How are the health and safety concerns of other OPSEU members outside the hospital sector being dealt with?
Unfortunately, other than Corrections (Ministry of Public Safety and Security), none of the other OPS ministries have taken proactive steps to protect their employees. In Corrections, guidance and protocols have been developed jointly between the employer and the union in every region of the province. The protocols have been distributed, communicated and implemented. SARS particularly concerns OPSEU members who deal directly with the public delivering a variety of services. Consequently members have exercised their Right to Refuse under the Occupational Health and Safety Act in a number of workplaces such as Driver Examination Centres where they are required to sit in close proximity to members of the public in an enclosed space (a vehicle) during a road test. In each of these cases, the Ministry of Labour has ruled against workers, saying that there is no real threat to workers health and safety during a road test. OPSEU, through the provincial health and safety committee of the Minis
