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° While visiting the centre, IWA-CANADA’s Local 1-830 President Jack Alexander tests his lungs out on a spirometer
while occupational health nurse Diane Gagnon looks on.

Workers’ occupational health centre
-aresult of labour’s long commitment

ven though the Manitoba
Federation of Labour has only
about 77,000 members across
the province, it has become a
major driving force for the pro-
tection of workers’ occupational
health and safety. In recent years, one
of the major achievements of the
province’s labour movement, has
been the successful operation of the
Manitoba Federation of Labour’s
Occupational Health Centre.

The Centre, located in the prov-
ince’s capital of Winnipeg, has earned
a reputation as a valuable service for
the public, workers, employers, health
care professionals, and government
agencies in the betterment of health
and safe workplaces. (See box -
Occupational Health Centre’s Goals.)

For IWA-CANADA members and
other affiliates of the MFL, the
Centre’s successful operations repre-
sents years of collective struggle to
obtain better services for working
people across a wide range of indus-
tries and occupations.

Each year in the province of
Manitoba on average over 30 workers
are killed on the job while thousands
of others are affected by workplace
related injuries and illnesses.

Workers in Manitoba have-struggled
to get a grip on this tragic situation.

The MFL began to raise money for a
labour operated Centre in 1981 and
sought public funding from the then
NDP government. By 1983 the Mani-
toba Health Services Commission
committed funding to open up a
Centre in its own building. Today the

organization known officially as the
Manitoba Federation of Labour
Occupational Health and Safety
Centre Inc., operates as a non-share,
non-profit company under the
province's Corporation Act.

It is funded by the government, pri-
vate donations, and grants. This past
year the Manitoba government funded

it to the tune of $468,000 while vari-
ous affiliates from the labour move-
ment, employers and individuals
chipped in nearly $30,000 for special
projects (i.e. newsletter publication,
increasing its library collection, and
purchasing additional equipment).

The Centre is completely controlled
by affiliates of the MFL. It has an 18
member Board of Directors and ten
member Advisory Council which for-
mulates policy on overall activities.

The Centre’s Executive Director
Judy Cook says that labour has and
must continue to play a key role in the
delivery of health and safety services.

“If we want to make a concentrated
effort and an effective effort at tack-
ling the problems of occupational
health and safety, we need educated
workers and resources that you can
call on,” Ms. Cook said in an interview
with the Lumberworker.” “That has
got to be through worker controlled
health clinics.”

Basically the Centre offers services
to workers in four areas: medical ser-
vices, group services, resource ser-
vices, and educational services.

In the area of medical services the
Centre received (during 1990 - 91) 229
patients and 117 return visit patients.

The majority of the patients visiting
the Centre are referred there after
seeking health care from gther profes-
sionals. The patients are referred for
different reasons. They may want to
know if their injury or illness is work
related or may want to get a review of
aclaim evaluation done by the W.C.B.

Physicians at the Centre spend a
great deal of time interviewing
patients and do extensive research in
assessing problems.

In addition physicians do group
projects to assist adverse health
effects experiencing by people in the
same workplace. To study the group a
physician, an occupational health
nurse, and an industrial hygienist may

work together to find answers.

During the last fiscal year the
Centre worked with 20 group of work-
ers representing over 3,400 people, to
prevent occupational injuries and ill-
ness and to prevent workplace acci-
dents.

The Centre’s experts met with
workers, management, and their joint
occupational health and safety com-
mittee to set up worksite inspections,
occupational hygiene surveys, and
formulate health questionnaires and
individual patient evaluations. After
that an assessment and action plan is
put into place which involves the par-
ticipation of a workplace group. A

prescription for cl fe may in
written recommendations fo:
change in the worker's enviro1
educational sessions for the group
and advice to individual

The Centre has an excellent
resource facility which was opened in
honour of Dick Martin, the current
Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian
Labour Congress, who is a former
president of the Manitoba Federation
of Labour.

Manitobans from all walks of life
frequent the Resource Centre in
search of answers to unsafe work
conditions and to find out about
health and safety standards. In the
past fiscal year the Centre responded
to 253 information requests in writing
and by phone. The responses to these
requests (the largest numbers con-
cerned chemical hazards and work-
place ergonomics) were in writing
and/or with printed materials devel-
oped by the Centre.

In addition to chemical hazards and
ergonomics, frequent information
requests included indoor air quality,
health and safety program develop-
ment (i.e. WHMIS), Workers Com-
pensation, legislation, VDT's, personal
protection, non-iodizing radiation,
electric monitoring, noise, safety pro-
cedures, medical surveillance, biologi-
cal agents, shiftwork, workplace vio-
lence, and reproductive health.

The Resource Centre received 224
visitors in the last fiscal year to use its
books, journals, periodicals, and com-
puter information from the Canadian
Centre of Occupational Health and
Safety. Although the majority of the
visit were from workers, health care
professionals, organizations, and stu-
dents often use the resource services.

In its ongoing effort to educate and
train groups on workplace health and
safety, the Centre has held numerous
teaching and facilitating workshops.
In 1990 - 91, the Centre held 45 ses-
sions involving over 1,800 participants
in groups as diverse as IWA-CANADA,
the Manitoba Lung Association, the
Department of Veteran Affairs, and
the University of Manitoba School of

Nursing.

As is evidenced by the broad partic-
ipation of group and individuals, the
Centre provides a valuable service for
Manitobans from all walks of life.

Before the Centre began its opera-
tion many individuals and groups
didn’t know where to turn to for assis-
tance on health and safety issues.
Fortunately because of the persis-
tence of affiliates of the Manitoba
Federation of Labour, the Centre has
been maintained and performs not
only a service to union members but.
also to the public at large.

e Executive Director Judy Cook says
workers need education and

resources.

@/LUMBERWORKER/OCTOBER, 1992