About Us

Total number of employees by employment contract (permanent and temporary):

By gender

• Female: permanent = 4,680, temporary = 97
• Male: permanent = 1,326, temporary = 26

By region

• Permanent: AB = 42, BC = 1,871, ON = 3,926, SK = 164
• Temporary: AB = 3, BC = 11, ON = 109, SK = 0

Total number of employees by employment type (full-time and part-time) by gender:

By gender

• Female:  full-time = 2,418, part-time = 2,130, casual = 132, temporary = 97
• Male: full-time = 799, part-time = 478, casual = 49, temporary = 26

LifeLabs has a complex supply chain involving relationships with numerous suppliers in areas such as laboratory equipment, consumables, business services, goods for our operations and more. We leverage the expertise of our Quality, Safety and Environmental departments on all major procurements for assessments of risks in these areas.

LifeLabs is a member of a number of associations at the provincial and national level. Below are some examples of associations we engaged with in 2019:

• Canadian Society of Medical Laboratory Sciences
• BC Business Council
• Greater Vancouver Board of Trade
• Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce
• Ontario Association of Medical Laboratories
• Toronto Board of Trade
• Burnaby Board of Trade
• LifeSciences BC
• Ontario Chamber of Commerce

GRI-Sustainability-Letter

LifeLabs is committed to building a culture based on our core values that are grounded in integrity, mutual respect and trust. The Code of Conduct has also been developed to lend support to our vision of “Building a Healthier Canada” and to help guide us in living our values of “Caring, One Team, Agile and Customer Driven” – every day, everywhere in the business. This Code is a guide to assist everyone at LifeLabs in making the right business decisions. It sets out principles that govern the way we carry on business, provides clarity about expectations at LifeLabs, and identifies other LifeLabs resources and policies that you can use to support decision making.

LifeLabs’ Whistleblower program is intended to encourage employees to raise serious concerns they may have around issues of compliance with Code of Conduct, applicable laws, rules, regulations and our policies where those concerns have not been adequately addressed through regular channels employees can make an anonymous report by telephone, through a dedicated website, or by mail, via our third party provider, ClearView Connects.

Responsibility for reporting on sustainability has been delegated to the Director of Health and Safety & Environmental Sustainability.

Engaging and collaborating with our stakeholders is a key input to the development of our material topics and Sustainability Strategy at LifeLabs. We are committed to working toward amplifying our disclosure on stakeholder engagement in our future reports.

• Non-union employees: 4,773 (77.9%)
• Union employees: 1,356 (22.1%)

We do not have a formal process for stakeholder engagement; however, we are in the process of developing a plan to work toward amplifying our disclosure on stakeholder engagement in our future reports.

Every effort is made to ensure that we report accurate data, and our processes are designed to support this. In cases where we become aware of updates to data from previous years, we consider providing updated data if the changes result in a discrepancy that is material to our reporting.

2018 Community Report

We plan to continue to report on an annual basis.

LifeLabs does not receive financial assistance from the government.

Wages at LifeLabs are not defined based on gender and comply with all provincial legislation related to pay. Our pay is established based on our internal job evaluation system, which groups similar roles based on the skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions, and the external market for each position. This system ensures that pay decisions are free from any deliberate or systemic gender bias.

For roles which are regionally or provincially focused, LifeLabs hires qualified candidates from the local community. For roles with company-wide (national) accountability, the most qualified candidate is selected. In most cases, the candidate is not asked to relocate.

Healthier Communities:

The following contributions were made in 2019:

• Employee Giving Program: $31,824
• Community Investment BC: $ 46,700
• Community Investment ON: $71,490
• Community Investment SK: $ 10,950
• Community Investment National: $54,582

The LifeLabs Code of Conduct, Conflict of Interest Policy and Whistleblower Policy applies to all LifeLabs officers and employees. It also extends to other parties acting on behalf of LifeLabs such as consultants, the Board of Directors, or other representatives of LifeLabs.  A review of LifeLabs Code of Conduct, Conflict of Interest Policy and Whistleblower Policy is included in the orientation plan for all new employees.

Healthier Environment

13,836,447 kWh of electricity was consumed in 2019 at LifeLabs’ four main laboratories (Burnaby, Surrey, Toronto, Mississauga).

 436,314 m3 of natural gas was consumed in 2019 at LifeLabs’ four main laboratories (Burnaby, Surrey, Toronto, Mississauga).

