• 375 centres providing service across Canada
• 16 LifeLabs laboratories
• Performed over 99 million laboratory tests in 2020
• 72,300 patient visits per day
• Two Genetic laboratories

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

• Female: permanent = 4,503, temporary = 504
• Male: permanent = 1,330, temporary = 127

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

• Permanent: AB = 5, BC = 1,712, ON = 3,973, SK = 143
• Temporary: AB = 2, BC = 349, ON = 259, SK = 21

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

• Female: full-time = 2,445, part-time = 2,058, casual = 173, temporary = 331
• Male: full-time = 802, part-time = 528, casual = 60, temporary = 67

• 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
• Digital Health Canada
• C.D. Howe

• Non-Executive: 90%
• Executive: 10%
• Independent directors: 33%
• Average Tenure: 3 years
• Male: 67%
• Female: 33%

• Non-Union employees: 4,933 (75.3%)
• Union employees: 1,618 (24.7%)

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, LifeLabs’ community investment efforts were temporarily paused as our non-profit partners adjusted to the new environment. Nevertheless, LifeLabs and its employees were proud to donate over $25,000 to 57 different organizations.

LifeLabs Employees Donated: $18,021
Employee Giving Program Match: $7,791
Community Investment National: $60,000 – /lifelabs-raises-over-60000-in-support-of-children-with-cancer/

• 13,585,917 kWh of electricity was consumed in 2020 at LifeLabs’ four main laboratories (Burnaby, Surrey, Toronto, Mississauga).
• 383,669 m3 of natural gas was consumed in 2020 at LifeLabs’ four main laboratories (Burnaby, Surrey, Toronto, Mississauga).

In 2020, we conducted two energy audits at two laboratories British Columbia to identify opportunities for reductions in energy consumption. A series of recommendations of modifications has been created and will be implemented in the coming years.
There has been a decrease in energy of 250,530 KWh when measuring our 4 main labs. Electricity use is determined through invoice monitoring from local utilities.

/sustainabilities/resource-management/

• Road (courier) mileage: 21,458,389 km
• Road (courier) CO2 emissions: 4592 tonnes
• Water CO2 emissions: 22 tonnes
• Electricity CO2 emissions: 285 tonnes
• Fuel (NG) CO2 emissions: 576 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.

• Air mileage: 335,215 km
• Air CO2 emissions: 59.7 tonnes
• Non-hazardous waste CO2 emissions: -737 tonnes
• Hazardous waste CO2 emissions: 1544 tonnes
• Total waste CO2 emissions (haz+nonhaz): 807 tonnes

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

To limit the waste generated at LifeLabs, we diligently work with our suppliers and internal teams to reduce the amount of waste up- and downstream. Where possible, waste is reused, reduced, recycled, or donated to limit the amount landfilled.

Hazardous and non-hazardous waste is managed through third party vendors and managed off-site. All waste is collected from waste summaries provided by vendors and through invoices. Data is stored in third party online databases, and monitored on a monthly basis for trends, discrepancies, and anomalies.

LifeLabs generated a total of 1,335,409 kg of waste in 2020 at our four main laboratories (Burnaby, Surrey, Toronto, Mississauga). Data has been compiled from waste summaries provided by vendors and through invoices.

• Recycle: 313,176 kg
• Compost: 25,022 kg
• Landfill: 271,793 kg
• Biohazardous: 626,780 kg
• Chemical: 98,638 kg

• Total weight of diverted waste: 338, 198 kg
• Total weight of diverted non-hazardous waste: 338, 198 kg

All hazardous waste is managed according to regulatory standards, and is either incinerated with energy recovery or landfilled. All waste is managed off-site with 3rd party vendors. Data has been compiled from waste summaries provided by vendors and through invoices. 

• Total weight of landfilled waste: 997,211 kg
• Total weight of landfilled hazardous waste: 725,418 kg
• Total weight of landfilled non-hazardous waste: 271,793 kg

All hazardous waste is managed according to regulatory standards, and is either incinerated with energy recovery or landfilled. All waste is managed off-site with 3rd party vendors. Data has been compiled from waste summaries provided by vendors and through invoices. 

Occupational health and safety management system elements have been implemented that meet the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Occupational Health and Safety Regulations of BC, SK, and ON. The occupational health and safety management system applies to all LIfeLabs employees, to employees conducting work at workplaces not under our control, and to contractors who come on site at our workplaces. LifeLabs has an internal Environment, Health & Safety Team of professionals to responsible for the management system elements. The occupational health and safety system is not based on a formal management system standard.

The occupational health and safety management system elements applies to all employees across the organization within our own workplaces e.g. our offices, laboratories and patient service centres; to employees who perform work at workplaces not under our control e.g. Mobile Lab Patient Technicians who perform phlebotomy at Long Term Care homes, couriers who pick up specimens from hospitals and physician offices; and to workers who are not employees but perform work at our worksites e.g. facility contractors and laboratory equipment service technicians.

LifeLabs conducts risk assessments to review current and newly proposed projects and processes. The processes are broken down step by step to identify hazards, assess the severity and frequency of risks, and identify controls to reduce unacceptable health and safety risks. The hierarchy of controls is followed to reduce risks and develop control recommendations. Depending on the processes being evaluated, risk assessments take the form of a 5×5 matrix of severity and frequency, and by assessing risk using Failure Mode Effects Analysis using a 3×10 matrix to assess severity, frequency, and detection of potential failure modes. Risk assessment teams are assembled and depending on the nature of the process or project being assessed will include subject matter experts from operations, the Occupational Health and Safety team, and other support functions like Quality and Regulatory affairs, Medical Sciences, Facilities, Privacy, and IT. Recommendations and additional controls are implemented when needs are identified to reduce health and safety risks.

