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Workers Speak Up in Defence of the Working Conditions They Require Marc Robitaille, USW Local 9291 Prevention Representative, Westwood Mine in AbitibiAt the mine, we work to prevent workplace accidents and ensure worker safety. We started working in the mining sector again just over a week ago, after being forced to shut down at the end of March. A lot of workers are worried, there is a lot of concern and that is normal. No one wants to take this virus home. My role is to make sure that the company has put measures in place that are based on the health regulations required by Public Health. We are working for the good of everyone. Regular mine workers, contract workers, all have the right to a safe work environment. Even though as a prevention representative I do not represent the managers, what we are doing is also beneficial for them. As soon as someone enters the site, we have to make sure that everything is safe. We don't want anyone to get hurt or sick.
In our case, physical distancing is our first problem at the moment. Even before we were in confinement [due to the pandemic], we had already been dealing with this problem. The employer had begun to implement measures but they were not clear at first. The physical distance was one to two metres, and programs were put in place to respect a one metre distance. A mine is vast. There are bottlenecks; in the morning everyone meets in the same place to get their work orders for the day, there are changing rooms, there's the cage that takes us underground. Workers were worried about being very close to each other in those places. Initially, the employer did not want to put measures in place that were consistent with the Public Health guidelines. But with containment, there were very clear directives from Public Health, that if you want to reopen the business you have to take this and that measure. So the measures were put in place. There is also an educational aspect, because there are changes required to work procedures and behaviour. More and more, when workers pass each other, it is becoming instinctive to do so with the two-metre separation without having to pull out a measuring tape to determine if you are within the two metre distance. That is what we are going through right now on a daily basis. Hand cleaning is very important. When you enter the site, you have to wash your hands and your temperature is taken. There are cleaning stations all over the place. Workers must clean their machines and controls before starting their shift. Same thing at the end of a shift. As for the cages to go underground , we have halved the number of people who use the cage at one time. This means changes in the schedule. It's a reality we are having to adapt to in our workplace and in society. We must continue to insist that work be done safely and not hesitate to use health and safety resources. The mining sector is a priority sector under the Act respecting occupational health and safety and it is a legal obligation of the employer to have a prevention representative in the mines. Workers must not hesitate to use union representatives to help them with health and safety issues. When we are in a unionized environment, we must use our resources. Where workers do not have a union, their rights as workers must also be asserted. The Act respecting occupational health and safety applies to everyone, and that is a minimum standard. With COVID-19, we are becoming aware that our health is important and we are taking care of ourselves, protecting ourselves. So, let us also protect ourselves at work. Let's keep that in mind. We must always ask ourselves: is it dangerous to do the work I'm doing? We must not hesitate to ask and seek a safe solution if there is a problem.
This article was published in   Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |
When
you're a prevention representative, you have to
focus exclusively on
workers' health and safety. You have to ask
yourself if the measure that
is in place, if the practice that is being used,
poses a danger to
someone. If there is a danger, you have to find
a solution. We are not
talking about dollar signs. We are talking about
health and
safety. We are talking about putting the means
in place to ensure that
workers work safely. When we take part in
regulatory review committees
our watchword is health and safety, while for
the employer it is always "Safety, yes, but how
much does it cost?" We do not care how much it
costs. The issue is to eliminate the danger to
workers.