of the business that customers will see. Employees will play a huge role in keeping the crowds of customers calm while moving them out of the building safely during the course of a fire evacuation. All employees should be well versed in all safety equipment and the best path to take to escape quickly.

A fire safety engineer can come up with just the right fire safety plan in order to ensure that every aspect of the retail store is covered in the event of a fire so that not only is human life in the lest amount of danger but also so that the stock and property has the best chance of being saved from the fire to keep losses at a minimum.

Mary Steinhauser (1942-1975)

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“An example for all Canadians” are the words of Pierre Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, as he describes Mary’s heroic actions while being held hostage for 41 hours in a June 1975 attempted prison break and her service as a nurse, social worker and activist.

“Mary will be remembered with respect and gratitude for her outstanding courage and fortitude in recent days and for her service in a most difficult and demanding vocation. Your daughter has set an example for all Canadians” …. Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, in a June 11,1975 telegram to Mary’s parents on the day of Mary’s tragic death at the BC Penitentiary, New Westminster BC.
Sometimes referred to as a “BC Hero”, this outstandingly brave young woman began her career as a Registered Psychiatric Nurse at Essondale in 1960, graduating in 1962. Following graduation, she continued working as an RPN at Essondale, Woodlands School, and Tranquille School until 1965.

Call For Submissions To A Collection Of Memories Of Mary

Poster (please post)

UPN welcomes all RPNs

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The Union of Psychiatric Nurses of British Columbia would like to extend a warm welcome to our counterparts at HSA and offer you the opportunity to be part of a professional union that supports and unites ONLY Registered Psychiatric Nurses. Uniting RPNs in a strong, profession-focussed union will strengthen our profession’s ability to negotiate better contracts and practice conditions while advocating for improved mental health and addictions care in British Columbia.

The UPN is the only Registered Psychiatric Nursing union in Canada. It’s a fact that no one can understand and advocate for RPNs better than other RPNs. The Union of Psychiatric Nurses has been doing just that since 1965. Our roots reach back even further, to September 4th, 1947, when the first Psychiatric Nurses’ Association in Canada was formed here in British Columbia.

Union Of Psychiatric Nurses of British Columbia UPNBC

Forensic Psychiatric Services, Oak Bay Lodge and the Lodge at Broadmead Impacted

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On March 28, the B.C. Public Service Agency advised us that they were removing Forensic Psychiatric Services (FPSC), Oak Bay Lodge and the Lodge at Broadmead from the Public Service effective June 1, 2013. FPSC and Oak Bay were to be moved to the Health Sector and the Lodge at Broadmead would become an independent employer. This letter can be found by clicking the link Notice Letter.

This brings about some very significant changes, especially for those members working at FPSC and Oak Bay Lodge, as the move to the Health Sector would entail a transition to a completely different collective agreement. With Broadmead, the employer intends to remain under the 15th Master until it expires on March 31, 2014 and then negotiate separately from then on.

Shortly after receiving this notice we entered into talks with the government and learned that they did not consider this a change in employers and therefore they did not believe that our members had a choice in remaining with their employer or taking their displacement rights as found in Article 13 of the 15th Master. We categorically disagree with the government’s position and, after some discussion, filed a General Application Grievance claiming that there was indeed a change in employer and that our members should have all of their Article 13 rights including the right to opt for severance pay.

Since then,  John Hall has been appointed as sole arbitrator for this case and we have July 31 and August 1, 2013 set aside for the hearing. As this will take place after the June 1 transition, we have also received undertakings that, if we should win our case, all employees of the effected agencies will be offered their Article 13 rights at that time.

We have also been actively involved in working out a transfer agreement for FPSC and Oak Bay Lodge. We have had several meetings with representatives of the Government, Health Employers Association (HEABC), FPSC and Oak Bay management present. While we have not yet completed talks on the transfer agreement, most of it has been agreed to and there are only a couple of matters remaining to finalize. You can review the tentative agreement by clicking the link transfer agreement.

With the move from the 15th Master to the Provincial Collective Agreement (PCA) you will note that there are quite a few changes to your working conditions. Some are for the better while others are not so good (see comparison document). Through our transfer agreement talks, we have tried to lessen the negative impacts in some of these areas. For example, while you will be losing STIIP, your sick leave banks will be “seeded” with 10 sick days per year of service up to the maximum allowable.

