LANGLEY, B.C. –The Trucking Safety Council of B.C. launched the first stage of its Certificate of Recognition (COR) program Sept. 14, with its first courses aimed at large employers in the B.C. trucking industry. Courses will be presented to companies who have 20 or more employees.

The COR program recognizes companies who develop and implement sustainable health and safety systems that meet and exceed industry requirements. The program awards WorkSafeBC premium rebates to companies that complete the program and demonstrate a recognized level of health and safety compliance.

Courses offered during the launch period ranged from a half day to two days in duration and included the Return to Work Course on Sept. 14, the Senior Management/Owner course on Sept. 15, the Health and Safety Management Course on Sept. 16 and 17, and the External Auditor Course on Sept. 28 and 29.

The COR program is new to the trucking industry, but has existed in B.C. since 2003 in other industries, such as forestry, construction and tourism.

The Large Employer COR program involves several steps that lead to COR certification and the eventual WorkSafeBC rebate, beginning with the mandatory COR courses that are attended by company owners, managers and supervisors. Once training is complete, companies undergo an external review of their health and safety management system performed by a TSCBC COR trained auditor. Once certified by the audit process, the company then qualifies for the WorkSafeBC rebates.

The next phase of TSCBC’s COR program will be to initialize the development of the small employer (four to 19 employees) COR program, followed by the very small employer (one to three employee) program.