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Go back 125 years ago in Canada’s labour history and
you’ll find it was a very different country. If a
worker was the victim of an accident on the job, there
was usually little or no support even if the accident
prevented the worker from ever working again.
At that
time, a major industry in Canada was coal and
asbestos mining. Many workers worked in cold, dark and
dangerous conditions. Machines used to increase
efficiency became bigger and more dangerous. Yet, there
were little or no efforts made to improve worker safety.
Remember the Candle Trick?
Methane
gas in mines was a well known danger as it could kill
large numbers of workers if there was a spark or flame
in the area. Miners took it upon themselves to find
their own preventative safety measures. Before all the
miners would go down into the mine, they would send a
couple of guys down with a candle on a long stick.
Searching for the most likely place for
methane gas to collect, they would light the candle and
hold it as far away as possible from themselves. In the
best cases, any small amounts of methane gas would just
burn off and the rest of the miners could come down to
work. On a bad day, however, the methane gas
concentration would be high and the lit candle would
ignite the methane, causing a major explosion.
CP
Rail Brought Thousands of Deaths
One significant addition to Canada was the building of
Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880’s. Its initial
construction, however, came at a great cost. Over
15,000 Chinese workers were imported to work on the
project. Workers were paid approximately $1.50 per day
to work in seriously adverse conditions. Thousands of
the immigrants died as they were asked to do the more
dangerous tasks such as working with explosives. The
families of the Chinese who were killed received no
compensation, or even notification of their death.
First
Worker’s Compensation Law
No real
significant changes were made to ensure the safety of
workers at the workplace until more than 30 years
later. If a worker was injured on the job and wanted
compensation, their only real option was to sue the
employer. But that process took a long time and high
legal fees which many could not afford. It was
extremely easy for big companies with deep pockets to
dance their way around any responsibility.
It wasn’t until 1914 that Canada adopted its first
modern workers’ compensation law. William Meredith
(Ontario’s chief justice at the time) introduced a model
that, among other principles, included a no-fault system
which meant that a worker would be compensated for an
injury whether it was his fault, the fault of the
employer or the fault of a co-worker. The system was
also independently administered to ensure unbiased
results and a worker was compensated regardless of the
company’s financial status. Meredith’s model would
change the face of labour legislation across Canada.
Although systems have evolved since then, many modern
worker’s compensation laws still echo the same
principals that Meredith set out nearly 100 year ago.
Increase in Cancers
By the 1980’s, Canada was seeing a large increase in the
amount of people developing cancer and other life
threatening diseases. Many were people that had worked
in mines and were exposed to high levels of asbestos but
it took 20 or 30 years for the diseases to develop. The
government eventually responded by implementing WHMIS
which became the law in 1988 and essentially gave
Canadian workers the “Right to Know” (what they are
working with) and the “Right to Refuse” (to work in
unsafe conditions). Since the implementation of WHMIS,
there has been a steady decline in Lost-Time Injuries (LTI)
throughout Canada per year.
These
days, many industries are paying more attention to
safety. Some because they want to, and some because
they are forced to by governing bodies. It’s not
uncommon to see construction workers turned away from a
day of work because they cannot prove they’ve had recent
WHMIS training. Companies are becoming more and more
aware that injuries on the job cost time and money.
Lost
Time Injuries are Decreasing
In 2002, there were approximately 360,000 “Lost-Time
Injuries” to Canadian workers. Fortunately, for many
reasons, the numbers are declining. The LTIs to Canadian
workers are declining by approximately 3% each year.
Canada’s workplaces are becoming safer.
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Lost Time Injuries in Canada showing decreases since
the implementation of WHMIS |
In
Ontario, the government is being even more proactive.
Through various initiatives, the goal is to reduce the
2004 LTI by 20% by 2008. In 2004, there were
approximately 100,000 “Lost-Time Injuries” in Ontario.
Over the past two years, there have been nearly 15,000
fewer LTIs to Ontario workers than there otherwise would
have been. Ultimately, if we continue at the current
rate of reduction, we’ll achieve a whopping 30% fewer
LTIs.
And so
it would seem that we’ve come a long way in the last 125
years. Although we live in a heavily regulated society
where, every time you turn around, there seems to be
some law or regulation that makes your life more
difficult, most are there for good reasons. And what
better reason is there than the safety of you and your
co-workers? One thing that we’ve learned over the years
is that, to achieve maximum safety in Canadian
workplaces, all parties including, government, employers
and employees need to play their part.
Gone
are the days where an accident at the workplace resulted
in no support from either the government or your
employer. Any responsible company in Canada is
generally going by the rules and is required by law to
make the safety of their employees a priority. As a
Canadian worker, Federal and Provincial laws make it
mandatory for information about chemicals or controlled
products at the workplace to be at your fingertips.
Workers can find important information on products that
are only even ‘suspected’ to be harmful.
How
Does Canada Compare?
That
being said, how does Canada compare to the rest of the
world? The Canadian Center for the Study of Living
Standards conducted a study in 2004 in the rich nations
throughout the world. Canada’s rate of workplace
fatalities (7 per 100,000) tied for the top spot as the
worst. Furthermore, Canada’s record for reducing
workplace fatalities over the last 20 years was also the
worst.
In the
future, while health & safety becomes a larger mandate
for businesses across Canada, there will be many
challenges. Stress and its effect on health will be a
huge challenge for the Canadian economy. Unfortunately,
many provincial workers’ compensation boards seem
reluctant to justify compensation to sufferers of health
problems that stem from stressful workplaces.
Recent
studies show that the number of cancer diagnoses in
Canada is on the rise. Predictions show that
38% of Canadian women and 44%
of Canadian men will develop cancer during their
lifetimes. While there is more information available
now for reducing the risks of developing cancer, we are
still learning.
Safety
regulations in Canada will need to evolve to adapt to
and accommodate new circumstances, most of which we
cannot even begin to predict. If you think we are a
heavily regulated society today, can you imagine what
we'll be like in another 125 years?
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