In the laboratory sector, water management is an important issue because testing processes and equipment require large volumes of water.  In 2019, our main laboratories (Burnaby, Surrey, Toronto, Mississauga) withdrew 72,967 m3 of water from municipal sources.  This value assumes that water in = water out, and that no water is consumed in our laboratory operations.  We are unable to capture water usage at other locations using our existing systems, as we do not currently have a water management program in place.

• Road (courier) mileage: 22,092,063 km
• Road (courier) CO2 emissions: 4728 tonnes
• Water CO2 emissions: 25 tonnes
• Electricity CO2 emissions: 208 tonnes
• Fuel (NG) CO2 emissions: 813 tonnes

CO2 emissions are based on the most current and up to date emission factors and may change annually.

Scope 3 business travel sources include air travel. CO2 emissions are based on the most current and up to date emission factors and may change annually.

• Air mileage: 3,258,426 km
• Air CO2 emissions: 365.3 tonnes
• Non-hazardous waste CO2 emissions: -261.3 tonnes
• Hazardous waste CO2 emissions: 2035.5 tonnes
• Total waste CO2 emissions (hazardous & non-hazardous): 1774.2 tonnes

LifeLabs discharged 72,967 m3 of water from the main four laboratories (Burnaby, Surrey, Toronto, Mississauga) to municipal sanitary sewer in conformity with local legislation and permits, where required. In many LifeLabs laboratories, process water is collected in tanks and cleaned in on-site treatment facilities. If collected and treated on site, water is tested as per local permits or best practice before being discharged.

Healthier Environment: Recycling and Waste
By the Numbers

• Recycle: 342,178 kg
• Compost: 39,400 kg
• Landfill: 371,490 kg
• Biohazardous: 795,760 kg
• Chemical: 116,369 kg

Data is based off our four main laboratories (Burnaby, Surrey, Toronto, Mississauga). Recyclable waste includes paper, corrugated cardboard, electronics, and single-stream recycling.

LifeLabs commits to fully complying with all applicable environmental regulations at the federal, provincial and municipal levels. We did not receive any fines or orders for environmental non-compliance in 2019.

LifeLabs does not report specific numbers or percentages related to environmental screening, however our procurement processes do include specific environmental criteria against which all major equipment and consumable purchases are assessed.

LifeLabs complies with relevant local and national laws and any applicable contractual requirements regarding providing notice of significant operational changes.

LifeLabs supports a culture of safety, encouraging employees at all levels of the organization to participate in an open dialogue and constructive feedback on safety. One hundred percent (100%) of employees nationally are represented by a Health & Safety representative or Joint Health & Safety Committee

By The Numbers

The injury rate for 2019 was 3.68. There were no work-related fatalities.

Top three injury types were needlesticks (29%), ergonomics (23%), and slips/trips/falls (18%).

LifeLabs has an online system for reporting of workplace hazards (and incidents). The online hazard reporting system is accessible through a link from the homepage of the LifeLabs intranet. Supervisors investigate and implement corrective actions for the hazard reports they receive.

Another way LifeLabs controls hazards and reduces occupational health and safety risks are through its tiered audit system. Monthly inspections are conducted by Health and Safety Reps or Joint Health and Safety Committee members, and layered in addition to these are audits by supervisors, by managers, and by members of the Health and Safety team.

Hazards, incidents, and audit results are reviewed by the Health and Safety team and relevant information is shared back with the organization in the from of health and safety newsletter articles, hazard alerts, incident alerts, and safety talks.

Workers participate in the occupational health and safety program through their participation as Health and Safety representatives and through the Joint Health and Safety Committees.

Each year, Health and Safety representatives and Joint Health and Safety Committee members are emailed sections of the health and safety programs and their feedback is requested for ideas for improving the programs. Any worker can also email the health and safety team at the EHS@Lifelabs.com email to ask questions and suggest improvements to the program. The safety program also has a document/form that workers can complete to send feedback to the Health and Safety team.

LifeLabs has two “Employee Councils” (one in BC and one in ON) with the mandate to work in partnership with employees across the business, organizational leaders and Human Resources with the goal of contributing to make LifeLabs a great place to work.

