OHS Canada April/May 2010 by Annex Business Media

C A N A D Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 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 A pr i l / May 2010

C A N A D A

Building safety into residential construction

Shaky

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FOUNDATION

HARD HIT Brain injury has many faces

SECURITY BREACH Hostage-taking spurs upgrades

GIANT STEP Bid for damages ends in high court

ITTY-BITTY Small talk about nanotechnology

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

R E S I D E N TIA L C ON S TR UC TIO N

Built to Last?

A PRI L / M AY 20 1 0 Vo l u m e 26, Nu m b e r 3

Residential construction projects are populated by a variety of contractors who come and go, but who may not share the same view on safety. BY ANGELA STELMAKOWICH

B R AI N IN JU RY

Trauma Centre It might be a fall, a hit by an object or a vehicle accident. All these on-the-job events could cause traumatic brain injuries, turning a worker’s life inside out. BY DAN BIRCH

S E C U R I TY

A Safe Zone A disgruntled claimant entered Alberta’s WCB last October. The subsequent hostage-taking ended peacefully, but sounded an alarm over security. BY JEAN LIAN

DEPARTMENTS

AC C I D E NT P R EV EN TIO N

Air It Out Everyone needs to vent now and again. So, too, should work spaces where ﬁres, explosions and overexposures can result from failing to do so.

S AF E TY GEAR

Hunt and Gather A workplace spill has just occurred. What precautions, equipment and gear are necessary for mitigation, containment and removal? BY JASON CONTANT

Court Adjourned

IN THIS ISSUE ED IT O R IA L

Strike a Pose O H&S U P D AT E

BY EMILY LANDAU

Small Talk New research suggests nanoparticle exposure contributed to the deaths of two workers. The study has raised eyebrows and returned toxic talk to the spotlight. BY EMILY LANDAU

TI M E OUT

Point of order; cut the cheese; courting security; do over; stop, thief; up in smoke; work credit; and a nose knows.

On the digital road again; criminal charges pursued; canine care; new cash for Mountie stafﬁng; and more. P R O FESS IO N AL DIRECT O RY P R O D U C T S HOW CAS E AD IN D EX / R EA DER S ERV I CE I NF O

Canada’s high court has made its decision — the ﬁnal decision — about whether or not the widows of nine deceased miners will be awarded damages. OC C U PATIO N AL HYGI EN E

Helicopter inquiry recommendations; fall claims British Columbia worker; $300,000 fine in Alberta fatality; Saskatchewan firefighters push for benefits; two dead after incident at Quebec smelter; Nova Scotia tribunal takes issue with deeming; PEI rights body calls policy discriminatory; and more. D ISPAT C HES

L AW F I LE

50 52 53

Let the fear of danger be a spur to prevent it; he that fears not, gives advantage to the danger. — FRANCIS QUARLES

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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. 3 APRIL/MAY 2010 EDITOR

Strike a Pose I

t seems that suing is now in vogue. This suit is neither about common bickering, that which may occur between none-too-neighbourly neighbours over a disputed fence line; nor is it about potentially debilitating injuries, such as may result if a vehicle, wielded by an impaired driver, ploughed into a pedestrian. No, this suit is about duelling workplace parties — a union and a company locked in a bitter battle that threatens to drag into its first anniversary if labour relations do not improve considerably. Unfortunately, nary a compromising stance appears in sight. Vale Inco has filed a lawsuit against Local 6500 of the United Steelworkers (USW), which represents striking workers at the company’s operations in Sudbury, Ontario, the heart of Canada’s nickel belt. (The strike began last July, but parts of the mining operations have since restarted and are being manned by non-striking employees and contract workers. Issues including pensions and tying bonuses to the price of nickel are among the main sticking points.) So what is the mammoth mining entity seeking? A cool $1 million. The company is arguing that disruptive antics on the picket line — and far worse on the union’s website — amount to “unlawful thuggery.” Vale Inco points to property damage, threats and intimidation of those crossing the picket line and, in one case, an assault on one employee. Clearly, the union has a decidedly different take, having argued that the allegations are, first, not true and, second, little Clearly, more than a ploy to divide leadership and membership. A look at the USW’s website offers plenty of views on the the union strike, including sections with photos of “scabs” — those who have crossed the picket line, company and external security has a personnel, and Vale Inco staff. The photographs are often acdecidedly companied by names and comments. The lawsuit is not a first. Vale Inco has filed a couple of othdifferent ers since the labour dispute began last summer. But the foray of lawsuits into the labour relations realm opens the door to an take. uncomfortable area made more so by the unsettling tack. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in February to uphold an earlier court decision that denied damages for the surviving family members of nine replacement workers who were killed at Yellowknife’s Giant Mine almost two decades ago. The workers died when an explosive device deliberately set by a striking miner was triggered. The high court ruling was about monetary damages, although the case cannot help but serve as a lesson on how events can escalate. No one is equating the Vale Inco strike with the Giant Mine tragedy — that level of loss, thankfully, is an aberration in this country. Unions should have a right to put forward their views (there’s plenty that unions have achieved from which we all now benefit), and everyone should be able to file lawsuits if they so choose. But talk should never turn physical. And filing lawsuits does little to foster the atmosphere necessary to get everyone safely and fairly back to work. A hard-line approach — whether by unions or by companies — does not always produce a clear victor. The Giant Mine incident should serve as a sobering reminder of how extreme harm can be born of rhetoric, frustration and anger.

