Raise the Hammer

Rusty: Yes I agree with your posting but would also like to add that when we look at Occupational Health and Safety issues in the workplace, the following information comes to light.

One third of all chemicals used in the workplace have not been tested and combinations of these toxins can be carried back to the home environment through clothing and even your vehicle. We must also look at the physical conditions in the workplace, issues such as temperature and even noise can affect people.

It is universally accepted that every citizen has the right to safe work and work environment according to UN, WHO and ILO, yet when we measure this idoelogy agaisnt the objectives of health and safety it is very clear that Cdn Workers are not enjoying good health.

The push in recent years by the corporations to boost efficiency and competitiveness, to increase profits has also led to a number of things we need to look at. With layoffs, privatization, and contracting out, work has become harder which has led to a new wave of job stress, overwork and repetitive strains.

When we look at fatality rates in the workplace in Canada vs other contries, our stats are quite atrocious. 68,000 Canadians die from Cancer each year but only 10 percent of these deaths are allocted to the workplace, which most likely these stats are understated.

For young people entering the job market, that best thing they can do, is to become informed about the rights under OH & S which are

the right to know, the right to participate, the right to refuse unsafe work

Mgmt perspective is that the employers should take every reasonable precaution but the political economy, mgmt first priority is PROFIT. The current model of behavior based safety programs focus in on the individual workers behavior as the cause and does not put any focus on the workplace environment or the power structures within an organization. Some employers view OH & S as an intrusion into the area of mgmt rights.

Comment edited by grassroots are the way forward on 2010-03-02 10:32:09