Making a Difference to our Health and Safety. Build ng. United Steelworkers National Policy Conference Toronto, April for tomorrow s jobs

Transcription

1 Making a Difference to our Health and Safety United Steelworkers National Policy Conference Toronto, April 2010 Build ng for tomorrow s jobs

2 On the cover: Former miner and now activist Lars Hoven at the Baie Verte Registry On the Cover: Getting registered Marion Fitzgerald, Lar Hoven and a USW member gathering information for the Baie Verte Registry, a project to track the health and exposure of former miners of the Baie Verte asbestos mine in Newfoundland and Labrador. Inside cover: April 28, 2009, Day of Mourning: More than 100 people, including USW members, took part in an overnight vigil organized by the QFL at the National Assembly in Quebec City to mourn those who have been killed or injured at work.

3 Responding to fatalities and serious occurrences As of Sunday March 21, 2010, 19 Steelworkers have died at work in Canada in traumatic accidents since April Many more have passed away due to occupational disease. Since 1980, our union has recorded the names of Steelworkers who have died at work. This year, in Canada, we will also begin to record and commemorate the names of Steelworkers who have died of occupational disease. When Steelworkers are killed or seriously injured on the job, USW Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) staff and members respond. Since 2007, USW staff have been actively involved in investigations, inquests and the legislative processes related to workplace fatalities and injuries. District 3 Coordinator, Ron Corbeil, participated in the investigations of the death of 3 fallers, all members of Local 1-85 on Vancouver Island. Ron also took part in the investigation of the death of a member of Local Following this tragedy, District 3 prepared Hazard Alerts and distributed them through their Forest Workers Safety Network. ( District 6 Coordinator, Nancy Hutchison, responded when a member of Local was killed. She also responded to Local 8190 in Port Colborne, Ontario, following the critical injury of a member who had his left forearm amputated. While there have been no members killed at work in District 5 since the last National Policy Conference, we mourn the death of M. Claude Fortin who died in 2009 from occupational cancer due to diesel emissions. Government delays threaten workplace health and safety Unfortunately, there are significant delays throughout the investigation process of workplace deaths. Government investigation reports are rarely finished within a year and often go on longer. Consequently, charges under occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation are not made until a year or more after the death occurred, just before time limits expire. In recent cases, the government did not lay any OHS charges against companies involved in workplace deaths. In addition, criminal activities of employers are not being investigated or prosecuted. There has been only one prosecution the Transpavé case in Quebec and it resulted in a plea bargain. In B.C., pressure from the USW s Stop the Killing campaign forced WorkSafeBC to send a letter 1

4 to all chief executives of forestry companies reminding them of their duties under the Criminal Code. District 3 is particularly concerned that, despite police recommendation, criminal charges were not laid in the death of Lyle Hewer, who was killed at the Weyerhauser sawmill in New Westminster, B.C., when waste-wood in the hog he was cleaning out fell on top of him. In March, 2010, the USW launched an unprecedented private prosecution against Weyerhaeuser under the Westray Amendment of the Criminal Code. In Ontario, four construction workers died and one was seriously injured in December 2009, when their scaffold collapsed on the side of an apartment building. This tragedy has led to the Kill a Worker, Go to Jail campaign spearheaded by the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) and the USW, renewing calls for employers to be held accountable under the Criminal Code for the health and safety of workers. The labour movement must continue to confront ministers of labour and attorneys general about their obligation to protect workers, including pressing criminal charges against companies and their management. Inquests The longest and most disturbing inquest involved the death of Steve Ewing in the smelter explosion at Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting (HBMS) in Flin Flon, Manitoba in August, The company pleaded guilty and was fined the maximum USW legal counsel Glen Orris answers questions from reporters on the steps of the New Westminster, B.C., courthouse. To Orris s right is USW District 3 Director Stephen Hunt, who announced the private criminal prosecution against Weyerhaeuser for the 2004 death of millworker Lyle Hewer. 2

