2019 AFS AGM - Health & Safety

NATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY COMMITTEE

Report for the 2019 AFS AGM

The NHSPC is a forum for union-management consultation on national occupational health and safety (OHS) issues at CRA. Its primary focus is developing national OHS policies and programs and providing leadership and direction to management, Work Place Health and Safety Committees (WPHSCs) and Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs). It also addresses unresolved issues referred from WPHSCs. The NHSPC is composed of management reps and UTE and AFS employee reps. As with the WPHSCs, there is a Management Co-Chair and an Employee Co-Chair. Allaudin Alibhai and Phil Choo sit on the NHSPC for the AFS Group.

In 2018, some of the significant issues dealt with by the NHSPC were as follows:

Work Place Violence Prevention

The Canada Labour Code was updated to define harassment and violence as any action, conduct or comment, including of a sexual nature, which can reasonably be expected to cause offence, humiliation or other physical or psychological injury or illness to an employee, including any prescribed action, conduct or comment

The new framework will require employers to:

1. PREVENT incidents of harassment and violence;

2. RESPOND effectively to these incidents if and when they do occur; and

3. SUPPORT affected employees

Work Place Meetings and Inspections

Compliance has improved particularly for health and safety representatives at ITB (CBSA locations) for inspecting some part of the workplace every month.

Armed Intruder Video

The video ARMED INTRUDER: DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO? (RUN, HIDE, or DEFEND) was made to prepare employees to respond to incidents of armed intruders in work places. All Health Safety Committees were required to view and discuss the video.

Respectfully submitted,

Allaudin Alibhai
NHSPC Employee Co-Chair
Phone: 613-809-6453
allaudin.alibhai@gmail.com

Phil Choo
NHSPC AFS Representative
Phone: 250-415-7246
Email: philchoo23@gmail.com