Jimmy's Law is now law, sort of.
Last week, the Saskatchewan government passed new Occupational Health and Safety regulations to improve safety for graveyard shift retail workers such as gas station attendants.
The original Jimmy's Law private member's bill, put forward by NDP labour critic David Forbes, was a response to the murder of Jimmy Wiebe. Wiebe was shot to death in Yorkton in June 2011 while working an overnight shift at a gas station. If the bill had been passed as written, convenience stores and other late-night or 24-hour businesses would have been required to schedule two workers or provide barriers or locked doors for employees.
Local radio host Aaron Nagy, a friend of Wiebe's who worked tirelessly with Forbes on promoting the proposed bill, said it didn't work out the way they had hoped, but he was still satisfied with the result.
"It's all about worker safety, so if we can make it a little safer for workers, that's a good thing," Nagy said. "Sometimes you have to give a little to get a little."
Don Morgan, minister of labour relations and workplace safety said the compromise legislation was a matter of balancing worker safety with small business viability.
Nagy said the compromise was achieved by looking at best practices from other jurisdictions. British Columbia had also toyed with a requirement of two employees at all times, but backed down under pressure from business owners.
The new regulations require businesses to establish a check-in system, provide emergency transmitters and install security cameras.
Business owners have until January 1, 2013 to implement the new protocols.
While the new regulations fall short of the proposed measures, Forbes said he was not disappointed.
"We're very encouraged by this," he said. "There's stronger regulations today than there was yesterday."
But while the issue may be settled for now, he said the NDP will not be complacent.
"We're going to be pushing hard on compliance," he said citing an April-May inspection tour in which ministry officials discovered 80 per cent of late-night businesses were not following the existing regulations, which require a written safety plan and training for employees.
Forbes said he thinks often of Jimmy Wiebe's family and the Yorkton community.
"In these situations there is a human face," he said. "I feel that the community and the government has responded and hopefully we won't see this kind of tragedy again."
Nagy was impressed by the cooperation between the NDP and Sask Party.
"It's amazing to see how two parties, who seemingly have great differences, can work together for the greater good of workers," he said.
Wiebe's murder was captured on video cameras leading to the arrest of Kyle Braeden Furness who pled guilty to second-degree murder in December 2011 and is now serving a life sentence.