5 under existing law prior to the inquest. Inquest hearings began in 2004 but were adjourned due to legal challenges and delays by the company until The judge s report recommended legal amendments to prioritize the hierarchy of controls in health and safety legislation. An inquest was held in 2007 before a coroner and jury following the 2006 death of Frank Leroux, who was killed in B.C. while driving his logging truck at night on a single lane forest road. The USW received standing on the basis of its expertise and advocacy for forestry workers. The inquest emphasized the role of forest industry deregulation and the lack of management responsibility for safe working conditions. As a result, a number of recommendations on multi-employer forest road users have been implemented. A 2007 inquest into the deaths of four workers who were asphyxiated after they entered an unmarked confined space at the closed Sullivan Mines site in Kimberley, B.C. led to recommendations to the Mines Branch and Sullivan Mine regarding their lack of compliance with current standards regarding confined space. Local 6500 at Vale Inco in Sudbury has had an inquest committee for many years. Inquests are mandatory in Ontario for mining and construction deaths. They can take place only after any charges have been resolved. Since 2007, trained local union health and safety representatives have participated in three inquests. As a result of USW lobbying and involvement in the inquest into the deaths of two Ontario workers, the government of Ontario has acted on jury recommendations and made major amendments to the Confined Space Regulations. In 2009, the USW participated in a 15-member Death Panel Review under the Coroner s Act following the deaths of three tree fallers in B.C. The panel determined that in all three cases, work practices before and at the time of the incidents were not consistent with the industry s best practices. In District 6, USW members participate on various government committees to ensure that frontline workers have direct input into legislation and recommendations concerning workplace health and safety. In Ontario, USW members on the Mining Legislative Review Committee (MLRC) review the Ministry of Labour s fatality inspection reports and jury recommendations made at the mandatory inquests of miners killed on the job. Through this work, USW members do everything possible to ensure mining regulations are changed to improve health and safety conditions, reduce hazards and prevent future fatalities. Resisting behaviour based safety Behaviour based safety (BBS) is a management safety system which blames worker carelessness for 90% of all accidents. It usually involves workers being watched, encourages the use of peer pressure to not report accidents and absolves management of any responsibility to make work safe. Locals can be misled to participate when the company offers to pay a union member to lead the program. The stress and tension that results from union participation in BBS programs has created splits in local unions and undermines members confidence in their union. Companies prefer behaviour based safety because it gives them more control over their employees and downloads responsibility for health and safety issues onto workers. The USW International Executive Board, at its December 2009 meeting, directed staff to implement a strategy to defeat behaviour based safety. The HSE department has developed training packages to assist local union leadership, health and safety activists and staff to work together to resist behaviour based safety. 3

6 Visit our international USW website for more information. page?type=hse_resources_publications&id=0002 Working with members to solve problems To ensure that members get all the assistance they need, USW health and safety professionals provide advice and support for staff and local unions with inquiries and problems. Leading the department is the National Health and Safety Coordinator who coordinates our national program, and is the union s liaison with Blue Green Canada, our partner on environmental initiatives. For members, USW provides quality training and support for local health and safety representatives. Members of the department provide expertise in the following areas: Supporting local union instructors ϐ ϐ Promoting educated and active local union representatives ϐ ϐ Delivering training Providing advice and mentorship to USW activists Engaging local union leadership and staff on key issues Advising Directors and staff Providing strategic advice and resources for campaigns, law reform, and policy District 3 activities include: Assisting locals dealing with blame the worker elements in workplace health and safety programs Meeting with locals as part of the Stop the Workers, retirees and family members of those suffering from occupational diseases take part in a USW-organized clinic in Sault Ste Marie. A group of prevention representatives working for contractors at the Aluminerie Alouette plant in Sept-îles took a beryllium training course in September, 2009, with USW Health and Safety Staff Representative René Bellemare. 4

7 Killing campaign Working through the District 3 HSE Committee to develop a comprehensive health, safety and environmental program, educational material and contract language to counter BBS programs Implementing the New Worker Awareness Program District 6 activities include: ϐ ϐ Working with local union health and safety representatives to address a failure of the Ministry of Labour to protect workers rights to participate in workplace health and safety issues Assisting representatives who are being punished by employers for advocating for safe workplaces Working with the OFL to expose government policies that prohibit inspectors from ruling on reprisals or ordering remedies ϐ ϐ Pushing for prosecution of employers following reprisal action Supporting the work of the District 6 Health and Safety and Workers Compensation Board (WCB) Committee, that consults and lobbies on issues including confined space, noise reduction, machine guarding, ergonomics, workplace violence, and occupational disease policy ϐ ϐ Touring workplaces to promote USW health and safety awareness and broaden understanding of the hazards members are facing in different sectors District 6 Director Wayne Fraser speaking at a Cancer Care Ontario event. 5

