August 9, 2004

Your PSAC National Capital Region Health and Safety Committee would like to explain the significance of the PSAC logo identifying Workplace Health and Safety. The bird - a canary - has a long history in health and safety. It once was the only protection miners had against poison gas. Miners took them into the mines to warn of a dangerous build-up of carbon monoxide, a silent killer against which they had no protection. If the canary collapsed, it warned the miners to get out fast. Yellow, the canary's colour, is the colour of safety, and the blue of the cage is the colour of health. It has been adopted by the PSAC as our symbol for health and safety.

The canary has become a universally accepted symbol of the need for better health and safety protection for workers.

It has taken on a new significance in recent years with the idea that workers themselves have become canaries - testing toxic substances, lifting limits, noise levels and so on, to see what the human body can and cannot endure.

In our high-technology society, we have the means to study potential hazards and to take measures to remove them. In our workplaces, we are exposed to substances and conditions known to be increasingly harmful and, even more so, strongly suspected. Yet, until enough "worker-canaries" have succumbed to their ill effects, governments and employers are reluctant to act.

This is no longer acceptable. Workers must not be used as canaries to warn society of the dangers of chemicals and other substances in our environment.

The old idea of compensation after injury and disease have taken their toll, must be replaced by a commitment to prevention. The canary is there to warn us and to remind us that disease and death are not part of the work experience.

Should you be interested to become an active member of your PSAC National Capital Region Health and Safety Committee, please contact Dominic Lavoie at 777-4647.