Last year, SafeCare BC established a Tailored Outreach Program or TOP for short. There are now 28 organizations participating, representing both long-term care and home care and community health support.

Loving Home Care Services is one of those TOP performers and believes that being so is good for its staff and clients. Based in West Vancouver, Loving Home Care Services has provided home care assistance for over 25 years and strives to be proactive about workplace injury prevention.

“We thought it would be an incredible benefit for our organization to be part of TOP,” says Daniel Purgal, Chief Operating Officer, Loving Home Care Services. “TOP complements what we were already doing and shows our staff and clients that we are accountable and responsive to health and safety. And the fact this is coming from SafeCare BC lends credibility to our staff.”

The Tailored Outreach Program allows organizations to find out where they are doing well and areas that need attention. A gap analysis, policy development, tools, and help with the creation of an action plan tailored to their needs are all things participants get.

Being part of TOP increases the awareness of an organization’s health and safety program and enhances worker safety. “It targets the organization’s safety culture and helps them comply with regulations and positively engages health and safety committees and senior leaders and management,” says Mavis Gibson, SafeCare BC’s Director, Workplace Health and Safety Programs. “Everyone can be a TOP performer. No organization couldn’t benefit.”

Since joining TOP, Loving Home Care Services has been working on formalizing its health and safety program and has built a robust web portal for its staff, which contains resources on violence prevention, harassment, and musculoskeletal injuries. In addition, a monthly staff newsletter always contains information from SafeCare BC.

“The staff tell me how appreciative they are of the resources we share with them,” says Purgal. “Being part of TOP is one way we show that we care about our staff's health, safety and well-being. I would encourage TOP to any organization that wants to create an accountable and credible safety culture and a workplace people will be proud of.”