"AUGUST — SEPTEMBER, 1978

“roles of ee

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

£

Dr. Jeanne Stellman, Chief
of the Division of Occupational
_ Health and Toxicology, Ameri-
ae Health Foundation, was
) brought to B.C. by the joint
- efforts of the B.C. Federation
Labour and Canadian

_ Labour Congress.

' Dr. Stellman who is the
~ author of two books ‘‘Work Is
ngerous To Your Health’’,
d‘‘Women’s Work, Women’s
alth’’ was invited to parti-
te in a month-long speak-
g tour for the purpose of ac-
quainting unions throughout
_ the province with the serious

problems of occupational
Ith hazards and to recom-
mend some approaches toward
solution.

Editor’s note:

The following is the address
_ On safety given by NDP Leader
_ Ed Broadbent to the CLC Con-
ference on Occupational
Health and Safety held
recently in Vancouver.

I want to discuss some steps
‘that should be taken at the
” federal level to reduce the

'mumber of accidents and

deaths suffered as a result of
working conditions. But before
doing so, a comment on the
general picture is appropriate.

First, a recent study by Pro-
fessor Paul Rohan of McGill
University shows 10,353 deaths
and 8.8 million injuries re-
' sulted from conditions in the
_ Workplace during the last ten
"years. Only heart disease and
cancer killed more people.

' (Tlearned yesterday in Kiti-
' Mat that there were eight
deaths in the past 18 months at
e Eurocan pulp mill there.)

Second, in 1974, 11.5 million
lays of work were lost as a re-
Sult of accidents at work.

Third, it is currently costing
MS $1.5 billion annually in
Worker’s Compensation pay-
ents plus an additional $2.5
ion in lost production and
revenues as a result of ab-
ence from work due to in-
tries on the job and sickness
esulting from work itself.

The conclusion? Both in

man and economic terms,
‘governments must come to
‘grips with the serious problem
_ Of health and industrial safety.
Neither our workers nor our
economy can tolerate the con-

uation of this waste.

‘onsider the straightforward
oblem of the use of toxic sub-
‘Slances. They are brought into

he workplace without being
sted for their effects .on
alth and without proper

a Y

th 600,000 chemicals in
ily use at the workplace,
re are no general standards
Yor thousands of these chemi-
tals. In particular cases where

@ standards have been set,
‘re is a reluctance on the

overnment to enforce
There are not enough

mmment inspectors and

Dr. Stellman spent several
days with the I.W.A. touring
Hammond Cedar, Haney;
Canfor Plywood and Hard-

board, New Westminster and .

meeting with various Safety
Councils. On August 25 she met
with the Regional Safety Coun-
cil Officers and Local Union
Safety Directors to learn of the
Occupational Health Problems
unique to the woodworking in-
dustry and to offer advice on
possible approaches to a
solution.

The meetings and tours held
throughout B.C. were well re-
ceived by the many delegates
who participated and the
I.W.A. particularly appre-
ciated Dr. Stellman’s interest
and expertise. ;

” BROADBENT CALLS FOR
BILL TO PROTECT WORKERS

those that are there have little
formal training.
As a result:

e Uranium miners are
three times more likely to die
of lung cancer than the general
population;

@ The accident rate for
longshoremen is four times the
average for all industries un-
der federal jurisdiction;

e Workers in the grain in-
dustry suffer high incidence of
respiratory diseases. It has
been estimated that fully 30
percent of the non-smokers
who work in. the industry
develop respiratory diseases;
and

e Smelter workers with
medium exposure to arsenic
have a death rate from lung
cancer five times the national

average.

All these workers — uranium
miners, longshoremen, grain-
workers, smelter workers —
fall under federal jurisdiction.

With all the current talk of
constitutions and bill of rights,
I would like to suggest Cana-
dians should also be thinking,
talking and acting on estab-
lishing a bill of rights for the
workplace.

"JT would begin with these
three basic rights:

1. All workers must have the
right to participate in their own
health and safety programs.

2. All workers must have the
right to know, what dangers
surround them at work and
what can be done about those
dangers. :

3. All workers must have the
right to refuse to work under
conditions which they deem to
be dangerous.

These rights do not exist
under federal legislation — and
they should.

During the most recent ses-
sion of parliament, I intro-
duced three Private Members
Bills in the House of Commons
establishing the legislation to
provide these rights.

It is time we in Canada put
an end to the cruel philosophy
that men and women, young
and old, have to be exposed to
health and safety hazards in
the workplace.

