Worker health and safety at risk
For immediate release | November 04, 2011
Alberta’s NDP Opposition labour critic Rachel Notley is calling on the Redford PCs to immediately halt their plans to privatize occupational health and safety inspection.
The PCs have asked OHS workers to prepare to privatize inspection services, according to OHS employees and confirmed by the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees today.
“The premier is playing politics with the lives of Alberta’s workers,” Notley says. “There’s a culture of bad safety practices in this province. There’ve been 24 deaths on the job this year, including the latest on Wednesday that claimed the life of an 18 year old. His father raised concerns about safety practices on the site before his son’s death. Privatizing this important public safety service is grossly irresponsible and endangers workers.
“The Wildrose would be hard-pressed to come up with a policy this regressive.”
Notley says an Alberta NDP government would focus on the real solution for Alberta’s culture of poor workplace safety – hiring many more inspectors and increasing enforcement on the jobsite.
“Privatization will reduce accountability and transparency of the inspection process and could reduce inspections because safety inspection is not a rich source of profit,” Notley says.
For more information contact Richard Liebrecht, Communications Officer
(o) 780.644.8669 (c) 780.916.3937 (e) Richard.liebrecht@assembly.ab.ca
Alberta’s NDP Opposition - On Your Side.
#501 Legislature Annex, 9718-107 St, Edmonton, AB. T5K 1E4