During talks, we also spent quite a bit of time determining how the change from a 35 hour week to a 37.5 hour week would impact your schedules. While you will lose your surplus days because of this, we have come to the conclusion that there is no need to radically alter your rotations. Those on a 4:2 rotation can remain on the same rotation and need only work ten minutes more per shift. Members working a 5:2 shift will see no change. In the community, if you were working a 9-day fortnight, this can still be retained however, you will need to work an extra 33 minutes per shift. You can review the rotation calculations by clicking on one of the links: 4:2, 5:2, or 9-day fortnight.

One major question that we don’t have an answer for yet deals with classifications. The classification system in the Health Sector is significantly different to that in the Public Service and, in some instances; the classifications don’t align with each other. We have been constantly asking the employer for information on how they see our members being classified but they say they haven’t completed their determination yet. All we can do is wait and see at this point. Once they make their determination, we hope that it will be a fair one. If it isn’t, then we will have to sit down with those members who are negatively impacted and figure out what kind of a case can be made for disputing the classifications. As I say, until they advise us of what the classifications are, we can only hope that it will be reasonable and fair.

For those members at the Lodge at Broadmead, we hope to be over there soon to discuss any concerns you may have and to discuss strategies for bargaining at the end of the year. We believe you will see little noticeable change after June 1 and so we have focused more on the other two groups who are facing much more change. This doesn’t mean that we have forgotten you. You are important to us and we will do our best to support you through this change.

We recognize that this is a major change for many of you who have spent your entire nursing career in the Public Service. Should you have any concerns or questions, please feel free to contact us either by email or by calling the office.

President’s comment

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Dan Murphy – President

I would like to give a warm hello to a very deserving membership, This, to say the least, has been a very challenging year for the union, mental health and addictions, and the nurses who work within it. A Health Sector Collective agreement based on “Safe Patient Care = Safe Staffing” was bargained that was designed to help with workload and safety issues, by way of staffing levels. Excellent staffing language was bargained for, that is supposed to support this by requiring employers to replace nurses on vacations, maternity leaves, short and long term leaves, along with backfilling community mental health nurses for two weeks of their vacations. Many other language gains were made to help with safety concerns such as new PRF language and changes to the make- up of the Occupational Health and Safety committees. By all accounts this was a good collective agreement bargained for during a very challenging time for the province of British Columbia. As always, the Nurses Bargaining Association (NBA) led the way in achieving for the nurses who provide the gold standard of care to those who access our health care system. Unfortunately the health authorities who worked with us to develop this collective agreement seemed to have their hands tied by the government of the day, the Liberals. It seems a lack of funding from the government has led to many lengthy delays in the implementation of many of the principle areas bargained.

Many of the changes that have been implemented by many of the health authorities were never part of the Health Sector Collective, but rather attempts to wrap mental health system around an existing medical model. Community nurses have been told they must now function within cookie cutter hours (8:30-4:30) across many of the health authorities, so as to optimize office hours. This means RPN’s who were volunteering to work outside those cookie cutter hours, to meet the needs of clients who hold jobs or can only access services outside the 8:30-4:30 hours , will not be able to meet the needs of those clients anymore. Despite excellent rotations and well documented rationales for same put forward by the community nurses, both Forensic and regular community nurses, it seems the health authorities are set to implement rotations they may limit many successfully community integrated consumers. The changes in shift rotations in the community to cookie cutter hours will be, as believed by many, a failure to the consumers. I was told at one meeting with the front line managers who were delivery the rational for the changes in community nursing office hours, consumers who fall outside the 8:30-4:30 office hours make up only a small minority of those who access mental health and addiction services. I say shame on those who don’t consider all people worthy of consideration and accommodation. Our nurses have been working extended hours for years at straight rates to meet the needs of all those who need access to mental health and addiction services. Hospitals are open 24 hours a day if you have a medical problem and addiction services do home detox, drop in detox, or inpatient but in mental health, the choice can be the emergency room or a jail cell. Now that’s harm reduction at its worst!

