Occupational Health & Safety - local70 - Ontario Nurses' Association

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therefore, offered less protection. Most importantly for ONA members, the sections dealing with violent and aggressive patients and patient lifting and handling were dropped altogether. This setback, however, does not prevent our members from pursuing these issues as safety concerns, nor from addressing related violations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. There are also regulations in place to control toxic substances in the workplace, the presence or use of which may endanger the health or safety of a worker. Regulation 833 controls exposure and sets limits in workplace air for approximately 600 specific biological and chemical agents. The other approach used by the Ministry of Labour has been to develop regulations specific to particular toxic substances. These substances are known as designated substances. Each designated substance regulation applies to a single agent or class of agents. The regulation contains provisions for an assessment of the likelihood of worker exposure in the workplace and a control program, which includes provisions for engineering controls, work practice, hygiene practices, air monitoring, record keeping and medical surveillance. Other pertinent legislative documents members may need to use occasionally are: • Ambulance Act. • Atomic Energy Control Act. • Building Code Act. • Environmental Protection Act. • Fire Marshals Act. • Fire Code – Hazardous Products Act. • Healing Arts Radiation Protection Act. • Health Protection and Promotion Act. • Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act. • Nursing Homes Act. • Workplace Safety and Insurance Act. • Ontario Human Rights Code. • Public Hospitals Act. • Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. • Criminal Code of Canada. Workers’ Rights Under the Act Right to Know Workers have a basic right under Section 25 of the Act to know exactly what hazards they are being exposed to at work. Generally, the employer and the Ministry of Labour must provide workers and their workplace representatives with information and instructions in addressing and improving workplace health and safety. - 8 - Specifically, all hazardous articles, devices, equipment and biological chemical and physical agents must be identified (Section 37 (1)) and workers must be instructed on how to use and handle them safely (Section 37 (3)). Regulations, such as the Health Care Regulation, Section 97, Anti-neoplastic Drugs, oblige supervisors to provide written instructions to workers in some cases. The Occupational Health and Safety Act and any explanatory material must be posted in the workplace, both in English and the majority language of the workplace (Section 25 (2) (i).) Workers are also entitled to copies of inspectors’ reports and orders (Section 57 (10)), air sampling results, an annual Workplace Safety and Insurance Board summary of deaths, injury and occupational illness in the workplace (Section 12), and any other reports concerning health and safety in that workplace (Section 9, 52, 59). Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System The “Right to Know” provisions of the Act include language under “Part IV – Toxic Substances,” which establishes the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS). A WHMIS regulation clarifies in detail the provisions in the Act. The WHMIS legislation has three major components: • Comprehensive labelling of all hazardous materials: The employer must ensure that all hazardous materials in the workplace are identified in a prescribed way as set out in Section 37 of the Act. In most cases, a detailed label is required on a container of a hazardous material. In some other cases, a less formal means of identification is permitted. No one in the workplace can remove or deface the identification of a hazardous material. • Provision of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), containing detailed information about the properties of substances, their potential hazards and safe ways of handling such materials: In accordance with the legislation, an employer has a general duty to either obtain or prepare unexpired (dated within the past three years) MSDS for hazardous materials in the workplace (Sections 37 and 38). The employer is also required to make copies of MSDS readily available to workers, the Joint Health and Safety Committee or the health and safety representative. In addition, the employer must provide workers with paper copies of MSDS, on request. • The training of workers and supervisors who are exposed or likely to be exposed to hazardous materials or who use these materials in their work: The employer has a general duty to train workers who are exposed or likely to be exposed to a hazardous material on the job (Section 42). The employer must also consult either the Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) or a worker health and safety representative, if one - 9 -
