Jerry Boyle
New president will keep CSAO on track
With more than 40 years of experience in construction, Jerry
Boyle, CSAO's new president, has been very much a part of the
changes that have made working in the industry safer. Starting
as an apprentice steamfitter at the ripe old age of "two,"
he remembers the days before legislated safety.
Being tough and cool were often more important than doing
the job safely. "When I first started it was February of
1959, safety boots were optional, hard hats were optional,"
he continues. "You wore them to be cool, not for the reason
they were created."
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With more than 40 years of experience in construction, Jerry Boyle, CSAO's new president, has been very much a part of the changes that have made working in the industry safer. Starting as an apprentice steamfitter at the ripe old age of "two," he remembers the days before legislated safety. Being tough and cool were often more important than doing the job safely. "When I first started it was February of 1959, safety boots were optional, hard hats were optional," he continues. "You wore them to be cool, not for the reason they were created." |
"We used to do silly things," he reminisces. "I can remember first-year apprenticeship. We climbed the steel beams -- no ladders, and certainly no harness. I can remember walking out the middle of the beam, 40 feet in the air, hanging chainfalls to lift pipe. I am walking on the quarter inch lip of an angle iron carrying this set of chainfalls."
"Using a ladder wasn't cool. You had to be macho. That's what we used to do. Fortunately I lived through it."
Not everyone did. He remembers three fatalities that have motivated him to make things better.
"One was a sheetmetal worker who fell through a plastic covering on a roof. Again no guardrails, nothing. Another was an ironworker who walked into the back of a helicopter -- it didn't have a guard in the rear rotor, decapitated him. He was my ironworker general foreman." Then he remembers the third. "There was another, a sheetmetal worker again, fell down an elevator shaft."
These events have left their mark. "Safety of the workers has always been my prime concern. Anything to do to effect a better track record would be my dream."
He started to represent his trade in 1964 when he was elected to the executive board of Local 552 in Windsor. Ten years later he was elected business manager. In 1990 he left his position in Windsor when elected Executive Director of the Ontario Pipe Trades Council (OPTC), representing fifteen thousand United Association members throughout Ontario. This is a position he still holds.
After being a member of the industry's health and safety network for many years, he joined CSAO's Executive Council and became a director in 1995. Representing the OPTC, Boyle is active in the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council, the Ontario Construction Secretariat, and the Provincial Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship Training. The Provincial Building Trades Council re-elected him as president last year. He also ran and was defeated in the last provincial election.
Commitment to this busy schedule has depended on strong support from his family. His wife, two sons, and two grandchildren are Jerry Boyle's pride and joy. His wife Josette has been an essential member of the team as the administrative assistant of the OPTC's Cambridge office for many years. "She's made my job livable," Boyle says.
As new president of CSAO, Boyle acknowledges that he is going to be "working with a good team." He gives full credit to the achievements of his predecessors. "I think we're on a great track here, a good record of establishing the programs that will reduce injuries."
To keep CSAO on track, Boyle would like to see greater participation in training programs throughout the industry. He would like CSAO "better known to the industry as a resource for information, advice, and training."
Boyle knows that getting support from government will be one of his greatest challenges. Another will be reaching small contractors. As the largest group of construction employers, they have the highest injury and fatality rates.
Boyle's experience, savvy, and knowledge have made him an indispensable member of the industry's labour-management network. He knows the value of bipartite cooperation. Designing programs for the industry is a winning strategy for everyone.
"I think what we can do," he notes, "is increase our communication with the owner/clients who use our services. We can collectively design programs to meet their needs. We can have workers trained before they get on site so they know the rules and regulations and the safety requirements of the user of our services."
Boyle considers the challenges ahead and what he hopes to achieve. "I think if we can get government's awareness of how great this operation is, the talent and the network, and get their ear, that is one thing I want to achieve in my term."