This is done by:

• Facilitating dialogue between employees and management
• Encouraging employees to express their ideas and opinions
• Openly communicating with respect and professionalism
• Creating opportunities for all employees to provide input into initiatives that impact the organization
• Ensuring Employee Health and Safety is an important topic for Employee Council

Occupational health and safety information is accessed and communicated through a number of mechanisms:

• Online learning management system includes health and safety modules
• Safety programs are housed online in ‘Paradigm’, which is a controlled online document database
• Health and Safety has its own webpages of information accessible on the company’s intranet pages
• The Safety Data Sheet database is accessible online from any LifeLabs computer
• Health and Safety sends out a monthly safety newsletter with safety talks, articles on safety, and metrics
• Health and Safety articles are shared through other communication methods through the award winning Leaders Digest which provides information to leaders at all levels, through the OneWeekly which is a weekly company newsletter, and through direct emails to staff
• 30 separate full day annual health and safety training sessions were held for the health and safety representatives and joint health and safety committee members to attend across BC and ON. There were approximately 450 attendees

The joint health and safety committees at LifeLabs adhere to the requirements set out by each province that they are based out of.

The responsibilities include:

• Represent employees and ensure employees’ participation in EHS at the workplace with the goal to prevent workplace incidents and improve workplace health and safety.
• Identify occupational hazards. Make recommendations to management/employer to improve workplace health & safety using the LifeLabs EHS Recommendation Form (see figure 1 for details).
• Review, at least annually or more frequently if changes occur in the workplace, the EHS Program (SOPs & Training). Make recommendations to improve the EHS Program using the LifeLabs EHS Recommendation Form.
• Receive employees’ health & safety concerns/suggestions and discuss issues/suggestions with workplace parties. Recommend solutions reporting locally to Managers, or to EHS, if any.
• Conduct monthly EHS Audits. Monitor effectiveness of the EHS Program (SOPs) and Training.
• Investigate work refusals, if any.
• Investigate workplace incidents that may result in critical injuries or a fatality, if any.
• Be present at the beginning of workplace health and safety testing.

All workers are represented either through their Joint Health and Safety Committee or by their Health and Safety Representative, depending on the size of their worksite.

Joint Health and Safety committees meet at a frequency determined by their provincial requirements, either monthly or quarterly at a minimum. Joint Health and Safety committees are an advisory committee and provide recommendations to health and safety in the workplace.

Worker wellness is facilitated through SunLife Group Benefits plans that include different options to choose from, through fitness memberships discounts offered through WorkPerks, through employee discount testing from LifeLabs tests, and through EFAP services that support health and diet.

Health promotion services promote physical, emotional and financial wellness. Mental/emotional health is supported through access to our EFAP provider, through group benefits plans, and through employee discount programs for health and fitness products and memberships.

In 2019, LifeLabs has had 0 fatalities and 0 cases of high-consequence work related injuries. The main work-related injury was due to needlesticks.

There were 160 recordable incidents with a rate of 3.68 based on 200,000 hours worked.

As of December 2019, the average hours of training per employee in 2019 was 16.5 hours. This includes online and in-person training hours tracked in our company-wide learning management system.

LifeLabs uses Performance Management as a process that involves setting business goals and personal development plans (as appropriate), monitoring progress / on-going coaching and feedback and the annual performance review.

Number of employees at year-end, who received a regular performance/career development review by gender and employee category*:

Female: 4346
Male: 1256
 
Full-Time: 3087
Part-Time: 571
PT Regular: 1764
Casual: 124
Temporary: 56

* Employees would not receive a review if they are: on leave during the year and not worked for 3 months, a new hire, a temp, a union employee.

Percentage of individuals within the organization’s governance bodies (ELT) by number & percentage:

• Female: 4, 44%
• Male:  5, 56%

Number & percentage of employees in a leadership role (director level and above):

• Female: 30, 50%
• Male: 30, 50%

Number & percentage of employees by gender:

• Female: 4,777, 78%
• Male: 1,352, 22%

LifeLabs is unable to pull this data with the current systems, however we have recently upgraded our systems and are committed to work toward amplifying our disclosure on employee training on human rights policies and procedures.

Healthier Communities

• “Pajama and Pancake Day”

In 2019, we did not pay any fines or receive any orders related to non-compliance with laws and regulations concerning the health and safety impacts of our services.

LifeLabs offers services and does not manufacture or distribute products. Therefore this is not relevant to our organization.

In 2019, we did not pay any fines related to non-compliance with laws and regulations in the social and economic area.