Safety

Cuts to Prevention Office questioned

May 12, 2019

The line-by-line spending in the government estimates recently made public show a 13.5% budget cut ($16 million) to the Ministry of Labour’s Prevention Office charged with a mandate to improve workplace safety. Advocates note it makes no sense. While the Ministry…

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From the House floor

March 28, 2019

On Monday Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Judith Monteith-Farrell rose in the Legislative Assembly to present a petition and to address how principles underlying Ontario’s workers’ compensation system are being eroded. Her comments focused on the recent 30% cuts to employers’ premiums all while,…

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Italian delegation to share experience in dealing with the legacy of asbestos

February 20, 2019

From April 7-15 a delegation from Casale Monferrato, Italy, the small city of 36,000 people which has suffered more than 1000 mesothelioma cases from preventable asbestos exposure, will make a solidarity and educational visit to Ontario. This visit is part of…

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Feb 28 – 20th annual International RSI Awareness Day Conference, Toronto

February 1, 2019

February 28 marks the 20th anniversary of the International RSI Awareness Day. The annual event – established on the initiative of Ontario injured worker activist Catherine Fenech – aims to educate about repetitive strain injuries and their prevention. The cause of…

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Govt bill weakens labour law protections for workers

October 28, 2018

This has been a challenging week for legal protection of workers’ conditions of employment and safety on the job. On Tuesday the Ford government introduced Bill 47, Making Ontario Open for Business Act, 2018 to roll-back labour laws changes enacted in the…

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The Opioid crisis, injured workers, and the WSIB

August 17, 2018

Although the opioid crisis is now recognized as a national priority in both Canada and the United States, the two countries with the highest per capita opioid usage, a feature article in Workers’ Comp Hub Newsletter (summer 2018) highlights the fact…

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Extreme heat and the worker

August 7, 2018

With global temperatures rising, heat waves are becoming the new normal, leaving many workers increasingly vulnerable to sunstroke and other heat-related illnesses, and at risk of injury from related loss of concentration and fatigue. While working in hotter temperatures impacts outdoor workers,…

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Construction industry anxious for handout from Doug Ford’s WSIB

June 28, 2018

A recent article in the Daily Commercial News reports that construction industry leaders are anxious for details from the new Ford government. David Frame, director of government relations for the Ontario General Contractors Association, said this year the Workplace Safety and Insurance…

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Remembering Ontario’s workers

May 1, 2018

Communities across Ontario held ceremonies Friday and over the weekend to commemorate the national Day of Mourning. Injured workers speaking at these events brought home the horrendous reality behind the numbers (227 Ontario fatalities in 2017 from occupational injury or…

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When workers die: the woeful state of OH&S regulation

November 30, 2017

“Penalties when workers die on the job don’t go far enough, say labour groups, families” / Jacques Marcoux, Kristin Annable (CBC News, Nov. 30, 2017) According to the most recent statistics available from the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada, in…

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