OHS Canada October/November 2010

C A N A D A’ S O C C U PAT I O N A L H E A LT H & S A F E T Y M A G A Z I N E O c to be r/ Novemb er 2010

C A N A D A

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PAY BACK Getting to the core of COR

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C A N A D A’ S O C C U PAT I O N A L H E A LT H & S A F E T Y M A G A Z I N E

FEATURES C C A A N N A A D D A A

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OF F -D UTY C OV ER AGE

On Again, Off Again

O CT O BE R/ N OVE MBE R 2 0 1 0 Vo l u m e 2 6, Nu mb e r 7

When does work end? For 9-to-5ers, the answer is clear. But for workers whose training may be called upon after hours, the line can become blurred.

BY JASON CONTANT

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S ILIC A

Not Yesterday’s Problem Despite advances in safety practices, some hazards just will not go away.

With silica, its negative effects continue to stain working life.

BY WILLIAM M. GLENN

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R EC OGN ITION P R OGR AM S

Money for Something Those behind Alberta’s certificate of recognition program are not the only people taking note of a recent critique by the province’s auditor general.

BY DAN BIRCH

DEPARTMENTS

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AC C ID EN T P R EV EN TION

Smooth Operator Friction is a fact of life. But when it comes to machines, smoothing out the rough spots with lubrication is good for worker safety and business health.

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S AF ETY GEAR

Eye Spy Safety Everyone is getting older. What eyewear options can help workers see up-close tasks, clearly, while still providing adequate protection?

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BY ANGELA STELMAKOWICH

Seeing the Possibilities

IN THIS ISSUE ED IT O R IA L

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Blow Hard O H&S U P D AT E

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Rail part raises federal concerns; charges in British Columbia farm deaths; Alberta releases 10-point plan; Saskatchewan nurses target fatigue; immobilizers for cabs in Manitoba; Ontario deaths spur 61 charges; bricks rain down in Quebec; unscheduled landing for New Brunswick pilot; Nova Scotia courts hike security; PEI farmer crushed; Newfoundland and Labrador to update mine regs; and more.

D IS PAT C HES

Employers must determine foreseeable harm. Absent a crystal ball, though, an Alberta court notes anticipating every hazardous circumstance is impossible.

BY EMILY LANDAU

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HEALTH WATC H

A Matter of Respect It may be fun and games to some, but not to all. Striking a balance between group morale and individual rights is key to fostering a respectful workplace.

BY ANGELA STELMAKOWICH

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TIM E OUT

Emergency exit; dentistry on wheels; rebel without a clue; keep it down; blast brewing; time for a quickie; bearable grow-op; and more.

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What you risk reveals what you value.

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— JEANETTE WINTERSON

Quake and shake; toxic hit list; nature calls; beyond nuisance; safety pop; and more.

P R O FES S IO N AL DI RE CT O RY P R O D U C T S HOW CAS E A D IN D EX / R EA DE R S E RV I CE I NF O

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LAW F ILE

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C A N A D A’ S O C C U PAT I O N A L H E A LT H & S A F E T Y M A G A Z I N E

EDITORIAL C A N A D A

Vol. 26, No. 7 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2010 EDITOR

Blow Hard T

ASSISTANT EDITORS

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

he deal with occupational health and safety is that employees and employers are supposed to be working together, right? In practice, unfortunately, that objective is not always fully realized.

Sometimes the missed mark is not so much about willful obstinacy as it is, perhaps, about misunderstanding or miscommunication. Other times, intent is made crystal clear by inaction, and things can turn decidedly nasty.

It is these dysfunctional relations that can serve as fertile ground for whistleblowers. South of the border, whistles have been sounding a little more frequently (and loudly) of late.

Consider these recent decisions by the Washington, D.C.-based Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). New Jersey Transit was hit hard in April with almost $600,000 in penalties under the Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA). OSHA, which administers the whistleblowing provisions of numerous statutes, determined the railroad took actions against an employee for missing work after suffering a work-related illness (he had witnessed a fatal accident involving another worker), cut his pay and suspended him.

The employee filed a whistleblower complaint, alleging South of the retaliation for reporting a work-related illness. The railroad was ordered to pay about $500,000 in back pay, lost benefits, compensatory damages and attorney fees, as well as $75,000 border, in punitive damages. It must also expunge the disciplinary actions, and any reference to them, and provide all employwhistles ees with information on their FRSA whistleblower rights. have been Then there was OSHA’s order for United Parcel Service to pay a truck driver $111,000 in back wages, benefits and sounding a damages after the agency determined the company had retaliated against the worker for refusing to drive a rig because little more it had inoperable lights on its tractor and trailer.

In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health frequently Act prohibits any person from retaliating against any embecause he or she has exercised rights under the act. (and loudly) ployee The same protections exist in Canada.

With fines being issued down south, whistleblowers elseof late. where may feel more free to air oh&s concerns. That is one goal of proposed changes to Canada’s Railway Safety Act. Beyond whistleblower protections, the amendments increase penalties and strengthen safety requirements, all in a bid, Ottawa argues, to encourage rail companies to create and maintain a culture of safety.

And a little encouragement may be in order. Protection from retaliation is a safeguard that workplace parties have had access to for some time — at least on paper. But paper can appear flimsy when the heft of a job hangs in the balance.

OSHA’s assistant secretary of labor, David Cohen, said in a speech in May that 63 per cent of the 1,947 whistleblower complaints investigated by the agency last year were dismissed. But those numbers may not be telling the whole story.

“I do not believe the vast majority of whistleblower claims are simply without merit,” Cohen noted at the time. “Whistleblowers can make the difference between lawful workplaces and places where workers fear for their livelihoods and even their lives if they raise concerns.”

It is a view that still struggles to find widespread support — that is, in the form of concrete action. The hope is that, long term, health and safety will not be left to simply blow in the wind.

Angela Stelmakowich

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ANGELA STELMAKOWICH astelmakowich@ohscanada.com JEAN LIAN jlian@ohscanada.com DAN BIRCH dbirch@ohscanada.com EMILY LANDAU elandau@ohscanada.com

ASSOCIATE EDITORS Hazardous substances Safety gear ART DIRECTOR PRINT PRODUCTION MANAGER PRODUCTION MANAGER MARKETING SPECIALIST CUSTOMER SERVICE ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER PUBLISHER PRESIDENT, BUSINESS INFORMATION GROUP

WILLIAM M. GLENN JASON CONTANT JAMES WARDELL PHYLLIS WRIGHT JESSICA JUBB DIMITRY EPELBAUM LORI THOMPSON-REID SHEILA HEMSLEY shemsley@ohscanada.com PETER BOXER pboxer@ohscanada.com BRUCE CREIGHTON

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS DAVID IRETON, Safety Professional, Brampton, Ont. ALLAN JOHNSON, Director of Construction, Hospitality, Oil and Gas, Workers’ Compensation Board of B.C., Vancouver, B.C. JANE LEMKE, Program Manager, OHN Certification Program, Mohawk College, Hamilton, Ont. DON MITCHELL, Safety Consultant, Mississauga, Ont. MICHELE PARENT, National Manager, Risk Management and Health and Wellness, Standard Life, Montreal, Que. TERRY RYAN, Workers’ Compensation and Safety Consultant, TRC Group Inc., Mississauga, Ont. DON SAYERS, Principal Consultant, Don Sayers & Associates, Hanwell, N.B. DAVID SHANE, National Director, Health and Safety, Canada Post Corporation, Ottawa, Ont. HENRY SKJERVEN, President, The Skjerven Cattle Company Ltd., Wynyard, Sask.

PETER STRAHLENDORF, Assistant Professor, School of Environmental Health, Ryerson Polytechnic University, Toronto, Ont. JONATHAN TYSON, Association of Canadian Ergonomists/Association canadienne d’ergonomie, North Bay, Ont. OHS CANADA is the magazine for people who make decisions about health and safety in the workplace. It is designed to keep workers, managers and safety professionals informed on oh&s issues, up to date on new developments and in touch with current thinking in the oh&s community.

WEBSITE: http://www.ohscanada.com INFORMATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS contained in this publication have been compiled from sources believed to be reliable and to be representative of the best current opinion on the subject. No warranty, guarantee, nor representation is made

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Date of issue: October 2010

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OH&S UPDATE

WARNING OVER RAIL CARS FEDERAL — The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) in Ottawa has issued a warning that tens of thousands of potentially faulty railway cars may be in operation, hauling dangerous goods across the country.

The announcement follows the TSB’s release of its final report into an incident near Dugald, Manitoba. On January 14, 2009, a faulty stub sill — part of a train’s frame that connects tank cars — went undetected. The sill severed, allowing a Canadian National Railway tank car loaded with 23,400 kilograms of flammable liquid propylene to separate from the rest of the freight train before coming to a stop, the TSB reports.

Although the incident did not result in any injury, derailment or release, the TSB notes in a statement, the lack of formal protocols to record and report stub

sill failures may prevent the identification of other broken train parts that could contribute to future incidents.

The TSB states that in “many cases, the regulator, Transport Canada, was either unaware of, or had limited information regarding stub sill failures,” which allowed the problem to go undetected.

“Approximately 41,000 cars within the North American tank car fleet are equipped with this model of stub sills and approximately 35,000 of them are in dangerous goods service,” Rob Johnston, the TSB’s acting director of rail and pipeline investigations, says in the statement.

“Although these represent just 13 per cent of the tank population, they account for 34 per cent of the cracked stub sills and 100 per cent of the broken ones in Canada. These numbers are alarming and must not be ignored,” Johnston cautions.

The TSB is recommending that Transport Canada take the lead in coordinating, with the rail industry and other

North American regulators, an effort to report stub sill failures. Specifically, the board urges the establishment of a protocol for reporting and analyzing the failures so that unsafe cars are repaired or removed from service.

The TSB report also singles out “stub sills manufactured to older design criteria,” which may be more susceptible to failure in the current operating environment of long, heavier trains. For example, prior to the mid-1990s, an average train in main-track service was about 1,500 metres long and weighed between 5,440 and 6,350 tonnes. Today, some trains are more than 3,600 metres long and weigh more than 9,100 tonnes.

“That’s a big difference,” says Johnston. “Trains and car design criteria must evolve over time and keep pace with operational demands or accidents may happen. This is a major safety concern.”

The TSB report notes 35 “UTLZBN” model stub sill failures — eight in Can-

OTTAWA GROUNDS AIRLINE FEDERAL — A Quebec airline connected to two fatal crashes has become one of only a handful of operators in recent years to have had its planes permanently grounded.

Transport Canada notes that its July 31 action against Quebec City-based Aéropro is “a rare and unusual measure that is not imposed lightly.” The federal department has cancelled the air operator certificate for the charter company, which offered business and recreational flights, as well as aircraft maintenance services.

On the morning of June 23, about a minute after takeoff, an Aéropro-operated Beechcraft King Air 100 crashed near Quebec City’s Jean Lesage International Airport. The crash claimed the lives of the two crew members and five passengers on board, says Marc Perrault, a senior investigator in the Montreal office of the TSB. About a month earlier, on May 19, a Cessna 172 aircraft that had earlier received maintenance services from Aéropro crashed on Île-aux-Grues, near Quebec City, while flying at a low level over a farmer’s field. The single-engine aircraft, owned by SAS Air, was being flown by a student pilot working toward her commercial pilot’s licence, Perrault reports. All four occupants died in the crash.

Aéropro spokesperson Stephane Dion says shutting down flying operations before the TSB has issued findings into the June 23 crash is premature.

As for the May 19 crash, Dion emphasizes that the plane involved was not even owned by Aéropro.

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Transport Canada notes the recent crashes were not the only considerations in cancelling Aéropro’s licence. MarieAnyk Côté, a department spokesperson in Montreal, says the decision followed a comprehensive audit of the company and findings that “there have been repeated violations” of the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CAR).

Carried out over three weeks in July, the audit “revealed significant shortcomings with respect to management and air operations, and also with respect to training,” Côté reports.

Transport Canada also conducted a risk assessment.

Information from the department’s website indicates that Aéropro paid two penalties of $3,500 apiece related to CAR non-compliance incidents in 2008 and 2009. In both cases, the company had allowed a person to act as a flight crew member without having fulfilled the requirements of the operator’s training program.

John McKenna, president and CEO of the Air Transport Association of Canada, questions the federal department’s extraordinary measure. Like Dion, McKenna suggests that TSB findings on the June 23 crash are needed before any final decision is made.

It is “very rare” for established companies such as Aéropro, which has been in business for more than 20 years, to have operating certificates cancelled, McKenna says.

Indeed, Côté notes, Transport Canada has done so only twice between 2005 and 2009.

— By Dan Birch

ada and 27 in the United States — between January, 2004 and June, 2009.

In all cases, the cars were built before 1996, and the stub sills met the appropriate design criteria in place at the time of construction. Since then, the stub sill manufacturer has replaced the part with a more robust design.

“While visual inspections at 10-year intervals may be adequate for most tank car stub sill inspections,” the report notes, “it may not be sufficient for tank cars equipped with UTLZBN design stub sills that have an increased risk of failure.”

TWO DIE IN WATER BOMBER CRASH FEDERAL — Two pilots are dead after the water bomber they were using to fight a forest fire near Lytton, British Columbia crashed on July 31.

The incident occurred at about 8:30 pm while the pilots were operating a Convair CV580 aircraft, says Rick Pederson, vice-president and general manager of Conair Group Inc. in Abbotsford, British Columbia, which owned the plane. Pederson confirms the accident claimed the lives of pilots Tim Whiting, 58, and Brian

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Tilley, 36. Whiting had been with the company for almost three decades, while Tilley joined Conair Group this year.

“A post-impact fire consumed the airplane,” Pederson says, adding that the blaze and steep terrain prevented rescue crews from reaching the wreckage until the next morning.

Corporal Dan Moskaluk, a spokesperson for the British Columbia RCMP, says that first responders, including RCMP officers and paramedics, “ascended steep and treacherous terrain in an active fire area to try and reach the plane, only to [be] met with the realization and sense of helplessness that they could not do anything for the crew.”

TSB regional manager Bill Yearwood says investigators built a heli-pad uphill of the accident site to reach the scene on August 1. Another forest fire, however, destroyed the heli-pad, delaying their return until August 3.

“The tanker aircraft dumped a portion of its load before the accident site, which was also before reaching the intended target fire, and subsequently crashed at a steep angle,” Yearwood reports.

Pederson says the crash was the company’s first fatal accident in 20 years.

CHARGES IN FARMING DEATHS LANGLEY — Twenty-nine charges have

been laid against two companies and four individuals after three workers were killed at a British Columbia mushroom farm in 2008.

Charges under the Workers Compensation Act and Occupational Health and Safety Regulations were laid on August 30. The charges are against A-1 Mushroom Substratum Ltd. and H.V. Truong Ltd. as employers; Ha Quan Truong as a company owner, director and supervisor; Thinh Huu Doan as a supervisor; Vy Tri Truong as a director; and Van Thi Truong as a company owner and director.

On September 5, 2008, workers at an industrial mushroom farm in Langley, British Columbia were attempting to fix an electric motor that powered a pump in a confined space. One of the pump’s flanges was disconnected from the system and released gas, believed at the time to be hydrogen sulphide. Three workers died, and two were severely injured.

British Columbia’s Criminal Justice Branch notes that the deaths and injuries were the result of workers being “over-

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come by gas in an enclosed space.”

New Democrat MLA Raj Chouhan reports that one of the injured workers is now in a wheelchair and unable to hear or speak, while the other survivor has been in a coma since the accident.

The oh&s counts allege these failures: UÊ ensure workers were made aware of known or reasonably foreseeable hazards to which they were likely to be exposed during their work; UÊ provide workers with information, instruction, training and supervision necessary to ensure their health and safety and that of other workers; UÊ ensure all confined spaces were identified, that related hazards were eliminated or minimized, and that work was performed in a safe manner; UÊ conduct a hazard assessment for the confined space; UÊ prepare and implement a written confined space entry program; and, UÊ assign supervision or responsibility to an adequately trained supervisor.

Although unable to discuss the details of its investigation, Donna Freeman, director of media relations for WorkSafeBC in Richmond, British Columbia, says that it was lengthy and complicated. “Our officers would probably describe it as probably the most complex investigation in our history. There have been in the area of 25 different personnel, from investigating officers to engineering staff to case officers, working on this over the period since the event in 2008,” Freeman reports.

Chouhan, founding president of the Canadian Farmworkers Union in 1980, says he is pleased that charges have been laid, but would like to see more regular and rigorous government enforcement to prevent further accidents.

“We have to make sure that training, that monitoring, that enforcement is there at the workplace, not only in the agriculture industry, in other industries as well.”

Chouhan says farming “has become much more commercialized, it has become much more industrialized [and] more new machinery and equipment has been introduced.” Not enough emphasis has been placed on training workers to safely use new technology, he argues.

WORKERS ALLEGE MISTREATMENT GOLDEN — A British Columbia work camp was shut down amid allegations of unsafe work conditions and employment standards violations.

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On July 21, a group of workers publicly alleged that they had been mistreated by their employer, Khaira Enterprises Ltd., while working at the company’s silviculture camp near Golden, British Columbia, says a spokesperson for the Ministry of Labour in Victoria. “The conditions they described include a lack of proper sanitation and clean drinking water, inadequate food and shelter and unpaid wages,” the spokesperson says.

New Democrat MLA Raj Chouhan says the site was discovered because the workers lit an illegal fire to draw attention to their conditions.

“That’s how they were found out. Not because of a regular check-up by forest safety, the workers’ compensation board or the Employment Standards Branch,” Chouhan charges.

The provincial spokesperson says that several agencies are investigating, including the labour ministry’s Employment Standards Branch, WorkSafeBC and the Ministry of Forests and Range. Khaira Enterprises has been barred from bidding on any forestry contracts in the region for at least a year, the spokesperson adds.

WorkSafeBC’s Donna Freeman says some issues raised by the workers fall within the board’s jurisdiction, although most do not. Nonetheless, Freeman says WorkSafeBC will continue to investigate.

The board could look into matters such as chemical storage, hazard identification and first aid equipment at the work site, she says.

Jim Sinclair, president of the BC Federation of Labour in Vancouver, says some workers have told him directly that they had been exposed to questionable conditions, including a lack of toilet facilities or potable water, daily shortages of food and piled-up garbage that put workers at risk of bear attacks.

Sinclair also alleges that the workers were being transported to and from the farm’s work camp in an unsafe manner.

“For two-hour trips, they used a 15-passenger van and put over 20 people in it,” he contends.

Sinclair and Chouhan encourage the provincial government to launch an independent inquiry into the silviculture industry. Sinclair argues there is “a systemic problem in this industry caused by lack of enforcement and low bidding.”

The spokesperson for British Columbia’s labour ministry reports that various inspections are currently under way and would need to be completed before determining if an inquiry is appropriate.

FALL PROMPTS 15 SAFETY COUNTS EDMONTON — Two Alberta companies

face a total of 15 charges under the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act in connection with the serious injury of a worker on August 15, 2008.

That day, the labourer fell from a second-storey mezzanine onto a pile of scrap metal, sustaining multiple broken bones and body trauma, notes Alberta Employment and Immigration (AEI) in Edmonton. In addition, workers employed

by Eco-Industrial Park Inc., Canadian Consolidated Salvage Ltd. and Diversified Staffing Services Ltd. were also exposed to asbestos-containing materials.

