Dear editor,
Some events just make me shake my head and wonder! Highland Valley Copper has been rolling out highly touted safety programs, which are in themselves great ideas.
Creating safer and healthier work places gets my support.
But when I go about the mine property and find that there are some bathrooms and lunchrooms in deplorable conditions, I wonder if too much emphasis has been given to the “top end” and the basic needs forgotten.
When we asked staff for janitors to be sent and clean we were told “you aren’t getting any janitors”.
Only after asking several times did we receive veiled threats that if we pursued our quest for janitorial services we “may lose the lunchroom”.
Exposing the employees to unsanitary conditions flies in the face of the motto “everyone goes home safe and healthy everyday” which is part of the strongly promoted Safety program.
I remember being told at the “roll out meeting” that it was Safety and Health no matter what it cost.
I doubted it then, and it looks like the 36 years of experience that caused my doubts, was correct.
Some things just never change.
Chris Gilmore
Logan Lake, BC