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Home My WebLink AboutClinton News-Record, 1978-01-26, Page 8PAGE 8--CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 1978 Jottings from Queen's Park BY JACK RIDDELL, M.P.P. With respect to the Occupational Health and Safety Act, we were con- cerned about the lack of in- clusion of standards for toxic substances. While provision is made for the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations on a wide variety of subjects, there is no in- dication of criteria or guidelines to be adopted. There has been extensive research into the con- centration of airborne sub- stances to which workers may be exposed without adverse effects. For example, the American Conference of Government Industrial Hygienists has compiled a list of some 400 toxic substances, setting out exposure standards, with respect to the average con- centration for a 40 -hour week as well as the maximum exposure permissible for a short-term period. We believe that the Province of Ontario should adopt threshold limit value standards at least as effective as those adopted for various substances. At the very minimum, the legislation should set out specific standards for materials or harmful physical agents which would adequately ensure to a reasonable extent that no employee will suffer material impairment of health or functional capacity, even if regularly exposed to a hazard for the period of his or her working life. How are these standards to "be set? Under the proposed legislation, entirely at the discretion of the minister behind closed doors. We have proposed that employees, employers and independent experts should have a voice in establishing standards. One possible mechanism might be the advisory council on oc- • cupational health and safety, to be established under the proposed legislation. This advisory council might play a useful role in setting stan- dards, providing its mem- bership is representative of all employees and employers, non -unionized as well as unionized, small as well as large companies. In a number of ,other jurisdictions, industrial health and safety standards are set openly by public bodies, and we believe the Minister should follow this example in Ontario. The legislation does set out a distinction between designated toxic substances, and other toxic substances for which the Minister suggested that guidelines be enacted. However, it is not clear what sort of regulations will be enacted with respect to either category. How will these regulations be communicated to workers on the job site? In our view, the legislation should require that a notice containing pertinent information on general occupational health and safety legislation, and notice of particularly harmful substances, should be made available to every employee. This is done in some of the Californian legislation on health and safety. There is some concern that the bill makes no provision for the introduction of a pretesting program for ,,new substances introduced in -the work place which are suspected of being harmful. The federal food and drug directorate provides such protection with respect to food and drugs, and it is felt that workers should receive similar protection. Apparently the en- vironmental protection. agency in the United States has begun a program of pretesting all substances which find their way into the environment. Priority is being given to substances with the greatest potential for causing harm, particularly those which may cause cancer. New medical techniques are being utilized. Surely the Government of Ontario could co-operate with other agencies involved in testing new substances, perhaps dividing up the substances to be tested in order that pretesting coujd be done in an expeditious and efficient manner. discussions with represen- tatives of employers' groups as well as employees on this subject. They're naturally concerned about possible production hold-ups and loss of competitive advantages. They are 'not opposed to the concept of pretesting, providing that delays are reduced to the minimum possible period. There is some concern about the manner in which records of over-exposure are to be utilized. Are these records to be turned over to a provincial registry where each worker's entire work history can be followed? This would appear to be absolutely essential for two reasons: one, to enable an individual worker to prevent irrever- sible damage to his health; and two, to enable medical authorities to identify high- risk substances and working conditions. The bill fails to establish the Occupational Health and Safety Research Institute which the Premier an- nounced during the 1975 election campaign. What is going to be done about this, one wonders? In pite of increasing and widespread concern about industrial hazards to health, the province continues to lack an adequate supply of , oc- cupational health specialists in various fields. There is a lack of industrial hygienists, nurses, safety engineers as well as other professional and para -professional personnel. Even today, nurses who wish to specialize, in in- durial health must receive their certification in the U.S. Industrial health experts are being sought after in other jurisdictions at a time of high unemployment in Ontario. Spaghetti, Ready Cut Macaroni, Spaghettini ALL PRICES SHOWN IN THIS AD GUARANTEED EFFECTIVE THROUGH SATURDAY, JANUARY 28TH, 1978. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO LIMIT QUANTITIES TO NORMAL FAMILY REQUIREMENTS! 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