
	Thursday September 9, 2010

Why is Health and Safety Important in your Workplace?

“We work in a paper cut industry, so what’s the big deal?”

woman surrounded by paper We may not work in a munitions’ factory, but that doesn’t mean our jobs are without hazard. The hazards our members encounter aren’t quite as sensational and are therefore, far more insidious. In an office setting, our health and safety activists must not only be ever vigilant in ensuring that their membership work in a healthy and safe environment, but they often do so in the face of this kind of opposition from management, their members and occasionally, even their fellow union activists. Whereas, in an industrialized workplace, management actively promotes a healthy and safe working environment; realizing that it is far more cost effective to prevent, rather than to pay the costs associated with the outcome of workplace injury. They make workplace safety their number one priority and it’s time that we follow suit.

We forget our members encounter danger also and not just your garden variety paper cuts. Inappropriate lighting or noise level impacts our employees’ stress levels. Poor indoor air quality, including molds and/or toxins, makes our members ill. Employees with allergies, breathing impairments or Multiple Chemical Sensitivities are finding it increasingly difficult to perform their duties in the workplace and are being forced to opt for telework arrangements or in some cases, premature retirement. Threatening clients, motor vehicle or equipment accidents or malfunctions can all result in devastating effects. Repetitive strain injuries (RSI’s) left unaddressed or untreated can disable our members. Did you know that more Workers’ Compensation claims result from RSI’s than any other type of accident or injury?

Operating and maintaining any successful program requires the commitment and cohesiveness of all stakeholders; health and safety is no exception. Committee members, managers and employees all play a role in promoting and ensuring an effective program, with education, training, continued reinforcement and communication being the cornerstones.

Workplace Committees are the watchdogs of your program. Choose your members wisely; select those who are credible, well respected, dynamic, forceful and committed, possessing a creative vision to support a proactive program. Remember that these members ensure the employer meets their statutory obligations of providing staff with a safe and healthy work environment, as well as promoting preventative, proactive initiatives.

The employer needs to understand their responsibilities and the ramifications of not complying with the same. They need to know about the due diligence defence and understand their accountability; including penalties under both the Canada Labour Code as well as the Criminal Code. They need to appreciate that an effective program is based on prevention rather than reaction. Who is the employer?? Not just CRA, not just senior management, but all individuals who assign duties and/or tasks to employees; including front line supervisors.

Employees should also understand that they have both rights and responsibilities when it comes to health and safety. They must participate in the identification of workplace hazards and should also be encouraged to take part in the correction of those same hazards.

Everyone needs to realize and support the importance of health and safety. Where would we be if concerned individuals didn’t push the envelope on the health effects of asbestos and PCB exposure? Where would we be if there was no legislation controlling hazardous chemicals in the workplace? Without support and a firm commitment to this issue, what disaster might we next encounter that endangers the well being of our membership?

Understand that a band aid may be the solution to a paper cut, but a band aid solution is not what we need.

Debbie Ferguson

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