8 District 5 activities include: District 5 Health and Safety Coordinator, René Bellemare, is building a network incorporating all of the Steelworkers health and safety representatives. Further to the resolution adopted in 2008, the network of health and safety representatives in our union has now become a reality. The network is in place and functional, and already includes 164 representatives. It is a wonderful work tool, as well as a valuable medium for the exchange of information. Its simple structure allows for interventions that are increasingly profitable for all of our members, both those in the network and those we represent. Building research and expertise Over the years, USW has built strong relationships with a wide range of health care professionals, researchers and community activists who support our concerns. Our union promotes government programs to fund free occupational health services through worker health clinics, labour-focused research, and training more practitioners. Throughout Canada, the USW is participating in several research projects, including: Research on cancers in sawfilers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Working with WorkSafeBC Human Factors to interview USW members on Vancouver Island about the job of hand falling Funding research into the dangers and physical demands of forest industry work through the Safety Advisory Foundation for Education and Research (SAFER) Council Working with the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP) and researchers at the University of April 28 Day of Mourning: District 5 Director Daniel Roy and Claude Langlois, President of USW Local 6586 (ArcelorMittal, Contrecoeur). Claude is also a regional council president of the QFL. 6

9 Waterloo who are developing a Musculoskeletal Disorder (MSD) physical risk factor survey and a tool to help assess risk factors of the entire workplace Steelworkers are constantly facing workplace hazards related to stress, hours of work, job security and harassment resulting from restructuring. To address some of these issues, the USW participates is the Labour Occupational Health Clinics Academic Collaboration (LOARC) which is designed to create tools, strategies and knowledge to help unions take on these problems. Overall, the USW is playing a key role in building a network to investigate worker s health and safety concerns, develop tools for use in the workplace and build evidence to support health concerns. Advocating for injured workers As Steelworkers, we recognize the hardship that members experience because they are injured or ill, suffering physically, emotionally and financially or if they are vulnerable and need assistance to establish claims within the complex WCB system. The USW s HSE department fights for the rights of injured workers to be compensated. Assistance is provided to members through local, area and district programs. Union workers compensation advocates recover millions of dollars each year for injured workers. In addition to providing WCB training, mentorship, and support, the department has developed a WCB strategy and educational plan that is being led by USW Workers Compensation Specialist, Sylvia Boyce. Basic WCB sessions will be offered beginning in late Globally, National Director Ken Neumann is cochair of the internationally recognized National Institute of Disability Management and Research (NIDMAR). NIDMAR promotes the highest level of treatment of injured workers in return to work. The greatest challenge facing us is the prevention of occupational disease, stress-related illnesses and the effects of chemicals that we are forced to work with. Many thousands of workers are affected. We have focused our efforts on setting systems to identify the toxicity of the chemicals we face, identify and compensate occupational illnesses and reduce the use of toxic chemicals and stress in the future. Occupational disease victims and compensation USW staff and members fight for members, past and present, in mines, smelters and steel mills, in manufacturing and in emerging sectors. For example, Local 5795, at the iron ore mine in Labrador City, has won a series of landmark cases on behalf of members suffering occupational disease. Occupational cancer prevention Many of the chemicals that cause occupational cancer have been identified and are now in the environment, but existing legislation is not designed to help remove them from industrial processes. These findings are from a major research paper, supported by the USW among others, published by Cancer Care Ontario in July 2007, Cancer and the Environment in Ontario: Gap Analysis on the Reduction of Environmental Carcinogens. We also work with our environmental and cancer prevention allies to address the use of toxic chemicals in industry. We successfully promoted the Toxic Reduction Act in Ontario, the first Canadian jurisdiction to adopt legislation 7

10 to require companies to plan alternatives to toxic chemicals and carcinogens based on highly successful programs in Massachusetts and other states. The USW has successfully put prevention of occupational and environmental cancers on the agenda of various agencies, including the Canadian Cancer Society. The Canadian Partnership Against Cancer has funded the first national effort to measure occupational exposures to cancer in a program called CAREX. With support from the United Steelworkers, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board and Cancer Care Ontario have funded Canada s first Occupational Cancer Research Centre. Registries, clinics and policies Central to our strategy on occupational disease prevention is improving compensation for our victimized members. Securing compensation is difficult due to a lack of records of exposures and poor medical services. Many people do not suffer from the effects of exposure until later in life and often after their workplaces have shut down. Finding ways to link retired and former members brings to light historical experience and makes it possible to gain compensation. The Baie Verte Registry is a collaboration between the USW, the Baie Verte Community Group, and the Newfoundland/Labrador Workplace Health Safety and Compensation Commission to create a database of former miners at the Baie Verte asbestos mine to track their health status and exposures. This is the first time anything like this has been attempted. To date, almost half of the more than 2,000 workers and/or survivors have agreed to participate. In Trail, B.C., Local 480, representing workers at the Teck lead zinc smelter, has launched a campaign on behalf of retired members who have Co-op students from West Hill Secondary School in Owen Sound, Ontario, taking part in the USW s Young Workers Awareness Program. 8

