.
Finding balance on health & safety
Labour leaders support changes to federal rules

Doug Ashury
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 30/00) - Labour representatives are generally pleased with new health and safety legislation due to take effect in a month.

"I think everybody seems to be supporting it (changes to part two of the Canada Labour Code)," said Ben MacDonald, Yellowknife deputy mayor, and a well-known supporter of the labour movement.

FACT FILE

The amendments:

  • The role of workplace health and safety committees has been expanded. Committees will continue to inspect their workplaces but will now be responsible for the investigation and resolution of complaints. The goal is to improve efficiency by reducing the need for direct government intervention. If parties can't resolve the issue, a government health and safety officer can intervene.
  • Health and safety policy committees will be established for industries with 300 or more employees. These committees will be involved with developing health and safety programs, investigations, studies and inspections, and protective equipment assessment. These committees will make sure health and safety issues are addressed at the corporate level.
  • On the right to refuse dangerous work, the rules establish an internal system which outlines the rights of employees and employers. The employer had the right to discipline an employee found abusing this right. The employee may appeal discipline.
  • Women who believe their workplace presents a danger to their fetus, or, in the case of nursing mothers, to their baby, will have the right to remove themselves from activity.

"Employers want to keep costs down ... workers are trying to exert their rights and authority in the workplace," MacDonald said.

"Because both sides have agreed to it, you have to assume it's progressive," he said.

Federal Labour Minister Claudette Bradshaw kicked off a series of Bill C-12 information sessions Monday at the Explorer Hotel.

Bill C-12 covers part two of the Canada Labour Code governing occupational health and safety in workplaces under federal jurisdiction.

Part two of the Canada Labour Code applies to the public service as well as employees of federal Crown corporations. People working in international and inter-provincial industries including air, rail, roads, pipelines, banking, broadcasting, uranium mining, shipping and ports and telecommunications are also affected.

Changes to part two took six years. The new legislation takes effect Sept 30, 2000. Amendments to part one, which covers collective bargaining, came into effect last year.

Co-operative process

Bradshaw told a group of Yellowknifers Monday that the new legislation better balances the role of government, employers and employees.

"Problems should be solved together," she said. "Both sides know that health and safety cannot be driven by the "bottom line."

In Canada, 60,000 people suffer workplace injuries per year. Annually, 30 Canadians die on the job.

With families struck by these tragedies, "what more incentive could we possible need," Bradshaw said, adding that proper health and safety measures make "moral and financial sense."

Employers and employees took a "negotiated approach" to amending the legislation, Bradshaw said.

Labor federation likes consultation

Northern Territories Federation of Labour President Bob Haywood said he is pleased that Bradshaw wants people to see the new legislation and talk about it.

If more people know about the new legislation, they are more apt to use it, he said.

"It is an improvement."

The new legislation establishes three fundamental employee rights, including: the right to know about hazards in the workplace, the right to participate in correcting those hazards, and, the right to refuse dangerous work.

Georgina Rolt-Kaiser, president of the Union of Northern Workers, said although the new legislation does not directly affect UNW members, "We believe it will eventually be devolved to the territorial level where it would impact our employees."

UNW employees are covered by the NWT Public Service Act and the territorial WCB Act.