Wednesday, March 1, 2023

How to Improve Your Workplace

It is more productive to work the problem than to get all worked up about the problem

By Nathan Koslowsky, Representative

I was in a site trailer meeting with members over their lunch break. A member asked about gloves for concrete placement—whether they were to be provided by the employer or the worker.

Given that this was a health and safety related concern, I directed the question to the worker health and safety rep in the room and asked them to check in with the project superintendent about this. When asked, the superintendent indicated that the employer didn’t typically provide gloves for workers.

Later, the company labour relations representative suggested that the gear allowance outlined in the collective agreement is the way in which the employer provides gloves for workers on site. The collective agreement states that the employer shall supply specialized gloves where required.

Once the company health and safety team was alerted to the language in the collective agreement, they immediately and without reservation agreed to provide protective gloves to workers when they were placing concrete.

Stories like this play out on construction sites and other workplaces all the time. They illustrate a number of important principles.

Safe work is the responsibility of the employer. But each worker is responsible to take steps to ensure their own safety on site. If a work process appears to be missing a piece of personal protective equipment (PPE), put your hand up and ask.
Be patient and persevere. The first no isn’t always the final answer. Good resolutions can take time, and commitment to getting a satisfactory answer is key.
Do your homework. What has been happening on other sites with the same employer? How does the safe work procedure read? What does the collective agreement say?
Involve the people who are best positioned to resolve the issue. In this case, it was necessary to move from worker health and safety rep to superintendent to the company labour relations department to the company health and safety officer. Leverage the experience and expertise of your steward, worker health and safety rep, and CLAC representative.

While, in this instance, it may have been best for the employer to have taken the initiative to provide the appropriate PPE, it is more productive to work the problem than to get all worked up about the problem. That kind of wheel spinning doesn’t solve the problem and requires emotional energy that is better invested in solution-finding.

So, look around. Is anything going on, or not going on, at your workplace that should be addressed? Put up your hand, ask the question, do your homework, and involve your steward and representative.

Without that lunch trailer question, the site would not have had gloves. What is the thing that you are uniquely positioned to see and improve in your workplace?

How to Improve Your Workplace

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