INDUSTRY NEWS


•••STERLING SERVICE AWARDS
Everybody recognizes great service, but not everyone giving it gets recognized. With the 2007 Sterling Service Awards, the BC Hospitality Industry recognizes those whose extra efforts made their experience memorable. The awards are hosted by the BCYHA, ABLE and the BCRFA. The kick-off began in June with nomination packages distributed to hospitality properties across BC. “The Sterling Service Awards are BC’s top hospitality service awards,” said James Chase, CEO of the BCYHA. “There are thousands of deserving people in this industry – these awards provide a great opportunity to say thanks to those who go out of their way to provide exceptional service.”
These awards help BC hospitality establishments build employee recognition and retention. In today’s competitive labour climate, it’s getting harder and harder to attract and retain employees, let alone star employees. And recognition through increased wages gets tough on the bottom line. But experts agree, employees respond to more than money. Today, more than ever, employees want to be recognized for a job well done. They want to be in workplaces that help them set goals and honour their achievement once they’ve been reached.
We all respond well to recognition in front of our peers. And when performance acknowledgment goes public, it’s even better. It gives employees concrete evidence that their work is valued, and it promotes to other potential employees an establishment that creates the kind of working environment where excellence can grow and be noticed. A Sterling Service Award of the Year is given in eight categories, and is the ultimate acknowledgement of individual performance. EMC Publications is proud to be sponsoring two of these awards.
The awards ceremony takes place the evening of November 19th during the BC Hospitality Industry Conference & Exposition. Come out to applaud the success of the industry’s bright stars!

•••BC HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY CONFERENCE & EXPOSITION
BC’s largest annual hospitality event, themed “Total Industry, Total Performance”, hosted by BC & Yukon Hotels’ Association, Alliance of Beverage Licensees for BC, and the BC Restaurant & Foodservices Association, takes place November 18-20, 2007 at The Fairmont Waterfront. This year’s conference features topics that impact everyone’s bottom line and is being described as the premier educational event not to be missed by anyone in BC’s hospitality industry. 
The line-up of speakers includes: Jon Taffer, back by popular demand, who has unparalleled experience in the creation, development, and operation of hotel F&B operations across the US and in over 14 countries worldwide; youth demographic expert, Jennifer Corriero, who has helped companies like Microsoft, Xerox, Nike, Swatch, McDonalds, and HP among others, tap into the younger “Net Generation” as both customers and staff members; and the very extroverted and outspoken, Jim Knight, of the world-famous Hard Rock Café with 138 venues in 42 countries, who covers taking service levels to a higher standard. 
In addition to the industry knowledge featured at the conference, the Exposition will bring to the forefront what’s new and what’s hot in today’s marketplace, with free seminars and over 200 exhibitors displaying the latest and greatest products and services for the entire industry. For more information, contact 604-736-3118 or visit www.hospitality-trade.com.

•••CTC’S NEW FOCUS
As part of the strategic planning process for 2008 to 2012, the Board of Directors has directed that the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) reprofile its investment in the Canada marketing program to focus on international marketing to grow tourism export revenues. The CTC will maintain its domestic role in Media and Public Relations as well as Product Innovation and Enhancement in support of Brand Canada.
Increased investment by partners in domestic marketing has been instrumental in driving growth in inter-provincial travel. In 2006, total domestic tourism revenue increased by 10.0% from 2005 to $49.7 billion.
The changes to the Canada program will be included in the 2008-2012 Corporate Plan for implementation in 2008. Current assets of the Canada program including the website and database will be considered in the months to come. Staff will be reassigned in support of the CTC’s strategic priorities.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the Canada Working Committee for their dedication and commitment. We hope that they will remain actively engaged in advising the CTC in the future.

Michelle McKenzie is President & CEO of CTC and can be reached at 604-638-8300. 

•••WORKSAFE BC GIVES YOUNG OR NEW WORKERS MORE PROTECTION
BC’s almost 350,000 young workers or workers new to a job site have increased protection as amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation came into effect on July 26. The amendments require employers to provide all young or new workers with orientation and training specific to the work site and to record and document that training. 
A young worker is between 15 and 24 years of age while a new worker is defined as “any worker who is new to the workplace, returning to a workplace where the hazards in that workplace have changed during the worker’s absence, affected by a change in the hazards of a workplace, or relocated to a new workplace if the hazards in that workplace are different from the hazards in the worker’s previous workplace.” 
“Too many of our young or new workers are injured soon after employment. We believe up front training and orientation specific to the job site will help change that,” said Betty Pirs WorkSafeBC’s Executive Director, Prevention Services. 
According to WorkSafeBC statistics, every working day 36 young workers are injured and five are permanently disabled each week. In 2006, 10,893 young workers were injured in workplace accidents – nine of these were fatal. 
“This will be good for job sites as those already employed will know that the workers new to the site have been trained and oriented to the risks or hazards specific to their workplace,” said Grant McMillan, Chair of the Construction Safety Association of British Columbia.
Topics that must be addressed by employers in new and young workers’ orientation and training include workers’ rights to refuse to perform unsafe work, hazards to which workers might be exposed, violence in the workplace, personal protective equipment, policies and procedures to be followed when working alone or in isolation, and other general occupational health and safety topics. An employer must provide a new or young worker with additional orientation and training if that worker is unable to perform work tasks safely or if requested by that worker.

HOW TO CONDUCT AN ORIENTATION
There are four basic steps to any training or orientation session.
Step 1: Evaluate the situation. First decide what areas the worker needs training in. Compare the worker’s job description to the worker orientation checklist. If there is no job description, this would be a good time to write one. If this is the first time you’ve oriented the worker, plan for a thorough training session. If you are re-orienting the worker, you probably won’t need to do the complete orientation – just focus on the topics that relate to the new situation or new hazards. It’s a good idea to prepare a handout sheet for workers with contact information for supervisors and first aid attendants as well as where to find more information about worker rights and responsibilities in the Regulation.
Step 2: Train the worker. Sit down with the worker and go over the checklist. You should walk around to show him emergency exits and first aid facilities, and demonstrate specific work procedures. (You can do this yourself or assign someone else to do it.) A typical orientation should take anywhere from one to four hours. An effective orientation should make workers aware of potential hazards and let them know who to talk to if they have questions about health and safety in the future.
Step 3: Test the worker. Make sure the worker understands the training. Test worker knowledge by asking questions about specific procedures (for example, how to clean the grill and dispose of hot oil) or general requirements (for example, when and where they need to use personal protective equipment). Follow up later – ask workers questions within a few days and periodically over the next month or two.
Step 4: Keep records of the orientation. Be sure to document all training. An orientation checklist will help ensure that you have covered all the key topics when training a new worker. Give copies of the checklist and other relevant materials to the worker and keep copies for your own records.
For a sample worker orientation checklist and a list of orientation topics, see the relevant Backgrounder at www.worksafe.bc in the News Room, News Release section.