Month: April 2021

After winning 11 prestigious Reed Awards over the past three years, ICBA is a finalist for three more in 2021, including the big one: North American Trade Association of the Year. ICBA won that award in 2019, and is hoping to become the category’s first-ever two-time champion.

Our Taylor Bridge campaign is a finalist for:

• Best Use of Outdoor Advertising Campaign, Canada
• Best Use of Outdoor Advertising Campaign, International

This year’s Reeds will be handed out May 13 in Washington, DC.

Read more about our two 2020 wins HERE, our six (!!!) 2019 wins HERE, and our three 2018 trophies HERE.

Over the past three years, ICBA has won 11 Reed Awards, named after Campaigns & Elections founder and campaign marketing pioneer Stanley Foster Reed, embody excellence in political campaigning, campaign management, political consulting and political design, grassroots & advocacy. Reed Award winners represent the very best the political campaign industry has to offer.

“Getting designated as a Reed Award Finalist is extraordinarily difficult,” said Shane D’Aprile, Co-Publisher, Campaigns & Elections. “Thousands of entries compete, but very few make the cut. That’s how it should be in the most exacting award the campaign industry has. So when you encounter a Reed Award Finalist you know one thing for certain, they produce work that’s head and shoulders above the competition.”

The following op-ed by ICBA President Chris Gardner has run in the April 26, 2021 editions of The Vancouver Sun, the Journal of Commerce, the Prince George Citizen, Business in Vancouver, Alaska Highway News, Kamloops This Week, Kelowna Daily Courier (April 27), and The Orca.

To say that as a society, we have a challenge with mental wellness, is to vastly understate the seriousness of a health crisis that is raging out of control. An epidemic before COVID-19, the pandemic-forced social isolation resulting from job losses, the closure of schools and religious institutions, and the cancellation of community events and family celebrations, is compounding the mental health calamity that has gripped our communities.

There remains a widespread hesitancy to talk openly about mental health issues and a cloud of stigma prevents the kinds of conversations that are needed to help people who are struggling. Mental health is an issue running very deep, but very silent – when it surfaces, the consequences are too often deeply tragic for individuals, their families, workplaces and communities.

When I was five years old, my father passed away from an “accident.” It was nearly ten years later that I was told that he took his own life. That’s the way things were then – people simply did not talk about these things. In the decades since, there has not been a day that has gone by where I have not pondered the “what if” of this profound loss for my family. In recent years, I have wondered what it would be like to have the call display on my phone light up with the word “Dad.”

The men and women working in construction are not spared from the human toll of the crisis in mental wellness, and the statistics are sobering.

More than half the employed people who have died of opioid overdoses in B.C. in recent years worked in construction. WorkSafeBC reports that mental health claims in construction were up 25% from 2017 to 2019. And, according to the Lancet medical journal, it’s not just accidental overdoses that affects construction either – the risk of suicide for those working in construction is seven times the national average.

There are a lot of resources to help safeguard and improve mental wellness, but not many of them are tailored to construction workplaces and workforces.

Construction contractors and workers have much to be proud of in how effectively they’ve enhanced commitments to workers’ physical safety in recent decades. Now, we must strive to create workplace cultures that foster all aspects of worker wellbeing.

To do that, we need to talk about mental wellness more openly and in every part of construction – on our job sites, in our safety briefings, at our toolbox talks, and in our offices. My organization, the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA), has spent the past year consulting with contractors, construction workers, and wellness experts to develop a workplace wellness program with the construction worker at its centre.

And because the COVID-19 pandemic has taken such an enormous toll on people, families and their communities, ICBA is offering this new wellness program free to our member construction contractors and their employees.

Developed specifically for the construction industry and its unique challenges, ICBA’s Workplace Wellness program is designed to change the construction workplace culture. It’s holistic – addressing diverse, interconnected themes that collectively influence individual wellbeing.

Everything is designed for the unique challenges of construction – the stress and pressure to meet schedules, the physical toll, life in a remote work camp, and the project driven nature of the work.

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety says only 23% of Canadians feel comfortable talking to their employers about mental health issues. We want to help grow that number, especially in construction.

The scope and scale of the crisis that is destroying far too many people and families struggling with mental wellness challenges is indeed daunting. Every month, B.C. officials report new record numbers of drug overdoses.

As we rebuild our economy after COVID-19, we must also ensure that we are rebuilding our people. We have to learn how to start conversations and remove the stigma associated with mental wellness. By doing so, we can help countless fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, friends, and co-workers avoid the pain and devastation that too often comes from silence, from saying and doing nothing.

Chris Gardner is the President of the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association. Details about ICBA’s Workplace Wellness Program can be found at icba.ca/wellness.

The Spring 2021 edition of ICBA’s Construction Monitor features analysis and statistics on mental health in construction. Click HERE to see the 4-page PDF.

