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The Bill, introduced to the legislature for first reading on Thursday, March 3, appears to give the Minister sole discretion to de-fund, direct or dissolve the Board of the WHSC for any reason and without appeal. It also appears to give the Minister sole discretion to set training content requirements and approve training organizations.

For over 30 years the Workers Health & Safety Centre has been supported as an independent organization run by worker representatives. Using our unique worker-to-worker instruction system we have provided workers with the highest quality health and safety training anywhere. Through our network of worker instructors, the WHSC has delivered millions of hours of high-quality training to unions and employers in every corner of Ontario. Testimonials from worker and employer representatives prove the value that the WHSC instructors, free from political intervention, have brought to thousands of Ontario workplaces and tens of thousands of workers. The WHSC’s activities have been assisted through partnership grants from the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB). Bill 160 strips the WSIB of authority to support training organizations such as the WHSC.

Without an independent WHSC, Ontario workers will lose the only training organization that is solely accountable to them. Independence has given the WHSC the freedom to present and promote new ideas and press for new hazard-based approaches that help prevent injury, illness and death. WHSC instructors have been trusted to fully and fairly educate thousands of Ontario workers about their health and safety rights at work. If our interpretation is correct and indeed this Bill permits health and safety to become captive to Queen’s Park politicians, the WHSC and our instructors will lose the freedom to pursue the independent research and course development priorities that meet the needs of our constituency and which have been the hallmark of our quality.

The WHSC’s independence allows us to promote the ideas of workers who face the hazards and who are the victims of workplace injury and illness. With powers to de-fund, direct and dissolve the WHSC and control training curriculum, the Minister of Labour could require WHSC instructors to promote individual responsibility (a reinterpretation of the Internal Responsibility System), risk-based assessment methods, behavior-based safety systems or any other content that helps the government of the day, whether or not they support worker health and safety.

Bill 160 is expected to return to the Ontario legislation for second reading this Thursday, March 10 and then be referred to legislative committee for review.

We at the Workers Health & Safety Centre hope our interpretation of the Bill is wrong. But the stakes are too high to remain silent. The speed with which this legislation has been drafted and rolled out also gives pause for concern. It would seem far more prudent to slow down and have some legitimate consultation and input. In such a manner we might attain a comprehensive understanding of just what this Bill will mean if implemented. 

At this juncture though, and especially without the benefit of consultation, our read of the Bill is that it seems flawed and hazardous to the ability of the Workers Health & Safety Centre to fulfill its mandate to assist workers, through workers, with the best worker focused health and safety training possible.

Submitted by Dave Trumble

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Monday, March 21, 2011