SAFETY

WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

CO-ORDINATION

By JOE MORRIS

Chairman, CLC Standing Committee on Safety and Occupational Health

Labour’s job is never done. This advice applies with special
emphasis in the field of accident prevention and occupational health.
Our industrial environment has not been made safe for workers.

Organized labour’s task in this respect has not been completed.

Much remains to be done.

This situation is not peculiar to
Canada. Because Canadian industry
tends to accept American practices,
the attitude expressed at the recent
AFL-CIO convention was revealing.
The safety problems which confront
American unions are even more
acute than in this country. As a
matter of fact, labour’s campaign
for safety standards is international
in scope.

The comparable experience of
American trade unions was described
in the Executive Council's report on
safety to the AFL-CIO convention.
The report stated:

It would not be accurate to claim
that conditions in Canada parallel
those found in the United States in
all respects. The Standing Committee
on Safety and Occupational Health
of the Canadian Labour Congress
has found that many Canadian affili-
ates have vigorously undertaken par-
ticipation in safety programs. Re-
ports indicate that a high percentage
of collective agreements contain
safety clauses. There is a growing
disposition to accept the fact that
trade unions must seek safe working
conditions as a prime objective.

Nevertheless, the AFL-CIO report
touches the heart of the problem
facing Canadian unions. Labour-
management relations in all sectors
of industry must be so revamped as
to give full scope to joint labour-
management participation in the
maintenance of safe working condi-
tions. Continued education in the

"Committee

The Standing Committee on Safety
and Occupational Health of the
Canadian Labour Congress was es-
tablished to assist in the co-ordina-
tion of the safety programs spon-
sored by affiliates. It does not func-
tion to direct any special approach
to problems found in the various in-
dustries. Affiliated unions have
shown a genuine desire to pool their
experience for the common advan-
tage. They advise on problems that
must be dealt with at the national
level. The Congress is prepared to
place the full weight of its resources
behind an agreed-upon national pro-
gram that will stimulate interest in
safety procedures. The Committee
is a clearing-house for ideas which,
when woven together, may point the
way to an easier solution for the
most perplexing problems.

Labour’s role is mainly one of
education, Occupational health and
safety are primarily the responsibil-
ity of management and government.
It is the function of management to
provide safe working conditions, It
is the function of government to pre-
scribe and enforce proper standards
which will promote occupational
health and safety. It is the function
of the trade union to seek such
measures, through collective agree-
ment, legislation, and otherwise,
which will enable the preservation

the

“Despite a half-century of organ-
ized effort by public and private or-
ganizations in the United States to
promote occupational health and
safety, the American trade union
movement is not satisfied with the
results. To be sure there have been
significant advances, but they have
not come steadily. Instead ‘progress
through tragedy’ remains the best
summarization of the development
in this area.

“The time has come for persistent,
positive action. For altogether too
long so-called problems have gone
unresolved while new occupational

Heart Of The

correct trade union approach to the
problem is a paramount need. Those
who accept accidents as an inevi-
table consequence of industrial
operations need to be persuaded
otherwise. Labour’s job in this field
will never be done, but labour can
immediately take a saner path than
“progress through tragedy”.

Certain recommendations of the
Royal Commission on Industrial
Safety in Ontario released in 1961
furnish a timely warning to Cana-
dian industry. Safety cannot be suc-
cessfully promoted solely by employ-
er organizations. The Commission
found that many existing safety edu-
cational programs “are not reaching
the man on the job”. In many im-
portant respects the Commission up-
held the basic principles of a safety
program recommended by the Stand-
ing Committee of the Canadian
Labour Congress. The report indi-

Clearing - House

Legislation is required and will
be urged upon the governments con-
cerned. Legislation which provides
for adequate enforcement of safety
regulations throughout Canadian in-
dustry is of great importance. Never-
theless, it would be unwise to rely
solely on legislation to remedy the
situation. Experience has shown that
the strictest enforcement of regula-
tions regarding safety is only a par-
tial answer to the question, “How do
we make this industry a safe place in
which to work?” Preventing accidents
is not a simple matter.

