GNO might be most recognizable to nightlife patrons for its pink-clad teams sharing bottles of water and safety support on Vancouver’s Granville Street and in downtown Victoria on weekends. However, its impact is also felt in the back-of-house of venues across Canada. GNO offers training to the staff of music festivals and clubs, bars and restaurants on how to prevent, spot and respond to gendered harassment and abuse in their locations. That can include anything from comments and unwanted attention to drug-facilitated sexual abuse, from alcohol over-consumption to drink-spiking.

A Parallel 49 Brewing Company staff member wrote glowingly to GNO after completing its certification training, with a cold hard truth of the industry. “Hospitality is an industry that does have a dark side of persistent harassment, and the problem won’t be addressed by the big companies unless there is a level of compliance tied to it.”

In 2025, April 23 was declared Safe Spaces Hospitality Day in the city of Vancouver, recognizing local businesses that have audited their space through a City of Vancouver-funded program called Last Call and obtained credentials from GNO. Businesses that have taken GNO training are featured on a map on the non-profit’s website, helping customers make informed decisions about the businesses they support (goodnightoutvancouver.com/partners). For nightlife patrons, GNO also offers community workshops on topics like consent, substance abuse and bystander intervention.

Welcoming spaces

GNO started “out of a love for night life, out of a love for live music, out of a love for those experiences in social spaces in Vancouver,” said executive director Stacey Forrester, who collaborated with co-founder Ashtyn Bevan on what was originally a student project for Bevan in 2016.

“It was really born from a common experience to reflect on all of the amazing nights out we had, and how easily that can be ruined, how one comment, one gesture, one action, can really ruin an otherwise good experience,” Forrester said.

GNO in B.C. started as the Canadian chapter of the same-named U.K. organization that generously shared some of its tools and resources. Around the same time, the Ontario organization, the Dandelion Initiative, which folded in 2022, began doing similar work in that province.

Whether you’re feminist-minded or not, to create a space that’s welcoming to many more customers is just good business.

Stacey Forrester, Good Night Out

Generations of imbibers, particularly women, have internalized the burden of ensuring their own safety at night, whether by moderating consumption or guarding their drinks to stay safe. “If that was all it took, we would have eradicated the problem by now,” Forrester said.

A former nurse who previously worked extensively on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Forrester believes that B.C.’s relatively progressive values and a higher awareness of creating safer, protective spaces has allowed GNO to flourish in the province, where it takes a 360-degree approach of educating hospitality staff, customers and bystanders. She emphasizes, though, that even a GNO workshop isn’t a one-stop solution for any business. “The reality is, it takes culture change and culture change is very slow.”

There’s a risk that venues that have already experienced risks and problems will treat GNO training as a shield or as a badge indicating that they’ve “fixed” a problem. “We do have guardrails around that,” Forrester said, emphasizing that prevention and training are the way forward for businesses.

A poster in the bathroom or a few lines at the bottom of a menu, reminding patrons how a bar or club wants people to feel and act in the space, can bring awareness and even create a deterrent. “Over the years, we’ve seen places be really creative, with house rules or messaging created as little works of art, so safety messaging is built into the going-out experience,” Forrester said.

A healthy bottom line might just be the common-sense driver for businesses seeking GNO certification. “Whether you’re feminist-minded or not, to create a space that’s welcoming to many more customers is just good business,” Forrester said. 

More ways to have a Good Night Out

For the last two years, $2 from beers produced as part of a Collab Fest among B.C. breweries has gone to GNO. Small Gods Brewing Co., Swift Brewing, Steel & Oak Brewing, and Rewind Beer Co. were among the brewers involved.

In collaboration with the BC Craft Brewers Guild, Good Night Out (GNO) created a Guide to Protective Beer Spaces, providing a heads-up for mitigating the risks of sexual violence in breweries, tasting rooms and at beer festivals (available for purchase at goodnightoutvancouver.com/beer).

GNO has collaborated with B.C.’s funky Hotel Zed on sex-positive promotions like its Valentine’s Day Nooner promotions. From the November 30 International Day of Consent through to the end of 2024, Hotel Zed matched public donations to GNO of up to $25,000.