On August 13, Eco-Industrial Park was charged with six violations of the OH&S Act. Among other things, the counts cite the failure to ensure the health and safety of the worker and others present at the work site, and failure to ensure compliance with oh&s requirements.

Canadian Consolidated Salvage, for its part, faces nine counts under Alberta’s OH&S Code, including the following: failing to conduct a hazard assessment and report; failing to keep the work site clear of unnecessary accumulations of asbestos; failing to establish an emergency response plan; and failing to ensure that connecting components of a fall arrest system were manufactured to appropriate standards.

PLAN TO BEEF UP ACCOUNTABILITY EDMONTON — Alberta, the target of

recent criticism over oh&s enforcement, has adopted a 10-point plan to enhance workplace health and safety compliance, planning and education.

On July 30, employment and immigration minister Thomas Lukaszuk announced that the province “will implement 10 initiatives that will ensure Albertans can continue to have confidence in the health and safety of their workplaces, and address recommendations from the Office of the Auditor General.”

An earlier review by the auditor general found that “a small but high-risk group of employers consistently fail to comply with oh&s orders, often despite numerous re-inspections.” It was further noted that “half of those employers also continue to hold a valid Certificate of Recognition (COR), and continue to have elevated injury rates among their workers.”

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CONCERNS OVER WCB PERFORMANCE BONUSES EDMONTON — Concerns have been raised in Alberta over

the Workers’ Compensation Board’s (WCB) “goal-sharing” program, which allows board employees to receive a predefined percentage of their earnings if they meet certain annual corporate objectives.

Criticism was voiced by representatives for the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) and an Edmonton MLA. Jennifer Dagsvik, media relations specialist for the WCB in Edmonton, says the concerns revolve around the 2009 program, in which the two selected corporate objectives were return-to-work and quality decision writing. The program accounts for about five per cent of the board’s yearly administrative budget, Dagsvik says.

Liberal MLA Hugh MacDonald argues that, in 2009, closer to eight per cent of total premiums collected by the WCB were rebated through the program. “I certainly don’t think it’s necessary for the [WCB] to be giving bonuses to employees to reduce or terminate benefits for some injured workers,” MacDonald contends. “The bonus system completely distorts the objectivity of the [board],” he charges.

AFL president Gil McGowan agrees, saying that these “perverse incentives” undermine the work of the compensation system. “We think individual case managers should be making their decisions based on the best available medical

The plan includes the following: UÊ adopting updated compliance and enforcement procedures; UÊ posting oh&s records of most Alberta WCB-insured employers online; and, UÊ revising the employer review process for companies with CORs and poor safety performance.

“Let this serve as official notice for any Alberta company that doesn’t want to play by the rules,” says Lukaszuk.

AEI spokesperson Chris Chodan says a committee is already working on the COR initiative. “It will be tightening up what happens if you have significant incidents — if there’s injuries or fatalities,” Chodan says. “Right now, there are some companies that have more than one serious incident and still have a COR.” Robin Kotyk, chief operating officer of the Alberta Construction Safety Association in Edmonton, says posting oh&s records online “is something that would help people to be able to look at companies before they work for them.”

But AFL president Gil McGowan says there should be fuller details of a company’s oh&s violations posted online.

At the end of August, AEI released a template of what employer information will be accessible. Details about an individual employer’s history will include if the company holds a COR, the num-

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evidence and not based on whether or not they will be getting individual bonus cheques,” McGowan argues.

“If you were an injured worker, how much confidence would you have in the decisions of your case manager?” he asks.

Dagsvik counters that the WCB’s “goal is successful return to work, which means it must be safe, timely and sustainable.” In 2009, she reports, more than 93 per cent of injured workers were able to return to work successfully, nine in 10 of these with the same employer.

McGowan argues that if a claimant returns to work too quickly, “he or she might not be ready or able to do their old jobs or do them safely.” Also, once back at work, there is “pressure to move off light duty quickly.”

Dagsvik disputes the notion that claimants are being rushed, pointing out that claims duration in 2009 had increased by an average of three days.

MacDonald says he would like to see a review of claimants whose temporary disability benefits were terminated late last year to determine if any benefits were affected by the goal-sharing program.

Dagsvik says “checks and balances confirm the program works and our commitment to fairness is maintained.”

— By Jason Contant

ber of fatalities and lost-time claims, the lost-time claim rate, and industry- and province-wide lost-time claims.

NURSES WARN AGAINST FATIGUE REGINA — The Regina-based Saskatchewan Registered Nurses Association has issued an alert to inform members about how fatigue can negatively affect both patient and worker safety.

Nurses and nurse practitioners are urged to consider limiting their hours of overtime to avoid fatigue. While recognizing a need for systematic improvements — such as addressing nurse shortages and ensuring that organizations adhere to quality improvement and accountability programs — the alert adds that nurses also have individual responsibilities to identify fatigue.

It is incumbent upon staff to be aware of fatigue symptoms, the organization contends, citing a study that lists “verbal complaints of tiredness, lack of energy to perform routine tasks, complaints about physical ailments, irritability, difficulty concentrating and complaints about not getting enough sleep or being unable to sleep” as possible signs. Nurses must determine their individual coping levels for stress, fatigue and anxiety, the alert adds.

CONTACT WITH FAN CAUSES HARM REGINA — A van and truck outfitter received a $2,100 penalty in late July after pleading guilty to two violations of Saskatchewan’s OH&S Regulations.

Van Décor (1992) Ltd. in Regina was fined for failing to ensure there was an effective safeguard in place to prevent workers from contacting a moving part of a machine, and failing to develop and implement written work practices and procedures to ensure that cleaning was carried out in a safe manner, reports Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety in Regina.

The health and safety charges follow an incident on June 17, 2009 in which an employee of Van Décor came into contact with a ceiling fan while installing a strobe light on the roof of a van. The employee suffered injuries to both the back of his head and face as a result, the ministry statement notes.

CABS NEED KILL SWITCH: BOARD WINNIPEG — The agency responsible for Winnipeg’s taxicab service is considering the possibility of installing immobilizers in hopes of thwarting theft.

“It’s no longer [just] assaulting the cab drivers and robbing them. It’s come to sort of a carjacking-type situation in a few cases,” says Joan Wilson, secretary of the Taxicab Board in Winnipeg. “We just feel like immobilizers will help end that,” Wilson says.

A statement from the Winnipeg Police Service cites an incident on August 5 in which a 37-year-old taxi driver was robbed and assaulted by a man and a woman. The driver sustained injuries before the pair managed to take the taxi, returning the vehicle after a short joyride.

The Taxicab Board is hoping to see a type of “kill switch” installed in city taxis, Wilson says. The exact mechanism has not yet been determined, but the idea is that should the driver and vehicle become separated, “then the car would not run,” she reports.

Possibilities include a remotely triggered switch or something that could be activated by the knee or another body part, Wilson suggests.

Board members intend to make a recommendation to Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI), a Crown corporation that provides basic automobile insurance, she says. MPI confirms on its website that it offers approved immobilizers to owners of “most-at-risk” vehicles, which are twice as likely to be stolen as other vehicles.

Approved immobilizers, MPI notes, must meet a number of requirements, including featuring transponder-based technology, which involves a radio-frequency chip located in the key or key fob. When placed near or in the ignition, the transponder sends a signal to the immobilizer, deactivating the device and enabling the car to start.

However, MPI criteria does not consider the type of device being advanced by the taxicab board to be an immobilizer, says Brian Smiley, a spokesperson for the corporation. The board-suggested technology would shut down the vehicle “after a minute or two,” Smiley notes.

“You might kick the driver out and then drive three blocks, and then the vehicle comes to a standstill because the kill switch has been activated,” he says.

“From our perspective, a lot of carnage can happen in those three blocks,” Smiley contends. “Our philosophy is we don’t want the vehicle moving.”

Gordon Barton, general manager of Unicity Taxi in Winnipeg, does not support installation of any type of immobilizer, citing the relative rarity of thefts compared with the number of daily fares.

“The training of the drivers is far more critical,” Barton suggests.

In emergency situations, he adds, circumstances might make it difficult, even impossible, to activate a kill switch.

This past March, the Taxicab Board announced that side shields and emergency light systems would become mandatory for metered vehicles, and an earlier decision was made to install VerifEye cameras in the taxis by October 1.

FIREFIGHTERS INJURED IN BLAZE WINNIPEG — Two Winnipeg firefighters sustained injuries during a late-August blaze at an apartment building complex.

At about 5 pm on August 24, fire crews were called to the scene after a fire broke out between two low-rise buildings and blanketed the downtown area in thick black smoke, says Stephen

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REPORT BLAMES PROPANE LEAK TORONTO — A leak during an illegal truck-to-truck liquid propane transfer is being blamed for a deadly 2008 explosion at a Toronto propane storage and distribution facility.

Based on physical and video evidence, as well as computer simulations, Ontario’s Office of the Fire Marshal (OFM) in Toronto concluded that the leak at the Sunrise Propane Energy Group facility occurred following the failure of either the transfer hose between the two tanker trucks or a pumpbypass component on one of the trucks.

The OFM released a censored version of its final report in early August, just days before the two-year anniversary of the incident. Sunrise Propane employee Parminder Singh Saini was killed in the blast and Bob Leek, a district chief at Toronto Fire Services, died of a heart attack at the scene.

At approximately 3:47 am on August 10, 2008, “a vapour cloud of propane from a substantial leak ignited, resulting in a vapour cloud explosion, which generated a massive fireball,” the report states. Thousands of residents in neighbouring homes had to be evacuated.

OFM investigators were unable to pinpoint an ignition source, but do write that static discharge is a possibility.

“Moving hydrocarbon liquids within a range of electrical conductivity are susceptible to electrostatic discharge, and ‘spray electrification’ can occur as a result of a liquid leak,” the report states.

“The rubber-coated liquid transfer hose was constructed with an internal reinforcing wire, making it a possible accumulator. A damaged hose could expose the internal wire, and subsequent contact with a grounded component could result in an electrostatic discharge in an ignitable mixture.”

Six report recommendations are to be considered by a propane advisory team, a group created by the OFM that includes government, propane industry and fire service representatives. The recommendations include the following: UÊ additional engineered controls should be implemented

Sumka, a platoon chief for the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.

“It was difficult for firefighters to locate the seat of the fire, but they did find the fire after it had already entered a three-storey structure,” Sumka says.

“Fortunately, the structure has sprinkler systems in it, which kept the fire at bay until the firefighters were able to totally extinguish the fire.”

Two responding firefighters sustained injuries: one twisted his knee and another suffered smoke inhalation.

The blaze occurred in an area that is “basically a community unto itself,” complete with a walking area, cinema, mall and apartment blocks, Sumka says.

The fire started between the two smaller buildings, which are surrounded on the left and right by 13- and 20-storey buildings, respectively.

All of the buildings have roofs made

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on liquid propane transportation vehicles to shut down systems in the event that remote manual shut-offs are inaccessible. Current standards “do not provide sufficient safety requirements” for such situations; UÊ existing requirements do not “adequately define what is considered to be ‘present’ or ‘in attendance’ during propane transfer operations” and should be revised to reflect a safe workflow analysis; and, UÊ methods for determining if propane storage facilities can be located in heavily populated areas should consider the total combustible gas stored on site, adjacent land use and site congestion.

The Toronto-based Technical Standards & Safety Authority (TSSA), which oversees fuel safety in Ontario and is a member of the advisory team, plans to review the suggestions, says agency spokesperson Bernadette Celis.

Celis says both the Ontario government and the TSSA have taken measures since the explosion to review and improve propane safety. For its part, the TSSA audited all propane-filling facilities in Ontario, she says. No systemic safety issues were uncovered, Celis points out.

As well, the provincial government has acted on almost all recommendations made by a two-member expert panel that it created. “We are very confident with the regulatory framework that is in place,” Celis says.

Two years before the 2008 explosion, the TSSA had ordered Sunrise Propane to stop using illegal truck-to-truck transfers. A follow-up inspection in May of 2007 found that the company was in compliance, Celis reports.

The TSSA has no plans to add fuel safety charges to the list of environmental and oh&s counts against Sunrise Propane, Celis says. The company faces two charges under Ontario’s OH&S Act and eight under the Environmental Protection Act, including counts against its directors.

— By Dan Birch

of tar and gravel, which, along with high winds, aided the fire’s advance, he says.

Constable Jason Michalyshen, a public information officer with the Winnipeg Police Service, reports that the cause of the blaze appears to be “careless disposal of smoking material.”

Fire investigators have pegged property damage at about $5 million.

VILLAGE CHARGED IN DEATH POINT EDWARD — Charges under Ontar-

io’s OH&S Act have been filed against the Village of Point Edward and two supervisors following the death of a veteran volunteer firefighter in January.

Gary Kendall, a firefighter with Point Edward Fire & Rescue, was taking part in an ice-water training exercise on the morning of January 30. Kendall, 51,

became trapped under a large ice floe and drowned.

Oh&s charges were laid on July 27, says Matt Blajer, a spokesperson for Ontario’s Ministry of Labour (MOL) in Toronto. The three charges against the village cite its failure, as an employer, to do the following: ensure adequate pretraining had been completed; ensure there was an adequate number of rescuers on shore and that adequate rescue equipment had been provided and was available; and appoint a safety officer for the training exercise.

Similar charges were laid against the two supervisors. In addition, the supervisors have been charged with failing to have an adequate training plan and an adequate pre-training briefing.

Barry Malmsten, executive director of the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs in Ajax, Ontario, says firefighter training

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exercises can be inherently dangerous. “The only way [firefighters] are really going to be able to cope with it when they hit an emergency and things are not controllable is you have to put them into those situations,” Malmsten says.

Carrying out ice-water rescue training in a pool simply will not be sufficient, he points out. “You have to put your wetsuit on and get in the ice water and realize, ‘This is what happens; this is what your body feels like.’”

FIVE DOZEN CHARGES LAID IN SCAFFOLD DEATHS TORONTO — A scaffold collapse in Toronto last Christmas Eve that claimed the lives of four construction workers and severely injured a fifth has spawned 61 charges.

MOL spokesperson Matt Blajer confirms charges were filed on August 13, well in advance of the one-year deadline under Ontario’s OH&S Act. The charges include 30 counts against Metron Construction Corporation as both the constructor and employer, 16 against its director and eight against a supervisor.

In addition, four charges were filed against Swing ‘N’ Scaff, the platform supplier, and three against a company director.

Blajer reports that the general categories include the alleged failures to ensure the following: workers used proper fall arrest systems; the platform was not overloaded; and the unit was designed in accordance with provincial oh&s requirements.

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fall arrest, and failure to ensure that the work platform was supplied in good condition.

The deadly falls occurred on the afternoon of December 24, 2009, when a swing stage at the 13th-storey level of a high-rise construction site separated in the middle. Four workers died on scene, while the fifth sustained critical injuries.

Prior to the collapse, MOL inspectors had visited the site nine times between October 20 and December 17, 2009.

The first court appearance for the defendants was scheduled for September 30, Blajer says.

Sid Ryan, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour in Toronto, says he expects that the charges “will send a signal to every employer and supervisor in the province that [government is] taking these accidents extremely seriously.” Ryan adds he hopes “police will step up and lay some criminal charges.”

Since the deadly falls, Ontario has intensified its education and prevention efforts in the construction sector. A construction safety blitz was carried out between January and April, in which fall-related hazards were identified at 63 per cent of the sites visited. During the campaign, almost 3,500 orders were issued, approximately 800 of those being stop-work orders.

The province has “certainly asked construction employers and trade union leaders to redouble their efforts to ensure safety on construction sites,” says Ian Cunningham, president of the Council of Ontario Construction Associations in Toronto. However, Cunningham offers, the inherently dangerous work on construction sites means that safety “will always be a work in progress.”

Beyond construction, a government-appointed expert panel is currently reviewing Ontario’s entire oh&s system, and is scheduled to report its findings by the end of the year.

Ryan is hopeful the review’s outcome will “start to make serious inroads into the prevention of accidents.” In particular, Ryan would like to see a panel recommendation to remove accident prevention responsibilities from the workers’ compensation system and instead make it the purview of a new agency dedicated solely to health and safety efforts.

“That way, you give [accident prevention] more prominence and you can measure the results more readily,” he says.

WALL COLLAPSE INJURES FOUR MONTREAL — A Montreal construction worker remained in hos-

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pital with serious injuries almost a week after “hundreds” of bricks rained down on him and three co-workers on August 11.

The 43-year-old employee of Les Isolations Girbec sustained a skull fracture and spinal injuries, says Pierre Turgeon, a spokesperson for Quebec’s Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST) in Quebec City. Three workers for two different companies, Groupe ABS and Construction Eiffel, were also injured, one suffering from a concussion, Turgeon says.

The collapse occurred at about 7:45 am at St. Jean de Matha primary school in Montreal. The four men were standing on the platform of a scissor lift beside a four-storey brick wall, Turgeon says. As they were preparing to elevate the lift, bricks from the top of the wall suddenly fell on them.

The school is undergoing a $344,000 facelift, including masonry and roof repairs, that began in mid-July and was scheduled to be completed in 16 weeks, says Manon Gallant, a communications advisor with the Commission scolaire de Montreal.

Gallant declined to comment on the partial collapse.

Turgeon says investigators believe the workers were wear-

ing helmets. But even with the gear, “when hundreds of bricks fall on you from a four-storey-high building,” injury is likely, he adds.

Soon after the incident, Turgeon says the CSST directed that work on the construction site be stopped. The scissor lift was to be inspected as part of a routine check, and investigators had requested safe work procedures from all companies involved.

At about 9:15 am, Mounties, an emergency response team, a negotiator and an RCMP police dog were dispatched to the scene, where a hold-up alarm had been activated. Police formed a safety perimeter around the store.

Three hours later, the suspect released the uninjured clerk before trying to flee on foot. RCMP officers managed to quickly apprehend the suspect in a wooded area behind the store.

COURTS TO HIKE SECURITY HALIFAX — A call by Nova Scotia law-

yers to beef up courthouse security has been bolstered by compliance orders from the provincial labour department.

The Department of Labour and Workforce Development in Halifax issued three orders to Nova Scotia’s Department of Justice, which operates the courthouses,

TIPS TO AVOID LYME DISEASE SAINT JOHN — New Brunswick workers

who spend time in wooded, bushy areas are reminded that they are at increased risk of contracting Lyme disease.

The infection caused by bacteria is transmitted by deer ticks, which can hitch a ride when workers brush against vegetation, notes WorkSafeNB in Saint John. If untreated, Lyme disease can lead to arthritis, nervous system abnormalities, meningitis, irregular heart rhythm and even death.

The Public Health Agency of Canada has put New Brunswick on the country’s watch list for the disease because of an established tick population in a Saint John neighbourhood.

ENGINE FAILURE FORCES LANDING CAPE TORMENTINE — Engine failure caused a small plane to make an unscheduled landing in a field in Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick shortly after 4 pm on August 7.

The RCMP’s District 4 detachment notes witnesses reported the plane, carrying one passenger, left the local airstrip and flew only a short distance at a low altitude before coming down.

The experienced pilot informed police that he had been forced to make an emergency controlled landing. The pilot sustained minor injuries.

STORE CLERK HELD HOSTAGE LAKEVILLE — A suspect was arrested in

mid-August following a three-hour hostage-taking in New Brunswick.

