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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday April 28, 2007 - 13 Workplace safety rights are important By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Canada's National Day of Mourning was recognized by the highest levels of Oakville's municipal government, last Thursday, as Mayor Rob Burton took a moment to reflect on those killed and injured in workplace accidents. During a small Town Hall ceremony the mayor expressed the need to remember past casualties of the workplace on April 28 and the need to prevent such future pain. "This day is about promoting awareness of occupational health and safety and reminding us that accidents are preventable," said Burton. "Our responsibility above all is to help our young workers learn that they have rights and that we care about keeping them safe." With the summer fast approaching young workers will soon flood workplaces. Their lack of familiarity with the workplaces will make them prime candidates for accidents. "I would like to remind our young workers that you are entitled to a safe work envi- ronment. You are entitled to ask questions and you are entitled to know your rights and responsibilities," said Burton. "I say to employers, make sure your workplace is as safe as it can be and provide young workers with appropriate training and supervision. To parents I think it's important you talk to your daughters and your sons about safety on the job. Make sure your children get the training they require for the tasks they are assigned." Emil Mesic, health and safety union representative from Oakville's Ford plant has more advice for young workers. "It's extremely important they understand that they have three rights under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The first right is the right to know, to know about the hazards that exist on the job," he said. "The second right is the right to participate in health and safety. Workers need to have a safety representative in workplaces that have five or more employees. So it's important for young workers to get to know who their safety representative is and tell their supervisors about their health and safety concerns. Don't be afraid to bring forward health and safety concerns because it's a basic right in the workplace." Mesic noted that the last right is the right to refuse unsafe work. "There has to be this knowledge that if something is going to endanger you then you shouldn't be doing it." Ford Safety Engineer, Dave MacKay says safety is something taken very seriously at Oakville's Ford plant and they have the impressive safety record to prove it. "The WSIB (Workplace Safety Insurance Board) is happy with our record. In fact over the past several years we've had a significant decrease in WSIB intervention in our injuries to the point where WSIB has actually laid off people because they don't get the business that they used to from Ford," said MacKay. "Their numbers have reduced because of our success in the plant as far as keeping those critical safety metrics in check." Mesic says keeping safe at the Ford plant requires constant vigilance and adherence to the rules. "Safety starts from the time you come onto the plant parking lot, from the time you walk into the plant, as you do your job and as you leave. It's all day," he said. "There's many opportunities during the course of a day to get injured in our facility, and probably at any industrial facility there's the ability to get injured, but it's adherence to the policies and procedures where safety really comes into play." Mesic says the main injuries that take place at the Ford plant these days are ergonomic. "The daily repetitive strain injuries that happen to workers on the job. Not something that's catastrophic where something fell or someone slipped. A lot of the time it's the wear and tear of the job that would be causing the majority of the injuries," he said. 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