Judge Gurmal S. Gil
COMMISSION CHAIRMAN

Former I.W.A. CANADA National President Gerry Stoney (right) is sitting as a part-time commissioner with
the Royal Commission on Workers’ Compensation. To his right is Commissioner Judge Gurmail S. Gill.

National office makes presentation to
first WCB Royal Commission in 30 years

he I.W.A.National Office

stepped up in front of the

Royal Commission on

Workers Compensation in

British Columbia on
August 8 and made its presenta-
tion. The commission held hearings
in ever Reon of the province start-
ing in April.

The commission, headed by Judge
Gurmail S. Gill and two part-time
commissioners, former I.W.A.
CANADA National President and
Oksana Exell. former director of the
B.C. and Yukon Chapter of the
Canadian Federation of Indepen-
dent Business, was on its final days
of hearings, after receiving submis-
sions, both written and oral from
over 1,200 people and organiza-
tions.

It is the first royal commission
on the WCB in over 30 years and
has a mandate to examine the legal
framework, structure, organization
and governance of the Board.

Part of its mandate was.to take
submissions on the issues of acci-
dent prevention, the no fault com-
pensation system, collective employ-
er liability, industry funding, uni-
veral funding, universal coverage
and administrative adjudication.

It also set out to examine the
processes for the development and
implementation of new health and
safety regulations and the combin-
ing of jurisdictions covering regula-
tions.

The commission is designed to
take on the issues of benefits for

- fatality claims, rehabilitation and
re-employment, assessements and
appeals and the petiormance and
service record of the organization.

UNION’S PRESENTATION

National First Vice President
Neil Menard, officer responsible for
occupational health and safety, told
the commission that the I.W.A. has
made important gains for workers
over the years through the legisla-
tive process and at the bargaining
table and the the Royal Commission
was a key instrument to improve
the WCB as a government body
which can protect workers.

He said that in health and safety
“our union has helped workers devel-
op a culture of mutual responsibili-
ty in which crew members know its
their responsibility to look out for
the safety and well-being of them-
selves and their fellow workers.”

“Workers in unionized operations
are known to stand up for their
rights,” said Menard. “I.W.A. mem-
bers work in some of the most dan-

gerous and difficult workplaces you
will find anywhere.”
Menard said that fatalities in the

industry remain high and that even
one death is too many.

In the first half of 1997 there
were 17 fatalities in the industry.
That rate would exceed the total
fatality count of 32 in the previous
year.

Menard said that more accidents
are occuring in the province’s
Interior regions where more injuries
and fatalities are occuring with the
use of skidders on increasingly
steeper terrain.

Sawmill and plywood workers
are being faced with new plant
equipment and faster, more produc-
tive processes. They are being
exposed to harmful substances and
more air-borne particles.

In the logging sector, Menard
informed the commission that the
I.W.A. has fought to makes sure
that if their is a conflict between
the WCB regulations and the Forest
Practices Code, that the regulations
will win out.

“Our members have agreed that
measures should be taken to make
forest practices sustainable,” said
Menard. “(But) sometimes environ-
mental concerns must be left out:
Even in relation to other important
goals, worker occupational health
and safety must come first.”

Menard told the panel that the
WCB must remain a strong public
institution.

“We believe that the public and
workers’ interests can only be served
through a public system, especially
with respect to key areas like pre-
vention,” he said. “Prevention, in
our view, is the absolute key in
impromve occupational health and
safety (the same) as our health care
system is currently moving away
from a medical model of health care
towards health promotion and pre-
vention.”

“A system based on prevention
from the start with a statuatory
mandate that states accident pre-

vention and protection of workers

Liye ti

health and the health of the public
are primary goals of the WCB,” he
added.

The I.W.A.’s submission states
that “accident prevention and the
promotion of occupational health
and safety have taken a backseat to
the other functions of workers’ com-
pensation in British Columbia.”

“I.W.A. CANADA believes that
the role of the Board should be to
couple external enforcement with
increased worker knowledge, greater
worker participation in workplace
occupational health and safety and
expanded rights of workers to act in
dangerous and hazardous situa-
tions at the workplace.”

In regard to regulations and reg-
ulatary practice the union’s policy
includes that:

° the Board must make regulstions
and standards for OH&S.