With opioid overdoses at record levels in B.C., and people’s mental health stretched thin by the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA) is launching its new ICBA Workplace Wellness Program, designed to help employers and workers manage the unique mental health challenges facing the construction industry.

Statistics show that more than half the employed people who have died of opioid overdoses in B.C. in recent years worked in construction. And the risk of suicide for those working in construction is seven times the national average. While there are a lot of resources to help safeguard and improve mental wellness, not many of them are tailored to construction workplaces and workforces.

“Construction contractors and workers have much to be proud of in how effectively they’ve enhanced commitments to workers’ physical safety in recent decades. Now, we must strive to create workplace cultures that foster all aspects of worker wellbeing,” said Chris Gardner, ICBA President. “It is imperative that we break through the stigma surrounding mental health, educate workers about personal wellness, and give people the support and resources they need.”

The Workplace Wellness Program will be offered to ICBA member companies free of charge. “With the COVID-19 pandemic compounding B.C.’s mental health crisis, and resources tightening for many employers, we feel it is important to offer this new program free to every ICBA member construction company,” said Gardner.

The program is made possible by the support of Canada Life, one of ICBA’s key group health benefits providers. “We are grateful to Canada Life for supporting our work,” said Gardner. “They are important partners and contributing a lot to our Wellness efforts.”

ICBA’s Workplace Wellness Program uses toolbox talk scripts, posters, short educational pieces, online check-ins, and virtual professional development courses, to address key wellness issues such as:

• Mental health stigma
• Respectful workplaces
• Physical health
• Pain avoidance and addictions
• Suicide prevention
• Diversity and inclusion
• Depression and anxiety
• Emotional intelligence
• Psychological safety in the workplace
• Cancer awareness
• Financial fitness

“The ICBA Workplace Wellness Program was developed specifically for the construction industry and designed to create lasting change,” said Gardner. “It’s holistic and comprehensive – a full year program, developed with the support of leading experts on mental health.”

Founded 46 years ago today, on April 26, 1975, ICBA has grown into an association representing more than 3,300 members and clients, together employing close to 100,000 people. Its top-notch training programs have long put a high priority on worker safety, and ICBA’s Workplace Wellness Program is the next step in that effort.

“It’s fitting that we are launching ICBA’s new Workplace Wellness Program on the 46^th anniversary of our founding,” said Gardner. “As we rebuild our economy after COVID-19, we must also ensure that we are rebuilding our people. We have to learn how to start conversations and remove the stigma associated with mental health.”

ICBA’s spring 2021 Construction Monitor focuses on mental health, with statistics and infographics relating to construction. Click HERE to see it.

For more on ICBA’s Workplace Wellness Program, visit icba.ca/wellness.

In an op-ed released today (click HERE), Chris Gardner shared a very personal story publicly, for the first time, about his family’s experience with suicide.

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The Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA) represents more than 3,300 members and clients, trains nearly 5,000 workers every year, and is the single largest sponsor of trades apprentices in B.C. ICBA Benefits, one of the leading independent providers of group health and retirement benefits in western Canada, provides benefits for more than 75,000 Canadians. www.icba.ca

On April 26, 2021, ICBA launched our new Workplace Wellness Program — see below for links to media coverage.

OP/ED

• Vancouver Sun
• Journal of Commerce
• Prince George Citizen
• Business in Vancouver
• The Orca
• Alaska Highway News
• Kamloops This Week
• Kelowna Daily Courier
• Terrace Standard

MEDIA

• Business in Vancouver podcast
• CTV News Vancouver Island (7:08 to 8:15)
• CKNW Radio – Lynda Steele
• CBC Victoria Radio – Gregor Craigie
• Global BC Morning
• CTV Morning News
• CFAX Victoria Radio – Adam Stirling
• Heavy Equipment Guide
• Business Examiner
• CKPG TV Prince George

SOCIAL MEDIA

• @kirklapointe: I’ve had many great conversations for the @BIVnews podcast, but today’s with Chris Gardner of @icbabc, his candor about his father’s loss and the commitment to mental health programs was exceptional. Watch and comment. https://t.co/ubNjJAtKpt #bcpoli #Mentalhealth
• @DouglasTodd: “50%+ of employed people who have died of opioid overdoses in B.C. worked in #construction…. The risk of suicide for a #constructionworker is 7X the average,” says Chris Gardner of @icbabc, in poignant piece. #opioids #CDNpoli #vanre @WorkSafeBC https://t.co/vHWExa5qZU
• @RussellReports: Powerful piece by @icbabc president Chris Gardner on the toll mental health issues can have and new resources the association is making available https://t.co/dOy3W71lFf
• @katy_merrifield: Poignant read by Chris Gardner of @icbabc on mental health challenges in the construction sector #bcpoli https://t.co/YLRlKZaomM
• @coraleeoakes: Very powerful and important piece- please take the time to read. Thank you Chris for sharing