Presidents Message

Position of the NWT & Nunavut Construction Association on the Proposed Occupational Health and Safety Regulations.

The NWT & Nunavut Construction Association strongly supports the goal of eliminating work place accidents. That is why we've partnered with the WSCC in establishing an employer driven nationally recognized Safety Program for this purpose - the COR Program administered by the Northern Safety Association. Underlying the COR program is a risk assessment model that assists employers in directing resources to mitigate safety incidents based on an assessment of the likelihood of occurrence and the severity of the injury potential.

In contrast the Construction Association's assessment of the proposed amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations is that they neglect this key “Risk Assessment” piece and substitutes an overly prescriptive set of “one-size fits all” requirements. The regulations as currently drafted will, for many employers, be excessive and expensive to implement and, consequently, ineffective at reducing workplace injuries. The Association believes that the objective of the regulations should be to proscribe the use of universally acceptable high level processes aimed at achieving the objective of safer work places; not prescribe the specific procedures that may or may not be applicable in different workplace settings.

The Association is prepared to work with the Minister, the GNWT, and the WSCC on develop legislation that establishes safety standards which will provide guidance to industry and regulators in implementing safety programs and procedures that will provide for effective worker safety and be more cost effective.

Bob Doherty

SUMMARY

Our Association and other sectors of the economy are under siege. The Occupational Health & Safety Regulations proposed by the Workers Safety and Compensation Commission (WSCC) threaten the productivity and viability of the economy.

The NWT & Nunavut Construction Association has recently review the proposed draft changes from Safety Advisory Committee that reports to the respective Minister in either the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. In response our Association requested an extension and retained the Law office of McLennan Ross, legal experts to conduct a thorough evaluation of the proposed regulatory changes and implications to the northern construction sector.

The draft regulations will increase costs for everything from re-roofing your home and rewiring the electrical system in your business to constructing new developments. These are increased costs that the territories cannot afford and we are opposed to passing these costs on to our customers.

The primary objective of the review is to identify changes that would likely result in an employer incurring additional financial burdens. Some of the changes or additions to the regulations may already reflect industry practices. However, according to the review it is apparent that this legislation will have significant impacts.

• Cost delays because we would have to provide 30 days notice of certain work to the WSCC.
• Cost of shutting down sites if the combined temperature/wind chill drops to -45 Celsius. More than one of our members has indicated they might as well shut down their companies for three months in the winter.
• Cost of supplying all personal safety equipment including boots, glasses, gloves; as well as outer wear including jackets, pants, shirts etc. This covers all sectors from transportation and construction to shipping and receiving at loading docks.
• Cost of operating internal safety committees and the additional reporting requirements to WSCC.
• Cost of additional training and there's a lot. For example, an employer must have a safety certified supervisor on site. The draft regulations do not specify whether the safety certified supervisor must oversee any and all work or whether multiple certified supervisors are required for different work occurring concurrently at multiple sites. No one can afford the latter.

There are no standards or procedures accompanying the draft regulations; which means there's no way for employers to estimate the cost of operationalizing the regulations.

Over the next few months our Association will be consulting our membership and the northern construction industry in general to develop a response to the respective Ministers Responsible for the Workers Safety and Compensation Commission and other elected officials who have a direct interest in our economy.

In addition our Association encourages every one to review the proposed changes to the safety regulations and / or to call us for our legal analysis of the safety regulations and to submit all questions, concerns and comments.

Responses can be sent to our office