Author ORCID Identifier

Eric Tucker: 0000-0002-9958-4311

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-21-2023

Source Publication

Journal of work health and safety regulation, 2023, Volume 1, Issue 1, Pages 30-5

Keywords

Occupational Health and Safety; Regulation; Canada; Ontario; Gig Work; Platform-mediated Work; Cloud Work; Uber

Abstract

Platform-mediated work, whether location-based, as in the case of Uber, or cloud-based, as in the case of Amazon Mechanical Turk, poses severe challenges to effective occupational health and safety (OHS) regulation. While the work performed in the platform environment is not usually very different from work performed in more traditional employment settings, the platform environment often exacerbates those risks by, for example, increasing stress and incentivizing long hours and work intensification. Regulating these hazards is impeded by ambiguities surrounding the legal relationship between platform operators and platform workers that make it uncertain whether the OHS regime even applies. As well the regime itself was not designed to address the conditions of platform work or many of the risks and exacerbating factors it produces. Drawing on existing studies, this article explores the structure of platform-mediated work, examines its incidence in Ontario, Canada, summarizes its associated OHS risks, and provides a detailed analysis of the obstacles to effective regulation under Ontario’s OHS regime.

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