Issue:
The effectiveness of occupational health laws and policies depends on compliance with them. In the context of a changing labour market, where subcontracting, franchising, and third party management are increasingly common and non-standard forms of employment have grown, obtaining compliance with OHS law faces new challenges. There is a body of literature about OHS inspections that focuses mostly on effectiveness and on challenges of recent inspection mandates. Overall, we know little about inspection as a process. While many studies are conducted ‘about’ inspectors, few directly tap frontline experiences and knowledge of inspectors and related front-line actors. An analytic priority of this study is how non-standard work and risks facing vulnerable workers are identified and handled in the inspection process.
Objectives:
• To identify inspection process challenges and opportunities related to fissured work environment.
• To identify how the inspection process is and can be adapted to the needs of vulnerable workers.
• To identify the kinds of issues in the inspection process that can be adapted to the fissured work environment.
Anticipated Results:
These findings will direct OHS researchers to inspection issues that may not have previously been conceptualised and measured, and to comparative process studies. Findings will guide policy-makers as they adapt OHS inspection processes for current realities of work.
Investigators:
Ellen MacEachen, Christine Carrasco, Ron Saunders, Emile Tompa, Katherine Lippel
