ÿþ<img src='smalllogo.gif' alt='Logo' /><br/><h1>Workplace Toxins</h1>We've come a long way since the 1930s when workers at the Monsanto plant were required to handle&nbsp; toxic PCBs as if they posed no more risk than mineral oil. But toxic substances, including carcinogens and reproductive toxicants, are still&nbsp; part of everyday life in workplaces across Canada, where they can cause occupational cancers and birth defects in succeeding generations. Many of the hazardous chemcials used in the workplace also pose a risk to the environment.<br/>

Workers can take action to reduce exposure to toxic chemicals by working with their workplace health and safety committees to make product substiutions and, in some case, to eliminate some chemicals altogether. Federal legislation called the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information Systems (WHMIS), together with provincial Workers' Compensation Board regulations, gives workers the right to know what they're being exposed to, the right to participate in decisions about how chemicals are handled and, in some provinces, the right to refuse work if it's unsafe.<br/>

In its Cleaners and Toxins project, the Labour Environmental Alliance Society works with workplace committees to help them assess the cleaning products they're using and substitute safer products that are also better for the environment.<br/>

LEAS also works with the B.C. Federation of Labour to present Toxins in the Workplace workshops to help workers assess what's in their workplace and to develop strategies to make changes that protect their health and the environment.<br/><br/><br/><small>http://leas.ca/Workplace-Toxins.htm <br/>Updated: June 2, 2005</small>