Policies & Expectations
Welcome to Westben! - Policies for your review!
We are thrilled to welcome you to Westben! Westben is all about nurturing communities through exceptional musical experiences. We bring people together through music. With this in mind, we would like to introduce you to several key policies which also outline expectations for staff, volunteers, and visiting guest artists. Thank you for reviewing!
Code of Conduct
Westben seeks to achieve the highest ethical standards from its staff, volunteers, guest artists, and contractors. Seeking to foster an environment that is inclusive, welcoming and respectful, Westben’s Code of Conduct is based on the organization’s core values:
Everything…
Excellence is done well and surpasses the norm
Creativity is creative, fresh, and/or explores new perspectives
Connection brings people together with each other and with music
Impact is impactful, important, and makes a difference
Joy is positive, uplifting, friendly, & has a can-do attitude.
Westben appointees are expected to act within the letter and spirit of the law. Westben takes full responsibility for its actions, communicates truthfully, and ensures public records are easily available while maintaining appropriate privacy and confidentiality.
Protecting Vulnerable People
Westben exercises a duty of care towards vulnerable persons. A vulnerable person is defined in Canada’s Criminal Records Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-47) as:
A person who, because of their age, a disability, or other circumstances, whether temporary or permanent,
is in a position of dependency on others; or
is otherwise at a greater risk than the general population of being harmed by a person in a position of trust or authority towards them.
This includes children, youth, senior citizens, people with physical, developmental, social, emotional, or other disabilities, as well as people who are victims of crime or harm. The vulnerable condition may be temporary or permanent. Through its Protecting Vulnerable People Policy, Westben commits to:
Establish a safe environment in which vulnerable persons can attend, learn, develop, and participate in Westben events and activities.
Raise awareness of protection issues for vulnerable persons
Practice safe recruitment in checking the suitability of staff and volunteers who may work with persons in the vulnerable sector
Health and Safety
Westben is committed to the health and safety of staff, contracted personnel, patrons, volunteers, and others using its premises. All parties are expected to perform activities with due diligence.
Westben maintains an occupational health and safety plan designed to prevent injuries, disease, and damage to property. The plan includes planning of all performances; regular staff, contractor, and volunteer orientation, and training; safe work practices, hazard assessments, and inspections.
Staff, volunteers, and guest artists are expected to work safely, abide by established health and safety policies and practices, and report and document incidents, deviations, and unsafe situations.
Pandemic & Public Health Policy
Westben’s organizational response to updates to Public Health Policy concerning pandemics such as COVID-19 and its variants as applicable to Westben is articulated in three goals:
Commitment: Westben will commit to meeting or exceeding all public health requirements and guidelines for pandemic response and control measures as appropriate.
Awareness: Westben will keep up to date on all government & health updates as well as industry standards and practices.
Communication: Westben will maintain up-to-date communication with the public through its website about its infection prevention and control measures including COVID protocols.
Diversity and Inclusiveness at Westben
The Westben Centre for Connection & Creativity through Music stands in solidarity with Black and Indigenous members of our community, as well as with all people of colour and those in other marginalized groups, in denouncing racism and discrimination of any kind.
As an arts organization committed to bringing people together through music, we acknowledge our role in recognizing, upholding, and celebrating the human rights and dignity of our community members whose lives are impacted and wrongly constrained by racism and discrimination. We recognize that Westben can do better in fostering inclusivity and diversity.
We are committed, therefore, to take action to increase our understanding and awareness of what creates an inclusive and diverse arts organization within our mandate. We hold ourselves accountable to our Members, our funders, and our communities to learn, grow and find ways to do our work equitably.
As learners, we will conduct a thorough and critical review of all practices with a view to identifying potential barriers to full participation in Westben as a Board member, employee, contractor, artist, patron, member, sponsor, volunteer or learner. All practices and policies will be reviewed with an openness to finding better ways of creating opportunities for hearing and amplifying voices that have been silenced or muted.
In particular, the Code of Conduct, as well as recruitment, nominations, and marketing practices will be examined for hidden barriers, and revised to foster inclusion and respect.
To address unconscious biases, training will be sought to facilitate honesty in self-reflection. Such training will assist leaders in the organization in identifying, understanding and effectively addressing any embedded discrimination. Local consultation on identifying potential training opportunities will help ensure relevance, effectiveness, and cost-efficiency.
