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New health and safety rights for federal employees

December 2, 2020

As of January 1, 2021, the new Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations will come into force for all workers in the federal sector. These new regulations will help better prevent and actively address harassment and violence in the workplace.   

The regulations outline the essential elements of a workplace harassment and violence prevention policy, as well as the procedures that must be in place to respond to incidents of harassment and violence when they do occur. This includes: 

  • timeframes for resolutions to better support the complainant and respondent;  
  • confidentiality of all parties involved, including witnesses, throughout the investigation;  
  • protection for employees victimized by a third party (for example, an employee harassed by a client);  
  • qualifications of a competent person to investigate and provide recommendations;  
  • employer obligations to implement corrective measures in response to the investigation report of a competent person;  
  • a clear outline of existing and new roles of the joint health and safety committee; and  
  • support to be provided for employees who have experienced workplace harassment and violence. 

With those new regulations, employers are encouraged to take a more proactive approach to prevent and resolve incidents of workplace harassment and violence. They are also required to conduct workplace assessments to preemptively identify risks and incorporate the results of these assessments into their human resource policies, procedures, and training. 

“These new workplace harassment and violence prevention regulations have been long overdue,”  said PSAC National President, Chris Aylward. “We welcome them and believe they will help provide much greater protection for workers.” 

For more detailed information on the new regulations, go to: psacunion.ca/HarassmentViolenceRoadmap  

Source: New health and safety rights for federal employees | Public Service Alliance of Canada (psacunion.ca)

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TLDC Campaign

Victory Checklist

  1. Bat Monitoring Program
  2. Workers moved to a Safe Space from 10 Wellington
  3. Water Testing being performed
  4. Installing filtered Water Fountains for Safe Drinking Water
  5. Committee with all Building’s Management and Unions
  6. Some Reporting on Repairs and Safety Upgrades Maintenance to Union

Things we still want

  • Improved Communication to Workplace OSH committees, including Union and Labour Reps
  • Access to the Maintenance Portal (CentralCollab) for up-to-date Information on Work being completed
  • Follow up from the Issues indicated by the Labour Affairs Officer’s Inspection (September 2018)
  • Full Implementation of Bat Monitoring Program
  • Publicizing Air Quality Testing
  • Building Condition Report and Building Capacity Assessment

The fight is not over!

Stay tuned and sign up for updates: http://psac-ncr.com/healthy-workplace-terrasses-de-chaudiere

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PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 13, 2020

In light of recent media reports that have highlighted the on-going Health and Safety (OHS) issues at the Les Terrasses de la Chaudière complex, the Union of National Employees (UNE) was contacted and has now met with senior leadership within Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC).

UNE is optimistic that this meeting could represent a constructive reset on how we will be able to effectively address the on-going building issues.

UNE’s first priority is to ensure that all of our members and any other employees at the Les Terrasses complex are afforded a healthy and safe work environment.

We intend to report back in the weeks ahead on the concrete actions that will be taken, as we continue to work with PSPC and all the Departments within the Les Terrasses complex on these critical issues.

Yesterday’s meeting is the start of what we sincerely hope will be a more collaborative way forward, and we encourage all employees at Les Terrasses to please contact your union if you have any concerns, questions or information to share regarding your health and safety in the workplace.

UNE is especially grateful to the dedicated work of all OHS representatives and Local union leaders who have continued to work on behalf of all our members to keep their colleagues safe and healthy.

UNE is working with the Public Service Alliance of Canada-National Capital Region (PSAC-NCR) Regional Offices and PSAC components Government Services Union (GSU), Union of Safety and Justice Employees (USJE) and Agriculture Union (AGR) for a safe and healthy workplace at Les Terrasses de la Chaudière.

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For additional information please contact UNE Communications and Research Officer Aurélie McDonald at (613) 298-7892 or by email at aurelie.mcdonald@une-sen.org.

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One is too many: No one should die on the job

Who’s counting?

April 28 is the National Day of Mourning when we remember those who have lost their lives or suffered injury and illness because of their work.

Every day there are opportunities to prevent workplace injury and death, but we can’t do it without the data we need to drive our decision-making.

In Canada, we collect statistics on many things including the weather, but we fail to accurately record the number of individuals who have died as a result of their work. Because of this, we do not learn the lessons that would allow us to prevent future tragedies.

Apart from data compiled by Workers’ Compensation on workplace injuries and fatalities, no Canadian department or agency is actually counting occupational fatalities and injuries. The widely quoted 951 fatalities in the 2017 statistics (the most recent year available) from the Association of Workers’ Compensation Board of Canada (AWCBC) should not be used as the sole benchmark for work-related fatalities or injuries. The AWCBC figures only account for approved compensation claims, not the actual total of injuries and fatalities that occurred in any given year. Recent Canadian research demonstrates that work-related fatalities could be as much as 10 to 13 times higher than official data indicates.

This lack of reporting means thousands of injuries and deaths are missing from occupational health and safety statistics. These include workers exempt from coverage like the self-employed, banking employees, domestic workers, many farmers and agricultural workers, commuting fatalities, stress-induced suicides, unapproved occupational diseases, employees of private clubs, and temporary or undocumented workers.

In addition, in the federal sector, when a person dies due to a particular hazard, the compensation board does not provide the root cause analysis to employers. The Coroner does not give employers a notice of death, nor is the root cause of the injury or fatality necessarily considered in the required hazard prevention program – as though every fatality is “an accident.”

Let’s push to make 2019 the year that the government of Canada begins to accurately document and use evidence-based recording to prevent workplace injuries and save lives. One is too many – no one should die on the job.

Source: PSAC

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Recap of the 2018 UNE Occupational Health and Safety Conference

The UNE 2018 Occupational Health and Safety Conference was a huge success!

Delegates from coast to coast to coast gathered in the National Capital Region (NCR) from October 25-28 to learn about and discuss current health and safety issues. They had the opportunity to listen to insightful presentations by health and safety experts and had the chance to exchange and share their experiences by attending workshops and asking questions during the plenary sessions.

Mental health was at the heart of the Conference. Whether it was about awareness, psychosocial hazards, barriers, workplace programs, members of our Union family learned tools and strategies to tackle this issue, individually and as a Union team. Emotional exhaustion and burnout may still be taboo in some workplaces, but workers are becoming more vocal about it. Mental health is as important as physical health and employers, working in partnership with union representatives, ought to have mental health policies and support programs in place. The new legislation amending the Canada Labour Code (CLC) to address harassment and violence for federally regulated workers, also known as Bill C-65, was extensively discussed during the plenary sessions as well.

Mental Health and Wellness, Stress Management and New Member Integration Strategies, Knowing Your Rights and Responsibilities: The Canada Labour Code were some the topics of the workshops that took place on the second day of the Conference. Delegates also had the chance to attend a couple of mindful meditations sessions offered by UNE Regional Vice-President for Manitoba, Christopher Little-Gagné.

UNE National President Kevin King, who received the service award for long-term officers of the PSAC for 25 years of PSAC activism addressed the delegates and PSAC National President Chris Aylward delivered an inspiring speech reminding the audience of the importance of addressing mental health in the workplace.