Auditor general raises concerns about safety inspection system in province.
Nova Scotia’s workplace inspection system is overburdened and could put the safety of workers at risk, the province’s auditor general charges.
In a recent report, Auditor General Ray Salmon said it could take more than 10 years at the current rate for the Department of Environment and Labour to complete an inspection of all businesses in the province.
“There’s a risk, isn’t there? We don’t want another Westray,” said Salmon, referring to the mine explosion that killed 26 workers in the early 1990s. “Volume of work and volume of activity has increased, which means if you haven’t been given additional resources, you’ve got a problem and we had a problem when Westray occurred.”
But not everyone agrees the current system is putting workers at risk. Jackie Toffoli, the executive director of the Nova Scotia Safety Council, a private non-profit group based in Halifax, said the inspections are working.
“We do not believe that the safety of workers is compromised by the current system,” she said.
Toffoli said individuals need to take more responsibility for their safety instead of pouring additional resources into, and relying on, government inspections. She pointed out that the foundation of the provincial Occupational Health and Safety Act is the Internal Responsibility System, which is based upon the principle that employers and employees share responsibility for health and safety. The system includes a framework for participation, sharing of information and refusal of unsafe work. The role of the province is to intervene when these responsibilities aren’t carried out.
“The Department of Labour and Environment is not unlike other enforcement agencies or government departments that have limited resources,” she said. “In the workplace, there is a need to take responsibility for your own safety and that of your co-workers and employees.”
Toffoli said that while the safety council believes the auditor’s report is a factual and fair assessment, there wasn’t anything in the report that raised any red flags.
“We did not read anything in the report that would lead to the headlines in the provincial papers,” she said, in reference to media reports in Atlantic Canada that raised serious concerns about the risk associated with the slow pace of workplace inspections.
NDP and Liberal opposition lined up behind the report to criticize the provincial Conservative government. Graham Steele, the NDP’s finance critic, called it a “wake-up call” to the consequences of program cuts. Liberal labour critic Russell MacKinnon expressed concern about the lack of inspections, saying the Tories seemed intent on balancing the books regardless of the consequences.
But Labour Minister David Morse said the provincial government is “managing the risks” in all departments, and that they’re keeping a balance when it comes to deploying the resources available to them.
Other highlights from the report:
•the department does not have a rigorous approach to the targeting of high-risk workplaces for inspection;
•examination of inspection files found instances of poor documentation, as well as inadequate follow-up of compliance orders;
•there is some confusion over whether offshore developments are considered to be in the province, and whether or not the Occupational Health & Safety Act applies to them;
•the computerized Inspection Tracking System software is not consistent with the operating system used by the Department;
•standard wording needs to be developed when it comes to issuing compliance orders; and
•inspection officers need to complete time sheets to ensure performance against establishd guidelines.
For a complete copy of the Auditor General’s report visit http://www.gov.ns.ca/audg/2001ag.htm.
In a recent report, Auditor General Ray Salmon said it could take more than 10 years at the current rate for the Department of Environment and Labour to complete an inspection of all businesses in the province.
“There’s a risk, isn’t there? We don’t want another Westray,” said Salmon, referring to the mine explosion that killed 26 workers in the early 1990s. “Volume of work and volume of activity has increased, which means if you haven’t been given additional resources, you’ve got a problem and we had a problem when Westray occurred.”
But not everyone agrees the current system is putting workers at risk. Jackie Toffoli, the executive director of the Nova Scotia Safety Council, a private non-profit group based in Halifax, said the inspections are working.
“We do not believe that the safety of workers is compromised by the current system,” she said.
Toffoli said individuals need to take more responsibility for their safety instead of pouring additional resources into, and relying on, government inspections. She pointed out that the foundation of the provincial Occupational Health and Safety Act is the Internal Responsibility System, which is based upon the principle that employers and employees share responsibility for health and safety. The system includes a framework for participation, sharing of information and refusal of unsafe work. The role of the province is to intervene when these responsibilities aren’t carried out.
“The Department of Labour and Environment is not unlike other enforcement agencies or government departments that have limited resources,” she said. “In the workplace, there is a need to take responsibility for your own safety and that of your co-workers and employees.”
Toffoli said that while the safety council believes the auditor’s report is a factual and fair assessment, there wasn’t anything in the report that raised any red flags.
“We did not read anything in the report that would lead to the headlines in the provincial papers,” she said, in reference to media reports in Atlantic Canada that raised serious concerns about the risk associated with the slow pace of workplace inspections.
NDP and Liberal opposition lined up behind the report to criticize the provincial Conservative government. Graham Steele, the NDP’s finance critic, called it a “wake-up call” to the consequences of program cuts. Liberal labour critic Russell MacKinnon expressed concern about the lack of inspections, saying the Tories seemed intent on balancing the books regardless of the consequences.
But Labour Minister David Morse said the provincial government is “managing the risks” in all departments, and that they’re keeping a balance when it comes to deploying the resources available to them.
Other highlights from the report:
•the department does not have a rigorous approach to the targeting of high-risk workplaces for inspection;
•examination of inspection files found instances of poor documentation, as well as inadequate follow-up of compliance orders;
•there is some confusion over whether offshore developments are considered to be in the province, and whether or not the Occupational Health & Safety Act applies to them;
•the computerized Inspection Tracking System software is not consistent with the operating system used by the Department;
•standard wording needs to be developed when it comes to issuing compliance orders; and
•inspection officers need to complete time sheets to ensure performance against establishd guidelines.
For a complete copy of the Auditor General’s report visit http://www.gov.ns.ca/audg/2001ag.htm.
