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Social Responsibility and Sustainability
At WorkSafeBC we’re dedicated to long-term environmental stewardship, and helping to create healthier, safer, and more caring communities.
Environmental Leadership
For the past 20 years we’ve been working to lighten our environmental footprint by incorporating Greener business practices into our day-to-day business operations. Our commitments are focused where we have the most opportunity to make a difference — corporate purchasing policies, green-building initiatives, energy conservation, and water and waste management.
1990s
In 1991, we signed a Power Smart agreement with BC Hydro to become to become a Power Smart Partner. We’ve invested in equipment upgrades to maximize energy conservation opportunities, and as a result, have saved close to 5-million kilowatt-hours annually — enough electricity to light over 2,900 homes a year.
The new Millennium
In 2006 we applied for certification for our Richmond Facility under BOMA’s Go Green Program (now called BOMA BESt). The program is nationally recognized as a benchmark to measure sustainability for existing commercial buildings in Canada.
Our efforts to become Greener have not gone unnoticed. In 2007 we were awarded the BOMA Canada National Earth Award, recognizing our work in energy management, indoor air quality, recycling, and health and safety.
Looking forward
The B.C. Government’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act outlines the government’s commitment to creating a carbon-neutral public sector by 2010. While WorkSafeBC is not covered by the scope of this legislation, we recently decided to align ourselves with the mandate, and began to explore programs to assist us with our goal of becoming carbon neutral.
While we’re not there yet, this year we measured our carbon footprint for the first time, using SMARTTool. Developed by the B.C. Government for use by the public sector, this tool measures and calculates carbon emissions from three broad categories: buildings (energy use), fleet, and paper.
While there’s still much work to be done, we’re taking our commitment seriously. Our new Social Responsibility and Sustainability Department formed in 2010, is working with our Green team to spearhead efforts toward a greener and cleaner future. In addition, we are actively expanding our role in the community by participating in volunteer efforts including the 2010 Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup.