Today, NDP Minister of Labour Malaya Marcelino announced major new workplace health and safety rules that will literally save lives.

The MFL, along with affiliates Heat and Frost Insulators Local 99 and LiUNA 1258, have been lobbying for years for Manitoba to have new rules in place to require employers to ensure all workers who deal with asbestos complete mandatory training standards, and to ensure that all companies that do asbestos abatement and remediation be certified with the province.

Diseases caused by exposure to asbestos remain Manitoba’s number one occupational killer. An average of 6 Manitobans die every year as a result of diseases they have because of exposure to asbestos at work.

Shockingly, even with all that we know about the dangers of asbestos, Manitoba has long had woefully inadequate rules to protect workers who do asbestos removal and remediation. For example, while there was a general requirement in the Workplace Safety and Health Regulation for employers to ensure that those working with asbestos be trained, there were absolutely no mandatory requirements for what that training should include and who is qualified to deliver it.

Well, those days are over. 

Owing in part to the provincial committee tasked with reviewing the Workplace Safety and Health Act, the Kinew government has now strengthened our workplace health and safety regulations to clarify responsibilities, improve training and strengthen enforcement to protect workers who deal with asbestos work by:

• requiring anyone performing asbestos work meet the mandatory training standards developed by the province and be certified;
• requiring employers who do asbestos work to register so Manitobans can easily see who is qualified,
• setting clearer responsibilities for employers and building owners, and
• giving safety officers the tools to verify asbestos work is being done safely.

The government is giving employers until July 1, 2027 to be fully compliant with these new rules. You can read the province’s news release for more information.

This is literally a life and death issue for workers, and we want to thank the advocacy work of the Heat and Frost Insulators Local 99 and LiUNA 1258 as well as the union representatives on the province’s Workplace Safety and Health Act Review Committee for pushing for these much needed changes.

We are stronger together.