April 15, 1998
(Environment and Labour)

Worker Safety at the Come By Chance Refinery is High Priority

Art Reid, Minister of Municipal and Provincial Affairs, on behalf of Oliver Langdon, Minister of Environment and Labour, stated that government is not ignoring safety at the Come by Chance refinery or at any other work site in the province. Minister Reid stated that the comments made earlier today by the Federation of Labour are unfortunate and misleading.

Minister Reid stated that responsibility for worker safety belongs to everyone - government, the employer and the employee. "Government is continually working with industry and labour to improve occupational health and safety in our province, including the refinery, through joint employer-employee occupational health and safety committees, through our field officers and through our 24 hour toll-free accident and information line," said Mr. Reid. Coupled with the government inspection function, there is an occupational health and safety committee at the refinery which meets to identify and address safety issues at the work site. In addition there is a community liaison committee to address environmental, safety and other matters.

Inspectors with the Department of Environment and Labour, Occupational Health and Safety Division, regularly conduct inspections of the facility. When safety problems are identified, inspectors issue directives to deal with the matter and follow up to ensure compliance. Currently the refinery is inspected up to six times per year. Since June of 1997, Occupational Health and Safety has inspected the refinery four times and was conducting a fifth on the day of the March 25 accident.

Given recent incidents at the refinery, government is taking additional action to ensure the Come by Chance Refinery is a safe workplace. There is currently a Fire-Life Safety Audit of the facility underway coordinated by the fire commissioner with assistance from outside consultants, officials from the Occupational Health and Safety Division of the Department of Environment and Labour, and boiler pressure vessels inspectors from the Government Services Branch of the Department of Government Services and Lands. Representatives from the Steel Workers Occupational Health and Safety Committee are involved in all aspects of the safety audits that are currently underway.

Minister Reid stated that government has in the past, and will continue to, fully enforce occupational health and safety regulations. There are a number of specific audits underway to assess safety conditions at the refinery. When these audits are complete and government has reviewed the results, we will be in a position to determine the need, if any, for further action.

Minister Reid stated that the events of the past few weeks are being taken very seriously by government and everything that can be done to ensure worker safety at the refinery will be done.

Contact: Gary Callahan, (709) 729-3142.