Introduction
The Occupational Health and Safety laws provide guidelines of creating and maintaining healthy and safe work environments . The construction industry comprises of multifaceted work settings where a wide arrange of employees, hazards, jobs and activities take place. In such a sector, a mode of health precaution and safety guidelines should be provided and in Canada the OHS takes care of that. Canada is under the ownership of Alberta Government and is protected by law. Recently, a construction worker got killed in Ottawa by a big piece of ice at a deep construction site. This piece of ice was from an excavation wall when it fell on the worker who was on a massive pit. The worker was lifted from the pit using an onsite crane and a basket. The pit is said to have been deeper than 30 metres. This essay utilizes this event to outline its significant to an OHS professional in Alberta.
Discussion
Usually, the employer is held responsible for the employee’s health and safety. Meanwhile the government inspectors are entrusted with the enforcement of OHS laws. Therefore, an OHS professional in Alberta ought to understand that it is the manager’s responsibility to ensure workers use recommended protective equipment. For example in the scenario above, the manager ought to have checked if proper precautions were being taken and ensure that any hazardous materials were properly managed. An OHS professional should also understand that workers ought to be advised of potential hazards so as to take necessary steps in case of an accident. Therefore the construction worker should have been well informed of the potential hazards in his work place and proper precautions should have been taken.
A well informed Alberta OHS professional should be aware that an employee can choose not to work in an unsafe environment. In such situations the supervisor ought to be informed of the unsafe area so that an employee representative can be requested to investigate. Later, the refusing employee can return to work after resolving the problem and after a mutual agreement is reached. In case the problem is unresolved, a government inspector should have been called to investigate and give a decision. Therefore, for a pit that was more than 30 metres deep, it was essential for its safety to have been investigated before continuing with the job. Moreover, a proficient supervisor who sets and ensures performance standards of safety are followed should have been appointed to study the work area. Additionally, the employee ought to be supplied with personal protective equipment and training given on how to use equipment properly. This would have minimized the extent of the injuries and probably saved the life of the construction worker. It was however wise for the OHS department of government to be informed immediately after the death of the Ottawa construction worker.
Conclusion
Therefore, a professional OHS of Alberta ought to learn from this scenario all the possible measures that could have been taken. He or she should gauge the case depending on what was done right and what was ignored or not followed. Therefore, if every reasonable precaution was taken into consideration in order to protect the construction worker, more information should be gathered on other ways the task could have been accomplished maybe by use of technology.
References
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety. (2016). Canadian centre for Occupational Health and Safety. Retrieved from OH&S Legislation in Canada - Basic Responsibilities: https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/legisl/responsi.html
Government of alberta. (2011, May). Overview of Best Practices in Occupational Health and Safety in Healthcare Industry. Retrieved March 29, 2016
OHS Canada. (2016, March 24). Canada's Occupational Health & Safety Magazine. Retrieved from Large ice chunk falls and kills Ottawa construction worker : http://www.ohscanada.com/health-safety/large-ice-chunk-falls-kills-ottawa-construction-worker/1003349835/