¢ there should be a regular review
of OH&S regulations to keep up
with changing work practices. There
should be a standing committee to
review them.

The national union’s submission
follows the Loggers’ Local 1-71’s
submission to the Royal Commission
that states some workers in the
province face unequal treatment
because they are not covered by the
WCB. The result is confusion and
lack of workplace regulations and
enforcement. Here are the jurisdic-
tion where there problems:

INDUSTRIAL CAMPS - Regulation for
industrial camps, including logging
camps, currently falls under the
Ministry of Health (Environmental
Health Protection Branch). While
there are many problems with this,
the most glaring is that Health
Ministry inspectors have no travel
allowance for inspection of remote
camps.

LOGGING TRUCKS - While the loading
and unloading of logging trucks
falls within the WCB’s jurisdiction,
the actual hauling is covered by the

National First Vice President

it Neil Menard (right) gave a verbal presen-

tation to the commission on behalf of the I.W.A. in early August. ‘

eee te eer

Motor Vehicle Act, RCMP and
Transport Canada. This creates an
unnecessary gap in dealing with
occupational health and safety
issues for logging truck drivers.

CREW BOATS - Like logging trucks,
crew boats are within the Board’s
jurisdiction while at the wharf, but
not during travel, where they fall
under the Coastguard and/or
Transport Canada. Again, this cre-
ates an unnecessary gap in occupa-
tional health and safety for workers
travelling by crew boat.

LOGGING ON MINE SITES - Once a prop-
erty is declared to be a mine site,
the Board assumes it has no juris-
diction and the Act does not apply,
despite the fact that road building,
clearing, logging, etc. may be taking

lace on the property. While the

joard may in practice assume some
responsibility for these activities,
the technical jurisdictional loophole
pissenied by the exclusion of mines

‘rom WCB jurisdiction serves no
practical purpose.

FEDERAL JURISDICTION - Recently,
there has been some question as to
the jurisdiction of the Board regard-
ing heli-logging. For example, upon
inguisy from the I.W.A. as to the
safe operation of a Russian heli-
copter in B.C., the Provincial
Government deferred to the Board
and the Board deferred to the
Federal Government (Ministry of
Transport). Considering that the
root of the I.W.A.’s concern was the
Ministry of Transport’s unilateral
decision to grant a “ministerial
exemption” for the “uncertified”
helicopter, this outcome was far
from satisfactory and in the union’s
view presents significant danger to
the health and safety of the opera-
tor of such aircraft and the loggers
working under it.

It is the union’s position that
there must be a consolidation of all
health and safety statutes under
the Workers’ Compensation Act and
that Board should be given jurisdic-
tion over all worker’s in the province.

SUBMISSION ON IMPORTANCE
OF HEALTH AND SAFETY IN
FOREST INDUSTRY

The following is an excerpt from
the union’s submission on condi-
tions in the forest industry.

or over sixty years, I.W.A.

CANADA has represented

workers in some of British
Columbia’s most dangerous occupa-
tions and most difficult workplaces.
From the huge timbers of Coastal
watersheds to the massive machines
in high output Interior sawmills;
from shakemills to booming grounds
to sidehills to dryland sorts, I.W.A.
members face danger on a daily
basis.

This is reflected in the consistent
high rate of fatalities, serious acci-
dents and lost time due to injury in
the forest sector. While fatalities
have declined in recent years, the
forest sector remains perhaps the
most dangerous group of occupa-
tions in the province. There were 30
logging fatalities in B.C. in 1993, 27
in 1994 and 17 in 1995. This rose
sharply to 32 in 1996 and 15 in the
first half of 1997. There were also
four fatal sawmill accidents in 1996
and two in the first half of 1996,
according to WCB statistics.
Between them, logging and
sawmilling had 14,500 WCB claims
in 1996, including over 4700 short-
term disability and over 800 long-
term disability claims.

It is also reflected in I.W.A.
CANADA members’ dedication to
workplace safety.

Union members have developed
a culture of collective responsibilty
that helps ensure that every mem-
ber of a crew is expected to think
about their own safety and that of
their workmates. This attitude is

Continued on following page

12/LUMBERWORKER/SEPTEMBER 1997