Z a 2
ae Dex bt: YY

a

REGIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL officials pose for their picture with Dr. Jeanne Stellman,

head of the Divison of Occupational Health and Toxicology of the American Health Foun-
dation, who met with the group to discuss safety conditions in the forest industry. Front row
left, Gordon Claypool Dr. Stellman, Verna Ledger, John Neilson. Back row left, Jack
Kerssens, John Paluck, Bruce Elphinstone, Henry Nedergard, Tom McCrae, Ross Davis,
Ted MacDonald, George Robertson, Karl Lidberg.

|

{
{
\
|
i}

SAFETY DIRECTOR CHARGES

| SAFETY ONE SIDED BATTLE |

zs al

By VERNA LEDGER,
Safety & Health Director

Forty-three | woodworkers
have been ‘‘assassinated”’ by
their occupations in the first
eight months of 1978. Thirty-
two of these deaths took place
in the logging section of the in-
dustry. To use the word ‘“‘as-
sassinate”’ in association with
woodworkers’ deaths may ap-
pear to be sensationalism, but
Webster defines ‘‘assassina-
tion”’ as ‘‘to kill suddenly and
unexpectedly.’’ What other
way then, can we describe the
tragic, useless taking of lives
which occurs in the forest in-
dustry.

At the IWA Regional Con-
vention held in 1949, it was re-
ported that 98 woodworkers
had been senselessly killed
during the previous year, so in
fact in 30 years we have only
reduced the toll by approxi-
mately one half. To be sure,
there has been progress, and
the IWA can be justly proud of
its determined, prolonged
battle to improve safe working
conditions.

But generally it has been a
one-sided battle, the co-opera-
tion from employers and
governments has been some-
thing less than spectacular.

The __ philosophy that
statistics like those mentioned
are inevitable in an industry
rated as hazardous as the
forest industry is not accept-
able nor even believable.
Methods exist for correcting
90% of the unsafe conditions,
and other contributing factors
such as lack of training and
work-environment induced
Stress could’ be virtually
eliminated as well. However
the solutions demand that gov-
ernment and industry provide
workers with their rightful
protection. :

Workers must be trained,
educated and allowed to
participate in diagnosing their
places and processes of work.
We must have the right to
participate, the right to refuse
and the right to know. Workers
must have the legislative right
of.self defense.

In the whole direction of
Safety in the work place across
North America, the IWA has
been a leader, the require-
ments now are to provide
leadership in the area of occu-
pational health as well. We
have to know how dangerous
our work is to our health.

We can count the numbers of
tragic unexpected deaths,
these are recorded. But what
about the subtle killers and
destroyers of health which take
months or years to appear,
these we can only suspect and
talk about in general terms,
because there are no accurate
figures. How many of our
members, do we know, who
have not lived to collect their
pensions, or who have died
after only a few months of re-
tirement? How many mem-
bers can we remember who
have been forced to leave the
industry because ill-health
prevented them from con-
tinuing. Maybe the deaths
were attributed to heart
disease, or emphysema, the ill-
nesses to chronic bronchitis,
asthma or skin ailments so we
never associated them with our
occupations.

Now we know cedar dust can
be the cause of serious re-
spiratory diseases in some
workers but what of so-called
“nuisance dusts” there is clear
evidence that all dusts contri-
bute fo occupational disease.

We know that certain noise
levels produce deafness, but

research is underway which ™

indicates noise contributes as
well to increased stress, in-
creased blood pressure, in-
creased pulse rate, disturb-
ance of nervous system and
metabolism ‘and eventually
heart attack.

’ Research has proven vibra-
tion of hand held tools contri-
butes to “white finger’’ but
evidence exists that whole
body vibration: can cause
specific damage to bones and
joints resulting in arthritic and
low back pain.

The list is endless, wood pre- -
servatives, smoke fumes, paint
sprays and dyes, heat, cold,
chemical herbicides are only a
few of the suspected health
hazards woodworkers are ex-
posed to.

Workers have become newly
alerted by publicity on health
hazards in the workplace, and
have become ‘concerned about
harmful substances and the
possibility that the work they
are doing may result in per-
manent damage to their health
or even death.

Suddenly occupational -
health has become a priority
with the rank-in-file member.
It is obvious wages do not
mean everything these days,
we know pay raises gained
today will be eaten up by infla-
tion in a few short months.

Our concerns are therefore
developing in the area of more
leisure time, early retirement
and the health to enjoy both,

We are essentially dealing
with an undeveloped science
when it comes to occupational
health. Even the medical.
practitioner is not equipped
with the expertise in this field.
The need is critical for doctors
trained in industrial disease,
who will listen to the voice of
labour, and learn to know and
understand the work process,