What is the latest issue with training programs for Workplace-Specific
Hazard Certification?
Employers are attempting to force Certified members of Joint Health and
Safety Committees to take the second part of their Certification training from
trainers chosen by the employer. (For more information on Workplace-Specific
Hazard Training go to:
www.opseu.org/hands/certification2.htm).
For example, in correspondence to OPSEU, Management Board Secretariat (MBS)
has stated that they have developed a number of certification training modules
with help from outside consultants and that the training will be delivered to
the Ontario Public Service (OPS) by the government’s Shared Services Bureau (SSB).
In non-OPS bargaining units, employers are hiring outside consulting
companies or employer-based Safe Workplace Associations such as the Industrial
Accident Prevention Association to deliver Workplace-Specific Hazard Training.
These programs are employer biased and fall far short of what certified
members need to carry out their duties in the interest of the workers they
represent.
In addition, in some cases employers are not performing required hazard
assessments nor are Joint Health and Safety Committees being consulted about
which hazards require training in their workplaces.
Why does OPSEU take the position that all Certification training should be
delivered by Workers Health and Safety Centre trainers?
OPSEU supports the health and safety training delivered by the Workers
Health and Safety Centre (the Centre) because the training has been developed
with input from workers and their unions. The training is based on the
experiences of workers who have faced health and safety problems in their own
workplaces, not just in theory. In addition, the training is delivered by
workers who have been trained by the Centre and who understand many of the
other issues that challenge health and safety activists in the workplace.
OPSEU has members in every region who are trained to deliver the full range of
Certification training.
Ontario Public Service: OPS locals are advised that Certification training
for worker certified members is governed by agreements between OPSEU and the
Employer signed in 1993 and 1995. These agreements require that worker
Certified members receive their required training from the Workers Health and
Safety Centre.
However, the employer is ignoring these agreements and either forcing or
encouraging Certified members to take the employer’s generic training.
College of Applied Arts and Technology (CAAT): In 1994, the Council of
Regents (the Employer) signed an agreement with OPSEU stating that “OPSEU
members of a JHSC shall be trained by instructors selected by the Union and
who have been approved by the Workers Health and Safety Centre.”
What can be done if the employer has forced a worker Certified member to
take employer based training?
Local unions (OPS and CAAT) should insist that their certified member be
trained by the Workers Health and Safety Centre in accord with the 1993, 1994
and 1995 agreements which are still in effect.
Local unions should file grievances for a violation of these agreements. In
addition, local unions can take the following action:
Local unions should remove the worker Certified member who has been trained
by the employer. The local union can do this by virtue of Section 9 (8) of the
Occupational Health and Safety Act which requires that the union select worker
members to Joint Health and Safety Committees. As well, OPSEU Board Policies
on Health and Safety require that Certification training be done by the
Workers Health and Safety Centre (see below). The replacement member should
then be designated as the Certified member who will now have to be trained for
both general and workplace-specific training. And here again we would insist
that the worker be trained by the Workers Health and Safety Centre.
Bear in mind that it is the employer who must ensure that a joint committee
have certified members from labour and management. Failure to do so is a
violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
What about BPS Bargaining Units?
Other bargaining units outside of the OPS and CAAT are advised to take
similar action. While your unit may not have an agreement that specifies who
shall provide Certification training, the local executive of the union does
have the power to appoint and remove worker members from the joint health and
safety committee. This authority is provided by Section 9 (8) of the
Occupational Health and Safety Act as well as OPSEU Board Policies on Health
and Safety (see below).
This gives local unions a means of ensuring that worker members are
appropriately trained in labour-based health and safety programs which will
prepare them to better represent the health and safety interests of their
membership.
Excerpt from OPSEU Occupational Health and Safety policy
Certification Training Delivery
1. All local unions shall ensure that certification training for worker
certified members be delivered solely by OPSEU approved certified health and
safety instructors;
2. All local unions shall ensure that all certified member trainees are
registered through the Workers Health and Safety Centre;
3. In no case shall a local union agree to have worker certified members
registerred and trained through an employer-based safety association or by any
of their associate trainers (October 19-21, 1993 B p.40).
For additional OPSEU health and safety policy, go to:
www.opseu.org/hands/policy.htm
Health and Safety Index