exists, about the content and delivery of training programs. At least once a year, the employer, in consultation with the Joint Health and Safety Committee or health and safety representative, must review the worker training program and determine the workers’ familiarity with the information. This review should take place more often than once a year if the employer, on the advice of the committee or representative, finds it necessary. A more frequent review is also required if there is a change at the workplace, which may affect the health or safety of a worker. This review is meant to identify whether updating the training program and retraining workers are necessary. Several valuable programs are available, which can be included in a committee’s recommendations to the employer as an initiative to address hazards and resolve health and safety concerns in the workplace. Right to Participate The philosophy underpinning the Occupational Health and Safety Act is known as the “Internal Responsibility System” (IRS). This system delegates authority over occupational health and safety in the workplace to the management, but all workplace parties should be involved in the protection of their health and safety. Workers also have responsibilities to work safely. In addition, workers, particularly those selected by the union(s) in the workplace to sit on the JHSC, have an opportunity to shape the health and safety environment in their workplace. The JHSC is the driving force of the IRS in the workplace. Without a competent, effective JHSC, the occupational health and safety of the workers in the workplace may be severely compromised. (See more on IRS on page 14.) Right to Refuse or Stop Unsafe Work The Occupational Health and Safety Act provides a conditional “Right to Refuse” unsafe work for health care workers (Section 43). Health care workers who work in institutions can refuse unsafe work only when the life, health or safety of another person or the public is not directly in danger. This conditional Right to Refuse applies to police officers, firefighters, ambulance workers and some other groups of workers who care for the public. The majority of Ontario workers do not have this condition put on their right to protect their own safety in the workplace. Even some health care workers, such as community health nurses, who work outside institutions have no limitation put on their right to refuse unsafe work. Certainly no health care worker wants to jeopardize the life, health or safety of another person, but neither should she/he be expected by the employer to needlessly jeopardize her/his own safety. The right to refuse unsafe work is an individual right. The decision to refuse must arise from the individual’s own concern that something in the work or working environment is likely to endanger her/himself or another worker. Section 43 of the Act clearly sets out the procedure for exercising this right. Health care workers in general do not readily exercise their right to refuse. They fear reprisal from the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) and put their own health and safety in jeopardy rather than take the chance of being disciplined at the College. The fact is the CNO does not expect nurses to jeopardize their health and safety. In a Workers’ Health and Safety Centre article on “Alternative Remedies” (At the Source, fall 2002), Sylvia Rodgers, Manager of Standards and Education for the CNO, said, “While the right to refuse isn’t the first line of defence…we don’t expect nurses to jeopardize their health and safety on the job. Nurses have rights too.” The CNO produced a guide entitled Abuse of Nurses. A “Decision Tree,” which outlines instances when a nurse may have to withdraw care, is contained within that guide. (See “CNO Decision Tree” on page 13.) Remember, for members the right to refuse is likely a conditional one dependent on their specific situation. There is not a great deal of case law to guide our members in making this decision, however, one useful case involves a work refusal by St. Thomas Psychiatric Hospital nurses. That resulted in the issuance of an order for increased staffing. (Decision no. 01/93-A.) As well, the Ministry of Labour cites an example on its Web page, which may assist ONA members in determining the limits of their right to refuse: “An experienced medical lab technologist could not, in the course of his or her regular work, refuse to handle a blood sample from a patient with an infectious disease. But the technologist could refuse to test for a highly infectious virus where proper protective clothing and safety equipment are not available.” If in doubt, members should consult their Bargaining Unit/Local/Labour Relations Officer or call the Ministry of Labour. At least one case suggests that workers who do not have the right to refuse under Section 43 are entitled to have their health and safety concerns dealt with promptly by a Ministry of Labour inspector because of the limitations on the right to refuse. (Decision no. OHS 94-21.) The Occupational Health and Safety Act also provides a conditional “Right to Stop Dangerous Work” to health care workers (Section 44-47). Work can be stopped only in “dangerous circumstances” (Section 44(1)), which means a situation where all of the following are true: - 10 - - 11 -
Page 1 and 2: Occupational Health and Safety/Work
Page 3 and 4: ROLE OF THE MINISTRY OF LABOUR IN O
Page 5: OBJECTIVES OF THIS GUIDE The object
Page 9 and 10: Internal Responsibility System The
Page 11 and 12: • The Minister of Labour may orde
Page 13 and 14: The block diagram is a floor plan o
Page 15 and 16: • Members are trained about the h
Page 17 and 18: other end of the hall to come to he
Page 19 and 20: Currently, workers do not have the
Page 21 and 22: The regulation also sets out the em
Page 23 and 24: 3. At the Worker • Barriers, such
Page 25 and 26: 3. If she/he is uneasy about signin
Page 27 and 28: • Shift from part-time to full-ti
Page 29 and 30: injury) if the medical condition pr
Page 31 and 32: It is extremely important that the
Page 33 and 34: age wage in her/his SEB. If she/he
Page 35 and 36: Diagram 1 FLOW CHART OF THE APPEAL
Page 37 and 38: Health Care Health and Safety Assoc
Page 39 and 40: Brant Niagara 1 Jarvis St., Main Fl
Page 41 and 42: Workplace Safety And Insurance Boar

Occupational Health & Safety - local70 - Ontario Nurses' Association

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