VBF-Apr 06, 2023
In today’s Virtual Breakfast Forum, we welcomed a new member who shared some interesting information about Chat GPT. Chat GPT is an AI chatbot that uses natural language processing and watches how language is used. It predicts what word will come next based on the previous word, topic and context. The drawback to the emergence of this system is that a lot of the entry level jobs could disappear, including jobs like paralegals and customer service jobs. Benefits are that it provides a non-threatening environment for workers to check their knowledge, chipping away at complacency and stress, which as a result, should reduce accidents in the workplace.
We held a quick regional discussion with members from Kelowna, the Island and the Lower Mainland. All areas are continuing to see unemployment rates continue to rise, challenging recruitment. A key demand from potential workers is money and flexibility in their time.
Kelowna is seeing a boom in Commercial/Residential/Industrial construction, which is bringing in a lot more manufacturing companies to the area, impacting further on availability of skilled workers.
On the Island, one member shared that due to supply chain delays, this has affected the ability to work safely in certain areas of their business. Start and finish dates aren’t changing, so workers find themselves stressed to complete the job on time, resulting in risky behaviour and rushing. We need to remind our teams that safety is paramount, and to continue to practice diligence and care when completing tasks.
Upcoming events include:
April 27th – Virtual AGM with speaker
May 25th – In person Breakfast Forum with tour of Ampco
June 15th – Virtual Breakfast Forum presentation from Technical Safety BC: their Annual State of Safety presentation
June 23rd – Kelowna Vibes trip – stay tuned for registration launch to come
Sept 27th – EHSCBC’s Annual Round Table event at the Terminal City Club. This year’s keynote speaker is Bill Elkington, Chairman of the JV Driver group
