Any questions that you have can be emailed to the Heath & Safety Committee Chair using the link below.
August, 2026
Hello Members
First of all, I would like to apologize for the length of time between Health and Safety posts. I have been busy dealing with some issues, plus summer vacation. I will be getting back on track.
I would like to tell you about some of the things that I have noticed. The very first is that there are too many people trying to deal with H&S issues on their own. I am not saying that they cannot do it, but I am saying that you don’t have to do it alone. We, the H&S team, are here for you. We can help you with all the H&S issues that come up. The Provincial Health and Safety Committee is up and running and we have a very good dialogue with our partners in the company. One of the things that we are seeing is that people are going too far when dealing with the company. What I mean by that is you are letting a situation go on too long. When we had the H&S Summit earlier this year there was one thing that I hope stood out, and that is we only ask once. If a situation is not dealt with, then we will deal with it in the form of a grievance. There is no need to deal with an issue more than necessary. If you keep giving them timelines then they will keep going further. We are dealing with that in 2 offices right now about the same issue. Now I must admit I personally have dropped the ball in dealing with the one office, but I am working on getting back on track, and for that I am sorry. I will do better. We are getting more tools to help our members, and we are using them effectively.
The other thing that I have noticed is that there are more people looking to get involved, and that is great. There are a lot of ways to start. The very first is to be a voice. If you see something that is not right tell your H&S rep in the office. That is what they are for and what they have been trained for. If you want to go further look at the District 6 USW website. There are all kinds of Union sponsored courses to take. Ask us and we will help you try to achieve it.
There is strength in numbers I truly believe that. We are getting closer to either a new employer if Serco does not get the contract back, or another contract with Serco if they get an extension or the contract whichever comes first. The more united we are the stronger we will be at the time to fight for a better place for us.
We have the means to help, just ask and we will stand by you and fight for what is right.
Use these emails and let us show your.
General questions ask@usw9511.ca
Health & Safety healthandsafety@usw9511.ca
Thank you for your time and looking forward to standing side by side with you in any matter.
Jan
May, 2026
Hello Members.
I would first like to thank all of you who are reading this and I hope that you are getting your questions answered. I said that I would talk about DE Safety. I will be changing this report to include several little things.
What I have heard is called the ‘Bat Phone’. This is the phone that has to be answered. If a DE is having an issue, this phone should be answered. There should be no excuse for it to not being answered. I don’t care if it is the dispatcher, a CSA, or the supervisor. If a supervisor decides to have it be them after hours or on the weekend, they better be ready to answer it and come in. I have heard of many situations where the calls have been made and there was no answer. This call can be made by anyone who is in an unsafe situation. A CSA who is being verbally abused, a DE who needs to be picked up on the route or any member who is threatened with violence. Also the person answering should be in a capacity to act. They have to be knowledgeable as to how to deal with every situation and basically no questions asked. If you find that the ‘Bat Phone’ is not getting answered, please note it and email healthandsafety@usw9511.com. Let us know your office and as many details as possible.
Working alone. This is for the smaller offices. We the Provincial Health and Safety Committee (PHSC) would like to know about these situations. Some examples being where there is just one CSA and one DE in the office. We want to know if you the member are safe. Again we hear about times when a CSA is left alone in the office and the DE is out on the road and an upset person is in the office. Where is management in this situation? For the offices that have this situation please email us and let us know so we can look into it and help ensure that you are going to be safe at work
Always remember that you have the right to refuse unsafe work or an unsafe work environment. Let us know what is happening so we can help.
We want to be Proactive not Reactive.
Till next time be safe,
Jan
April, 2026
Hello members.
I have been away from this post for a bit due to getting the H&S Reps Summit ready. So it has come and gone and it was a success. We had 24 H&S Reps from across the Province in one room talking Safety. There was a lot of ‘we can do that’, ‘so that is how it should be done’ and ‘my supervisor gives me no respect’. After hearing those we went to work and set up plans of action, how to do it and build courage. What we did was took topics like how CSAs are treated, the responsibilities of DEs for safety, and overall office issues among many others. What I am going to do on this platform is, cover the topics we looked at and give you the members what you can do and not let happen to you. Now those offices that had a rep at the Summit will have a bit of an advantage, but every member has access to this so I will do my best to get the information out the best I can.
The first one that I am going to go present is the one that opened the most eyes.
How CSAs are treated and how they can take action to protect themselves.
