Dear registrants, stakeholders, and public members,
We, The College of Opticians of British Columbia, apologize for an image published of a man holding a cigarette in our January newsletter case study. This was a publishing oversight that happened when choosing a stock photo to use with one of our articles. We realize that this photo could negatively affect the public image of the regulation of the profession, as it portrays an image of a health risk. We recognize that the photo also contradicts out College’s mandate to protect the public, and we are deeply sorry. We want to ensure that we are fostering a good relationship with registrants and stakeholders to protect the public interest.
We recognize the oversight in publishing that photo may have caused some loss of trust with registrants, stakeholders, and members of the public. Thus, we have created an action plan aimed at ensuring that mistakes like this do not happen in the future. The action plan includes steps such as:
- Carefully ensuring appropriate photos are chosen;
- All articles and photos are to go through an internal approval process before posting;
- Ensuring photos are chosen from an appropriate, organization approved, stock photo website.
If there are any other suggestions that you may have as to how we can ensure this does not happen in the future please let us know.
We sincerely apologize for the negativity that this photo has portrayed and the mistake that was made. We hope that you can take this letter as our first step in regaining your trust.
On behalf of the College of Opticians of B.C.,
Connie Chong
Executive Director/Registrar