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 for workers to report hazards is through the monthly inspections that are conducted at the worksites. Monthly inspections are conducted by Health and Safety Reps or Joint Health and Safety Committee members, and hazards and deficiencies are documented and corrective actions are implemented to eliminate or control the risks from the hazards. Workers are encouraged to report hazards as the organization promotes hazard reporting as a way address hazards before the hazard can injure someone. Workers have the right to refuse work they believe to be unsafe and the organization has a procedure and form for workers to report unsafe work, for supervisors to investigate, for employee health and safety representatives or Joint Health and Safety Committee members to participate in the investigation, and to involve provincial health and safety regulatory officers if required. Workers are protected against reprisals as part of the provincial Workers Compensation Act and a statement that reprisals are prohibited is specified within LifeLabs procedures.

Work related incidents are reported through an online reporting system. The incidents are investigated by supervisors to identify root cause and corrective actions to prevent re-occurrence. Investigations are documented on the online system. Hazards, incidents, and audit results are reviewed by the Health and Safety team and relevant information is shared back with the organization in the form of reminders, alerts, and safety talks.

Workers participate in the occupational health and safety management system 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

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 articles are shared 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 and to Health and Safety representatives and Joint Health and Safety Committee members
• Annual health and safety training sessions are held for the health and safety representatives and joint health and safety committee members to attend across BC, SK and ON

The joint health and safety committees at LifeLabs adhere to their respective provincial regulatory requirements.

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
• 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
• Investigate workplace incidents that may result in critical injuries or a fatality
• 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.

Benefits are an important part of our employees’ Total Rewards package at LifeLabs. Our offering is competitive with the industry, and can include Extended Health Care, Out-of-Country, Dental Care, Basic Life and AD&D, Short Term Disability, Long Term Disability, Critical Illness, Optional Life & AD&D, and covers over 85% of employees (full-time and regular part-time employees).

We have a robust wellness program that includes a wealth of resources and programs that are built around three pillars to address the total well-being of our employees (financial, physical, and emotional). Here are some examples of the offerings under each pillar:

• Financial – industry-leading retirement investments that are managed by trusted experts, access to financial advice/supports in a confidential setting, and preferred pricing on a variety of services and goods from our ‘perks’ vendors
• Physical – competitive benefits, plus exclusive access to a variety of services with special discount offers to help employees manage their current health status, and also take a proactive approach to their health and well-being with services around fitness, lifestyle, nutrition and more
• Emotional – supports to help our employees manage their mental health and wellness, achieve a sense of work-life balance, or get recognized by their team at work and in the community.

These services and programs are easily accessed by employees directly from our vendor platforms, and are heavily promoted through our regular communications channels so they are aware of what’s available.

We have detailed legal agreements in place with all of our partners providing the above offerings, that align with LifeLabs’ information security, privacy, and legal policies. The terms and conditions outlined in said agreements, as well as thorough vendor assessments completed, ensures the confidentiality and protection of our employees’ personal health-related information.

In 2020, LifeLabs employees has had 0 fatalities and 0 cases of high-consequence work related injuries.

The recordable work-related injury rate for 2020 was 3.42 and there were 146 recordable work-related injuries. The injury rate is based on the OSHA incident rate formula based on 200,000 hours worked. In 2020 there were 8,535,296 worked hours.

In contrast to the provincial Workers Compensation Boards calculation of hours based on total payroll and average pay per hour which would overestimate the number of hours where employees are at risk of injury (e.g. by including the entire payroll which includes vacation pay, statutory holiday pay, sick pay, leaves), our hours worked methodology for calculating hours refines the hours worked to include those hours where an employee is at risk of injury and conducting work for the organization (e.g. worked hours, training hours, education hours).

Top three injury types were needle sticks (24%), and slips/trips/falls (23%), and ergonomics (22%)

In 2020, LifeLabs has had 0 fatalities and 0 cases of recordable work-related ill health.

Work-related hazards related to ill-health come from interacting with patients who may have communicable diseases and with the lab specimens provided by these patients. Risk assessments for patients and for lab samples have been conducted. Controls to reduce risk if illness included use of biosafety cabinets, safety engineered medical devices, shielding, training and SOPs, workstation layout, and personal protective equipment.

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.

We have a wide range of development offerings to support upgrading of employee skills including:

• Senior Leadership Learning Sessions
• Leading Through COVID facilitated sessions by Morneau Shepell
• Leading @ LifeLabs, a leadership development program for managers, supervisors, and individual contributors
• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) facilitated sessions
• MyPerformance online learning program on performance management at LifeLabs.
• Competency training and assessments
• Customer Experience Transformation Program for Client Services
• LearningLabs online webinars from industry experts
• College of American Pathologists online learning

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

• Female: 3,965, 61%
• Male: 1,203, 18%
• Full-Time: 3002, 46%
• Part-Time: 492, 8%
• PT Regular: 1525, 23%
• Casual: 147, 2%
• Temporary: 2, 0.03%

* 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: 5, 50%
• Male: 5, 50%

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

• Female: 22, 44%
• Male: 28, 56%

Number & percentage of employees by gender

• Female: 5072, 77%
• Male: 1479, 23%

LifeLabs hosts PJ day with carnival games for kids with cancer – https://lifelabs.us.newsweaver.com/theweekly/ue7hmzutpzt?a=1&p=6649044&t=2046758

LifeLabs looked very comfy for this year’s Pajama Day –
https://lifelabs.us.newsweaver.com/theweekly/vzotad586cc?a=1&p=5931032&t=2046757