Interview
Workers' Forum: In your intervention at the rally you said that it's not the training of Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) employers are opposed to, but to the HSRs themselves. Can you explain?
Simon Lévesque: The biggest change that will come into effect on construction sites on January 1 is that there will be full- or part-time HSRs on the job on all construction sites. For 40 years the Act respecting occupational health and safety has provided for HSRs as one of its prevention mechanisms, however, that mechanism has not been enacted in the construction industry. Because we fought for HSRs, we succeeded in getting them on larger construction sites.
Health and safety representatives are chosen by the workers. Workers are able to identify hazardous situations on job sites, however there is a big problem in doing anything about them. The problem is that construction workers are not free to report these unsafe situations or even propose corrective action because they have no job security. Rather than addressing unsafe situations, employers tend to get rid of workers.
With the HSRs the situation is different. Employers can't kick out HSRs because they are performing their duties as specified by law. So, the work of the HSRs facilitates workers' ability to speak out.
Employers are trying hard to block the coming into force of the HSRs on January 1. They have asked the government for a one-year postponement. They say they're not ready, that the industry is not ready. But we're ready.
They're speaking to the media, using the pretext of HSR training to try to block the measure. They're using the fact that, by regulation, training developed by the Labour Standards, Pay Equity and Workplace Health and Safety Board (CNESST) for the prevention mechanisms is to start in 2024. However, the mechanisms themselves, including the one on the HSRs, are scheduled to come into effect on January 1, 2023. As for the HSRs who have been working for a dozen years on the larger work sites, those with 500 workers or more, we were the ones who trained them. We are going to continue to do the same thing for the other sites. We'll train them until the CNESST training starts in 2024. We'll comment on the training at that time and continue to prepare them ourselves after they've completed the mandatory CNESST program.
It's important to understand that without the HSRs, employers can control other mechanisms in place, such as worksite committees. For example, it's difficult to even follow up on what has been discussed by the worksite committees, with regard to necessary changes that have to be made, because we have no full-time person doing that work.
The work of the HSRs is central to ensuring that prevention takes place on construction worksites.
(Translated from the original French by TML.)
This article was published in
Volume 52 Number 62 - December 20, 2022
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmld2022/Articles/D520622.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca