FIVE YEAR CHECK-UP ON SARS RECOMMENDATIONS:STILL NO PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE
(TORONTO) -- Five years ago today, The Honourable Mr. Justice Archie Campbell released his final report on the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak that swept Ontario in 2003, killing 44 people and infecting more than 330 others. Almost half the victims were health care workers.
Campbell’s report, Spring of Fear, remains so groundbreaking that it continues to be consulted and referenced worldwide as an authoritative body of work on public health and infection control.
Emphasizing that hospitals and other health care workplaces are as dangerous as mines or factories, the exhaustive report contained more than 80 recommendations to prevent another epidemic like SARS from taking place. Its central recommendation, or as Justice Campbell noted, the “take home message,” called for implementation of the Precautionary Principle.
The principle is a simple one. It calls for erring on the side of caution when health or safety is at stake. This eminently reasonable approach safeguards both workers and the public. But Ontario’s Ministry of Labour continues to balk at enshrining the principle in the Occupational Health and Safety Act and other standards, statutes and regulations.
The common sense of the Precautionary Principle was frighteningly absent even after the SARS crisis when too many employers demanded conclusive scientific proof the influenza virus is airborne before conceding the need to provide respiratory protection to workers at risk of exposure in a pandemic.
Regrettably, the culture change that Justice Campbell envisioned has not become the reality in many Ontario workplaces.
The transmittal of information that workers need to protect themselves from infectious diseases is still woefully inadequate in many hospitals. In addition, compromised isolation procedures, rationing of protective gloves, cleaning staff cutbacks and overcrowding are just some of the problems encountered by hospital workers and patients.
“New communicable diseases and drug-resistant superbugs in hospitals, as well as scores of new chemicals, processes and other hazards introduced to manufacturing plants, classrooms - all public and private sector workplaces - emphasize the need for action. The government must incorporate the Precautionary Principle in the numerous ways recommended by Justice Campbell,” stated Nancy Hutchison newly elected OFL Secretary-Treasurer.
Specifically Justice Campbell recommended:
That the precautionary principle, which states that action to reduce risk need not await scientific certainty, be expressly adopted as a guiding principle throughout Ontario’s health, public health and worker safety systems by way of policy statement, by explicit reference in all relevant operational standards and directions, and by way of inclusion, through preamble, statement of principle, or otherwise, in the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Health Protection and Promotion Act, and all relevant health statutes and regulations.
“Justice Campbell was unequivocal about the need for the principle, calling it ‘the most important lesson of SARS,’” said Hutchison.
“This year, the OFL pledges to redouble its efforts to ensure this central tenet is adopted.”
Related Web Sites:
http://www.Twitter.com/OntarioLabour
http://www.Facebook.com/OntarioFedLabour
cope343
Campbell’s report, Spring of Fear, remains so groundbreaking that it continues to be consulted and referenced worldwide as an authoritative body of work on public health and infection control.
Emphasizing that hospitals and other health care workplaces are as dangerous as mines or factories, the exhaustive report contained more than 80 recommendations to prevent another epidemic like SARS from taking place. Its central recommendation, or as Justice Campbell noted, the “take home message,” called for implementation of the Precautionary Principle.
The principle is a simple one. It calls for erring on the side of caution when health or safety is at stake. This eminently reasonable approach safeguards both workers and the public. But Ontario’s Ministry of Labour continues to balk at enshrining the principle in the Occupational Health and Safety Act and other standards, statutes and regulations.
The common sense of the Precautionary Principle was frighteningly absent even after the SARS crisis when too many employers demanded conclusive scientific proof the influenza virus is airborne before conceding the need to provide respiratory protection to workers at risk of exposure in a pandemic.
Regrettably, the culture change that Justice Campbell envisioned has not become the reality in many Ontario workplaces.
The transmittal of information that workers need to protect themselves from infectious diseases is still woefully inadequate in many hospitals. In addition, compromised isolation procedures, rationing of protective gloves, cleaning staff cutbacks and overcrowding are just some of the problems encountered by hospital workers and patients.
“New communicable diseases and drug-resistant superbugs in hospitals, as well as scores of new chemicals, processes and other hazards introduced to manufacturing plants, classrooms - all public and private sector workplaces - emphasize the need for action. The government must incorporate the Precautionary Principle in the numerous ways recommended by Justice Campbell,” stated Nancy Hutchison newly elected OFL Secretary-Treasurer.
Specifically Justice Campbell recommended:
That the precautionary principle, which states that action to reduce risk need not await scientific certainty, be expressly adopted as a guiding principle throughout Ontario’s health, public health and worker safety systems by way of policy statement, by explicit reference in all relevant operational standards and directions, and by way of inclusion, through preamble, statement of principle, or otherwise, in the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Health Protection and Promotion Act, and all relevant health statutes and regulations.
“Justice Campbell was unequivocal about the need for the principle, calling it ‘the most important lesson of SARS,’” said Hutchison.
“This year, the OFL pledges to redouble its efforts to ensure this central tenet is adopted.”
Related Web Sites:
http://www.Twitter.com/OntarioLabour
http://www.Facebook.com/OntarioFedLabour
For More Information:
Lynn Simmons, Communications Department
p: 416-737-5798 | f: 416-441-1893
Toll-free: 1-800-668-9138
cope343
View a printable version of this item
Email this item to yourself or a colleague
