A safer workplace in Nova Scotia requires both education and enforcement. Unions argue that enforcement is lacking.  

In 2011, 27 workplace deaths occurred in Nova Scotia; the following year, 24. Nationwide nearly 1,000 workers die in work-related accidents each year, more now than in the early nineties, when the Westray mine disaster shook the Nova Scotia labour community.

An explosion in the Westray coal mine in 1992 claimed the lives of all 26 miners under ground at the time. The disaster, many argued later, was preventable. Management made miners cut corners and politicians and inspectors looked the other way. Employees who raised the alarm were ignored or branded troublemakers, and sometimes fired.  

A criminal prosecution of mining company Curragh Resources Incorporated went nowhere. Charges were stayed and nobody was ever punished for the death of the miners.

In late 2003, after intense lobbying by unions, the House of Commons passed Bill C-45, also known as the Westray Bill. It established a legal duty for management to ensure that workplaces are safe. Neglecting that duty can now land you in jail.

But the courts have seen only been a handful of prosecutions under the Westray Bill. None in Nova Scotia, ever. 

This inactivity by the Public Prosecution Office does not sit well with Rick Clarke, President of the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour.  

“Everyone says we need a cultural change,” says Clarke. “I really believe that there are only two tools that are going to accomplish that: education and enforcement.”

Education and training are beginning to be taken seriously in Nova Scotia, says Clarke. But enforcement is lacking, and when it comes to enforcement the Westray Bill is at the top of the pecking order.

“It's a great incentive for people to do the right thing,” says Clarke. 

The Westray Bill shifts responsibility for workplace safety from front line supervisors to the boardrooms when appropriate.

“All front line supervisors are hearing is profit and productivity. Decisions are made much higher up,” says Clarke, “so the Westray Bill has the potential to be a great support mechanism.” 

Enforcement is part of the mandate of the Occupational Health and Safety Division (OH&S) in the Department of Labour. OH&S sets workplace safety standards for workers under provincial jurisdiction. It also conducts inspections, investigates accidents and lays charges or levies administrative fines.

OH&S has gone through a bit of a rough period. As a division, it's moved from department to department, and those moves tend to be disruptive. For a while, OH&S struggled to fill its vacant positions, and the learning curve is steep for newly hired inspectors. Last year the director and his second-in-command suddenly resigned for reasons that were never explained.

Recently the provincial government launched a public consultation to map out a detailed safety strategy for the next five years. To facilitate the consultation the government issued a draft discussion paper that sets high level directions. 

“It's hard to be critical, [the draft strategy] is at such a high level,” says Jeff Brett.

Brett is the OH&S officer with the Nova Scotia Government Employees Union. He approves of the intention to focus more on small and medium-sized business.

But ensuring that safety training is of a consistent high quality is not really addressed in the strategy, says Brett.

As well, Brett believes that there is a lack of regulatory guidelines when it comes to some of the newer frontiers in workers safety, such as bullying, psychological harassment and air quality.

“Sometimes officers can't point to a definite violation of a regulation: those are the types of things that I think are problematic,” says Brett.  

When asked about these perceived flaws, Minister of Labour and Advanced Education Marilyn More wrote an email dated Feb. 13 that we should just wait for the consultative process to conclude. 

“Your readers are encouraged to provide their comments and feedback at www.gov.ns.ca/lae,” wrote More, “we hope to have details about a new system in the spring.”

Asked if OH&S is staffed sufficiently, More responds affirmatively.

“Our OH&S staff are some of the best trained in the country, and we are very confident in the complement of safety officers working to protect Nova Scotians on the job," she wrote.

Clarke is unconvinced.

“We have more inspectors watching over wildlife than we have OHS inspectors in the field,” says Clarke.  

OH&S legislation is essentially an internal responsibility system, meaning that workers and employers both have defined rights and  responsibilities and are self-governed. This is the crux of the issue for Clarke. 

“We advocate we still need enforcement,” says Clarke. “I compare it to the highway system: that is self-governed. We have traffic signs up, we have laws that we are supposed to know, things we are supposed to do. We are not supposed to go through stop signs, we are not supposed to drink and drive. And we know that.”

 “But we still have enforcement. And we need that enforcement in workplaces as well.”