:: rawblogXport ::

:: Thursday, October 21, 2004 ::

New network aims to make occupational health and safety "dangerous" again. by Penney Kome, Straight Goods
'Canada has one of the sorriest workplace death rates in the entire developed world,' said Rory O'Neill, editor of Hazards Magazine (UK). 'It's three times the rate per capita of the UK and European countries, and it's a disgrace.'

Top of O'Neill's list of concerns is mesothelioma, a rare cancer in the lining of the lungs or in the abdomen, linked to working with asbestos. 'Recent reports from Quebec indicate that Canadian asbestos is killing Canadian workers in droves,' said O'Neill, 'as well as exporting a health risk worldwide.'

Historically, safe working conditions have been a rallying cry that drew Canadians into unions, more than once. 'Neither governments nor employers have any interest in promoting occupational safety,' said Eric Tucker of Osgoode Hall Law School, reviewing labour organizing at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. He noted that, when it came to winning OHS legislation, 'not economics but the social justice argument worked better.'

And OHS activists have won major battles, from the 40-hour work week (in the early 1900s) to joint health and safety committees. In the 1970s and '80s, workers fought for, and won, the 'three R's' - the Right to Know the hazards in their workplace, the Right to Participate in joint health and safety committees, and the Right to Refuse Work. Lately, it seems, all of those gains are being rolled back.

posted 6:54 AM :: reference link :: 0 comments ::

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