July 7, 2010

WSIB chair optimistic on future of Infrastructure Health and Safety Association

VINCE VERSACE

staff writer

With the Infrastructure Health and Safety Association recently selecting its advisory council members, the head of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board is excited about the association’s road ahead.

“Health and safety associations can make a huge difference and be boots on the ground to put forward ideas,” said WSIB chair Steve Mahoney.

“These are not organizations that will penalize anybody. These are organizations that will help companies determine what is a better way or a safer way of doing things.”

The IHSA was created on Jan. 1, 2010, from the merger of the Construction Safety Association of Ontario, the Electrical and Utilities Safety Association of Ontario and the Transportation Health and Safety Association of Ontario. The association now serves the aggregates, construction, electrical, pipelines, ready-mix concrete, transportation, and utilities industries across the province.

The WSIB set the merger wheels in motion to achieve greater efficiencies in services such as accounting, IT, HR and administrative services and to direct those savings to safety and prevention programs. The WSIB estimated that of its $90 million in funding to safety associations, 50 per cent went to the “backroom” leaving 50 per cent “to go to the shop floor” and work sites.

“We did not do this amalgamation because we were unhappy or angry with our health and safety associations,” said Mahoney. “We just thought we would get a much better bang for the buck and coverage on the ground.”

The IHSA is one of four newly-created health and safety associations that came out of the realignment process.

The other three are Workplace Safety North, Health and Safety Association for Government Services, and Safe Workplace Promotion Services Ontario. Mahoney was recently in Thunder Bay and recalled what a former pulp and paper health and safety group rep said to him about the post-realignment environment there.

“He said it was great now. He can now walk into Bombardier and talk to them about health and safety,” said Mahoney. “They do not look at him sideways saying ‘You are not in our industry — what are you doing?’ ”

The IHSA has advisory councils that cover transportation, residential, general ICI, heavy civil and aggregates, mechanical, electrical and priority rates. Each council has employee and employer representatives.

The residential council employee representative is Claudio Mazzota, Drywall Acoustic Lathing and Insulation, Local 675, and the employer representative is Eugene Filice, Great Gulf Homes.

The general ICI council employee rep is Bob Kerr Brick, Allied Craft Union of Canada and the employer representative is Mike Archambault, Aecon.

The heavy civil and aggregates council employee representative is Joe Redshaw, International Union of Operating Engineers and the employer representative is Darrin Husack, Con-Drain.

The mechanical council employee representative is Neil McCormick, Ontario Pipe Trades Council and the employer representative is Tom Lachance, Tesc Contracting.

The electrical advisory council employee reps are Jack Dowding, IBEW and Keith Rattai, Society of Energy Professionals. The employer reps are Dean Gatien, PowerTel and Scott Martin, Ontario Power Generation.

The priority rate council employee representative is Cosmo Manella, LIUNA and the employer representative is Jonathan Zuber, Priestly Demolition Inc.

The transportation advisory council employee representatives are Bud McAulay, Teamsters Local Union 938 and Len Poirier, Canadian Auto Workers union. The employer representatives are Tim Holdaway, Midland Transport Limited and Barry House, FirstGroup.

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