05-14-2020, 07:38 PM
(05-14-2020, 06:53 PM)jwilliamson Wrote:(05-14-2020, 02:29 PM)clasher Wrote: You might think that it'd be easy to convince people to wear a mask for their own safety and that of others but it's not. It also seems from the places I've worked that had unsafe amounts of particulate in the air can't legally force people to wear the masks, they can only mandate one has it on their person. Going into the coke ovens at dofasco they give everyone a new respirator every day (rubber ones with filters, not n95 paper ones) and most people just carry them and don't wear them. I got called names for wearing mine when I was an apprentice.
The OHSA says that employers have a legal duty to ensure that workers use appropriate protective equipment, and workers have a legal duty to use any protective equipment required by the employer. Maybe it's hard to enforce, but the law seems pretty clear.
https://www.ontario.ca/document/guide-oc...section-13
I'm well aware of what the laws says. Employers have plausible deniability since they provide the gear and we all sign forms saying we're gonna work safe. The only time I've seen ministry people is after a big accident like someone losing a foot in an auger, or when a crane counter-weight slipped and crushed a man's leg.
I also worked with a guy that was at the 9/11 cleanup for a little while; he ultimately left after pulling out a beam and finding a body; still kinda messed up from that after all these years. He didn't wear a respirator when we were welding together either... it's funny things have changed a bit and a lot of the older guys will tell me now that it's good I'm wearing a respirator but they won't wear one themselves.