Café Bastille Martinez with Ketel One

This dark, savoury twist on the Martini’s precursor was one of the cocktails created in support of GNO this past spring. Recipe by Kate Chernoff, The Keefer Bar.

2 oz Ketel One Vodka 
1 oz Infused Sweet Vermouth (recipe follows)
1.5 tsp orange liqueur 
Garnish: lemon twist

Add ingredients (except garnish) to a cocktail stirring tin. Add ice and stir until chilled and diluted, up to one minute. Strain into a chilled Martini glass and garnish with a lemon twist. Serves 1.

Infused Sweet Vermouth

To a sealable container add 200 mL sweet vermouth, 20 g natural coffee beans, and 40 g dried mango. Seal (ideally with no oxygen in the container) and infuse for eight hours at room temperature. Fine-strain through a coffee filter and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one month. Makes enough for six cocktails.

This article was previously published in The Alchemist and appears by permission of the publication and author.

Kelly Mean, manager of prevention field services at WorkSafeBC and a former professional winemaker, understands how difficult navigating health and safety regulations can be for new businesses. “As someone with experience in both the alcohol industry and health and safety, I understand that navigating regulations can seem daunting at first. However, these guidelines are essential for keeping workers safe….”

Mean emphasizes that WorkSafeBC’s goal is to help employers keep workers safe by providing education and consultation, and by enforcing The Workers’ Compensation Act and Occupational Health and Safety Regulations.

Deciding who gets inspected and when

WorkSafeBC classifies breweries and wineries as moderate-risk facilities. This classification means that WorkSafeBC officers will check in occasionally, but not as frequently as they do with high-risk facilities like construction sites. WorkSafeBC Prevention Officers prioritize inspections based on data-driven risk assessments. They focus on sectors and employers where the risk of worker injury is highest.

Several factors influence these inspections, including the number of claims submitted by a facility, sector-wide claim numbers, the timing of the last inspection and concerns raised by workers, family members or the public. Even media reports can affect the priority of an inspection. As a result, a brewery, winery or distillery may receive a visit from a WorkSafeBC officer due to a report, complaint or other issue that prompts action. However, sometimes an officer might also conduct an impromptu inspection if they are in the area, regardless of whether the facility is on their list.

If an officer identifies a violation, they typically issue a corrective order that outlines the problem, provides recommendations for how to fix it and sets a deadline for compliance. If the issue isn’t resolved by the time of a follow-up inspection, the officer may issue a warning letter and even impose a financial penalty.

However, for high-risk violations that have the potential to cause serious injury or fatality, officers may immediately issue a financial penalty along with corrective orders. An example of a high-risk violation would be someone entering a confined space without proper protective measures in place.

How health and safety affect the bottom line

Health and safety measures not only keep workers safe, but also impact a business’s bottom line. Brewery and winery owners in British Columbia are required to pay insurance premiums to WorkSafeBC. This insurance protects them from lawsuits related to worker compensation for work-related injuries and illnesses.

In 2024, the industry base premium rate for breweries was $1.38 per $100 of payroll. In 2025, this rate is forecasted to be $1.36 per $100 of payroll. This projected decrease in the premium rate is good news, as it indicates that claims from the brewing industry are expected to decline.

If most breweries maintain good health and safety programs, and in turn have fewer claims, this benefits the entire industry by decreasing the industry’s base insurance premium rate.

However, an employer’s individual health and safety record also impacts the premiums they pay. An individual brewery that has injury claims above the average for the sector will pay insurance premiums that are higher than the base rate. There is no maximum on how high an employer insurance premium can be increased. Conversely, if a brewery has claims that are below the industry average, they will receive a discount on their premiums, up to 40 per cent.

Having a strong health and safety program is also a competitive advantage. Research shows businesses that make health and safety core to their culture benefit from improved worker retention. In addition to paying lower premiums, they are better able to attract talent who want to work with organizations that listen and are focused on their well-being.