Armed with a knife, it is alleged the 24-year-old man locked himself and a female clerk in a convenience store on August 15, notes a release from the RCMP’s Caledonia detachment.

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PROTECTIVE VESTS NOW A MUST DARTMOUTH — The Nova Scotia government has instructed

correctional facilities to heighten safety measures in the wake of two separate attacks on guards at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility near Halifax.

The ďŹ rst incident, on the evening of August 6, involved a correctional ofďŹ cer who was punched while escorting a prisoner within the facility, says Theresa Rath, a spokesperson for the Halifax Regional Police. The guard was uninjured, and a 19-year-old inmate has been charged with assault.

A second incident occurred at 12:10 pm on August 7.

It is alleged that a 21-year-old inmate stabbed an ofďŹ cer during a routine cell inspection. The ofďŹ cer was treated for non-life-threatening injuries, Rath reports. “I believe it’s the ďŹ rst stabbing in Nova Scotia of a correctional ofďŹ cer,â€? says Joan Jessome, president of the Nova Scotia Government & General Employees Union in Dartmouth, which represents provincial correctional workers.

The inmate faces charges of aggravated assault, assaulting a peace ofďŹ cer, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, carrying a concealed weapon and uttering threats.

Jennifer Gavin, a spokesperson for Nova Scotia’s justice and four to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS), which employs the attorneys.

The orders for both the justice department and the PPS cite the need to

department in Halifax, which employs the guards, says the stabbed ofďŹ cer was not wearing a protective vest. At the time, that gear was only required in high-risk areas of the facility or during high-risk situations, Gavin adds.

However, provincial justice minister Ross Landry announced on August 11 that staff in the facility “are now required to wear protective vests at all times where there is any chance of contact with an offender.�

Gavin says the department recently purchased 300 new vests that “have a higher stab resistance and bullet resistance.â€? The gear will be immediately available to ofďŹ cers in the north unit, which houses its most dangerous offenders. “Moving forward, it will be anyone in the facility who could have contact with an offender, and then, beyond that, it will be all of our [ďŹ ve] provincial facilities.â€?

Jessome suggests that every assault on a corrections staff member should be reported to the workplace’s oh&s committee. Making committee members aware of day-to-day items being used for weapons will enable them to do the job for which they are trained, she maintains. — By Emily Landau

conduct a violence risk assessment as required by Nova Scotia’s Violence in the Workplace Regulations. The assessment should include, but not be limited to, the

“safe access, usage and egress� for PPS staff at courthouses in Halifax.

Jim LeBlanc, executive director of the labour department’s OH&S Division, con-

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firms that the orders are in response to a complaint filed by the Nova Scotia Crown Attorneys’ Association (NSCAA) on March 23, following a 25-person brawl involving members of rival gangs at the Dartmouth courthouse.

“We’ve been working on this rather diligently for years, [but] it came to a head in October, 2008 with several incidents in the courthouse,” says NSCAA president Rick Woodburn, who suggests that prosecutor safety has been put at risk. “We’ve had prosecutors attacked in the courthouse, actually physically punched,” Woodburn says.

Chris Hansen, director of communications for the PPS, confirms that prosecutors have been assaulted, spit upon and threatened. “It can be a volatile situation.”

Woodburn says that NSCAA members would like to see a number of changes at the courthouses: metal detectors installed at entrances; perimeter security; in-court docks to separate prosecutors from both the accused and spectators; video monitoring of the buildings; and separate entrances and exits for prosecutors.

Beyond the need to have a workplace violence assessment conducted, the justice department has been directed to engage an expert individual or company to conduct an assessment of the courtroom layouts, consulting all stakeholders, including Crown attorneys, defence lawyers, court services staff and judges.

The PPS, for its part, must prepare a workplace violence prevention statement, recognizing violence as an oh&s hazard, and affirming the service’s commitment to minimize and, when possible, eliminate the risks of violence on the job.

The PPS has also been directed to provide the labour department with a list of mandatory oh&s training that PPS employees will undertake.

“We’re certainly looking very closely at the orders and working hard on compliance,” Hansen says.

Ken Winch, executive director of court services for Nova Scotia’s justice department, says there have been concerns with courthouse safety for some time.

Winch says a committee of experts released a court facility security report in November of 2007, which contained 11 recommendations and followed consultations with stakeholders.

“We’ve been proceeding on those recommendations since then,” he says.

“We are introducing closed-circuit televisions into our justice centres, we’ve installed panic or duress alarms at all

court locations, and we’ve done threatrisk assessments for our sheriff managers across the province,” Winch adds.

In August, justice minister Ross Landry said a walk-through metal detector would be installed at the Dartmouth Provincial Court. The justice department adds that at least two more deputy sheriffs will be hired and trained to operate the device.

Threat assessments show “metal detectors need to be used more frequently.”

FARMER CRUSHED IN MACHINERY SOUTH WINSLOE — A farmer trying to

repair a round hay baler on his farm in South Winsloe, Prince Edward Island was crushed to death on August 3.

Sergeant Denis Morin, a media relations officer for the Island’s RCMP, identified the deceased as Allan Turner, 52.

The farmer had the rear door of the baler open and power was flowing to the machine via a power take-off (PTO) driveshaft, says George Stewart, oh&s director for the provincial WCB. “One of the hydraulic hoses failed and the door that he was working under came down and pushed him into the machine.”

Several precautions can be taken when working with round balers, notes information from the National Ag Safety Database, a research website funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in Washington, D.C.: UÊ ensure the PTO is disengaged and the engine shut off before dismounting to service, clean or adjust the baler; UÊ keep the PTO properly shielded; and, UÊ shift into park and lock brakes before working on or under the tractor.

INPUT SOUGHT ON MINE REGS ST. JOHN’S — Newfoundland and Lab-

rador is seeking stakeholder feedback on how best to revise decades-old mine safety requirements.

The Mines Safety of Workers Regulations will be incorporated into the province’s OH&S Regulations, last revised in 2009. That is considerably more recent than the last time mine safety provisions were updated.

“Current regulations are outdated, as they were put in place in the 1950s and no longer reflect health and safety practices relevant to the mining industry in Newfoundland and Labrador today,” says government services minister Kevin O’Brien in a statement.

“Mining is a significant industry in the province and it is our duty to ensure that this industry is as safe and healthy as possible for workers and employers,” O’Brien notes.

The government is also seeking input on the province’s new Safety Standard for Mine Hoisting Operations.

Many of the preceding items are based on stories from our sister publication, CANADIAN OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY NEWS, a weekly newsletter that provides detailed coverage of Canadian oh&s and workers’ compensation issues. For more information, please call (416) 442-2122 or toll-free (800) 668-2374.

Didn’t see it here? Why not check out www.ohscanada.com for more web-exclusive news?

So, what’s on your mind?

Ever wonder what other oh&s types are thinking about? Find out by making our website poll at www.ohscanada.com a regular stop.

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DISPATCHES

Workers in Quebec, Ontario all shook up

By Dan Birch

D

avid Lau was sitting in his Carleton University office on the second floor of a two-storey building when he felt a gentle swaying motion on the early afternoon of June 23.

“There was shaking for 15 to 20 seconds,” recalls Lau, a civil engineering professor at the university and associate director of the Ottawa-Carleton Earthquake Engineering Research Centre in Ottawa.

Steadied by years of earthquake experience, Lau immediately recognized one of the telltale signs of a quake. But because the events are relatively rare in Eastern Canada, he says his mind could not help but grasp for some other plausible explanation.

There was a construction site nearby. Could it be that a wayward crane had bumped his building?

But no, it was the real thing. The magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck near Val-des-Bois, Quebec, about 50 kilometres (km) north of Ottawa, at 1:42 pm and at a depth 16 km below the earth’s surface, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reports. Damage was minimal, authorities indicated, although a small bridge near Val-desBois did buckle under the seismic load.

Public Works and Government Services Canada took steps to ensure all federally owned or leased buildings — in Ottawa and as far away as Montreal and Toronto — underwent visual inspections, says Nathalie Bétoté Akwa, a department spokesperson in Gatineau, Quebec.

Inspectors surveyed “interior and exterior walls, and verified utility services and building mechanical and electrical systems, such as heating, air conditioning, ventilation and plumbing,” Bétoté Akwa notes. “Some minor damage was found, necessitating repairs,” she adds.

The event prompted some inquiring minds to ask: Could Ontario and Quebec one day experience an earthquake with the potential for serious damage? If so, are buildings in the regions — both high- and low-rise — fit to withstand the onslaught and protect the employees inside?

Not to worry, suggests Ontario’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing in Toronto, which oversees the provincial Building Code. With respect to structural design for earthquakes, the Ontario code is harmonized with the National Building Code, the ministry reports.

“Requirements in all building codes are intended to reduce the probability that catastrophic damage will occur in the case of severe earthquakes,” says a ministry spokesperson.

“Codes recognize that relatively minor cosmetic damage may occur, such as cracked plaster ceilings.”

The spokesperson says “significant changes” to design requirements were made for Ontario’s 2006 code. The province

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is also considering more changes to structural requirements.

“We expect the structures to suffer some cracks, some damage, but we don’t want the structures to collapse” during a significant earthquake, says Lau, explaining the principles behind structural resiliency.

Buildings can be designed to withstand even major quakes with very little damage. “You just need more concrete. You just need more reinforcing steel, heavier columns,” he says, but notes that doing so would be cost prohibitive.

Earthquakes as powerful as the one that struck Val-desBois are “uncommon” east of the Rocky Mountains, the USGS notes. Lau agrees, but cautions that does not mean eastern quakes cannot still pose “significant seismic risk.”

Val-des-Bois sits on the southern edge of the Western Quebec Seismic Zone, which has about 10 noticeable events annually, though damaging earthquakes occur only about once a decade, the USGS reports.

Dan Birch is assistant editor of

OHS CANADA.

Tracking to keep on the right track with chemicals

By Jason Contant

T

oronto Public Health (TPH) is reminding businesses in the city to track and report their use and release of certain toxic chemicals each year.

As part of the ChemTRAC program, Toronto’s Environmental Reporting and Disclosure Bylaw imposes reporting requirements on facilities that use, manufacture or release 25 specific chemicals. This list includes benzene, cadmium, lead, mercury, nickel, nitrogen oxides, polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons, tetrachloroethylene (perchloroethylene) and volatile organic compounds.

The program is divided into three phases: s Phase 1 targets chemical manufacturers, food and beverage facilities, power generators, printing and publishing operations, water and wastewater treatment facilities and wood industries; s Phase 2 involves, among others, chemical wholesale, dry cleaning, laundry and funeral services facilities, and medical and diagnostic laboratories; and, s Phase 3 covers all other non-exempt sectors (exemptions include those engaged solely in retail sales, food and accommodation services, and medical or dental offices).

Phase 1 facilities are required to report their 2010 chemical use and release information by the end of next June.

“Then we’ll be looking at all that information and making

it available publicly by the end of 2011,” says Rich Whate, a health promotion consultant with TPH. For Phase 2 facilities, tracking requirements begin next year, with a report expected in 2012.

A facility must report any amount equal to or above a chemical’s threshold level as set out in the bylaw. TPH is offering free training and online calculators to help businesses estimate their use and release of toxic chemicals.

“We considered making pollution action plans mandatory, but we decided that businesses could use the data to set their own goals,” Whate says. “I’m sure a lot of occupational programs and training programs and safer chemical policies have come out of just learning more about what’s out there,” he adds.

Shawn McDonald, a project technologist with Pinchin Environmental Ltd. in Mississauga, Ontario, says the company estimates that 5,000 to 7,000 businesses will now fall under the program. McDonald suggests there are “a lot of benefits” in developing a voluntary action plan.

Jason Contant is editor of SAFETY NEWS.

CANADIAN OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

&

Should he stay or should he go?

By Emily Landau

B

odily functions generally don’t make for popular topics of conversation around the water cooler. Workers would likely prefer (and most are able) to covertly slip away from their work stations and quietly skulk off to the washroom when the urge strikes.

But one man is breaking his silence, claiming that being denied the right to go to the washroom during work has cost him a kidney. Ron Jeffries alleges that he was refused permission to use the facilities while working as a security guard for Royal Victoria Security in the British Columbia city of the same name.

Jeffries says he began working for the company in 2002, and lost the use of one of his kidneys in 2005.

“I told my employer that I needed to go to the bathroom, and he said that he didn’t have to give me washroom breaks,” he reports. “The reason I developed [kidney] stones was because of dehydration,” Jeffries contends. (Unable to use the washroom, he avoided drinking water over the course of the workday.)

The provision of bathroom facilities could bring the objectives of various statutes into play, including those related to human rights, workers’ compensation and employment standards.

Employment standards legislation is curiously silent on washroom breaks. Acts in both British Columbia and Ontario, for example, note that workers must be provided with half-hour lunch breaks after five hours of consecutive work, but make no mention of washroom breaks.

In Ontario, the Employment Standards Act (ESA) “does not require an employer to provide any breaks in addition to this eating period,” says William Lin, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Labour in Toronto. “The ESA is not prescriptive about bathroom breaks, as this issue can be worked out between an employer and employee,” Lin says.

Dr. Alp Sener, an assistant professor of urologic surgery at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, says he can envision a scenario in which an anatomically abnormal kidney — which Jeffries had — could be predisposed to drainage concerns, and that, combined with chronic dehydration, could cause a kidney stone to grow, eventually blocking kidney function.

Even without dehydration or abnormal kidneys, not going to the washroom for long stretches can be hazardous.

In patients who hold their urine, “their bladders get larger,” Dr. Sener explains. Stretching the muscle fibres of the bladder causes what is known as a decompensated bladder, which results in people being unable “to generate enough pressure in their bladder to empty it sufficiently,” he says.

Dr. Sener cautions that “you can get predisposed to bladder stones, you can get predisposed to bladder infections and then pain, of course, because of the stretching.”

Jeffries’s complaint is not common, says Jeffrey Goodman, a partner with Heenan Blaikie LLP in Toronto. “I think the vast, vast majority of employers out there recognize that during the workday, people have to go to the washroom, and they make arrangements to allow them to do so,” Goodman says.

Jeffries may have a basis for a human rights complaint if he can prove a medical condition required special accommodation. “The employer, at that point, would then be under an obligation to accommodate that disability... up to the point of undue hardship,” suggests Goodman.

Alternatively, he notes that a worker who is denied washroom breaks and suffers an injury as a result might also be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits “if the employee could demonstrate to a court that the work conditions were unsafe,” Goodman adds.

Jeffries says he intends to file a complaint with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, adding that he would like to see the legislation amended to specifically require employers to provide washroom breaks.

“I don’t think that anybody thought that [an employer] would deny somebody the right to the bathroom,” he says. “I think that the [ESA] has to be changed to make sure this doesn’t happen.”

Goodman disagrees. “I don’t, frankly, think that you make legislative amendments because of a few bad employers.”

All workers should use their mandatory meal breaks to also visit the washroom, suggests Dr. Sener.

“I think as a busy population now, we’re avoiding our bowel habits,” he says. “They think, ‘Oh, I’ll just go at home at the end of the day.’ By doing that, I think, you probably end up causing some long-term changes.”

Emily Landau is editorial assistant of

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Laid-off injured worker claims discrimination

By Emily Landau

A

n injured worker who was later laid off by Xstrata Nickel in Sudbury, Ontario is claiming that being passed over for recall amounts to discrimination.

The argument was put forward by George McIvor in a complaint before the Toronto-based Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario on August 3. McIvor’s spouse, Vicky McIvor, says her husband was injured in 2007 and worked in a modified position until he and 685 other workers were laid off in 2009.

When the Fraser Mine facility reopened this year, Vicky McIvor says Xstrata Nickel agreed to recall workers by seniority. The first group of 60 men was brought back in March, she says. “My husband was 24th on the list, and he was bypassed.”

She claims that there are other injured workers who were never laid off who have been accommodated by the company.

Xstrata Nickel declined to comment on the case.

“Under the Human Rights Code, every employer has a legal duty to accommodate,” notes Rosemary Bennett, a senior communications officer for the Ontario Human Rights Commission in Toronto. “What that involves is working individually with employees with disabilities, whether they be workplace injuries or whatever the disability, to see if there is some way the duties can be possibly modified or whether jobs can be adjusted to accommodate them,” Bennett says.

Without commenting on any individual case, she points out that Ontario employers are required to go through a process to determine a worker’s recall rights.

“It’s basically sitting down with the employee and looking at the on-the-job needs, and also the things the person with the injury or the disability can do, and seeing if there’s a way to modify the job to do that,” she says. “The employer can’t say, for instance, if they had laid someone off, ‘You’re staying laid off because you have an injury.’”

Workers also have responsibilities. “If they’ve requested accommodation, they have the onus to work with the employer,” Bennett says. “That involves educating the employer on the nature of the disability as it affects various duties.”

Workers need to take care around the big, bad weed

By Angela Stelmakowich

I

t’s one heck of a weed — growing to heights as high as six metres, and offering up leaves that can measure more than 1.5 metres wide.

The size may be impressive, but the sap of the giant hogweed transforms the plant from nuisance to genuine health concern. And that concern extends to workers.

In July, the Eastern Ontario Health Unit issued an alert to take care around giant hogweed, the presence of which

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has been confirmed in the unit’s five counties. “All residents should be cautious. But I would like outdoor workers, including road maintenance crews cutting roadside ditches, lawn and garden workers, as well as outdoor recreationalists, to be extra careful,” Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, medical officer of health for the unit, notes in a statement.

If the sap from a broken stem or crushed leaf, root, flower or seed comes into contact with skin, it can cause severe burns, blistering and painful sores when the skin is exposed to sunlight, the statement notes. Contact with the eyes can lead to temporary or even permanent blindness.

The sap contains photosensitive chemicals that become toxic on contact with sunlight, notes an alert from WorkSafeBC in Richmond, British Columbia. “The reaction can take place in as little as 15 minutes; however, you will not see or feel any effects for many hours,” the alert advises.

“The skin will redden and blister, followed by inflammation two or three days later. After a week, the affected skin will darken, and this pigmentation can last for months or years,” the information adds.

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) in Hamilton, Ontario notes that keeping safe means covering up, head to toe, in non-absorbent clothing made from waterproof material. That will include long-sleeved shirts, pants, gloves with long cuffs, boots and protective coveralls. And don’t forget to protect the face and eyes.

WorkSafeBC’s hazard alert points out that cotton, linen and many synthetics will absorb the hogweed sap, which can then penetrate to the skin. A North Vancouver worker learned this the hard way when he was burned through his clothing, the information adds.

If any of the sap gets on the skin, the CCOHS recommends that it be removed as quickly as possible by blotting it with absorbent cloth or paper, thoroughly washing the affected area with soap and water (followed by a good rinsing), and covering the area with protective clothing to avoid any exposure to light for at least 48 hours. If there is any skin reaction, contact a doctor as soon as possible.

Angela Stelmakowich is editor of

OHS CANADA.

Plane windows open up opportunity for safe egress

By Emily Landau

A

float plane operator in British Columbia is looking to enhance passenger and employee safety with its move in August to begin installing emergency popout windows on all of its aircraft.

The decision by Saltspring Air, based in Ganges, British

Columbia, was made in the wake of two recent float plane accidents in the province (neither involved the company).

In May, a float plane crashed near Yates Point, claiming four lives, and six passengers died after another plane went down off the coast of Saturna Island in November of 2009.

The windows were recently made available by manufacturer Viking Air, reports Philip Reece, marketing director for Saltspring Air. It was anticipated that the company’s entire fleet of planes would be outfitted with the new windows by autumn’s end.

The windows — which Reece calls a “simple modification” — will create an opening about 60 by 90 centimetres.

“There are two tabs on either side of the window,” he says.

A hard “shove in the two corners that are marked, and the window literally pops out.”

The windows give passengers and crew an extra escape opportunity, suggests Carmine Antonacci, operations manager of maintenance, repair and overhaul for Viking Air in Sidney, British Columbia. The doors are the primary exits, Antonacci notes, but points out that the window “provides a secondary escape if the aircraft crashes and the door isn’t functioning.”

Bill Yearwood, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada’s pacific region manager of air investigation in Richmond, British Columbia, applauds Viking “for coming up with these modifications, and the operators for taking the initiative to implement them right away.”

The majority of people who die in float plane accidents drown, either from being trapped in the aircraft or while trying to reach shore, Yearwood says. “There is a lot of information to support the need for better egress and better access to flotation devices after you exit the aircraft.”

Kirsten Stevens, who leads the SafeSkies watchdog group in Campbell River, British Columbia, says she hopes news gets out that the windows are available and that all seaplane operators consider making the change.

Federal transport minister John Baird ordered a review into float plane safety following May’s fatal crash.

Adjustable surfaces curb unsafe ups and downs

By Caitlin Crawshaw

W

hether an employee works at a computer monitor, a conveyer belt or a laboratory bench, proper ergonomics are essential for safety and comfort.

The goal, always, is to “get the employee to work in a neutral posture,” says Diane Stinson, principal consultant for HealthWorks Ergonomics & Injury Prevention Consultants in Calgary. And work surface height plays an important part in achieving that objective.

“The general rule of thumb on the height of surfaces is, the finer the work, the higher the surface,” Stinson says.

Consider that jewellers need surfaces that keep hands above their elbows so they don’t need to hunch over their work. Elbow position for many office workers, however, is

likely best when it is in line with a keyboard to ensure that wrists remain flat while typing. And paperwork demands yet another change in position, so that a worker’s elbows are a couple of inches below the work surface.

Adjustable surfaces can also prove useful if a chair or keyboard tray, for example, does not provide a range that suits a worker with less common proportions. It takes only a push of a button or a pull of a lever to bring an adjustable work surface into the range that fits either a very tall or very short person. Stinson says the option is particularly useful when work stations are shared by several people.

But adjustable work surfaces are for more than offices; they may be a safe bet wherever something varies in height or weight.

For instance, in a commercial laundry operation, an employee may fill one bin with clean towels and remove soiled items from another. To avoid repeated bending that may set the stage for a future back injury, a spring-loaded platform, which lowers when a bin is heavy and rises when it is light, can ensure workers do not experience undue strain.

Adjustable work stations are also a more comfortable option for people with physical limitations, says Vancouver ergonomist Dave Coates, president of ErgoRisk. “People who have more miles on their frame, or those who’ve had a car accident or two in their 50 years of life, their [bodies are] going to appreciate the ability to stand,” Coates suggests.

The opportunity to stand would likely be welcomed by other employees, too. “The body doesn’t sit as a natural position as well as it stands at work,” Coates points out.

Call centres, 9-1-1 dispatch centres or any workplaces that require remaining near a work station can make it tough for workers to inject a little movement into their days. Raising and lowering their work surfaces can help.

Sitting for long periods of time causes waste products to build up in muscles (static loading), contributing to the development of repetitive stress and other injuries, Stinson explains. But standing (preferably on anti-fatigue mats) for no longer than a half-hour should be the rule.

Then there’s the third option: walking. Three years ago, Details, a company in Grand Rapids, Michigan that specializes in ergonomic furniture, introduced a sitting-to-standing work station with a treadmill.

The idea is that people find their natural walking pace “so you can get lost in your work,” says Bud Klipa, the company’s general manager. It’s not about sweating (the device moves at no more than about three kilometres per hour) but it does add physical activity to a worker’s day.

“We just assume the seated position is what we’re going to be in. It’s really about getting people out of that mode of thinking,” Klipa says. “What we’re trying to encourage is that you need to be changing your postures... and looking for ways to integrate more movement into your day.”

Caitlin Crawshaw is a writer in Edmonton.

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OFF-DUTY COVERAGE

On Again,

Off Again

BY JASON CONTANT

It was two days before Christmas in 2008. An off-duty transit police officer and his family were on their way home for the holidays when they came upon a disconcerting scene.

Driving through the British Columbia city of Chilliwack, the designated constable for the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Police Service (SCBCTAPS) noticed a truck stopped in the middle of an intersection. But that was not all. Beside the truck was a man urinating on both himself and the vehicle.

The man, visibly unsteady, got back into his vehicle and drove away.

Convinced the man was drunk, the officer called 9-1-1 and, being told officers would be unable to immediately respond, pursued the truck. He witnessed the speeding truck sideswipe a parked vehicle, mount curbs and drive toward oncoming traffic.

When the truck stopped at the side of the road, the transit officer ap-

ending with injuries to the officer.

The circumstances raised a specific question: Is an off-duty transit officer eligible for workers’ comp benefits if injured? And, more generally, does eligibility extend to any worker injured while trying to stop an illegal act?

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ILLUSTRATION: JAMES WARDELL

proached and tried to retrieve the keys from the ignition. A struggle ensued,

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TWICE DENIED The transit officer did file a claim, but was denied twice: first

by WorkSafeBC in March, 2009, and then by the board’s review division that November. At both levels, decision-makers determined the officer’s multiple soft-tissue injuries did not “arise out of and in the course of employment,” notes a June 30, 2010 ruling by the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal (WCAT) in Richmond, British Columbia.

Overturning the earlier decisions, WCAT vice-chair Julie Mantini concluded the worker was injured in the course of employment. His actions “were those the employer would have expected in the worker’s role as a transit police officer, and [he] received remuneration from the employer.”

The officer was paid four hours of overtime after informing his direct supervisors of the incident, Mantini reports. In addition, he was reimbursed for the replacement costs of a jacket and jeans damaged during the confrontation.

thor of Legal Aspects of Policing, notes in his book that confusion exists around whether or not there is a clear distinction between “on duty” and “off duty” for police employment.

The “on duty at all times” view is supported by a June, 2000 Court of Appeal decision in Ontario which overturned an earlier ruling. Originally, the trial judge had determined that a police officer was not executing his duties because he was privately employed to direct traffic outside of the premises of the company that had hired him.

Elsewhere in the country, the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta has expressed the view that, because of their office and position, police officers are “in effect ‘on duty’ 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” while the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia has held that it “goes without saying that a police officer can be called out at any time and essentially is never off duty.”

Nova Scotia does not have transit police officers. Theresa Rath, public relations manager for the Halifax Regional Po-

The worker has the jurisdiction to enforce the “exigent circumstances” outside of transit territory or property.

To determine compensability, WorkSafeBC spokesperson Megan Johnston says a claims adjudicator must consider the Rehabilitation Services and Claims Manual, Volume II. Policy item #14.00 outlines a whole host of indicators that may offer guidance, including the following: s if the injury occurred in the process of doing something for the benefit of the employer; s if the injury occurred while the worker was performing activities that were part of the regular job duties; and, s if the risk to which the employee was exposed was the same as would be the case in the normal course of production.

WorkSafeBC’s policy notes that all listed factors “can be considered in making a judgement, but no one of them can be used as an exclusive test.”

Oscar Allueva, SCBCTAPS’s senior labour relations advisor, suggests that “the vice-chair really had to go outside the policy of WorkSafeBC to find in favour of the officer.”

OFF AND ON On the face of it, “on duty” and “off duty” may seem self-explanatory. But that is not necessarily so in all circumstances.

Michael Fitzgibbon, a partner with Watershed LLP in Oakville, Ontario, says that in his home province, consideration of “during the course of employment” would be based on the place, time and activity of a worker.

“For most of us, ‘in the course of employment’ is pretty easy,” Fitzgibbon suggests. “We show up at our workplace, we work and if it happens at work, it’s an injury that would be covered,” he says.

The issue may not be quite so clear for some, including these transit police officers, “because the course of employment, or the scope of the employment, goes beyond the four walls of the employer’s building,” Fitzgibbon notes.

Paul Ceyssens, a British Columbia-based lawyer and au-

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in

lice, says that “our officers are considered on duty 24/7 when they are in our jurisdiction and, as such, they have full powers of a police officer.”

A transit police officer in British Columbia has the same qualifications and equipment — such as handcuffs, pepper spray, a baton and a gun — as any municipal police officer, Mantini writes. The worker has the jurisdiction to enforce the Criminal Code of Canada in “exigent circumstances” outside of transit territory or property, she notes.

Jurisdiction for transit police is generally limited to transit vehicles or property. However, “designated constables can provide police services when the incident is not directly related to the safety or security needs of transit passengers, transit employees and general public,” as long as they are not policing routinely in these circumstances, Mantini adds.

“The worker had the jurisdiction to arrest a person suspected of impaired driving outside of transit property or territory if the circumstances were such that the worker’s immediate attention was necessary to protect the safety of others,” the ruling notes.

Once it was established the transit police officer was on duty and had exercised his jurisdiction appropriately, Mantini notes, some criteria in the policy were met, thus fulfilling eligibility requirements for compensation.

A provision exists for pursuing a judicial review if WCAT is believed to have made an error in law, says Johnston, but WorkSafeBC has no plans to do so.

SCBCTAPS and the Canadian Office & Professional Employees Union (COPE) filed appeals supporting one another, which were combined and submitted to WCAT. Mantini accepted the joint submission that “police officers can put themselves ‘on duty’ while not technically on a scheduled shift.”

While a valid distinction exists between on and off duty for most workers, “police officers are subject to greater regu-

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lation than other workers with respect to off-duty conduct, by virtue of the duties and powers of the office of constable,” Ceyssens relays in his book.

In support of that view, Mantini’s decision cites a WorkSafeBC ruling from 1993. The claim involved a police officer who was granted compensation benefits for an injury he sustained late one evening while apprehending a suspect trying to remove a stereo from a car parked in his driveway.

WorkSafeBC reasoned that the off-duty, casually dressed officer “objectively had embarked on a criminal investigation at the point at which he saw the open car door.” Once the officer “saw objective evidence of a crime in progress, his police officer role was engaged,” the decision notes.

DUTY CALLS Any time a police officer puts himself on duty, says Allueva of SCBCTAPS, he is “under the microscope to a certain extent.”

The officer is liable under the Police Act if he does something that is considered misconduct, he says.

Steve Milne, workers’ compensation appeals and oh&s coordinator for Local 378 of COPE in Burnaby, British Columbia, agrees that members can be disciplined for off-duty conduct. “For WorkSafeBC or anyone else to say, ‘Well, you shouldn’t be entitled to benefits as a result of something that happens in that situation,’ was just wrong,” Milne says of the incident involving the transit officer.

There are factors that must be assessed before opting to put oneself on duty, says Allueva. These include whether or not the officer informed the local municipal police service before responding, and whether or not he presented his badge and identified himself as a police officer.

During the Christmastime incident two years ago, the transit police officer did call 9-1-1 and did identify himself.

After the truck stopped at the side of the road, Mantini writes in her ruling, the officer approached the vehicle and, seeing the driver with his eyes closed and his mouth open, thought the motorist had passed out. When the officer opened the passenger door, a creaking noise alerted the driver.

The worker identified himself and showed his badge, placing his knee on the seat in a bid to extract the keys from the ignition. Yelling profanities, the motorist grabbed the officer’s collar and punched him, managing to push the worker from the vehicle and put the truck in gear.

The vehicle ran over the transit officer’s right arm and then dragged him for a distance after his boot became caught on the passenger-side door. The truck eventually came to a stop and the worker approached, again identifying himself as a police officer.

Police back-up later arrived on scene and officers apprehended the motorist, whose blood alcohol level registered more than three times the legal limit. He was also in possession of about 80 grams of marijuana.

DEFINED LIMITS Allueva calls the WCAT ruling a “good decision” generally for both transit police and police officers, but cautions that its reach likely has limits. He expects that a police officer or a designated constable working for transit police in Vancouver would likely be “able to use this case.” However, “if you’re a transit officer of some kind across the country, you may not have that authority.”

Brad Ross, a spokesperson for the Toronto Transit Commis-

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sion, concurs, pointing out that special constables “currently don’t have the authority to pull over a motorist,” but do have the power of arrest and detention.

(In August, talks were under way between representatives for the transit service and the Toronto Police Service regarding the powers and authority of special constables).

Tony Brown, senior communications coordinator for Ontario’s Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services in Toronto, explains that individually appointed special constables are peace officers subject to the parameters of the “period, area and purpose” of their appointments.

“Special constables provide only a supporting police role,” Brown says, noting that these workers are not permitted to possess firearms and prohibited or restricted weapons unless possession can be justified.

From an Ontario perspective, says Fitzgibbon, while the transit officer ruling “is interesting, it’s not binding.”

The transit police service in British Columbia was established by the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General in 2004 to provide policing services in and around Vancouver’s transit system.

Allueva says that SCBCTAPS secured a letter from the ministry’s assistant deputy minister. Submitted as a new piece of evidence before WCAT, the letter, dated July 23, 2008, confirmed that in exigent circumstances, officers could provide services when the incident is not directly related to the safety and security of transit passengers or employees, he reports.

That clarification filled a void, Allueva suggests. “The fact that [transit officers] are police means they serve a higher public service… in protecting the public.” As such, “they may have to respond to situations outside of that area,” he says.

“Nobody would question, for example, if an off-duty cop

“For most of us, ‘in the course of employment’ is pretty easy,” Fitzgibbon suggests. “We show up at our workplace, we work and if it happens at work, it’s an injury that would be covered,” he says. responds to a bank robbery and apprehends the suspect or does so in a way that protects life and property,” Allueva says.

“There’s no way a court in that case isn’t going to say he responded to that situation because of his sworn oath to serve and protect.”

An SCBCTAPS officer’s oath states “to the best of my power, cause the peace to be kept and prevent all offences against the persons and properties of Her Majesty’s subjects,” COPE reports in a statement.

BEYOND POLICE The implications of the decision remain to be seen. “Every police force in the country will have their own procedures on this,” says Michael Gendron, a communications officer for the Canadian Police Association in Ottawa. Since no general standard exists, “it really depends on the legislation in each of the provinces and municipalities,” Gendron suggests.

In the transit officer case, an argument that the worker decided to intervene for personal reasons does not hold water. “Here, the officer phoned 9-1-1,” says David Bannon, a lawyer with Ogilvy Renault LLP in Toronto. “This eliminated any factual issue as to whether or not he was actually engaged in ‘keeping the peace,’” Bannon contends.

For David Eby, executive director of the BC Civil Liberties Association in Vancouver, it would be a shock if a police officer opted not to intervene. “And if we ask police officers to intervene when they are off duty, the very least we can do is cover them for any injuries they sustain when they are acting on our behalf,” Eby says.

In fact, he is of the view that “any public servant who has a role that may require them to intervene while off duty should be properly covered if they are injured.”

But what about the potential influence for other workers?

Fitzgibbon points to salespeople, whose duties and employment may include travelling from one customer location to another, or workers who must stay overnight in hotels while attending work-related business.

Of course, there are limits. If that travelling salesperson decides to take in a hockey game, and is injured at the event, “you would have taken yourself out of the scope or extent of your employment by engaging in that personal activity,” Fitzgibbon says.

Consider, as well, visiting homemakers, the umbrella of which includes companions, home support workers, housekeepers, personal aides and respite workers. These workers provide ongoing or short-term home support services for individuals and families during periods of incapacitation, con-

valescence or family disruptions, notes Human Resources and Skills Development Canada in Ottawa.

Each home, hospital or nursing home in which homemakers work is a workplace, says Gail Acton, executive director of Creative Career Systems, a job skills and employment training agency in Owen Sound, Ontario. As such, employers must pay into workers’ compensation and self-employed homemakers must pay an assessment. Anyone who does not pay into the scheme “is unable to collect,” Acton notes.

“There is a huge gap in [employees’] skill levels that reflects on the health and safety in homes, institutions and hospitals,” she argues. “The real challenge is in the training and various programs from community colleges, boards of education and private schools,” Acton adds.

And what about tree planters? Serena Ilott, office manager for Dorsey Contracting Inc. in Kenora, Ontario, says that accidents occurring while staying at a hotel would likely not be compensable, as they would be after hours, but if the employee was staying in a “camp” setting, he could possibly receive compensation benefits.

If a worker received either a scratch or a cut on a day off, Ilott could not envision how that would be covered.

“But if that scratch got infected in the next week while working and required treatment, the adjudicator may allow benefits due to the nature of tree planting and being exposed to more dirt and grime, preventing the ‘normal’ hygiene,” she suggests.

For his part, Eby says that he believes the WCAT decision could apply to emergency responders, such as firefighters and paramedics. Bannon agrees that “this decision could be extended to other emergency responders, particularly given the right background facts.” Other situations could arise “where an ‘off-duty’ employee could be engaged in their employment, but these would be very fact specific,” he adds.

Fitzgibbon suggests any employee who “has certain statutory obligations or duties,” may be affected by the ruling.

“There are certain professions that are analogous to police officers [where] this concept might apply,” he says.

However, “I don’t think it would apply to a regular, runof-the-mill private sector employee.”

And what about the implications for citizens — who also have the power of arrest — should they become injured, say, while helping to apprehend a bank robber?

“I think that it’s a pretty discrete category of people responsible around public safety issues that are properly affected by this ruling,” Eby says. “Any other discussion about expanding to citizens or other job types would be one discussion that would be properly had in the legislature,” he adds.

“You cannot use this [decision] as a private, ordinary citizen,” Allueva argues. “You’re not working for anybody.”

For Milne, the successful appeal simply “lays the groundwork” for future cases involving transit officers.

“What we’re doing is building on for the next person to go through,” he says. The particulars of a case would likely dictate its outcome.

One thing, however, is very clear. “Lives were placed in danger because of the impaired driver’s conduct,” Mantini writes. Without the actions taken by the transit officer, circumstances may have proven more costly, indeed.

Jason Contant is editor of SAFETY NEWS.

CANADIAN OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

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SILICA

Not Yesterday’s Problem

BY WILLIAM M. GLENN Silicosis is one of the oldest occupational diseases, yet it is hardly yesterday’s problem.

Inhaled crystalline silica is among the most common work-related exposures worldwide, exacting a heavy health toll each year. In Canada, silica is ranked the third highest industrial carcinogen in terms of the number of workers exposed.

Without proper precautions, fine crystalline silica dust is as capable of disabling, even killing,

PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO

workers today as it ever was in the past.

HERE, THERE, EVERYWHERE Crystalline silica or silicon dioxide (SiO2) is one of the most abundant compounds in the earth’s crust, says Dr. Leon Genesove, chief physician in the Occupational Health and Safety Branch of Ontario’s Ministry of Labour in Toronto.

How abundant? CAREX Canada, based at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, reports that silica is one of the most plentiful minerals on earth and is a basic component of soil, sand and rocks, including granite and quartzite.

