As labour activists, perhaps our most important work revolves around workplace safety. Each year, far too many workers succumb to fatal injuries or occupational diseases.
Unfortunately for many Albertan families, 2013 was a disastrous year for workplace fatalities. According to the Calgary Herald, occupational diseases nearly doubled, accounting for the dramatic increase.
Alberta’s booming industries come with a heavy share of health hazards: 99 workers lost their lives in 2013 due to lung diseases. For coal workers, black lung disease is a common culprit. Other workers who are exposed to asbestos run a great risk of developing asbesotis and mesothelioma.
But you don’t have to work in a coal mine to come into contact with hazardous materials.
“Our members still work in government buildings that have elements of asbestos,” explained Regional Vice-President Kevin King. “There’s a ban in Saskatchewan, but they still exist in federal buildings in Alberta.”
And of course, many of our members work outdoors, in national parks and historic sites across the country. King says outdoor elements bring their own hazards into the mix.
“Inside national parks, we have issues with how trees are felled. We also have issues with respect to the operation of chainsaws and other equipment.”
Given how badly Parks Canada was hit during the 2012 cuts, King is worried about how a lack of resources could affect the basic maintenance of potentially dangerous equipment.
“We’re still expected to serve members of the public, but by and large, it’s questionable whether there’s enough time to perform maintenance on these things.”
The recent changes to the Canada Labour Code are also top of mind for the union leader. As you may recall, Bill C-4 robbed health and safety inspectors of their enforcement powers and handed them over to the minister of labour.
The government maintains that health and safety officers will continue to enforce the Canada Labour Code.
“There’s no enforcement until there’s an incident,” explained King.
“It seems to me that it’s changed. And we’ve gone backwards a generation or two.