Focus on risk management basics

During inspections, WorkSafeBC officers first examine what is causing injuries in the workplace. Then they take a general look at the facility and ask questions to determine what health and safety measures are in place. An example of a question the officer would ask is whether the facility has a joint health and safety committee or worker representative. Officers will also look at what programs and processes are in place to protect workers from confined spaces, and employer investigations into incidents.

Mean says that her officers emphasize risk management, which refers to the systems that an employer should automatically have in place to control or eliminate risks.

Most common injuries in alcohol manufacturing

One of the most common injury claims Mean sees is overexertion, which occurs when a person undertakes repetitive actions such as lifting grain bags. Being struck by something like a forklift or falling load, falling from a height and falling from the same level (tripping) are also common injuries. Since most craft breweries operate in small, congested spaces, hoses and other equipment make for common tripping hazards.

Brewers, winemakers and distillers work in an environment where they have easy access to alcohol. For this reason, Dave Vander Plaat, co-founder of Blindman Brewing in Lacombe, Alta., has developed clear policies regarding when alcohol consumption is allowed at his brewery:

• It is the employer’s responsibility to identify workplace hazards and put controls in place to protect employees from these hazards.
• Training must be provided whenever an employee is assigned a new task or moved to a new role.
• Employers must ensure that their employees are competent at the jobs they have been given.

Required personal protective equipment (PPE)

In the hierarchy of controls – a method of identifying and ranking safeguards to protect workers from hazards – it’s well established that PPE is at the bottom. This means that PPE should be the last thing considered when looking at how to protect workers on the job. If the hazard cannot be eliminated, substituted or managed through administrative controls, then PPE must be worn.

Mean notes that the appropriate PPE depends on the task at hand. If an employee is working with a hazardous chemical, such as caustic soda, they should consult the accompanying safety data sheet to determine the appropriate PPE.

At Blindman Brewing, which employs 22 full-time staff and 12 part-time staff, they have clear guidelines on what PPE is needed to perform each task. Brewers are required to wear long pants to avoid direct skin contact with chemicals and hot surfaces. Insulated rubber gloves are also required for certain tasks, and hearing protection is required on days when they centrifuge their beer for filtration.

Expanding mental health policies

As the importance of psychological health and safety becomes more widely discussed, Mean says that managing psychological health and safety in the workplace is as important as managing physical health and safety. A psychologically healthy and safe workplace prevents harm to workers’ mental health and promotes mental well-being. While many factors outside the workplace can affect mental health, it is an employer’s responsibility to address the factors that are within the control, responsibility or influence of the workplace.

Currently, WorkSafeBC requires employers to have bullying and harassment policies. While wellness plans for employees are recommended, they are not mandatory.

Mean says that if a worker informs their employer about a mental health concern that affects their job performance, the employer must quickly address it. If the worker gets injured as a result of being psychologically unwell, WorkSafeBC could deem that the employer provided unsafe working conditions that placed the worker in harm’s way.

Fostering a strong health and safety culture

Employers should endeavour to develop a work and safety culture where people feel comfortable reporting issues. Ultimately, creating this environment starts at the top, with management. “We make rules. We have to, but safety doesn’t come because of rules, it comes because of good safety culture,” said Plaat.

He finds that management gets a lot of traction just by constantly talking about safety. Safety becomes ingrained in employees’ minds and is simply a part of the way they operate there.

Plaat highlights two key factors that encourage his employees to report issues: First, reporting issues must be quick and easy. At Blindman Brewing, they have “two-minute, near miss” cards. Employees fill these cards out when they observe a safety issue or hazard in the brewery. These cards take less than two minutes to fill out and drop in a box. Employees don’t even have to write their names on the cards.

Second, reporting issues should never be a blame game.

“It has to be a culture of ‘we are all in this together,’ and ‘we’re trying to make things safe for everybody here.’ We don’t want to place blame or find someone to find fault with,” said Plaat.

Resources

WorkSafeBC provides a variety of industry-specific guidelines for alcoholic beverage production facilities. They also have a Prevention Information line, where employers and workers can call for answers to their health and safety questions. People can also sign up on their website to get the latest news and policy updates.

