This question is for all the crew bosses out there.

Answer: Don't panic. Proper preparation is your friend.

It’s 10:30am and you just finished your first round of plots with your crew of eight planters. Quality is looking passable, but your two most experienced planters are in a back corner where you need to deliver trees, and you’re barely keeping up with them as they pound through the land. On top of this, you already had to change a flat on the truck, give half your lunch to a new planter, and reflag a line for someone that couldn’t read the Avenza map. What a day.

It's okay. If you can just hold things together, you might make it through with your sanity intact. Just as you open your thermos for your first cup of coffee, a white truck pulls onto the block, and two people in hi-vis jackets and hardhats step onto the landing. “Hi, we’re from WorkSafe. Who’s in charge here?”.

At that point, two different futures flash before your eyes.

In one reality, you burn the roof of your mouth on scalding coffee as you stifle a scream, realizing your block pre-work is sitting on the lunch table back at camp. Your crew mutinies when they run out of trees while you’re talking to the officers, and you get in a yelling-match when one of them starts telling you something about planter hygiene. The fabric of your existence begins to unravel as your rookies grab the wrong seedlot and then ramble through four hectares of land with 40% excess, and the company owner drives out to ask why a block failed on the same day as two planters quit, and the company receives three orders from WorkSafe.

This bleak and dystopic future can be avoided.  No crystal ball is needed and no time travel is required. Heed the following advice, and a much brighter and less stressful outcome can unfold for you.

In the other reality, you smile confidently, knowing that when the WorkSafe officer asks for your pre-work, you have a fully completed document that was signed by each crew member as you explained the muster point and emergency evacuation plans in the morning. It takes an extra two minutes to do the paperwork properly before starting work, but it also gives you a chance to ensure everyone has clear directions for their tasks. Your initial feeling of dread begins to subside.

“I’m in charge, my name is Jesse,” you say confidently. “Before we go any further, I’m going to have to give you a safety orientation to make sure you know the rules and requirements of this worksite.” You pull out a binder and go through each and every item on a checklist that your company provided you. With WorkSafe’s keen interest in risk assessment, you take extra time to discuss the hazards on the block and show them the checklists that cover ground conditions, the bear prints you saw on the road, and that one scraggly aspen you flagged off near the treeline.

Your heartrate slows down a little, as you tell the officers about company rules regarding bullying and harassment, identify your lead first aid attendant and the location of your ETV, and have them sign off to acknowledge the PPE requirements and site safety rules before they walk around the site. Your confidence starts to grow, and you remind them of the hauling at km 37 of the road leading to the block. “Well, that answers about half of our questions,” one officer says with a smile.

At this point, you start to worry about the caches and your planters running out of trees. That’s okay though, you have a plan for this too. You pick up the radio and call your designated second-in-command. “Hey Becks, I need you to come back to the truck and help me out right away. WorkSafe is here, and I need to spend some time with them. I need you to throw some plots on the rookies, and bring Sam and Aaron back to the open land at the eastern end of the block until I can quad more trees into the back.”

“Do you need a member of the Joint OHS Committee to join us?” you ask the officers, knowing that this is something they may ask for. The officers decline, and ask how the planters wash their hands before eating. You explain that you have a water tote with hand-soap and paper towels at the truck. The officer suggests that having wash stations at every gear cache would be better. You calmly reply that you will bring that suggestion to the company Joint OHS Committee as an idea.

After speaking to three workers and looking at your first aid kit, the officers thank you for your time, give you their cards, and drive away. It is now 12:30pm. You send Becks back to planting and start working on getting the back corner of the block finished. Not a perfect day, but you’ve had far worse than this. The next day, the company owner texts you and thanks you for handling the inspection like a pro.

Having WorkSafeBC show up to conduct an inspection can add stress to an already difficult job. However, their number one goal is the same as yours….get everyone home safely. If you want your next inspection to go smoothly, remember these tips:

• Be prepared. Do your paperwork properly, and make sure your safety equipment is checked over on a regular basis.

  
  

• Give them a thorough orientation when they arrive. If you do it right, they’ll have fewer questions.

  
  

• Have back up supervision in place that you can call on to help. That person might also be able to step in if you get sick one day.

  
  

• Know about the WorkSafeBC “high-risk strategy” in BC, and the issues that they focus on in your industry. This will improve your own safety awareness and prepare you for the questions they may likely ask. This generally includes emergency response plans, PPE, and ergonomics.

  
  

• Know the powers of an officer, such as the ability to request a committee member to join the inspection and the power to request a demonstration of common tasks, including operation of equipment such as an ATV.

  
  

• Be courteous and open to officer input. If they point out something they think is a problem, feel free to discuss it with them and explore viable alternatives, but try to avoid arguing. Show them you have an interest in health and safety and indicate you will forward any input to your Joint OHS Committee or your employer.