So many variables affect the acci-
dent rates that many considerations
enter into proposals for remedial
action. Prevention does not lie pri-
marily in devising more and more
safety devices and regulations, but in
improving the opportunities for

"Labour's Role Mainly One Of Education”

as being separate from those of a
Plant Committee or Grievance Com-
mittee. It should be able to act dur-
ing working hours, and be given
powers of investigation and recom-
mendation. Through the medium of
the job safety committee, all safety
measures should be promoted with
full and democratic co-operation.
The accident records of Canadian
industry provide trade unionists with
every incesitive for the promotion of
an accident prevention program on
a national scale. Each year more
than 1200 workers die as a result of
industrial accidents. [he fatality rate
among industrial workers is reported
to be 2.8 per 10,000 workers each
year. More than one half million
persons suffer crippling injury an-
nually, The cost of needless acci-

diseases and hazards have steadily
multiplied. The time has come for
labour, management and government
to face realities and act in concert.”

A survey made of collective bar-
gaining agreements in the United
States revealed that roughly only
40% contained clauses providing for
labour-management participation in
plant safety programs. Approximate-
ly fifteen per cent of the clauses pro-
vided -for joint and equal participa-
tion by labour and management in
safety programs. Ninety-seven per
cent stated that safety matters were
subject to grievance machinery.

As a result of this experience, the
AFL-CIO Standing Committee on

Safety and Occupational Health is
actively promoting national confer-
ences on new problems, and Safety
Training Institutes for members of
affiliated unions

Problem”

cates that management’s attempt to
control a safety program in disre-
gard of labour’s interest has had un-
satisfactory results in important
areas of industrial activity.

The Ontario Federation of Labour
has been quite active in this field,
and we may expect them to take
full advantage of the recent Royal
Commission report, without gratui-
tous advice from outside. At the
same time we may well speculate on
the probable results of a similar en-
quiry in each of the other Canadian
provinces. It would no doubt be
found that progress has not been uni-
form, and that an extended educa-
tional effort is required. This does
not necessarily reflect on the trade
union movement. Rapidly changing
circumstances demand _ constantly
changing methods. Persistent endeav-
our at all levels of trade union or-
ganization can never cease.

For Ideas”

workers to acquire the knowledge,
skills, attitudes and habits to func-
tion at the optimum level to escape
needless hazards.

The essential points of agreement
were stressed by the National Com-
mittee in its 1eport to the Executive
Council of the Canadian Labour
Congress. It is hoped that these will
gain full consideration at the local
union level.

We believe that the establishment
and maintenance of safe working
conditions requires the full and vol-
untary co-operation of all who work
in or supervise any industrial opera-
tion. This should involve the least

possible degree of compulsion and
the greatest degree of education.

Safe working habits should become
instinctive.

dents is too high. The promotion of
safety has become a major trade
union function. Workers know best
the causes of accidents, and the way
in which accident hazards may be
eliminated.

The neglect of safety weakens the

country by squandering the human
and material resources that form its
economic base. The tragedies that
follow in the wake of accidents are

well known to all trade union mem-
bers.

Technology continues to advance.
Trade union safety education must
help us to utilize effectively and

safely the new forces at our dis-

posal and thus enjoy the full oppor-
tunities for a richer life that these
forces represent.

Getting In Step

Sweden may adopt the practice of driving on the right side of the road.

_ Big argument for the change is the large number of accidents involving
__ foreigners—more than 300 in 1959. Arguments against the change include
‘cost—an estimated $60 million to move traffic signs and lights, to seal the
buses and streetcars and to cut new doors Sweden is the only

REGIONAL PRESIDENT JOE MORRIS

YOURBACK
IS NOT A DERRICK

LEGS ARE
DESIGNED
FOR LIFTING

Stand close to the load

Take a secure grip

Keep the back upright

Take a steady lift — don’t jerk
Have a firm footing

Bend the knees

Lift with the legs

Shift the feet to turn — don’t twist the body

WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION BOARD
British Columbia