Will Cook was recently named chair of the BC Construction Safety Alliance (BCCSA).
Cook, whose two-year term runs until fall 2025, comes to the BCCSA chairmanship from the restoration industry.
The industry comprises large national and regional independent companies and franchised operations, as well as local firms whose focus is on niche markets.
“There are 249 companies in British Columbia that provide full-service restoration solutions for property owners,” says Cook.
Until March 2023, when he retired from the company, Cook was president of Belfor Property Restoration.
“Belfor is an international, full-service property damage repair company that restores structures and contents from damage due to water, fire, wind, vehicle impact and a variety of other perils,” says Cook.
Restoration contractors have different health and safety challenges than other contractors, because they deal almost entirely with emergency work, he says.
“If there’s a fire or flood we’re called in early and the health and safety planning must be completed quickly,” says Cook.
Restoration contractors have two fundamental roles.
“First, they are retained to mitigate damage that has been caused to property by many different kinds of perils,” says Cook.
Restoration work requires mastering the whole range of the refurbishment arts.
It can involve extracting water, drying out a building and its contents, hazardous material abatement, cleaning, decontamination, equipment refurbishment, setting up temporary power, contents handling, odour control and even demolition.
Cook says the restoration industry has evolved over the years.
“Restoration firms not only provide emergency services now,” he says. “They also do reconstruction work, such as drywall, painting, flooring, cabinetry, plumbing, electrical and roofing, as well as new construction from the ground up.”
It is at this point where the respective services of restoration and construction meet.
“Emergency work is usually performed by restoration operatives, but the repairs are usually contracted out to construction specialists,” Cook says.
By its very nature restoration work is out of the ordinary and difficult.
“The work is very hard, and restoration contractors and their employees need to be ready to spring into action 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” says Cook. “We’re working in what is called ‘occupied space’ – where the victims of the disaster live or work – and they wish the circumstances were different and that we weren’t in their space. And on top of that, some of the post-disaster situations we work in can be very stressful and upsetting.”
On the other hand, the work is plentiful and varied.
“It’s a different work site and a different challenge every day,” says Cook. “You’re always going some place new, and there’s plenty of overtime work.”
Cook has been involved in occupational health and safety in the restoration industry for many years.
“In 2002, I was approached by WorkSafeBC and asked to help the restoration industry become compliant with asbestos regulations that were very relevant to restoration worksites,” he says. “This resulted in the formation of the BC Association of Restoration Contractors (BCARC). The board of directors was made up of senior management of the eight largest restoration companies in the province.
“BCARC was the first and, to this day, the only health and safety association in Canada for the restoration industry.”
In 2016, BCARC amalgamated with BCSSA.
“BCCSA had the resources and expertise which we were unable to develop on our own,” says Cook. “So it made good sense for BCARC to join it.”
More recently, one of the co-founders of BCARC was invited to sit on the BCSSA board of directors.
“Upon his retirement, I assumed his spot,” he says.
While he’s a big fan of all BCCSA programs, Cook singled out Blueprint for Action for special praise.
The initiative tackles substance abuse in the construction industry and its impact on safety.
“I’m a ‘heart on my sleeve’ person and I often use my own experiences to try to get others to join the health and safety cause,” says Cook. “My nephew was a construction worker who died from a fentanyl overdose, so I’m pleased that BCCSA is taking a meaningful role to developing resources that can help workers and employers deal with this serious problem.”
Cooks takes over the chair from Lesa Lacey, whose term expired in fall 2023.
Lacey, who is business manager of Lacey Construction Ltd., which is located in Mission in the Fraser Valley, says she found being chair “very rewarding.”
“It brought me into contact with many interesting people outside my immediate circle of homebuilders,” says Lacey. “I learned that safety challenges are broadly similar in all companies in the construction industry.”
Recent Comments
comments for this post are closed