'We're seeing a major increase in psychological injuries'
Manitoba’s Bill 29 – The Workplace Safety and Health Amendment Act – has passed second reading at the provincial legislature.
The legislation seeks to require employers to ensure that workplaces are psychologically safe for all workers.
The bill now proceeds to the committee stage for public input, according to a report from the Winnipeg Free Press.
“Bill 29 recognizes the importance of mental health in the workplace by introducing psychological safety in the workplace health and safety act,” said Labour Minister Malaya Marcelino.
The legislation would adopt the Canadian Standards Association definition of psychological safety in the workplace.
“We’re leading the way as the first jurisdiction to do this in Canada, laying the groundwork for future regulations to support workplace mental health,” Marcelino said.
“We’re ensuring our workplace safety legislation applies not only to physical safety, but also protects the mental health of our workers.”
Stakeholders welcome psychological injuries legislation
Winnipeg fire Capt. Scott Atchison welcomed the legislation in the province.
“We’re seeing a major increase in psychological injuries, either through acute incidents or cumulative incidents, and now we’re getting better access and quicker access to the psychological care we need,” Atchison said, according to a report from the Winnipeg Free Press.
The legislation has received a largely positive response since being tabled by the provincial government in March.
“This bill helps ensure safer workplaces for all Manitoba workers,” said the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Manitoba.
“The definition of psychological health and safety has been a longheld priority of CUPE locals, who have fought to get it into our Collective Agreements and workplace policies for over a decade. This change provides a meaningful new health and safety tool to our activists in their workplace advocacy.”
The Manitoba Federation of Labour said it is encouraged to see that the bill will bring in new penalties for bad employers, “including cracking down on employers that change their name to weasel their way out of consequences for putting worker safety at risk, new penalties for employers who fail to report serious workplace safety and health incidents, and new measures to ensure workers receive wages owed to them as a result of unfair employer reprisals.”
“We also support the measures in this bill to better support workers in exercising their right to refuse dangerous work as well as the bill’s improved definition of psychological health,” the group previously said. “We need to ensure that employers are responsible for preventing injuries to workers’ mental health on the job, just as they are responsible for preventing physical injuries. Changes included in this bill will help to do that.”
