http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/...d9be720&k=50737

aw aimed at keeping gas station workers safe
Chantal Eustace, Vancouver Sun
Published: Sunday, January 27, 2008

METRO VANCOUVER - The mother of a gas station attendant who died trying to collect money from a customer says a groundbreaking new provincial law coming into effect Friday will protect other gas station employees from a similar fate.

The law, the first of its kind in Canada, will require drivers in B.C. to always pay before they pump, day or night.

"I'm elated about the law," said Corinne De Patie, whose son Grant De Patie was killed three years ago trying to prevent a gas-and-dash robbery when he was working alone at a Maple Ridge station.

Along with the requirement for 24-hour advance payments at the gas pumps, several other changes come into effect on Friday. Employers big and small must eliminate or minimize hazards to lone workers and maximize physical barriers between the public and cashiers.

This is in addition to phone check-in requirements already on the books.

"While we recognize this change may cause a small inconvenience for some customers, convenience cannot come at the high cost of violence to vulnerable workers," Ellis said.

The definition of those working alone includes anyone from a social worker visiting a troubled home to a teen manning a tanning booth. It applies to people who would not have immediate access to help in an emergency. Late-night operations must also either schedule two workers together or physically separate a lone worker from the public by providing a significant barrier, such as a locked door or pay window.

Another change requires late-night retail premises, open after 10 p.m. and before 6 a.m., to have written procedures on how workers handle money.

Candy George, who works the late shift at Seymour Boulevard Gas Bar in North Vancouver, said she is pleased with the new regulations.

"There's some people who don't like it but I think it's a priority," said George. "Some older customers say we're taking away their rights - but we're protecting our own."

Coquitlam Gas Bar employee Rajan Sharma agreed.

"I prefer if they pay at the pump outside. It keeps me safer," he said, adding that he thinks the new regulations will benefit gas attendants. While most people have thanked Corinne De Patie and her family for their campaign to protect gas attendants' safety, she said some people aren't pleased.

"There have been the odd person, who are stubborn and set in their ways and don't want to change," De Patie said. "But frankly, I'd rather protect the young workers. . . It was imperative that this never happen again."

with Canwest News Service files




HOLLY FUCK....
have to prepay every single time