A PUBLIC LECTURE HELD BY PROF. DR. PAUL LEONARD GALINA

On 13.10.2025 at 11:00 in Hall 2.6 of the University of Bulgarian Business Administration, 2nd floor, 7 Vincent Van Gogh Street, Sofia, a public lecture by Prof. Dr. Paul Leonard Galina from the Williams Business School of Bishops University, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada was held. The lecture was held in English and was on the topic “Canadian Regulatory Experience in Occupational Health – Successes and Unresolved Issues”.

During the lecture, the evolution of Canadian legislation after World War II, dedicated
to occupational health and safety in the workplace, was reviewed. The fact that Canada has always followed European experience and practices in this direction was noted.

The role of James Ham, who in the period 1974-1976 headed the Canadian Royal Commission on Occupational Health and Safety in Mines and the study and subsequent implementation of British policies and legislation from the pre-Margaret Thatcher era,
was also mentioned.

Prof. Galina also noted that the efforts of the Royal Commission, led by James Ham,
with whom he worked directly in the 1970s and 1980s , led to the introduction of an “Internal Responsibility System” (IRS) in Canada, according to which workers and employees receive the following three rights:

1. The right to know , i.e. to be informed about working conditions;
2. The right to participate in the processes of managing occupational health and safety;
3. The right to refuse work that is unsafe.

It was pointed out that the further development of this system was also contributed by the legislation and relevant directives of the European Union, as well as the legislation of the USA, Australia and New Zealand, which share similar approaches. The impact of the research and transfer of norms and normative approaches of the Canadian researcher and expert in occupational health and safety, Robens, was also considered here. It was noted that one of the significant successes of the regulatory framework thus created is the practical reduction to zero of deaths from occupational accidents in Canada in the period 2023 – 2024. As still unresolved problems in the field of occupational health and safety in Canada, Prof. Paul Galina noted:

1. Insufficient reporting of occupational diseases (especially the delay in providing data, the lack of sufficient epidemiological data, as well as the lack of sufficient understanding of the causal relationship in cancer);
2. In relation to stress – how to diagnose and how to establish a causal relationship with the workplace;
3. Health and safety of workers with specific employment relationships: part-time workers; workers working through agencies – employment intermediaries, self-employed persons; workers working under a civil contract; temporary foreign workers, etc.

It was also pointed out that the existing regulatory framework in Canada should by no means be considered sufficient and that one of the significant challenges is the movement of company management from a purely formal and administrative approach to occupational health and safety in the workplace to the development of the relevant organizational culture.

The academic team of IBS