Spirits Canada’s corporate sponsorship of 86 Harassment signals to industry professionals and customers alike that sexual violence and harassment have no place in the beverage alcohol and hospitality industries.

86 Harassment is one of the first industry-wide initiatives specifically designed for the beverage alcohol and hospitality industries to co-create an action plan aimed at reducing incidents of harassment and violence. A key initiative of Women of the Vine & Spirits, 86 Harassment aims to create a model that can be duplicated by other industries worldwide emphasizing a collective commitment to fostering safer environments for employers, employees and customers.

“We can’t thank Spirits Canada enough for their support of 86 Harassment. This commitment signals to the industry at-large that sexual violence and harassment have no place in beverage alcohol and hospitality,” said Deborah Brenner, founder and CEO of Women of the Vine & Spirits and 86 Harassment council member.

Representing Spirits Canada on the 86 Harassment Council is Catherine Eaton, vice president, finance and operations at Spirits Canada.

We can’t thank Spirits Canada enough for their support of 86 Harassment. This commitment signals to the industry at-large that sexual violence and harassment have no place in beverage alcohol and hospitality.

Deborah Brenner, Women of the Vine & Spirits

“There is no place for sexual harassment and gender-based violence in our industry or society at large, and Spirits Canada’s support for this initiative reflects our deep commitment to fostering a safe, inclusive and equitable environment, where every individual is treated with dignity and respect,” said Eaton. “It is an honour to serve on this council and to contribute to meaningful change, ensuring that every person can be proud to work in this sector.”

Spirits Canada joins fellow sponsors Brown-Forman, Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Pernod Ricard North America, Republic National Distributing Company, and Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America.

Thanks to the generous financial funding of 86 Harassment sponsors, 86 Harassment will support employers and employees with the following free resources:

• Customized training for the beverage alcohol and hospitality industries on setting boundaries and bystander intervention, including “Creating A Safer Community,” developed and conducted by RAINN, and “Active Bystander Intervention” and “De-Escalation Training” for hospitality staff developed and conducted by Safe Bars. Additional trainings to be announced.
• Industry-specific Dedicated Confidential Crisis Intervention Hotline operated by staff at RAINN. Telephone Crisis Intervention Services available in English and Spanish. The hotline staff are available 24/7 to support communities with industry-specific crisis intervention, empathetic listening and warm handoffs to designated local service providers. The hotline provides quality, anonymous and confidential crisis intervention services in English and Spanish to support survivors within the industry.
• Centralized Resource Hub including glossary key terms and phrases, articles, reports, newsletters and educational resources for anyone in the beverage alcohol and hospitality industries. Handouts, toolkits, postcards, flyers, stickers, posters, available to download, print and post on walls on-premise, off-premise, offices and use at conferences and events.

The presence of rodents, cockroaches and flies poses a dangerous threat capable of infiltrating crops, ingredients and the final products. These pests not only compromise the physical integrity of the materials, they also cast a shadow over the integrity of the brand.

Wineries and breweries need to be aware of the various aspects of pest management, such as the risks posed by pests, which can jeopardize product quality. Beverage alcohol producers can mitigate some of these risks by implementing an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program, using structural and biological control methods, and training staff to ensure a pest-free environment.

The risks posed by pests

Rodents, cockroaches and flies are common pests in breweries and wineries because these environments provide them with ideal conditions to thrive. Due to their incredible reproductive capabilities, they can create large populations in a short period of time. These pests pose a dual threat by constantly feeding on waste and organic matter found in abundance in these settings. Pests are a conduit for the transmission of pathogens such as hantavirus, salmonella and E. coli, which can cause severe health problems and pose a significant risk to the safety and well-being of everyone involved in the production process.

The basic needs of pests

Breweries and wineries serve as alluring habitats for pests in search of food, water and refuge, providing the three essential elements necessary for survival, commonly referred to as the “triangle of life.” In this environment, pests find an ideal combination of food, water and refuge to sustain their presence within these facilities.

Firstly, the abundance of fermenting grains, spilled beverages and residual organic matter within breweries and wineries provides an ample food source for pests. Rodents, cockroaches and flies, in particular, are attracted to these food reservoirs, fueling their ability to multiply and infest the premises.

