Northern Exposures: A Canadian Perspective on Occupational Health and Environment (Work, Health and Environment Series)

ABOUT THE BOOK David Bennett is the retired National Director of Health, Safety and Environment of the Canadian Labour Congress and the Book Review Editor of the journal New Solutions. Northern Exposures is the result of thirty years of work in the labor movement on workplace health and safety and environmental protection. In the 1990s, the author had a central responsibility in moving the Canadian Labour Congress from its established work in health and safety into environmental protection, a story detailed in Northern Exposures. The book is a collection of published articles and reviews, linked by a new Introduction that shows the development of the thinking and actions of the Canadian labor movement in areas that were in constant flux. In health and safety and in environment, there was a major move away from remedial action and mitigation measures toward the new disciplines of prevention and their relation to sustainable development and green job creation. In both areas, there were impacts on the health disciplines of free trade agreements, risk analysis, and management systems, all of which are examined at length in Northern Exposures. The aim all along was not merely to respond to external pressures but to create an alternative vision and program that were coherent and well-articulated and also conducive to economic progress, green employment, cleaner technology, and healthy work. The scope of the book is wide ranging, including chemical policy regimes, cancer prevention, energy, resource and materials policy, and sustainable development. Intended Audience: Public and social policy makers; health, safety, and environment representatives on workplace committees; labor historians; and industrial managers interested in how to reconcile the interests of workers with those of employers.