I have spent a lot of time on the road, talking to our members. Like me, they are extremely angry with their employer and the health authority their employer falls into. The move to a 37.5 hour work week was done to give existing nurses the extra time to finish work within their regular work hours without having to stay behind and work for free as reported by an overwhelming amount of RPNs. The increase to 37.5 hour week was bargained to shore up existing nursing hours and help the employer begin to hire the nurses needed to meet the workload problems and set up safe staffing levels. We were to see existing vacancies filled. The combining of casual and OT hours were to create full time positions along with vacation relief pools. Instead, the displacement of nurses has again increased the workload per nurse.

The two nurses unions, UPN and BCNU, are continuing to meet and sit with the interior health authorities to discuss workload, staffing levels, and safety issues. We have met several times in Kamloops for the Hillside tertiary facility and have walked away with the same rhetoric coming from the managers involved. They continue to claim they are not aware of any safety issues, morale problems, or staffing issues. PRFs continue to fall through the cracks. Clearly, the employer needs a wake- up call of some sort. We have the same problems on Vancouver Island at Seven Oaks and both the UPN and the BCNU will not be sitting back and letting this go by. RPNs working at FPH, Maples, Youth Forensics, and PAC still have ongoing safety issues. Staffing levels are insufficient; safety measures are insufficient, and morale is down. To say the least, there is work to be done. These nurses work in the most difficult areas of mental health and addictions, and deserve support from their workplace not excuses. This was supposed to be a collective agreement where the nurses and the employer share the responsibility of trying to bring the safest and most effective care to the patients, while alleviating ongoing workload problems both in the hospitals and in the community.

I attended the Canadian Federation of Mental Health Nurses conference in Kelowna, where we had our booth set up. Several of our Kelowna and Kamloops nurses were able to take in the conference. It was a very good conference and spoke to many significant challenges mental health and addictions nurses and consumers face here in Canada. I had the pleasure of meeting most of the Kelowna RPNs. I was very impressed to hear this group meets monthly on their own to discuss their profession and challenges at the workplace. It’s this sort of dedication that makes RPNs the profession of choice for mental health and addictions. We were proud to have the UPN banner carried by our Tiger (Les) Robinson who marched for the UPN at the Pride Parade held in Vancouver and was joined by some of our UPN members and families. Thank you Tiger!

Has the government of BC and the health authorities within it, not woken up to what the rest of Canadians know? We have a serious deficiency in mental health and addiction resources. The old Riverview Hospital Grounds and facilities sit empty and unused. This could be a mental health and addictions teaching hospital of excellence as they have in Toronto. Patients are being forced into seeking shelter on the streets or are ending up in city jails. These people are our brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, and sons or daughters. THEY MATTER! We need a properly structured mental health and addiction services system with the appropriate people working within it. The nurses continue to do their part; it’s time for the government and employers to do theirs.

      In Solidarity,
    Dan Murphy President, UPN

 

AGREEMENTS

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Canadian labour law is that body of law which regulates the rights, restrictions obligations of trade unions, workers and employers in Canada. Canadian employment law is that body of law which regulates the rights, restrictions obligations of non-unioned workers and employers in Canada.

Both the federal and provincial (or territorial) governments have authority over labour and employment law in Canada. The constitution gives exclusive federal jurisdiction over employment in specific industries, such as banking, radio and TV broadcasting, inland and maritime navigation and shipping, inland fishing, as well as any form of transportation that crosses provincial boundaries. Employment that is not subject to federal jurisdiction is governed by the laws of the province or territory where the employment takes place.

The collective bargaining process is comprised of five core steps:

  1. Prepare: This phase involves composition of a negotiation team. The negotiation team should consist of representatives of both the parties with adequate knowledge and skills for negotiation. In this phase both the employer’s representatives and the union examine their own situation in order to develop the issues that they believe will be most important. The first thing to be done is to determine whether there is actually any reason to negotiate at all. A correct understanding of the main issues to be covered and intimate knowledge of operations, working conditions, production norms and other relevant conditions is required.
  2. Discuss: Here, the parties decide the ground rules that will guide the negotiations. A process well begun is half done and this is no less true in case of collective bargaining. An environment of mutual trust and understanding is also created so that the collective bargaining agreement would be reached.
  3. Propose: This phase involves the initial opening statements and the possible options that exist to resolve them. In a word, this phase could be described as ‘brainstorming’. The exchange of messages takes place and opinion of both the parties is sought.
  4. Bargain: negotiations are easy if a problem solving attitude is adopted. This stage comprises the time when ‘what ifs’ and ‘supposals’ are set forth and the drafting of agreements take place.
  5. Settlement: Once the parties are through with the bargaining process, a consensual agreement is reached upon wherein both the parties agree to a common decision regarding the problem or the issue. This stage is described as consisting of effective joint implementation of the agreement through shared visions, strategic planning and negotiated change.