As for activity, Natural Resources Canada reports that Quebec, Ontario and Alberta are the primary silica producers in the country, followed by Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Nova Scotia.

Despite its natural and widespread abundance, occupational health experts are not particularly worried about silica, per se. Pure silica is inert, insoluble and indigestible.

It does not burn and it yields no dangerous fumes. Nor is

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non-crystalline or amorphous silica a serious work-related health threat, unless a person is subject to overwhelming exposures. Then, like any other fine dust, it can severely irritate the lungs and breathing passages.

It is fine particles of crystalline silica — those measuring five to 0.5 microns in diameter and those freshly cleaved (through sandblasting or crushing) — that are the real worry. Sonia Lal, an occupational hygienist/health and safety specialist with Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, Inc. (OHCOW) in Toronto, explains that particles five microns and smaller have a higher likelihood of reaching the lower respiratory tract and instigating damage.

If inhaled into the lungs, Dr. Genesove points out that fine particles can “lead, cause or contribute to a number of medical conditions, including silicosis, tuberculosis, lung cancer, connective tissue and kidney disease, emphysema and chronic bronchitis.”

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Respirable silica dust is released when Jurisdiction Number of Occupational exposure rock or silica-containing materials such workers exposed to limit (mg/m3) as concrete, brick, sand castings, tile, crystalline silica per year for crystalline silica marble, mortar and grout are drilled, blasted, crushed, pulverized, ground, British Columbia 48,000 0.025 cut or polished. Estimates compiled by [r, A-quartz and CAREX Canada note almost 350,000 cristobalite] Canadian workers, 94 per cent of them Alberta 48,000 0.025 men, are occupationally exposed to crys[r, A-quartz and talline silica over the course of a year. cristobalite] By industry, total exposures in specialty trade contractors (construction) are Saskatchewan 11,000 0.05 [r, cristobalite]; 140,000; building construction, 68,000; 0.05 [r, quartz]; heavy and civil engineering construction, 0.1 [r, tripoli] 31,000; metal ore mining, 9,900; cement Manitoba 12,000 0.025 [r] and concrete product manufacturing, 8,800; support activities for road transOntario 129,000 0.05 [r, cristobalite]; port, 7,300; plastic product manufactur0.1 [r, quartz, tripoli] ing, 7,100; truck transportation, 6,900; Quebec 71,000 0.05 highway, street and bridge construction, [r, cristobalite, 6,400; iron and steel mills, 4,900; glass tridymite]; and glass product manufacturing, 4,800; 0.1 [r, quartz, tripoli] non-metallic mineral mining, 4,200; and other, 50,000.

New Brunswick 9,100 0.1 [quartz]; While the majority of exposed indi0.05 [cristobalite] viduals work in construction, there are Nova Scotia 9,500 0.025 [quartz, other environments and work tasks of cristobalite] concern, such as the following: s coal and hard rock mining operations, Prince Edward Island 1,700 0.025 [r] granite quarrying and processing; Newfoundland 6,500 0.025 [r] s casting and abrasives blasting in & Labrador foundries; Yukon 500 300 particles/mL s mills and refractory brick work; (as defined by s sandblasting in the auto sector; the use of a konimeter) s agriculture (dust from both ploughing and harvesting); and, Northwest Territories, 1,100 2 [r, amorphous]; s polishing and sandblasting in dental Nunavut 0.05 [r, cristobalite, offices. tridymite, silica flour]; While silica is used in every province 0.1 [r, fused silica, and territory, Ontario leads the counquartz, tripoli] try in terms of occupationally exposed workers (see chart). *Based on research undertaken by CAREX Canada and published in its Carcinogen With almost 350,000 Canadian workProfile for Silica, Crystalline (updated March, 2010). ers exposed, CAREX Canada notes that *Note: “r” means respirable crystalline silica is among the most common workplace carcinogens, behind solar radiation (with 1.5 million workers exposed) and diesel may be higher. In many cases, one of the medical complicaengine exhaust (804,000), and just ahead of polycyclic aro- tions of silicosis — which include tuberculosis, lung cancer matic hydrocarbons (307,000), benzene (297,000) and wood or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — rather than silicosis itself, may be listed as the official cause of death. dust (293,000).

Whether the fatality rate is conservative or not, Dr. GeneCheryl Peters, the lead scientist compiling the occupational exposure data for CAREX Canada, cautions that not sove suggests that the toll is still too high. “All cases of silicosis all of the aforementioned workers are necessarily at risk. The are preventable,” he argues.

Exposures, at least among the most heavily exposed secnumbers of potentially exposed workers are based on statistical protocols developed in the European Union, says Peters. tors of the work force, have dropped significantly since the “The criteria for what constitutes workplace exposure is very 1950s. However, several recent Canadian studies seem to indicate that the extent of the danger may not yet be fully reclow. They do not relate to the risk of developing silicosis.” ognized or appreciated.

A WIDER VIEW Much of the pivotal research around silicosis to date has Canada-wide statistics compiled by the Association of Work- focused on the high-exposure work forces, such as sandblasters’ Compensation Boards of Canada show that there were 21 ers and drillers, hard rock miners, potters, stonemasons and silicosis-related deaths in 2008, although the actual number foundry workers.

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But a team of Quebec researchers recently examined the effects of silica exposure on a much broader range of occupational experience. They reconstructed the work histories and silica exposures for two large population-based groups: 857 cases of lung cancer diagnosed between 1979 and 1986, and a second group of 738 cases diagnosed between 1996 and 2001.

Each cancer case was matched by sex and age with Montreal residents from the electoral rolls.

The findings, published in the June, 2010 issue of Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, indicate that occupational exposure to silica may be responsible for about three per cent of all lung cancers.

After adjusting for a number of confounding variables, including smoking and past exposures to other occupational carcinogens, the team concluded that any occupational exposure to silica (above background levels) increases the risk of developing lung cancer by an estimated 30 per cent. “Substantial exposures” increased the risk by 70 per cent.

“An association between inhaled crystalline silica and lung cancer has important public health implications, not only for the small number of high-exposure industries that have been targeted in the cohort studies, but for the much larger number of workers exposed in other industries,” the study points out.

“I think that respirable silica should, indeed, be a regulatory and research priority,” says Dr. Stephen Vida, a member of the Environmental Epidemiology and Population Health Research Group at McGill University in Montreal. In support of that view, Dr. Vida cites the strong association between lung cancer and occupational exposure to respirable silica, the ubiquity of silica in the environment, and the substantial estimated frequency of occupational exposure.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France has classified inhaled crystalline silica (in the form of quartz or cristobalite) from occupational sources as

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a Group 1 (carcinogenic to humans) lung carcinogen. When the IARC report on silica came out in 1997, it sparked considerable debate.

“Silicosis is definitely a risk factor, while the carcinogenicity of silica itself is still a matter of debate,” says Dr. Genesove.

“Some studies show a slight positive effect, while others do not support an association. It’s best to say the link is still unclear,” he adds.

Still, based on carcinogenicity, other toxic properties and the prevalence of occupational exposure, CAREX Canada ranks crystalline silica as an “immediate high-priority” substance. Beyond identifying sectors that need more attention, Peters says CAREX data can “also indicate jurisdictions that may need to revisit their occupational exposure standards.”

In Ontario, OHCOW’s Lal says she believes silica should be included in the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board’s (WSIB) “Road to Zero” plan to eliminate workplace injuries and fatalities. Even though exposure limits continue to be ratcheted down, “we aren’t moving as quickly as we should to get this terrible disease under control,” Lal says.

Over the last 10 years, the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) in Cincinnati, Ohio has twice reduced the recommended Threshold Limit Values (TLV) for quartz and cristobalite: first from 0.1 milligrams per cubic metre (mg/m3) to 0.05 mg/m3, and then by half again to 0.025 mg/m3 in 2006.

A number of Canadian provinces and territories reference these TLVs in provincial legislation, although not all have adopted the most recent edition.

New Brunswick, as an example, still relies on the ACGIH’s 1997 booklet of TLVs for its occupational exposure standards (with the exception of lead sulphide and formaldehyde). Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Yukon, among other jurisdictions, have adopted their own requirements related to silica.

No Treatment, No Cure Information compiled from numerous sources shows how silica can send an exposed worker on a long, hard journey.

Once deep in the lungs, silica particles quickly become trapped in the tiny air sacs, or alveoli, where oxygen is absorbed and carbon dioxide expelled. White blood cells called macrophages are activated and rush to break down the silica, releasing enzymes that inflame the surrounding lung tissue.

Eventually, clumps of dead cells and fibrous scar tissue build up around the trapped silica particles, sealing off the reactive area. With the damaged areas of the lung no longer able to exchange gases efficiently, the lungs become less flexible and breathing becomes more difficult.

The effect is not always the same. Many patients with simple, chronic silicosis are asymptomatic. Others may complain of a nagging cough, become tired more easily or feel short of breath (dyspnea) after exertion.

A chest X-ray is needed for an accurate diagnosis. The scarred areas in the lungs will resemble tiny round nodes — approximately one to three millimetres in size; certainly no bigger than one centimetre — on the X-ray. In complicated silicosis, nodes combine into larger fibrous masses.

Chronic silicosis is caused by exposure, typically 10 years or more, to excessive levels of silica dust, those at or above the current occupational exposure limit. The first health symptoms may not arise for 20 or even 30 years. More advanced cases may be marked by laboured, rapid breathing (tachypnea), loss of appetite and weight loss, chest pain, fever, a blue tinge to the skin (cyanosis) and heart disease.

But while slow to develop, the damage is irreversible. Other than providing some temporary relief, there is no effective treatment and no cure for silicosis.

There is also accelerated silicosis, which follows the same pathological mechanism as chronic silicosis, but develops much more quickly following exposure to high levels of respirable silica, and acute silicosis, also known as silicoproteinosis, which is very rare in North America. Following exposure to dense clouds of respirable silica, the activated macrophages proliferate and fill the lungs with a protein fluid. Debilitating symptoms can appear within just a few weeks; in severe cases, respiratory failure and death is likely to occur in just a year or two.

About 600 cases of acute silicosis have been diagnosed over the last year or so among workers in the Turkish textile business. Fine silica was used to sandblast denim jeans to produce the “stone wash” look. Even though Turkey banned the sandblasting process in March of 2009, it is estimated that as many as 10,000 workers may have been exposed to the unsafe conditions.

PHOTO: PHOTODISC

*Sources: Dr. Leon Genesove; Ministry of Labour (Ontario); Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety; Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, Inc.; and various scientific studies.

ESTABLISHED APPROACH “The mining industry has certainly been on the [regulators’] radar for some time,” says Sudbury, Ontario-based Nancy Keller, manager of occupational health and medicine for mining giant, Vale. “The industry has been very conscientious about putting silica-control programs in place where risk is identified, as well as undertaking ongoing monitoring and ensuring workplace controls are used,” Keller says.

That approach, which she suggests is readily transferrable to other sectors where silica is a potential hazard, is based on five fundamentals: s Incorporating a risk management process into all planned work to identify hazards, evaluate exposures and implement appropriate controls. s Monitoring the effectiveness of the controls by measuring air quality and conducting worker medical surveillance. s Training employees on the importance of maintaining and using workplace controls, the health effects of silica, and good hygiene practices. s Continuing to search for new technology to reduce risk to as low as reasonably achievable. s Ensuring management commitment to, and employee participation in, the silica risk management program.

“Through the ongoing review of identified hazards, we can ensure that they are managed and prioritized as required,” Keller suggests.

Medical surveillance is an important tool because it aids in the early detection of adverse health effects, she says. “The data can also be used to guide efforts to improve worker safe-

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ty and health, and to monitor trends and progress over time.”

The approach appears to be working. A review of the company’s WSIB claims database “indicates that we have had no recorded silicosis claims for workers that retired from Vale after 1985,” Keller reports.

SHARED EXPERIENCE One of the UW team members was Noah Seixas, Ph.D., a professor in the university’s Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences. “Mining and construction have a lot in common,” says Dr. Seixas. Both entail tough physical labour, require similar kinds of site prepa-

PHOTO: ANDY CULPIN - STOCK.XCHNG

MINING POTENTIAL In the past, big mining companies — the smokestack industries — and other traditional sources of excessive silica exposures have been targeted by enforcement agencies. But additional attention may be needed elsewhere. (CAREX Canada reports that construction trades and contracting accounts for about 60 per cent of exposed workers.)

The Quebec research, which looked at silica exposures associated with many occupations and industries, found that close to half of all exposed jobs were in construction trades.

Although the data is still scanty, there are indications that construction workers are routinely exposed to levels of silica dust between two and 20 times higher than the occupational exposure limits (OELs). In a paper published in the Annals of Occupational Hygiene in March, 2003, Stephen Rappaport, Ph.D., and his team analyzed breathing zone exposure data for labourers, bricklayers, heavy equipment operators and painters at a number of construction sites across the United States. While there was a great deal of variation, both within and between trades, more than three-quarters of the measurements exceeded the OEL for crystalline silica.

Researchers report that few of the heavy equipment operators or labourers bothered with any kind of respiratory protection at all. If the bricklayers wore respiratory protection, it was usually the disposable, paper type. As for painters preparing roads and bridges for painting, the study found that all donned supplied-air respirators while using abrasive blasting equipment.

The problem was that because silica levels were so high, even higher levels of protection (that is, pressure-demand or positive pressure respirators) were warranted.

The paper concluded that “such grossly unacceptable ex-

posures” portend a serious health threat requiring determined action. “The numbers were so unequivocal,” says Dr. Rappaport, director and primary investigator of the Berkeley Center for Exposure Biology at the University of California Berkeley.

“When I walk past construction sites today, it’s clear that not much has changed. You still see lots of open cutting and tuckpointing with no precautions being taken. It’s really pretty egregious,” he contends.

Dr. Rappaport says inexpensive controls, especially the use of water, can suppress dust levels by three-fold, while isolating employees in ventilated cabs can cut exposures six-fold.

As well, he suggests that respiratory protection programs be instituted at every construction site, and new methods for locally ventilating sources of dust generation be developed.

Research published in the April issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (JOEH) suggests that respirable dust concentrations can be reduced 99 per cent by water controls and 91 per cent by local exhaust ventilation (LEV) systems.

A team from the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle also identified exposures of concern. Researchers analyzed the data provided by 1,374 personal silica exposure samples collected on construction sites by a variety of private, research and regulatory groups. Findings in the March, 2006 edition of JOEH confirmed that a large portion of the samples were at or over the quartz OEL, including all eight trades studied, 13 of the 16 construction tasks, and 12 of the 16 tool categories.

Even the average exposures were more than double the OEL, the study results indicate. The highest exposures arose during the use of abrasive blasters, surface and tuckpoint grinders, jackhammers and rock drills.

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Road to Prevention There is no shortage of advice on how best to avoid silica exposure — exposure that can set the path for harm down the road. Publications from the Department of Labor and the Mine Safety and Health Administration, both in the United States, as well as the Infrastructure Health and Safety Association and the Ministry of Labour, both in Ontario, recommend that the following precautions be taken: UÊ Never blow clean a dusty work site with compressed air. Instead, wet sweep floors, hose down surfaces or vacuum dust using a machine equipped with a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter.

UÊ Where feasible, reduce exposure levels through the use of engineering controls such as local exhaust ventilation, dust collection, water sprays or wet drilling systems.

UÊ Where practicable, enclose silica-generating operations. Use automatic-blast cleaning machines or cabinets that allow machine operation from outside using gloved armholes.

UÊ Wear, correctly use and maintain approved particulate respirators when engineering controls alone are not adequate to reduce exposures below permissible levels.

UÊ Substitute sand abrasives with alternatives containing less than one per cent silica.

UÊ Post warning signs to identify work areas where respirable silica is present.

UÊ When using heavy equipment, consider the wind direction and try to limit the amount of dust that blows through the work area.

UÊ Undertake regular air monitoring of work sites, both as needed and when required by law, and take corrective action when silica levels are excessive.

UÊ Provide medical examinations for employees who may be exposed to respirable crystalline silica, and have X-rays examined by a specialist in dust diseases. Plan to reduce exposures for any employees who show signs of silicosis.

UÊ Avoid eating, drinking, using tobacco products or chewing gum in work areas where there is dust or other toxic materials.

ration, and employ the same type of heavy equipment — drills, jackhammers and saws — that can raise dense clouds of silica dust.

The primary difference, from a health and safety perspective, may lie in the attention paid by regulatory authorities to the mining industry over the past 60 or more years. This attention has compelled the sector, both collectively and on individual sites, to make a concerted and ongoing effort to reduce exposures.

“The mining sector hasn’t completely solved their silica problems, but they have certainly devoted a lot more attention and resources toward solving them,” Dr. Seixas suggests.

“With the same level of regulatory attention, we should expect to see similar gains in the construction sector.”

But the inherent characteristics of the sector present challenges. It can be much more complicated to promote proper use of safety equipment at sites where exposures are intermittent, dangerously high for short periods and well within exposure thresholds for much of the day.

“A worker needs to know when protection is needed and when it isn’t,” Dr. Seixas says. “Nobody wants to wear a respirator all day if it isn’t necessary.”

He cites a training intervention study which found that about 80 per cent of construction workers either wore their protective gear (in this case, related to hearing) all the time or never at all. When researchers added an exposure indicator, a device that flashed a warning when threshold levels were exceeded, worker compliance increased by about 15 per cent.

Silica has been recognized as an occupational health problem in some form or another for centuries, says Dr. Genesove. “Over the last 400 years, we have also learned a lot about prevention. It’s extremely important for employers, with the active support of their staff and employees, to follow the requirements of the oh&s legislation and regulations and, hopefully, implement best practices in an effort to prevent silica exposures,” he adds.

JOINT EFFORT Effective silica control is a multi-level problem: individual workers have a responsibility to wear safety gear and use the equipment that is provided to them. Contractors and employers must be diligent in training workers about the risks of silica exposure, providing the appropriate equipment, implementing precautions, and imposing disciplinary action when protections are breached. Regulatory authorities, for their part, must maintain overarching regulatory attention across the entire industry.

Lal sees too many cases of silicosis. In OHCOW’s Hamilton, Sarnia and Toronto clinics, most of these are construction workers, while in the Thunder Bay and Sudbury offices, staff see more miners.

A patient will come in complaining that he cannot climb stairs like he used to, she says. “You take a work history, you see the nodules on the chest X-ray, you perform a pulmonary function test, and you diagnose silicosis. It’s almost a no-brainer,” Lal says. “It’s also so tragically sad.”

A patient might be provided with cough suppressants, a bronchodilator or even a mobile oxygen tank to ease breathing problems. Antibiotics will help prevent secondary infections, while a corticosteroid can reduce lung inflammation.

But it’s really just a “temporary Band-Aid,” says Lal. Even if exposures cease, the body’s macrophages will not stop their assault against the silica already trapped in the lungs and will continue to produce hard, inelastic scar tissue.

Once the nodes start getting bigger, it makes it more difficult to take a deep breath. That’s also when complications such as pneumonia and tuberculosis can take hold. The macrophages are so busy trying to kill silica particles that they cannot counter the invading bacteria.

After a worker is diagnosed with silicosis, “all you can do is send him or her home,” Lal says. “The only things that would help are the things they should have done years ago.”

William M. Glenn is associate editor of hazardous substances.

