They may require a union representative to give the employer a reasonable opportunity to solve the problem first, before going public. It's wiser to be careful if you want to have the last word. Judith McCormack is a former chair of the Ontario Labour Relations Board who practices labour law with Sack Goldblatt Mitchell. But it's only half of the solution. Employers and government also have an important role to play.
More pressure needs to be placed on employers to ensure healthy and safe working conditions.
And the government needs to become much more aggressive in finding and punishing employers who fail to observe minimum health standards. The safety alert was the latest component of a WCB campaign launched in the spring aimed at reducing injury rates. We'll only be able to reduce injury rates if we combine education efforts with higher health and safety standards, more aggressive inspections and stiffer fines and penalties. If the WCB is really concerned about reducing injury rates, they should support the implementation of measures that have worked in other jurisdictions. For example, in place like B.C. and Quebec businesses over a certain size are required to have a joint employee-management health and safety committees.