SWITCH BC

SWITCH BC stands for Safety, Wellbeing, Innovation, Training and Collaboration in Healthcare. It is a collaborative organization focused on the health, safety, and wellbeing of everyone working in healthcare in British Columbia. Founded through a unique organizational model, SWITCH BC brings together health employers, unions, physicians, the Ministry of Health, and WorkSafeBC on its Board of Directors to make consensus, strategic decisions that influence and invest in province-wide programs and initiatives.

The organization addresses the significant challenges facing healthcare workers in B.C., who are twice as likely to be injured on the job compared to the average worker. With 89% of healthcare respondents facing verbal violence at work and 40% of all mental health injury claims in B.C. coming from the health sector, SWITCH BC works to improve occupational health, safety, and wellbeing programs and practices across the province. Their focus areas include psychological health and safety, violence prevention, patient handling and ergonomics, mental wellbeing, and the implementation of the Provincial Health Safety Management System (HSMS) to create safer and healthier workplaces for over 330,000 healthcare workers in British Columbia.