Secondly, water plays a crucial role in sustaining pest populations within brewery and winery environments. Leaky pipes, condensation and spilled liquids provide pests with the hydration they need to survive and thrive. Without adequate moisture, pests would struggle to endure these harsh conditions. Therefore, maintaining thorough cleanliness is imperative in combating pests like fruit flies, cockroaches and rodents.

For example, wine spillage serves as a significant attraction for fruit flies, necessitating prompt and thorough cleanup measures. Storing empty wine bottles away from frequented areas can prevent potential breeding spots, while diligent cleaning of organic debris under bar counters or in drains, and sealing cracks where spillage accumulates are essential steps to prevent future occurrences.

Thirdly, the complex design and storage layout characteristic of breweries and wineries provides pests with hundreds of hiding spots and nesting areas, fulfilling their crucial need for shelter. Cracks in walls, crevices in machinery and overlooked storage areas act as ideal hiding spots, enabling pests to evade detection and establish their presence within the facility.

Addressing sanitation and structural concerns is imperative for effective pest management, particularly concerning cockroaches and rodents. Adhering to established procedures for sanitation and structural maintenance, akin to those practised in restaurants, plays a vital role in mitigating infestations and ensuring a pest-free environment. To prevent pest infestations, seal entry points, maintain cleanliness, practise proper waste management and implement sanitation protocols to eliminate potential pest food and water sources.

Implementing an IPM program

To combat the persistent threat of pests in wineries and breweries, the implementation of an IPM strategy is paramount. By embracing IPM, establishments can effectively uphold a pest-free environment. This approach involves the implementation of various techniques, including rigorous sanitation practices, strategic use of mechanical controls and continuous education of employees.

Through these concerted efforts, businesses not only safeguard the integrity of their products, but significantly mitigate the environmental impact typically associated with conventional pest control methods.

As IPM highlights the importance of prevention, implementing rigorous sanitation protocols is just the beginning of maintaining a pest-free environment in wineries and breweries. Performing routine inspections and monitoring procedures further strengthens the defense against potential pest infestations. This proactive approach involves thorough examinations of storage spaces, production facilities and the surrounding premises to identify any signs of pest activity and pinpoint areas of vulnerability. Visible pests often indicate an existing infestation, which is why immediate action to address the issue is so important.

Mechanical controls such as physical barriers, traps and mechanical exclusion methods are effective in preventing pests from accessing vulnerable areas. Screens on doors and windows will prevent insects from entering. Similarly, sealing cracks and using door sweeps can keep rodents out of facilities and protect against structural damage and electrical hazards.

In addition to conventional pest management approaches, wineries and breweries can use biological controls as a sustainable and eco-friendly method to combat pest insects, introducing predatory insects to mitigate infestations and uphold both quality and sustainability standards.

Effective pest management requires proactive measures and diligent record-keeping. By monitoring pest populations and keeping detailed records of pest sightings, control methods used and their outcomes, beverage alcohol producers can maintain a pest-free environment and ensure the safety of people and property.

Training staff on proper sanitation practices, pest infestation signs and the importance of IPM cultivates a culture of pest awareness and fosters proactive management. By teaching the significance of maintaining cleanliness and promptly addressing potential pest issues, employees become equipped with the skills and understanding necessary to identify and mitigate pest-related risks effectively. Educating staff on the signs of pest infestations empowers them to detect early signs, enabling quick action to prevent the escalation of pest problems.

Emphasizing the importance of IPM instills a proactive mindset among employees, encouraging them to actively engage in pest prevention measures rather than merely reacting to pest sightings. Ultimately, a well-trained workforce serves as a frontline defense against pests, contributing significantly to the preservation of product quality and brand reputation.

Maintaining high sanitation standards is the key to preventing and managing pest infestations. Wineries and breweries must embrace IPM as a necessary measure rather than an option. By integrating a multifaceted approach that combines prevention, vigilant monitoring and timely intervention strategies, establishments can effectively combat pests while minimizing environmental damage.

In doing so, they uphold their commitment to quality and sustainability, ensuring continued success.