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Money RECOGNITION PROGRAMS

BY DAN BIRCH

It was 1989. A cellphone was the size of an average man’s shoe, “Blame It On the Rain” was a hit song for Milli Vanilli, and Don Getty was entering his second term as Alberta’s premier. It was also the year the Wild Rose province launched Canada’s first certificate of recognition (COR) program, born of a desire to build more effective occupational health and safety management systems among employers.

While cellphones today have shrunk to the size of a toddler’s shoe, and Milli Vanilli and Getty have long since retreated from the spotlight (the former with considerably more notoriety than the latter), Alberta’s COR lives on, albeit still experiencing some growing pains — or so says a review by Alberta’s auditor general.

And other provinces seem to be listening. Lessons learned from Alberta’s program may prove valuable to recognition schemes across the country, both those that are already established and those now under construction, such as Ontario’s long-awaited accreditation initiative.

FOR

ILLUSTRATION: JAMES WARDELL

SOMETHING

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SYSTEMATIC SAFETY There is a host of COR-like programs operating in Canada, with new ones coming into being as workers’ compensation boards (WCBs), oh&s associations and industry groups search for ways to encourage employers to implement safety management systems (SMSs) that move beyond the legislative minimum.

The goal is to make SMSs more pervasive, says Paul Casey, director of the prevention standards and incentives branch at Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) in Toronto. “Unless the business pressure is there as well as the legal [compliance enforcement], people will work to a minimum,” Casey predicts.

A recognition program’s basic structure includes SMS criteria, as well as auditing methods and standards to scrutinize efforts to fulfill stated objectives (see “Safety Checklist” on page 41). Depending on the jurisdiction, employers who achieve a COR designation may also be in line for a financial reward.

“Every jurisdiction in Canada is trying to change culture on health and safety,” says Stuart MacLean, vicepresident of service delivery for Nova Scotia’s WCB in Halifax. “You want leaders to care about [oh&s]. You want people to invest time and energy and effort into it — not just lip service,” adds MacLean, whose responsibilities include oversight of the provincial COR. He says construction was the original focus of the Nova Scotia COR, but things have changed. Other sectors now taking part include trucking, forestry and health care, with the view being to expand further. The number of certificate-holders has grown approximately 20 per cent in the last five years.

MacLean suggests that most compensation bodies would likely agree that a COR program currently offers the most comprehensive bang for the due diligence buck. It can help create health and safety awareness at all levels within a workplace and provide a road map for an organization wanting to implement a meaningful SMS. For companies and regulators alike, achieving that seemingly straightforward goal may be far from simple. As a stinging review released last April 14 demonstrated, recognition programs, like other WCB incentives, can serve as lightning rods for criticism.

That day, Alberta auditor general Merwan Saher released his semi-annual report, which included an analysis of the provincial oh&s system. Persistent non-compliance of Occupational Health and Safety Act obligations by a “small but high-risk group of employers” received considerable attention, although the report also weighed in on Alberta’s COR program, known as Partnerships in Injury Reduction (PIR).

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Saher perused the records of 38 non-compliant companies and found that half of them either held or had held a COR. “These employers do not comply with [oh&s] orders and their workers are much more likely to get injured on the job, yet these employers continue to receive [PIR] financial rebates and use their COR to bid on contracts with major companies in such industries as construction, and oil and gas,” he wrote.

However, Saher added, a PIR analysis found that CORholders achieve greater reductions in injury rates, and his own office’s examination of compliance files “shows that COR employers tend to comply with oh&s orders faster and require fewer re-inspections.”

The report further noted that while the province, through Edmonton-based Alberta Employment and Immigration (AEI), has a method of reviewing non-compliant companies, it is not used “systematically and effectively.”

Saher did acknowledge, however, that AEI was working to strengthen the process.

BEYOND PAPER The reach of PIR is substantial — slightly more than 7,800 certificate-holding employers collected about $70 million in rebates in 2008, notes figures from Alberta’s WCB in Edmonton. To that, AEI adds that the companies employ approximately 40 per cent of the province’s work force and represent $31.4 billion in insurable earnings.

Beyond lower premiums, benefits of a well-functioning SMS include the “human factor,” such as a happier work force, high morale and the perception that workplace safety is a priority, says Lorne Kleppe, executive director of the Manufacturers’ Health & Safety Association in Rocky View, Alberta.

Kleppe, whose organization is one of 13 certifying partners within PIR, says he understands the need to improve quality assurance. He endorses Saher’s suggestion for on-site reviews to verify the work of independent auditors. “If you were handing out $70 million, you would want to be sure that you have some very strong systems in place.”

Saher’s recommendation essentially boils down to ensuring necessary checks and balances. Thus far, quality assurance around the work of independent auditors has been limited to paper reviews of reports by certifying partners. That needs to change, the auditor general emphasized, arguing that those who review the reports need to visit sites to confirm quality.

No doubt, Saher’s findings were noted, perhaps even anticipated, by Rob Feagan, AEI’s director of partnerships in health and safety and the man who heads up PIR. In 2008, Feagan says that officials began looking at whether or not the field reviews were needed.

By the time the auditor general’s report was on its way to

“Every

jurisdiction in Canada

is trying to

change culture on health

and safety.”

the printers, AEI’s On-Site Audit Review (OSAR) pilot project had already launched, Feagan says. (The project has since become a permanent feature of PIR in response to the concerns voiced by Saher.)

As part of OSAR, five experienced health and safety auditors have been contracted directly by AEI to validate the quality of 120 certification audits. Roughly half of the reviews had been completed as of mid-August, Feagan reports, with a final report anticipated by April, 2011.

“We’re validating some key things. Did the auditors actually visit the sites they say they did? Did they do the number of interviews they said they did? Did they look at the documentation?” he says.

“I’m sure we’re going to find some of the processes aren’t the best quality,” Feagan anticipates, but on-site auditors report that the “vast majority” of the reviewed audits have been of good quality.

If OSAR auditors find audits where the quality was poor enough “that it brings into question the validity of the health and safety management system that’s there, it would be incumbent on us to take action,” he says. That action would involve giving the employer a specified period of time to correct deficiencies, Feagan says. If these are not addressed, revoking the employer’s certificate will be considered.

In Ontario, the WSIB’s Casey says on-site reviews are part of the “very high standards” that have been set for auditors and the quality assurance process attached to the Accreditation Program.

Ian Howcroft, vice-president of the Ontario arm of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) in Mississauga, says quality assurance is a must if stakeholders and the general public are to have confidence in the initiative.

Widespread consultations held in 2007 led to a draft Accreditation Program outline. As it stands, “all of the pieces are there,” Casey says. “We’ve built the standard for accreditation.

We’ve also built the audit criteria, the audit tools. We’ve also built the guidelines for employers to follow.”

One notable difference between accreditation and other COR programs, Casey suggests, is that the former will not use a points- or percentage-based scoring system. Auditors inspecting companies will indicate “minor” and “major” nonconformances. Both types will need to be addressed before accreditation is granted, and fixes for “major” issues must be verified by an independent auditor, he notes.

Just when the program will be implemented remains up in the air. WSIB consultations on a number of matters last year, coupled with this year’s provincial review of Ontario’s oh&s system, have put the initiative on ice.

WSIB officials will revisit the program once the review panel submits its findings and the labour ministry responds, Casey says. He does not anticipate major changes from what has been drafted, noting that the tools are very detailed and the panel will likely be looking at the big picture.

Beyond that, a “very short” pilot project period is anticipated before the program is fully rolled out, he adds.

SHARED EXPERIENCE Word has a way of travelling fast. In Atlantic Canada, COR administrators took note of the quality assurance concerns raised by Saher, says Tracey Newman, manager of field services and collections for Nova Scotia’s WCB. Describing a COR review as a point-in-time audit, Newman says there are some

Safety Checklist The criteria for securing a certificate of recognition (COR) is particular to a specific program. But several elements are likely to be part of any properly functioning COR. Nova Scotia’s program features 22 elements, including the following: UÊ Oh&s policy — A company’s policy must include statements on employer commitment to occupational health and safety, cooperation with employees concerning oh&s, and responsibilities of workplace parties.

UÊ Compliance assurance — An employer must assure that there is compliance with oh&s laws, including evidence that workers are aware of their rights.

UÊ Management communications and commitment — Upper management must communicate with employees about health and safety, and demonstrate their personal support for the program.

UÊ Training — Management, supervisory personnel and workers must be trained on broader oh&s matters, and workers must receive training on job-specific hazards and safe work procedures.

UÊ Inspections and hazard assessments — Workplaces must be regularly inspected for hazards. A system must also be in place to identify those hazards.

UÊ Data analysis/objectives — Appropriate statistics for tracking health and safety must be generated, and measurable objectives established.

challenges to “retroactively going back and looking at what happened on a particular day when the auditor was out there conducting the COR audit.”

Nova Scotia’s COR program includes paper reviews of COR audits, but nothing on site. That is a feature that will be considered down the road, she says.

MacLean notes an important component of the WCB’s quality assurance system is the requirement for certifying partners to be certified to ISO 19011, a standard from the International Organization for Standardization that provides guidance on the principles of auditing, managing audit programs and more.

The plan is that Ontario’s program will also use the robust international standard, says Casey. Regardless of the content being checked, the “biggest challenge” in auditing is setting standards for auditors and ensuring “rigour around the audit process,” which feeds into the credibility of any recognition program, he suggests.

Lynda Robson, Ph.D., an associate scientist at the Institute for Work & Health in Toronto, appreciates the necessity for precision. Dr. Robson and fellow researchers analyzed 17 different audit methods of multiple organizations within Ontario’s oh&s prevention system and released the findings in December, 2008.

The research produced eight recommendations for auditing organizations, ranging from audit program structure to auditor training. “Even if you’re a well-trained auditor,” she says, “if you don’t have a good auditing method in your hands, you’re kind of hamstrung.”

The team also considered the value of consistency among a

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program’s auditors. “There is a sense that it is important, but we didn’t see much in the way of practices to ensure consistency, and definitely not measurement of it,” Dr. Robson says.

Jamie Wright, a Canadian Auto Workers’ (CAW) union member living in London, Ontario who chairs the CAW Council Health and Safety Committee, says he worries that accreditation auditors in Ontario will lack sufficient hazard assessment skills.

Inspectors from Ontario’s Ministry of Labour should have a role in auditing hazards, Wright says. “They’re the most neutral and objective party.”

COMPETING OBJECTIVES Quality assurance has proven not only important with regard to independent auditors, but also as it relates to compliance screening. In his report, Saher criticized AEI for failing to “systematically and effectively” use its employer review process (ERP), which is intended to establish links between oh&s compliance and COR-holders.

The appraisal touches on fundamental issues for recognition programs: Is their purpose to ensure solid SMSs are in place, or to prevent worker injuries and non-compliance? Are the two mutually exclusive? Should action be taken against COR-holders who are non-compliant or experience serious and/or fatal incidents?

use for approximately seven years.

Among the changes are expanded criteria for initiating an ERP. For instance, Feagan says a review will be triggered should any COR-holder experience a fatality, serious injury, an ongoing OH&S Act violation or two or more stop-work orders related to imminent danger.

The review process is also getting a makeover. “A bit of a frustration was that you’re taking kind of a shotgun approach with the current process,” Feagan says, pointing out that following a serious incident, an employer is subject to an independent audit of its SMS. The review indicates either pass or fail — and that’s it.

The new approach will be more nuanced and will make use of PIR auditors. In the event of a serious incident, says Feagan, PIR staff will review the employer’s accident report and check in with AEI’s enforcement branch. The PIR review is more likely to pinpoint specific areas of the SMS that need improvement, he says.

“If it’s quite clear that there are systematic things wrong, that it was the fault of the health and safety management system… then we’ll go meet with that employer and they will have to develop an action plan to correct those things,” says Feagan. If the company neglects to do so, its certification will be pulled, he adds.

Some observers are not convinced by Alberta’s promises to play hard ball. Nancy Furlong, secretary treasurer of the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) in Edmonton, cautions that “there needs to be some political will to make sure that worker safety is at the forefront as opposed to employers’ profits.”

Feagan reports that 34 employers have gone through the ERP since 2008, with four of them losing their CORs. One company failed its independent audit and the other three chose to drop out of PIR. Furlong contends that companies breaching health and safety obligations should immediately lose their CORs and then achieve a year without any significant related violations before reapplying. Such an approach would make clear that employers must “earn” their certificates.

While a work-related fatality in Alberta does not automatically prompt cancellation of a COR, Nova Scotia’s program does not make note of fatalities at all, says MacLean. A review is not triggered by serious injuries or deaths, but consequences for certificate-holders can take the form of enforcement action by the provincial government and increases in WCB premiums, he says.

Ontario’s forthcoming program will bar companies from obtaining accreditation if there has been a worker fatality within the last three years, Casey reports. In addition, any accredited employer would automatically lose its status for at least three years.

“Is three enough, or should it be 10?” asks the CAW’s

The new approach will be more nuanced

“The certificate of recognition does not represent compliance. It represents that you have a health and safety management system that has been audited and found to meet standards in the province,” says AEI’s Feagan. “At times, you’re trying to meld regulatory compliance and a system’s audit, and that’s not the same thing.”

As part of a 10-point action plan on workplace health and safety, AEI announced in July that it will have a revised ERP by the end of the year. “We’re basically broadening its scope,” says Feagan, who notes that the review process has been in

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ILLUSTRATION: JAMES WARDELL

and will make use of PIR auditors.

Wright. Three seems low, although choosing any number is itself a “very subjective” exercise, he adds.

Howcroft says he would like to see Ontario follow Alberta’s lead, whereby deaths are examined on a case-by-case basis. “There are certain fatalities that take place that are beyond that particular company’s control,” he says, noting that it would be “inequitable” for an employer to lose accreditation under these circumstances.

“Some people see a certificate of recognition as a cure-all,” Feagan says. “Is it going to guarantee that an employer will not have any incidents? No, it won’t.”

mance, MacLean says. If that were the case, it would be easy to offer a direct reward, he says.

“The expectation is that a superior health and safety program leads to a safer workplace, which means less injury or illness,” Casey offers. Yet a financial reward is far from guaranteed for accreditation in Ontario.

The idea of a five per cent premium rebate for highperforming accredited companies has been toyed with, says Casey, but adds that nothing is set in stone, especially considering the WSIB’s bottom line.

Howcroft says CME Ontario members recognize that concern.

“There is a $12-billion, and growing, unfunded liability that limits [the board’s] abilities and opportunities to fund certain programs.”

Still, one of the “key issues that we heard was that for [accreditation] to be successful, there has to be a financial component,” he says.

A pilot program through the WSIB could help firm up numbers on potential claims cost savings, Howcroft suggests.

But the CAW’s Wright opposes any rebate. “Why would you have incentives to follow the law? The law should be the incentive.” Any “savings” are better directed toward education, enforcement and paying claims than on rebates, he emphasizes.

“You hope that the incentive for people to get in is to make their workplaces safer,” says Feagan. But some need a nudge, and a financial incentive can be that nudge, he notes.

While the debate in Nova Scotia and Ontario is whether or not there should be a reward at all, in Alberta some wonder if the current incentive structure is where it should be.

Alberta employers receive a five per cent premium rebate for attaining or maintaining their COR (10 per cent in the first year for companies achieving their first COR), and a maximum of 20 per cent for improving accident performance and/or keeping claim costs far below their industry average, the WCB notes.

Kleppe says that his association’s members are “very satisfied” with the current scheme. Down the road, there may be a desire to boost it to 25 per cent, he adds.

Whatever comes of accreditation efforts in Ontario, Howcroft says it needs to mesh — to form a “continuum” — with existing incentive initiatives, such as the WSIB’s Safety Groups program. Casey notes the WSIB is on board, and will work to ensure that information and design of other programs prepare companies to graduate to accreditation.

Back in Wild Rose country, Kleppe says recognition programs are “worthwhile” at home and elsewhere across Canada. They get companies to think about and implement thorough safety management systems, and that’s just plain good business, he suggests.

“I think you’ll see [COR] growth across Canada,” Feagan predicts. “It has proven to be effective.”

“Why would you

HARD NUMBERS Feagan suggests a COR program is about improving a company’s oh&s performance and rewarding firms for high-functioning SMSs. To illustrate, he notes that of the 500 employers on AEI’s targeted enforcement list, about 300 hold CORs. (Employers with the highest disabling injury rates make the list, Feagan says.)

On the surface, it seems to be a shocking number that proves PIR’s critics correct. But dig deeper and results show a COR-holder remains on the list for an average of 1.8 years, getting off precisely because of improvements to SMS via the COR process, Feagan contends.

“I kind of jokingly at times say, ‘I won’t be happy until all 500 on that list have a COR.’ But I’m also serious when I say that because that means they’re going to get better,” he says, and adds “really good trending evidence” illustrates improvement under PIR. In 2005, Feagan and his staff began tracking a group of COR-aspiring companies. Over the next five years, he notes, the group reduced its average disabling injury rate from 30.9 to 11.3 per 100 person-years worked.

“The majority of the folks we have in this program are the high-risk guys, and so the fact that they do experience success and lower their statistics is quite significant.”

Alberta’s WCB also notes that, on average, companies taking part in PIR have 20 per cent lower lost-time claim rates.

Results are less conclusive in Nova Scotia, says MacLean. To get a better handle on outcomes from the COR program, the province’s WCB and the Department of Labour and Workforce Development have commissioned an in-depth study by researchers at the CN Centre for Occupational Health and Safety at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax.

Pointing out that both COR and non-COR companies may have excellent oh&s programs, MacLean says “there are many different roads to the land of milk and honey.”

Furlong emphasizes that all of these roads must include worker involvement to be as successful as possible.

have incentives to follow the

law? The law should be the incentive.”

INVISIBLE LINE MacLean reports that some construction sector employers in Nova Scotia have been pushing for a direct financial reward to be tied to the COR program, which is not currently the case. A powerful indirect incentive does exist, in that the provincial transportation department requires those bidding on its road construction projects to hold CORs. As it stands, the WCB cannot draw a strong statistical line between COR companies and greatly improved oh&s perfor-

Dan Birch is assistant editor of

OHS CANADA.

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ACCIDENT PREVENTION

LUBRICATION

Smooth Operator WELL-OILED MACHINE: Making machines run is essential for the operation of many businesses, but making machines run smoothly is critical to worker safety. That smooth operation often comes down to selecting the right lubricant for the type of machinery at hand.

SUDDEN STOP: Machines that are not properly lubricated can pose risks. It may be that the machinery simply stops, putting a wrench in production schedules and, perhaps, necessitating repairs or replacement.

More important, though, is the potential worker risk posed by an improperly lubricated machine.

A regularly scheduled lubrication program is an important part of any concerted effort to prevent machine breakdowns. Workplace Safety & Prevention Services (WSPS) in Mississauga, Ontario recommends identifying lubrication points on equipment, colour coding points to signify lubrication frequency, and consulting manufacturers and accepted industry best practices to establish appropriate schedules.

SWITCH IT TO GLIDE: Friction occurs anytime two objects contact one another — the rougher the surface, the more friction there will be. “Lubricating oils now range from clear, very thin oils used to lubricate delicate instruments to thick, tar-like oils used on large gears such as those which turn steel mills,” notes information available through the International Labour Organization (ILO) website. By applying some sort of lubricant — the long list of which includes oils, greases and cutting fluids — the substance will help smooth out any rough spots between the moving objects, thereby helping to reduce wear and the possibility of unanticipated movements.

