These Best Management Practices are recommendations informing safe operations for BC Landscapers. They’re a compilation of resources of Canadian and British Columbian government websites provided to us by the BCLNA (British Columbia Landscape and Nursery Association).
Safety protocols Pika Landscapes is committed to practicing
- Staff maintain minimum 2m distance from all coworkers, staff, public and clients
- Only one crew member in a truck (must be same driver all day). Other crew members ride their bikes or use personal vehicles to move between job sites. This protocol is relaxed for individuals that reside in the same household (e.g. if two people live together, they’re put on the same crew and travel in a truck together).
- All staff head directly to job sites instead of meeting at our central works yard each morning
- No intermixing of crew members. Crews remain fixed and their vehicle(s), equipment and tools are labelled and used only by them.
- Only Crew Leads enter work yard storage bins
- All trucks are equipped with hand washing station
- Hand washing is mandatory before reporting to work, before and after breaks, and any other time hand washing is appropriate
- No Sharing of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). All staff provisioned with personal ear plugs and eye protection.
- All trucks equipped with disinfectant spray. All staff provisioned with individual hand sanitizer.
- All vehicles and equipment is disinfected at the end of each work day
- Any physical elements touched on job sites are disinfected at the end of each visit e.g. gate handles, hand rails and hose bibs
- All meetings (between clients, sub trades etc) will be held virtually or outdoors at a safe distance
- All staff bring a packed lunch to work to avoid unnecessary exposure to Covid-19 in public places. Packs can be left in the bed of the crew truck, but not in the cab.
- Any staff with flu-like symptoms are sent home for 14 days
Why we’re working
- It’s our job to ensure gardens are healthy and continue to thrive. Plants keep growing and if not regularly maintained, the cost to restore managed gardens later will be much larger than the cost to maintain now.
- A well-maintained landscape contributes to peoples’ happiness and well-being, particularly important when people are isolated
- Public safety is another aspect of our work; overgrown lawns and gardens provide cover for pests or vermin, as well as increase the crime rate
- To create jobs in a work environment where working at an appropriate distance from others is possible.