Ministry of Labour blitzing Niagara farms
Labour minister hopes to avert virus outbreaks as migrant workers return
The Ministry of Labour is cracking down on Niagara farms this week, in the hope of preventing COVID-19 outbreaks as migrant workers return for the season.
“We have a targeted inspection blitz of farms as we speak,” said Minister of Labour Training and Skills Development Monte McNaughton. “They’re going to farms that have migrant workers either on site now, or the migrant workers will be coming to those farms.”
McNaughton said the province has partnered with the Mexican Consulate on the blitz “to have translators go out with our Ministry of Labour inspectors to ensure that we’re hearing from the workers on the farms.”
“If they have any concerns, there’s no language barriers now,” he said in an interview Thursday.
Migrant workers and others can also now anonymously report violations or concerns they have about their health or working conditions, by calling the Ministry of Labour Safety Contact Centre at 1-877-2020008.
“If any worker is afraid of his or her health including migrant workers, they can call,” McNaughton said. “We actually have translators at that call centre, which is new.”
Several large COVID-19 outbreaks occurred on farms and at agricultural companies in Niagara and other regions in the past year.
McNaughton said the ministry has inspected more than 20,000 workplaces across the province so far this year to ensure they are meeting the protocols in place to prevent the spread of infection.
“We’ve done thousands of inspections in Niagara region,” he said.
While the province has implemented a zero-tolerance policy to ensure compliance among workplaces, McNaughton said that follows efforts earlier this year that offered small businesses with 25 employees or less “a customer service approach to health and safety.”
That “small business blitz” included a visit from an inspector to educate people about protocols, and a followup visit. As a result, he said, there was an increase in compliance of 20 per cent.
“I really wanted to offer a customer service approach to these small businesses because they don’t have big human resources departments like some of the big corporations, and it really has made a difference.”