LOCO-MOTION: Operating machines can produce different types of movement, some of which may prove dangerous. The first step to protect workers from hazardous mechanical motion and action is to identify the problem points of each machine, notes the general machine guarding requirements from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in Washington, D.C. Mechanical motions of concern include the following: s rotating — danger increases when bolts, nicks, abrasions and projecting keys or set screws are exposed to rotating parts; s reciprocating — a worker may be struck by or caught between a moving and a stationary part during either back-and-forth or up-anddown motions; and, s transverse (in a straight, continuous line) — a worker may be struck or caught in a pinch or shear point by moving parts.

LEAN ON ME: “The type of lubricant used has a significant impact on the lifetime performance and reliability of a machine,” notes information posted at www.tribology-abc.com. Lubrication Engineers, Inc. in Fort Worth, Texas adds that proper selection depends on a number of factors, including the part to be lubricated, speed and load, hours of expected use per day, age and condition of equipment, and current lubrication procedures.

But possibly as important as the specific lubricant, the organization notes, is having in place a good lubrication program. Essential elements of a program include the following: s make one person responsible for equipment lubrication; s properly survey equipment lubrication requirements; s limit the number of lubricants used whenever possible; s schedule lubrication appropriately; s keep proper records; s prevent lubricant contamination; s use the right lubricant; s investigate all mechanical malfunctions; s prevent unauthorized personnel from lubricating equipment; s hire capable personnel and train them; s respond to feedback from the person servicing equipment; and, s update and refine the lubrication program.

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RATTLE AND HUM: It’s unlikely that something will go wrong without some advance warning.

Things that are seen, heard or smelled may offer telltale signs that remedial actions are in order. WSPS advises keeping an eye out for the following: loose parts, unusual noises, leaks or vibration; strange odours, heat, smoke, dust and fumes; and unhealthy reactions, skin rashes, dizziness or hearing problems.

DIFFERENT DRUM: What may work for one piece of machinery may not do the same for another. The ILO information notes that hydraulic and turbine oils should have features such as a high viscosity index, thermal stability, long life in circulating system, deposit resistance, anti-foam capabilities and rust protection. The best cutting oils for the job will depend on the composition of the metal being worked on, the cutting tool being used and the type of cutting, planing or shaping operation being performed.

OVER EXPOSURE: Lubricants used for safe machine operation are not risk-free when it comes to health. Metalworking fluids (MWFs) can enter the body when mist, aerosol or vapour is inhaled, when they come into contact with the skin (especially if there are cuts, rashes, cracks or other breaks in the skin), and when ingested if a worker eats, drinks or smokes at the work station or without first washing his hands, notes the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) in Hamilton, Ontario.

Contact dermatitis is the most common skin condition reported, while inhaling the mists may cause asthma and lung irritation, chronic bronchitis or impaired lung function, the CCOHS reports. There is also evidence that some MWFs are associated with an increased risk of laryngeal, rectal, pancreatic, skin, testicular and bladder cancers.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in the United Kingdom notes, however, that using highly refined oils and safer substitutes to cancercausing chemicals in the metalworking fluids, as well as changes in work practices and improved hygiene, have helped to reduce the risk of cancer.

s s s

s

ON GUARD: Still, the HSE advises that a number of precautions can be taken to protect health when working with MWFs: use splash guards to control both splashing and misting; use any enclosures or ventilation provided to remove or control mist or vapour that is produced; minimize the production of mist and vapour by controlling the volume and rate of fluid delivery to the cutting edge of the tool; and, allow a time delay before opening doors on machine enclosures to ensure ventilation has removed all mist and vapour.

SAFETY GEAR EYEWEAR

Eye Spy Safety

By Angela Stelmakowich

L

et’s be clear. The main function of safety eyewear, as its name implies, is to protect.

But it would be a mistake to underestimate the importance of comfort, design and clarity — attributes that can work individually or as a team to influence whether or not gear finds its way onto workers’ faces, and stays there.

Staying put — be that safety glasses, safety goggles or face shields — is critical in light of the many work-related hazards that threaten to put eyes in harm’s way. The Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) in Toronto notes that these include flying objects such as bits of metal, glass, stone or wood; unsafe handling of tools; particles like sand or sawdust; chemical splashes; radiation; sparks and slag from welding and cutting; and the sun and wind.

Of an estimated 1,000 eye injuries in “Half of North American workplaces each day, the CNIB notes about five per cent “will those who be debilitating enough to interfere with work on a short- or long-term basis.”

But making the right choice of gear did use safety has not always proven an unqualified eyewear success. Three out of every five workers who suffered eye injuries were not wore the wearing eye protection, reports the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) wrong type.” in Mississauga, Ontario. “Half of those who did use safety eyewear wore the wrong type,” notes the 2009 user guide for the CSA Z94.3 standard, “Selection, Use and Care of Protective Eyewear.”

The standard offers direction on proper selection, states an information sheet from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) in Hamilton, Ontario.

Below are examples of hazards and recommended gear: s options to guard against flying objects from drilling, riveting, grinding, polishing, heavy sawing and hammering include spectacles, goggles, non-rigid hoods and face shields; s protective equipment to avoid injurious optical radiation that may occur while electric arc welding, heavy gas cutting and inert gas shielded arc welding includes welding helmets and welding hand shields; and, s gear to protect against acid splash and chemical burns that may occur during degreasing, glass breakage and chemical spray includes goggles, non-rigid hoods and face shields.

UP CLOSE There’s no denying it; everyone is getting older. There will likely come a time when an individual needs what Phil Johnson, director of technology, eye and face for Sperian Protection in Smithfield, Rhode Island, calls transitional eyewear.

“You get to be older and your eyes start to get a little weaker,

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so you want to get in a little bit closer to see your work. When you do that, now you’re a little closer to being in harm’s way.”

Gateway Safety Inc. in Cleveland cites figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington, D.C. With the number of workers 55-plus estimated to increase almost 50 per cent between 2002 and 2012, bifocal safety eyewear is becoming a personal protection equipment (PPE) must.

“Bifocal eyewear allows workers to clearly read instrumentation, work with small parts, or perform other close tasks without having to switch between regular safety glasses and reading glasses, a dangerous practice that can result in errors and injuries,” notes a statement from the company.

Makers of safety products seem prepared to meet the need to help workers see things up close and personal. In August, Magid Glove & Safety Mfg. Co. LLC in Chicago announced the availability of its own safety spectacles with bifocals. The glasses — so-called readers or cheaters — come in five magnification levels: +1.0, +1.5, + 2.0, +2.5 and +3.0 diopter.

“In response to the aging population, we have seen an increased demand for magnification eyewear and other solutions for improved visibility,” says Carrie Mailloux, product marketer, protective eyewear and welding solutions, at 3M Canada in London, Ontario. The company’s reader-style safety glasses, which feature built-in bifocals in a variety of magnifications, are available in the same frame styling as standard safety eyewear, Mailloux reports.

Sperian Protection, for its part, has come out with another offering in this vein — although with a twist. In July, the company released what it calls the industry’s first safety goggle with reading magnifiers. The goggles offer five diopter strengths, ranging from +1.0 to +3.0.

Other features include the following: 99.9 per cent ultraviolet (UV) protection; clear lens with anti-fog coating; wraparound style for complete coverage and unobstructed vision; wide, adjustable slide headband with pivoting clips for easyto-adjust fit; and a soft elastomer body for a secure, gap-free fit. The goggles meet both the American National Standards Institute standard for high-impact protection and CSA Z94.3.

Even if “you’re in an operation where you have to wear goggles, you should be afforded the same kind of opportunity to be able to do that close-in work,” says Johnson.

Dave Shanahan, oh&s standards project manager for the CSA, says several minor changes have been made to Z94.3 over the last two years. Two of the more noteworthy relate to allowance for testing and certifying powered, non-prescriptive eyewear, and to recognition of compliant prescription safety lenses based on the material of construction and minimum thickness, Shanahan reports.

Readers can certainly do the job — and do it safely — for some people, says Roger Paquette, manager of product marketing for the Americas (head, eye, face and hearing protection) at Honeywell Safety Products in Anjou, Quebec. “What

PHOTOS: LOWER RIGHT - MILLER ELECTRIC MFG. CO.; LOWER LEFT - 3M CANADA; UPPER RIGHT, LEFT: GATEWAY SAFETY

I’m concerned about is that people who do need prescription glasses default to using these,” Paquette says. Readers will not help with distance, meaning that only one aspect of worker needs may be fulfilled with the glasses, he says.

His recommendation?

“When you decide to go with these types of spectacles, always have an eye exam before, and listen to your eye care professional.”

Doug Dean, director of vision care plans for the Canadian Association of Optometrists in Ottawa, would likely agree. While things like readers and built-in bifocals fit a niche, Dean cautions that they do not take into account difference in prescriptions between the left and right eye, and do not correct for astigmatism.

“They’re a very general response to a very specific need,” he says. It may be that a worker, through trial and error, identifies a product that is comfortable, “but it may be masking an underlaying problem that requires a further correction.”

Johnson expects the demand for reader-type products as well as full-fledged prescription programs to increase. Makers of frames and lenses must continue working with ophthalmic laboratories “to make sure that they can process lenses correctly to go into frames, maintain impact resistance and the optical properties that are needed.”

Of course, seeing clearly is welcome regardless of age. 3M Canada now offers protective eyewear with LED lighting mounted on each temple to provide hands-free task lighting, says Mailloux. The gear has proven a hit over the last two years with plumbing, HVAC and auto markets, she reports.

Dean sees yet another trend. In the last couple of years, in large part in response to changes to standards south of the border, a trend has formed to move to plastic-only glasses for electrical workers, he says. “You’ve got non-conductive categories so there are no metal parts to the frame at all.”

LENS ON THE WORLD Citing information from CSA Z94.3, the CCOHS offers a comparison of lens materials: s polycarbonate — the lightweight material is the strongest for impact resistance, can be coated for scratch resistance and most have built-in UV protection; s plastic — about half the weight of glass, the material is resistant to solvents and pitting, and offers more choices for coatings and tinting; s trivex — the material is more impact resistant than plastic, but less impact resistant than polycarbonate, and has UV radiation absorption properties; and, s glass — as a high-density material, it loses impact resistance if scratched and does not meet CSA impact criteria.

Clockwise from right: Eyewear can help guard against dust, welding spark and glare, as well as assist employees with reading even the smallest print.

Sperian Protection has responded to user feedback by introducing coatings to meet stated needs, including one that is five times more scratch resistant than typical hard coats.

Consider a foundry where a lot of dust is being generated, Johnson says. “Think about all those little particles sitting on the surface. Even though they’re small, they’ve got little sharp corners on them and the more you sweep them across the lens, the more opportunity there is for them to dig in.”

If glasses used in rugged applications become scratched, making it difficult for a worker to properly see, the temptation will be to remove the gear, Johnson says. And removing the gear takes with it any protection that it affords.

As for anti-fog coatings, Johnson says their value becomes very clear with regard to goggles. The gear must offer a good seal to keep out hazards like dust and chemical splashes, but “as you work, get hot and start to sweat a little bit, that moist air gets trapped on the inside,” he says. The coatings “will help dissipate the water or prevent the condensation on the inside.”

Whether a coating is designed to absorb humidity or repel moisture, it will reach a saturation point and become less effective, if effective at all, Paquette suggests. If fogging is a persistent issue, he recommends that “people use their standard glasses, but with a face shield over the glasses.”

Paquette says a major emerging trend is sealed eyewear, in effect a hybrid of spectacle and goggle. To his mind, however, fogging continues to be a concern.

Fogging can impair vision, as can dirt and debris. This can be as much of an issue indoors as it is outdoors. And work on the outside certainly presents some hurdles, what with the dust, wind and that troublesome glare.

In May, Gateway Safety released polarized protective eyewear with a wraparound frame that offers glare reduction and impact protection. Glare can come from reflective surfaces such as the hood of a vehicle, the surface of water or even a paved roadway, notes a statement from the company. “Reducing such glare helps minimize eye strain, which can lead to headaches, and improve vision clarity for the wearer.”

A GOOD FIT But good features will do little without good fit. The CSA’s Shanahan calls proper fit important for a number of reasons, key among these that it ensures “eyewear provides the needed protection all around the eye area.” A secure fit will also pre-

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LOOKIN’ GOOD 3M Canada regards style as one of the most visible trends in safety eyewear, Mailloux says. “Consumers are very aware of design and style trends and have come to expect the same in their safety eyewear choices,” she says.

But style is not just for glasses. The company offers a goggle that provides advanced dual lens design for improved sight and comfort, as well as a low profile reminiscent of eyewear, Mailloux adds.

Top to bottom: Protective eyewear can be polarized, be stylish and ergonomic, provide magnification, and offer easy-to-adjust features to ensure a secure and gap-free fit.

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Appearance is certainly an important secondary factor, says Shanahan. “One of the reasons we converted the [CSAZ94.3] standard in 1999 from a design-based standard to a performance-based standard was to allow the wide range of styles and designs that are available in the marketplace today.”

But key to choice is that products continue to meet the safety needs of Canadian workers. “We caution employers and workers that there are some very stylish-looking products being sold that do not meet any standards,” Shanahan says, citing as examples narrow-width lenses and slim side protectors.

There is a school of thought that safety glasses should not be made as attractive as possible so they will be regarded as safety gear first and foremost. Dean says some people would argue that “when safety glasses become more and more attractive, or more like dress glasses, that differential is blurred.”

He cites CSA Z94.3, which now specifies that side shields be permanently attached or integrated to the frame. The issue was that some employers and employees felt the shields could be removed and this, invariably, ended with the protection not being in place at times when it should have been.

Work is continuing at the technical committee level for CSA-Z94.3, Shanahan says, with members looking at several issues, including the following: new types of auto-darkening filter lenses for welding protectors; advances in eye protection around lasers; new criteria for eye and face protection from electrical arc flashes; and changes to criteria for assessing prescription eyewear dispensing laboratories.

MOVING ON It is important that employers involve workers in the eyewear selection process so that employees do not feel that requirements are being imposed. Providing protective eyewear that lasts longer, stays clear, has a good range of vision and provides an economic benefit, Johnson says, can “feed into the culture of safety.”

Consider a worker who has been doing metal grinding for 10 years, Johnson says. “All the little sparks bounce off, no issues, he goes home happy every day.”

But then comes the day the worker gets close to the grinding wheel and it breaks, sending sharp shards into the air. “That’s the day I’m glad I’ve got my eyewear on,” he says.

Paquette suggests that the success of an eye protection program will revolve around several key points: the gear is safe and compliant with standards, it is comfortable and it is attractive. If those needs are met, “you’ll have more people buy into the program, and volunteer to wear the eyewear,” he says.

Honeywell Safety Products, in fact, is expected to soon launch a new program, he reports. “All workers — regardless of gender, physical attributes or ethnic background — deserve maximum protection, comfort and fit,” he says.

Angela Stelmakowich is editor of CANADA.

OHS

PHOTOS: TOP TO BOTTOM, GATEWAY SAFETY; KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL; MAGID GLOVE & SAFETY; SPERIAN PROTECTION

vent gear from being dislodged, for example, “in case of impact of a large object or spray of liquid,” he says.

Fit is also so very important because of its direct influence on comfort. And central to comfort is adjustability.

Johnson points to one of Sperian Protection’s newer product lines, which features a wire hidden in the temples of the spectacles. If glasses feel too tight or too loose, the wearer can bend the wire in and out or up and down until a secure and comfortable fit is achieved, he says. “We put those people in control with almost an infinite range of adjustment.”

In July, Kimberly-Clark Professional in Roswell, Georgia added two new glasses to its line of protective eyewear that reflect the “commitment to offering today’s workers a wide variety of ergonomically advanced, stylish and comfortable protective eyewear products,” notes a company statement.

“Safety directors are continually looking for eye protection with both of these features, because style and comfort drive compliance, which helps keep workers safe,” Christine Hand, category manager for Kimberly-Clark Professional, says in the statement.

Discomfort as a hurdle to compliance is far from cleared. At a recent safety show in Baltimore, 98 per cent of respondents answered “yes” when asked if they had observed workers not wearing safety equipment when they should have been. Worse than that, 30 per cent of those taking part in the KimberlyClark Professional poll reported that the non-compliance had happened on numerous occasions.

“Increasingly high non-compliance with PPE protocols is an alarming trend and a serious threat to worker health and safety,” Gina Tsiropoulos, manufacturing segment marketing manager for Kimberly-Clark Professional, says in a release.

Reasons for non-compliance, in general, were varied, but 40 per cent of those polled selected “uncomfortable” as a contributing factor.

“The best product in the world is the worst product in the world if it’s not comfortable and not worn,” says Paquette.

Eye protection has “been around for so long,” Dean says. “People feel kind of uncomfortable bringing it up over and over again,” he says. But, as is the case for any task, reinforcement is necessary.

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LAW FILE FORESEEABILITY

Seeing the Possibilities

By Emily Landau

I

t is often said that hindsight is 20/20. Foresight, however, may be a little less reliable.

Sometimes there is no way to envision every conceivable possibility, as an Alberta judge recently noted in overturning an occupational health and safety conviction against Sunshine Village Ski Resort near Banff.

In her August ruling, Justice Suzanne Bensler of Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench determined that the circumstances leading to the death of Jan-Karl Stunt six days after sustaining critical head injuries in the summer of 2004 were not foreseeable. The ruling overturns a provincial court decision last year finding that Sunshine Village had failed to ensure the protection of a worker, contrary to Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Act. Stunt, a 25-year-old mechanic’s “For a helper, and two other employees were conducting ski lift tower work when potential the incident occurred, the decision notes. Stunt was sitting on the upper danger to be part of a work platform with its foldable ladder in the “up” position. foreseeable, When the platform entered a terminal building, there was insufficient there must at room for the ladder. It broke off and struck Stunt in the head. least be a His two co-workers testified that reasonable they had been properly trained on how to safely enter the terminal, but prospect or admitted that none of the three employees were paying due attention at expectation the time of the accident.

In his January 30, 2009 ruling, Justhat it will tice Manfred Delong of the Provincial Court of Alberta agreed that Stunt’s arise,” Justice death was the result of the employees’ momentary carelessness or lack Bensler writes. of attention. However, Justice Delong noted, the “liability of the company stems from the lack of steps taken to support these otherwise careful employees.”

For the breach of Alberta’s OH&S Act, Sunshine Village was fined $5,000 and ordered to provide $250,000 to a ski hill management program at a community college in British Columbia. This past March, the company appealed Justice Delong’s ruling.

“My own opinion was that the judge had applied an incorrect test on reviewing the evidence, which was that, in hindsight, certain other things could have been done that would have perhaps avoided the accident,” says J. Paul Brunnen, a lawyer with Brunnen Law Offices in Calgary, who served as

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counsel for Sunshine Village in the appeal case. “The judge should have taken a look at all the information that was available on the date in question and decided whether or not there was any negligence on the part of the company on that date,” Brunnen comments.

Justice Bensler agreed, noting in her ruling that the trial judge was required to apply the principles of foreseeability and negligence. “The fact that these otherwise conscientious and respected employees should be careless and absent-minded at the same time is simply not foreseeable,” she writes. Her ruling quashed both the conviction and penalties.

Doug Firby, Sunshine Village’s associate director of communications, media and marketing, says the company has added signage and put in place a practice to ensure the ladder is always in the “down” position when entering the terminal.