Your collective agreement is a legal contract between UPN members in your workplace and your employer. It outlines wages, benefits and other workplace rights. It’s a powerful tool for defending your rights and protecting you from unfair treatment. There are currently two major collective agreements and two component agreements that UPN members and staff have negotiated with employers. To read the full text of these agreements please click the appropriate link on the navigation bar to the left.

UPN scholarships and bursaries

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In 2013 UPN payed out $20,000.00 in Scholarships and Bursaries to members and their families. UPN is proud to stand behind its’ members and their families by helping to further their education.

A few letters from recipients of UPN bursaries/scholarships: (names have been omitted)
Dear UPN Scholarship Committee:
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the scholarship that I received from the UPN. It was a wonderful surprise and greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
UPN Member from Mission

Dear UPN Scholarship Committee:
I would like to thank you for choosing me for a scholarship, it means a lot that you picked me and it will certainly help my family and I pay for my schooling next year.
Thanks again it is greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Son of long time UPN Member

Dear UPN Scholarship Committee:
Thank you to the scholarship committee who granted me the bursary for $1000.00. I am so thankful. Thank you for helping me pursue my educational goals.
UPN Member from Chilliwack

UPN welcomes four new sites to the membership

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The UPN is pleased to note that four sites that were represented by HSA have now overwhelmingly voted in favour of becoming members of the UPN. Ballots cast at Langley Memorial Hospital, Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, Powell River General Hospital and Crestlene Lodge in Delta were counted this week and each site clearly showed a preference to have the UPN represent their interests as their Union.

We would like to thank all of those who supported us on this decision and to extend a warm welcome to you as new members of our Union. We want to assure you that we are here to represent you and to listen to what you have to say about your profession, your work environment and your aspirations as a Registered Psychiatric Nurse.

We are planning to visit these worksites in the near future so that we can get better acquainted and to discuss the needs of these members. We are also planning to hold Steward Training sessions in January to better enable members to know their rights and how to advocate for them.

We have several other worksites that are awaiting results of their votes. We hope to provide you with more good news in the near future. Once again, thank you for your support and welcome to the UPN.

The spotlite is on

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Donna Duncan RPN
“A conduit for change,” is how Donna Duncan describes her role as a psychiatric nurse, and how she hopes to inspire new hires and students that regularly spend time at the Mission Mental Health Centre (located not far from downtown Mission, B.C.).

Donna asserts that as health care providers, we cannot “empower” another human being. What we can do, is be there to support and educate clients and their families, to ensure that the individual’s own internal forces are marshalled and mobilized–so that they may be able to empower themselves. Thus it is that we take our professional and personal life experiences and education … and subsequently convey this storehouse carefully and meaningfully to our clientele.

One aspect that Donna spoke about at length, was the perpetuation of the impact that trauma may have played in the psychological make-up or experience of many of our clients. It is not in dispute that some people live with endogenous forms of mental illness such as schizophrenia, bipolar illness, anxiety or depressive disorders. In many cases, the progenitors for their respective vulnerability was set in motion at conception or neo-nataly. It could also be that toxic or other insults damaged the person’s central nervous system along the way.

However, we are beginning to truly appreciate that for a great many of our clients, some features we see within them later in life, are as a consequence of trauma … keeping in mind that the event or events were traumatic from the individual’s perception and experience–not ours.

Bargaining Proposals 2014

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Attention Stewards: New grievance log available on Steward’s page.

The UPN is seeking member input on bargaining proposals for upcoming NBA negotiations for a new collective agreement. To assist, we have developed a questionnaire to help guide you in the process. Please take the time to review and complete the questionnaire. When you are finished you can fax it to the UPN Office @604-530-9653 or send it via email to: mailbox@upn.org. Your participation is vital to the success of negotiations.