There is No Excuse for Abuse. This slogan is plastered all over the DTCs. This is Drivetest words not mine. So at the Summit we went over all the scenarios how to deal with it. There were plain and simple ones and there were ones that were a little more challenging. We will look at two them and you will get the concept of how to take care of yourself. In both scenarios the CSA is being verbally abused by a customer. In both scenarios the first thing you do is tell the customer that you will not be talked to in that manner and you will be getting the supervisor. Lock your computer and go to the supervisor and tell them that there is a verbally abusive person at your counter and that you would like them to deal with them and give them an overview of the problem. Now this is where it gets different. In the plain and simple scenario your supervisor goes out without question and deals with the person. Done and you move on to the next ticket. Now the second scenario. You do all of the above but the supervisor turns on you and tells you to deal with it. They go on a tangent that you are the reason for the person being abusive and that you are the reason that there is a backlog in the que. They tell you to go and deal with it. Hard stop right there. You do not go back out there. By telling you to go back they are violating Section 21.2 of the CBA. Please look it up I don’t have the room to put it in here. If they still insist, tell them that you want to talk to the H&S Rep or a Union Steward. If you have a rep in the office they should be called right away. If they were at the Summit they have the tools to deal with this situation and they will. I could go on with different scenarios, but my space is limited.
Note the following. When they are dealing with the person and they tell you to go on break, NO, you sit and wait for it to be finished because your productivity would be affected. Also refrain from saying something like ‘It might be our fault’. The second you say that you just gave them more ammunition. Let the supervisor tell them that.
I could go on and on with different scenarios, but space is limited. If you have any questions you can email the Health and Safety and I or one of the PHSC will respond.
Looking forward to move onto the test topic which will be DE Safety.
Till then be safe,
Jan
October, 2025
As I said in last month’s letter I will talk about how the company will try to get us to put our Health and Safety aside to get the job done. Now this may seem like a weird thing to say but here it is. Do your job as it is set. What I mean is do not go over and above. Do not do things like what upsets me the most, work through your breaks or not take your breaks. When you do this you are not giving yourself time to relax and set yourself in a healthy state. Breaks are there for a reason. They have been fought for in the past by our Union. The company has set the way that they would like to have you do your job. So be it. Use it to take your breaks. If you do not take your breaks you are playing right into the company’s hand and they will look for a way to put more work in your shift. Show up in time before your shift, punch in on time, and follow your break schedule. This is the best way to maintain your health during your shift. Take your break you have earned it.
I have several topics I would like to talk about as the season changes, but I will save that till next month.
Thank you for your time
Jan
July, 2025
Hello friends,
Here is the inaugural H&S Monthly that I will be doing to go on the new website. We have long talked about get our (the union) voice out there. Now that we have the new website, we must put our money where our mouth is. Or in this case the unions money. My goal is to do one a month focused on the issues at the time and get ready for the issues of the future.
I have presented to Maris our intention of having a big H&S meeting in October. Her reply was that that kind of request has to come from Mark because of the number of people that will be attending. I will follow up with Mark as to how that is going.
Here is the first one I would like to post. It will be short but will get the ball rolling.
Health and Safety are not just two words we should say, they should be understood and acted upon. They are in essence the two words that get us home after work to whoever or wherever we go. Welcome to the inaugural Health and Safety Bulletin on our Local 9511 website. My name is Jan and for those of you who do not know me, I have the privilege of being the Health and Safety Chair for our Local. I have been doing this for about 3 years now and will admit my first couple of years were a learning curve and information collection time. I was off on medical for 8 months and now I am back at it ready to make some changes. This will be a monthly part on our new website that I will present.
Lets start with the basics.
What is Health, the World Heath Organization defines it as ” A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.
What is Safety in the Workplace. It can be broken down as follows.
Assessing, quantifying, and analyzing safety aspects to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. Using safety audits, inspections, incident tracking and employee feedback to measure safety.
Our jobs as employees is to do our best to ensure the Health and Safety at work is met and followed. I could go on and on about the ways that the company gets us to not stay focused on this task, but what will I talk about next month. Next month I will talk about the top things that are done to get us to sway from keeping ourselves Healthy and Safe.
I look forward to taking on this for you the membership. Like a good show I will leave you with a cliffhanger, but it will be less than an month to get this very important information out.
Looking forward going on a journey to better work environment with you my fellow members.
Thanking you in Solidarity
Jan Westerman
