January was a deadly month in Ontario’s workplaces and so provincial Labour Minister Kevin Flynn is urging construction sector stakeholders to collectively examine jobsite safety practices.
There were eight workplace deaths in the month, double last January’s total.
“I don’t want to let this sit. I don’t want to just hope that February is better,” said Flynn.
“I think it is time for me as minister, for our prevention council, for our provincial health and safety associations, and for the industry, employers, organized labour, for the guys in the field, the people who are doing the job, to take a second look at this and make sure they are still doing what they want to do which is prevent accidents.
“The track record in the past 10 years, we have been reducing injuries by more than 50 per cent, and you think, that is incredible progress. We have been getting somewhere, and then you have a month like this January.”
Three of the deaths were at construction sites and five were in manufacturing.
Last year’s totals were: January – four, February – four, March – four, April – four, May – three, June – two, July – two, August – seven, September – six, October – four, November – six and December – eight. That last tally included four Hydro One workers who died in a helicopter crash.
Flynn issued a statement lamenting the deaths Feb. 2.
“That is not a very good start to the year,” said Flynn. “Eight fatalities, eight people who didn’t go home at the end of the day.”
Flynn said he has instructed his staff to call him as soon as they hear of a fatality.
“I remember each one of them,” he said.
“Your heart skips a beat. You think, we’ve got these programs in place, we’ve got incredible partners in construction that work diligently to reduce these accidents, and yet they still happen. And you know you’ve got to be eternally vigilant.”
Flynn said this spring the ministry will launch a new awareness program called Stand Down for Safety to encourage construction employers and employees to engage in toolbox-style talks regularly, at the beginning of each day, to ensure health and safety is a daily focus.
“The idea is to inspect equipment, talk about rescue plans, have a live job discussion,” said Flynn. “It allows employees to speak up and talk about things they have seen on the job. It allows employees to learn about hazards, to make sure they get the right protective equipment.”
Among the significant health and safety initiatives of the government in recent years was the hiring of a chief prevention officer (CPO) in 2011.
The first and only CPO George Gritziotis was appointed registrar and CEO of the Ontario College of Trades last September. Since then it was learned the next CPO would be an assistant deputy minister, reporting to the deputy minister, rather than an associate deputy minister directly advising the minister.
Stakeholders said it was a downgrading of the position and were alarmed when they heard the news.
Said Flynn, “Obviously when you have someone like a George Gritziotis move on, or anyone move on, it is a good time to review the position.
“It was a new position, and it is a good time to review the progress of the position, and make sure it is doing what you want it to do, and what did we learn while George was CPO.
“It is such a valuable role, for us to not do a review of the role would be missing a big opportunity.”
Flynn said the new CPO would be announced soon.
Recent Comments
comments for this post are closed