An independent oh&s expert hired by the company came up with more than 100 recommendations, most of which have since been implemented, Firby reports.

“The problem is, can you anticipate the next bizarre and unimaginable set of circumstances? We’re trying to do that, but it’s complicated,” he says.

Chris Chodan, a spokesperson for Alberta Employment and Immigration in Edmonton, said in late August that department representatives were reviewing legal options in response to the appeal decision.

DILIGENCE DUE “For a potential danger to be foreseeable, there must at least be a reasonable prospect or expectation that it will arise,” Justice Bensler writes in her ruling.

Jeremy Warning, a lawyer with Heenan Blaikie LLP in Toronto, says foreseeability is “determined by assessing whether or not a reasonable person would have foreseen or viewed the workplace safety risk as something that required remedial intervention.” It is an integral part of the reasonable care aspect of due diligence, Warning says.

While this test is meant to provide an objective standard for determining foreseeability, the definition of “reasonable person” carries with it a certain amount of subjectivity.

That definition may change with oh&s experience and awareness. “If you have more sophisticated people setting the rules and safety measures in place, then it’s a case that they may be able to foresee different hazards,” Warning suggests.

That said, he adds the health and safety “legislation that exists across the country is meant to level the playing field, if you will, such that if everybody is abiding by the same standards, those are intended to minimize the risks.”

Kathleen Ryan, a lawyer with Davis LLP in Edmonton, says an employer has discharged its due diligence duty if it is determined a proper system was instituted and used correctly.

Indeed, both Justices Bensler and Delong found that the workers had been properly trained in the safe use of the equip-

ment. “There is that element of human error that can be introduced to a workplace that sometimes the employer can’t control,” Ryan suggests.

A risk assessment is an integral part of any attempt to gauge what foreseeable hazards might emerge in the workplace, she notes. It involves considering potential hazards, estimating the likelihood of a particular hazard materializing, and determining the severity of the consequence if controls are absent, Ryan adds.

As Justice Bensler ruled, however, the benefit of hindsight cannot be applied to foreseeability. “We have to look at the events as the worker and the employer saw them that day, and judge them according to what we knew at the time,” Warning points out.

RESPONSIBLE PARTIES Beyond employer obligations, the case raises the question of individual accountability. That issue was tackled in the May, 2009 decision, R. v. Lonkar Well Testing Limited, by Justice Stephen Hillier of Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench.

Like Sunshine Village, Lonkar Well Testing was appealing an oh&s conviction of having failed to ensure the protection of a worker.

The company was engaged in a sweet well operation when a piece of equipment malfunctioned and needed to be replaced. To prepare for that work, a company supervisor instructed Jonathan Audit, a 21-year-old employee, to remove 12 flange bolts from the equipment while the supervisor was away. The young worker was also told not to do any additional work until the supervisor came back.

Upon his return, the supervisor discovered Audit dead on the floor of the trailer where the equipment had been kept.

The equipment had been moved, and a hematoma on Audit’s head suggested that he had fallen.

Hydrocarbons released by the equipment had stratified, leading to decreased oxygen at floor level. “The major contributing factor to his death was suffocation due to the low level of oxygen in the ambient air that he had been breathing,” Justice Hillier writes.

“In that case, the question was whether it was reasonably foreseeable for the employer to anticipate that the employee would depart from his training and express directions from his supervisor,” says David Myrol, a partner with McLennan Ross LLP in Edmonton and chair of the firm’s oh&s group.

Justice Hillier ruled “there was absolutely nothing to indicate that Audit would act alone and remove the remaining bolts on all the flanges,” suggesting the trial judge’s decision was based on hindsight. “Criticisms by the trial judge presuppose that [the supervisor] should have anticipated that his instructions would be disobeyed,” Justice Hillier notes.

In both the Sunshine Village and Lonkar Well Testing cases, what was unforeseeable was that workers would have been inattentive, as in the former case, or expressly disobey a supervisor, as in the latter, causing the safety systems in place to fail.

Jennifer Fabian, director of safety services at Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety in Regina, suggests that external control systems are so very critical precisely because even careful workers can make mistakes.

“Once you’ve identified a hazard, what we promote is the priority of controls. The first priority is that you eliminate the hazard,” Fabian says. If this cannot be done, she recommends physical guarding to separate the worker from the hazard.

LOOKING FORWARD Brunnen does not expect the Sunshine Village verdict to have any significant influence on how employers view the reasonable care required to protect their workers. “You can only go so far or so high on the standard of care. You’ve done everything that’s quote-unquote reasonable and yet you still have an inexplicable moment,” he says. “You can’t legislate out human error,” Brunnen adds.

Warning notes that workers also have responsibilities in line with the internal responsibility system. “Every health and safety statute across the country does contain legal requirements for workers to protect themselves and not work in a manner that may endanger any other worker or person at the workplace,” he says.

Ryan, for her part, notes that “workers need to remember to apply their training every day.”

Says Myrol, “The courts are recognizing there’s a certain reality to workplaces and a limitation of the ability of people to predict the future.” He “You can’t even suggests that the Sunshine Village case protects the interests of employers, legislate as they will not be treated as legal guarantors of worker safety in any and all posout human sible scenarios.

“It was a strong endorsement and error,” a reassurance to employers that they Brunnen wouldn’t be held to an impossibly high standard,” Myrol says of Justice Bensler’s adds. ruling. “Anyone can connect the dots after the accident occurs.”

Myrol suggests, however, that provincial oh&s inspectors have a heightened responsibility to identify work-related hazards. “Their skill set allows them to identify that hazard more readily than even an employer may be able to identify,” he maintains.

But Brunnen points out that Sunshine Village’s operations had been regularly and routinely inspected, and their procedures had been approved. “They were probably more diligent than most chairlift operators, so… you can’t fault the inspectors for anything they’d done in advance,” he says.

Independent of the case, Fabian notes that safety officers in Saskatchewan will continue to perform their duties as they relate to foreseeability. This means “coaching employers on their duties and, secondly, when doing an investigation… to consider that foreseeability issue,” she says.

Ultimately, both Fabian and Ryan recommend that when health and safety policies are being developed, there should be multiple controls in place to provide support in the event that a system fails.

“Often, when accidents happen, it’s not just one thing going wrong, but it’s a series of things that all converge at the worst possible time, at the same time, with the worst possible outcome,” says Ryan.

She urges those who create safety systems to “try to develop them to the point of redundancy.”

In light of the appeal decision, Sunshine Village will not be donating $250,000 to the British Columbia community college. Rather, Firby says, the money will be invested in improvements and workplace practices that are “more likely to reduce the risk of fatality in the future.”

Emily Landau is editorial assistant of

www.ohscanada.com

OHS CANADA.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2010

51

HEALTH WATCH WORKPLACE BEHAVIOUR

A Matter of Respect

By Angela Stelmakowich

W

orkplace respect is interpreted in countless ways — some views shared by many, others by just a few — but it has some hard lines of what is considered acceptable behaviour.

A number of employees at Parks Canada’s Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba recently crossed that line. The workers received swift discipline for sending an e-mail containing negative and hurtful comments about First Nation peoples and African-Canadians.

The e-mail was sent and then re-sent, the second time accidentally to all staff, says Cheryl Penny, superintendent of the Riding Mountain Field Unit for Riding Mountain National Park. “This was not done intentionally,” but that in no way diminishes its seriousness, Penny says.

The offensive e-mail was deleted from The e-mail the network within minutes of being discovered, she reports. Despite its brief availwas sent ability, however, “the hurt is still there,” Penny says of a message that she characterand then izes as “shocking”, “totally inappropriate” and “wrong.” re-sent, the Employees were encouraged to talk with managers, human resources staff or second time Penny, and a confidential healing circle was available “to support staff in dealing accidentally with any effects or impacts from this.”

Penny also talked with all managers to all staff. and supervisors to ensure that they fully understand all related policies.

The e-mail represented a breach of the ethics code for the public service, the park’s network policy and its stated goal of being a harassment-free workplace. “We celebrate diversity,” she says. “What went out in that e-mail does not reflect the views or the values of Parks Canada.”

In its Respectful Workplace Policy, the Government of Manitoba states that disrespectful behaviour includes, but is not limited to, the following: s discrimination as defined under human rights legislation; s belittling or reprimanding in the presence of others; s embarrassing or humiliating behaviour; s inappropriate jokes or cartoons, including those containing racial or ethnic slurs; s offensive or inappropriate remarks, gestures, material or behaviour; and, s damaging gossip or rumours.

Penny declined to comment on the specific disciplinary action taken against the individuals involved, other than to say “it was dealt with very strongly.”

Wendy Sol, executive vice-president of the Manitoba Federation of Labour (MFL) in Winnipeg, says every organiza-

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tion should have a policy that adopts a zero-tolerance approach. Still, “I don’t think discipline in the workplace should be punitive. It needs to be corrective and, with that, comes education, Sol says.

“Being fired or disciplined shouldn’t be the motivation,” she says. The reason for a policy, as well as its parameters, needs to be clearly communicated. Otherwise, “the focus then becomes the restrictiveness of being able to fraternize with your co-workers when, in fact, it really needs to be [that] you’re doing it for the right reasons.”

JOINT EFFORT Getting things right demands that everyone do their part. For workers, “it’s not enough to delete” an e-mail, Sol says. “The only way that you’re going to stop it is if you reply back and say don’t send these to me anymore.”

If a worker does not feel confident doing so, however, there needs to be a confidential safe zone where a person can go, says Sol. “That person who’s in a position of power can then go and say we have an issue that needs to be stopped.”

Fostering workplace respect is the responsibility of all, notes information from the MFL Occupational Health Centre, Inc. in Winnipeg. It offers the following suggestions: s If a person thinks his or her own behaviour offends someone else, stop the behaviour. s Tell someone if his or her behaviour is offensive and ask that person to stop. If the behaviour continues or is serious, report the incident to the appropriate person. s Anyone who witnesses disrespectful behaviour has a responsibility to call attention to that behaviour. s Supervisors and managers should address disrespect immediately.

The need to fulfill those responsibilities in a timely manner is heightened with electronic communications. “The 10 people you sent [a message] to have now sent it to another 10. Before the afternoon is over, a thousand people believe that you believe in whatever it is that you passed on,” Sol says.

Bullying and violence stemming from “racism becomes a little bit more prevalent because it feels like it’s the norm out there,” she says. “Sometimes those psychological scars, you can’t see,” Sol adds.

That view is likely shared by Working to Halt Online Abuse (WHOA), an all-volunteer organization dedicated to helping adult victims of online harassment and cyberstalking. “The Internet is not going away,” Jayne Hitchcock, president of WHOA, says in a statement. “Everybody needs to be educated about how to stay safer online if they want to conduct business and socialize on the Internet,” Hitchcock says.

Sol argues it is not okay to simply say something is a joke and let it slide. “There’s enough common ground in the workplace and in the world that we can share jokes without having to resort to demeaning someone’s religion, gender or race.”

IN BREACH It was apparently meant as a joke, but to some, it was something much more. In Ontario, an allegation of hazing and other inappropriate behaviour recently ended with disciplinary action against a number of employees in the City of Mississauga’s Transportation and Public Works Department.

The employees involved were issued a stern warning that any similar action in future would result in immediate dismissal, Janice Baker, manager and chief administrative officer for the city, noted in a statement in June.

The workers in question were also provided mandatory retraining on the city’s Respectful Workplace policies and practices, Baker reported at the time.

The municipality’s statement was released after a video depicting the type of behaviour that launched an earlier complaint was made public through the media.

The city hired an independent consulting firm, Benard + Associates in Waterloo, Ontario, to investigate. The firm’s re-

port cited several examples of disrespectful activities: s two employees duct taped face-to-face having water balloons thrown at them; s an employee bound with duct tape being put on the back of a truck, which was then sent through a wash bay; and, s employees being hit, kicked and punched while bent over a table on their birthdays.

Investigators determined the behaviour was in breach of the city’s workplace respect policy, but that all witnesses interviewed “supported the fact that practical jokes and hazing took place.” Baker noted that, following a review of the results, it was determined that “while discipline was warranted, dismissal was not.”

The city “is disgusted and appalled,” Baker said. “We want to stress how seriously we took the allegations and that in no way do we condone this type of behaviour.”

Angela Stelmakowich is editor of

OHS CANADA.

BCRSP’s Volunteer of the Year The Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals (BCRSP) is pleased to announce that T.J. (Terry) Ryan, CRSP, is the recipient of the Board’s 2010 Volunteer of the Year Award.

Mr. Ryan is the President of Ryan Consulting Services in Burlington, Ontario.

A graduate of the Safety Engineering Technology Diploma Program at Toronto’s Humber College (commuting from Labrador City, NL for three years to complete the program), his oh&s experience includes positions with the iron ore mines of Labrador and Corporate Health and Safety Director, Canada Packers. In 1991, Mr. Ryan started a workers’ compensation and health and safety practice with Mantum Corporation, a Mississauga-based management consulting firm. The practice grew into tone of the largest of its kind in Ontario with staff levels reaching more than 12 consultants. He left this firm in 2004 to start Ryan Consulting Services where he specializes in both health and safety and workers’ compensation. A CRSP since 1982, he has served as a member of the Qualifications Review Committee since 1999.

In addition to his contributions to the BCRSP, Mr. Ryan has served at the executive or committee level with organizations such as the Industrial Accident Prevention Association of Ontario, Canadian Society of Safety Engineering, WCB Committee of the Canadian Manufacturing Association, the Ontario Meat Council and was a founding editorial Board member of OHS Canada magazine.

Mr. Ryan has spoken at numerous conferences and seminars and has written articles for several Canadian Publications. He has also volunteered with various civic and minor sports organizations.

The Board’s Volunteer of the Year program was initiated in 2001 in conjunction with its 25 th anniversary and the United Nation’s “Year of the Volunteer”.

The Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals (BCRSP) is a public interest, ISO 17024:2003 (Personnel Certification Body) and ISO 9001:2008 (Quality Management System) accredited, self-regulating, self-governing organization established in 1976 under The Canada Corporations Act for the purpose of certifying Canadian Registered Safety Professionals (CRSP)®.

Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals Conseil canadien des professionnels en sécurité agréés 6519-B Mississauga Road, Mississauga, ON L5N 1A6, info@bcrsp.ca, www.bcrsp.ca Circle number 24 on Reader Service Card www.ohscanada.com

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TIME OUT

FLIGHT OF FANCY: This flight attendant was mad as in July that the teacher is seeking a little something in return hell — and he wasn’t going to take it anymore. Hot under the collar, the worker let off more than a bit of steam following a recent JetBlue flight from Pittsburgh to New York, Agence France-Presse reported in August. The flight attendant told all passengers to remain seated, a directive that was ignored.

Things turned ugly when a man began collecting his belongings from an overhead bin and the worker intervened, which ended with him being hit in the head by a bag. The flight attendant asked for an apology, which was not forthcoming. He then took hold of the plane’s loudspeaker, spewing venom on all passengers, before grabbing a beer and riding the inflatable emergency chute away from his very bad day.

He was arrested at his home a short time later.

DENTAL MENTAL: It was not the first time the Ontario Provincial Police pulled over a trucker for driving erratically, but an incident in July gets high marks for originality. It seems an operator demonstrating too much “to and fro” on Highway 402 near Sarnia, Ontario had something other than driving on his mind. CBC News reported that the trucker, 58, was pulled over after pulling out his own tooth. He had tied one end of a string around his tooth and the other to the roof of the rig’s cab, surmising that “one good bump” would free the unwanted tooth. That it did, the police finding the tooth on the seat beside the operator. The pain may have been eased temporarily, but the driver was soon in for a world of hurt.

He now faces a charge of careless driving.

GREAT ESCAPE: Calling this young worker lucky would surely rank as a colossal understatement. The 20-year-old in China escaped with just a broken leg and injured knee after falling into a working concrete mixer. He had been pouring cement mix into the machine when the bag became snagged on a blade and he was dragged into the unit, reports the Chutian Metropolis News. A co-worker heard his screams, ran to the mixer and shut it down. Only the worker’s head was outside the blender when emergency personnel arrived.

HMMM: Every job deserves to be done well. That message, however, was lost on a would-be thief in New Westminster, British Columbia who now faces robbery and assault charges. Skills prized by thieves — daring, stealth and attention to detail — seem to have been lacking when the man tried to rob a coffee shop where two uniformed police officers were customers. The Canadian Press reported in July that the man, in fact, spoke with the officers outside of the shop. He then followed them inside, interrupted their conversation with an employee and loudly demanded cash before throwing a large drink can, which almost hit the worker. One more thing — the coffee shop is next door to the police station.

NEEDS ADJUSTMENT: No need to shout. So an Australian teacher has learned, having damaged her larynx, she claims, because of years of yelling to gain control of her class, which included special needs students. QMI Agency reported

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for setting her voice to muffle — $360,000, not to put too fine a point on it. In her lawsuit against the Queensland government, the 39-year-old notes she had 31 special needs children in her class, but did not have adequate help to deal with the difficult classroom. She no longer teaches full time.

FLASH OVER SUDSTANCE: Perhaps beer and cream are not such a good mix. It was a whole lot of sizzle and fizz when the Okanagan Springs Brewery in Vernon, British Columbia tried to serve up a bit of (beer) bubbly in late July, The Canadian Press reports. A batch of cream beer made mincemeat of a fermenting vat during an explosion, the force of which was strong enough to rip an aluminum loading door from its hinges and send 32 thousand litres of sudsy foam into the street. There were no serious injuries. A build-up of carbon dioxide has been singled out as the likely culprit.

GETTING ANY? If not, perhaps factory work is the answer. A new study indicates that people who work in factories are more likely than those in other jobs to have had a sexual encounter at work, QMI Agency reported this summer. Reabur, a human resources firm in the United Kingdom, made a list of the country’s Top 10 “randiest” professions. At 19 per cent, factory workers were on top (as it were), followed by office employees, 16 per cent; bar staff, 15 per cent; retail assistants, 13 per cent; plumbers, 11 per cent; teachers, 10 per cent; chefs and postal workers, nine per cent apiece; firefighters, seven per cent; and cabin crew members, six per cent.

OP STOP: Certain dangers are associated with marijuana grow-ops: fire, explosion and chemical exposures, among these. But Mounties in Christina Lake, British Columbia had to contend with yet another hazard in late July, Canadian Occupational Health & Safety News reported at the time. The British Columbia RCMP notes that members were investigating an outdoor grow-op with two plots containing upward of 1,100 marijuana plants. As officers worked to dismantle the operation, they discovered 10 black bears (docile, but large nonetheless) serving as unintentional sentries. Dog food was found at the site, leading police to conclude the easy meal for bears offered an extra level of subterfuge for the operation.

Police proceeded with caution and notified the Grand Forks Conservation Office Services. Two area residents were later arrested in connection with the illicit garden.

JAM PACKED: Feeling hard-done-by as traffic builds on the daily commute and the minutes tick by? Consider what it would feel like if minutes grew into nine days. That was the unwelcome lot for frustrated drivers — mainly freight-carrying trucks — dealing with the mother of all traffic jams on a highway leading into Beijing in August, state media reported.

Vehicles snaked almost 100 kilometres thanks to ongoing road repairs that were not expected to be completed until September. Drivers were left to kill time by playing cards and complain about prices that locals were charging for food.

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