11 developed asbestosis. They have been denied benefits because changes to compensation laws have eliminated benefits after age 65. In Ontario, USW Locals in Sault Ste Marie, Sudbury, Toronto, Port Colborne and Kitchener have organized clinics for their members who suffer from occupational cancers. Training activities Each year hundreds of Steelworker members across Canada participate in health and safety training to become better representatives for their members. Training is delivered by our HSE staff and experienced union members. Our National HSE Conference was held from May 12-14, 2008, in Toronto. Local union health and safety activists from across Canada participated in panels, plenaries and workshops about the environment, fatalities, occupational disease and injured workers. Canadian Steelworkers also participated in our union s annual International HSE Conferences, held in Dearborn, Michigan in 2008 and in Houston, Texas in These conferences attracted over 1,000 USW members from all sectors. Training standards The HSE staff is involved in certification, Canadian Standards Association, and evaluating company and government audits. We promote the highest standards in keeping with our union s health and safety program. Legislative reforms USW staff work with our members and allies to promote important changes to laws to protect health and safety and injured workers. Some successes and activities include: Adoption of the Toxic Reduction Act in Ontario Reducing the exposure limit for noise to 85 dba Supporting a successful B.C. campaign for Grant s Law, where changes to gas payment rules were made to protect younger workers working alone at night at gas stations, following the tragic death of Grant De Patie who was killed when he tried to stop a driver from stealing $12.30 worth of gas ϐ ϐ Participating in the 2007 Independent Review Panel that made recommendations to revamp New Brunswick s Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission (WHSCC) system Campaigning with the OFL and other affiliates to add workplace harassment and violence to the Occupational Health and Safety Act following successful work in Quebec and Saskatchewan Since 2001, the USW has led the way in ensuring the achievement of the Beryllium Action Plan. We have given several presentations on the subject of beryllium throughout Quebec. We have provided information on the health risks of beryllium to union representatives and members, and will continue to do so. We have successfully developed action plans focused on prevention. Thanks to our efforts, the legal standard of beryllium exposure has been lowered. The USW HSE staff also participated on government committees reviewing laws and regulations in occupational health in B.C., Ontario, and Quebec. USW local union leaders sit on boards and committees in Newfoundland, Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Deregulation has undermined enforcement and 9

12 the effectiveness of our worker representatives. Steelworkers will advocate strongly for the health and safety of members and their families. New Worker Awareness The Young Worker Awareness (YWA) program continues to be strong across the country. For over a decade, USW local union activists in communities across Canada have been participating in the YWA program, delivering the core elements of the USW Health and Safety Program to high school students. Both students and teachers have praised the program: I d like to thank the Steelworkers for facilitating your health and safety presentation to our co-op students prior to them leaving for their work placements next week. As always, we appreciate the work you do with the students by emphasizing the importance of workplace safety through real life/world situations. Jacquie Corneman, Head of Community-Based Education I thought his presentation was interesting and useful. It helped me be aware of my health and safety when I start working. Arusha, Student What we have discovered is that many new workers new in age, in experience, new to the particular job, new to this country all experience a high rate of injuries. We see it in our own members. We see it in the newly hired. We see it in long-serving members coping with restructuring and job changes. We believe that the same key messages we teach to young workers need to be taught to all members, especially to those who are new. Even high-seniority members in our workplaces may not know the new hazards of a new job, which is why our program is so important. This year we are launching our New Worker Awareness (NWA) program, building and continuing our YWA program and expanding it to reach out to all new workers. The program educates our members on the core elements of the union s health and safety program including corporate responsibility to make work safe and healthy, the rights of workers to participate and be represented and rigorous enforcement of the law to protect workers. International solidarity Health and safety is an international concern. With the support of the Steelworkers Humanity Fund and the HSE department, USW local union representatives are engaged in collaborations with unions in the Southern Hemisphere from Mozambique to Chile and beyond. These international collaborations are key in addressing health, safety and environmental issues with global chains such as Tenaris, SCAW, Gerdau, US Steel, Vale, and Teck. They allow the USW and other labour allies to advocate for health and safety issues arising in the same company across different countries. Long-standing relationships between Mozambican unions and the Humanity Fund has led to an exchange with Brazilian health and safety educators, Vida Viva. In May, these same educators will be coming to Canada to meet with Canadian health and safety educators. Overall, the international work done by USW members and staff plays a key role in fighting for healthy and safe workplaces throughout the world and in our local communities. 10

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14 <SRU> Ken Neumann, National Director for Canada United Steelworkers 234 Eglinton Ave. E., 8 th floor Toronto, ON M4P 1K