ASSISTANT EDITORS

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

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 by Business Information Group as to the absolute correctness or sufficiency of any representation contained in this publication. OHS CANADA is published eight times per year by BIG Magazines LP, a division of Glacier BIG Holdings Ltd., a leading Canadian information company with interests in daily and community newspapers and business-to-business information services. The yearly issues include: January/February, March, April/May, June, July/ August, September, October/November, and December. Application to mail at Periodicals Postage Rates is pending at Niagara Falls, N.Y. 14304. U.S. Postmaster, Office of Publication, send address corrections to: OHS Canada, 2424 Niagara Falls Blvd., Niagara Falls, NY 14304-0357. ADDRESS: OHS CANADA MAGAZINE, 12 Concorde Place, Suite 800, Toronto, ON M3C 4J2. TELEPHONE: Customer Service: 800/668-2374; Editorial: 416/510-6893; Sales: 416/510-5102; Fax: 416/510-5140. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Canada: $110.50/year; USA: $132.50/Year; foreign: $137.50. (Prices include postage and shipping; applicable taxes are extra.) SINGLE COPIES: Canada: $13.50; USA: $16.50; foreign $17.00 Bulk subscription rates available on request. Indexed by Canadian Business Periodicals Inc. ISSN 0827-4576 Printed in Canada. All rights reserved. From time to time we make our subscription list available to select companies and organizations whose product or service may interest you. If you do not wish your contact information to be made available, please contact us via one of the following methods: (Tel) 1-800-668-2374; (Fax) 416-510-5140; (E-mail) jhunter@ businessinformationgroup.ca; (Mail) Privacy Officer, Business Information Group, 12 Concorde Place, Suite 800, Toronto, ON, Canada M3C 4J2. The contents of this magazine are protected by copyright and may be used for your personal, non-commercial purposes only. All other rights are reserved and commercial use is prohibited. To make use of any of this material, you must first obtain the permission of the owner of the copyright. For further information, please contact the editor. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada, through the Publications Assistance Program and the Canadian Magazine Fund, toward our mailing and editorial costs.

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OHS CANADA

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OH&S UPDATE

REVIEW URGES FASTER RESPONSE FEDERAL — Preliminary recommenda-

tions meant to improve ﬁrst response safety and rescue (SAR) practices have been released by the inquiry commissioner reviewing offshore helicopter safety in Newfoundland and Labrador. In a February 8 letter to the CanadaNewfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, Robert Wells, commissioner of the Offshore Helicopter Safety Inquiry, outlines several recommendations for those overseeing compliance in the province’s oil and gas industry. The board established the inquiry after a Sikorsky S-92 helicopter transporting offshore oil workers crashed in March of 2009, claiming the lives of 17 of the 18 passengers on board. The letter requests that the board reduce its “wheels-up” response time, the time it takes for a rescue helicopter to be airborne in the event of an emergency. Currently, wheels-up time ranges from 40 minutes to an hour, Wells says. However, evidence presented to the inquiry indicates the helicopter opera-

tor used by the board to provide first response is capable of a 15- to 30-minute wheels-up time in other jurisdictions. The frigid waters off Newfoundland and Labrador add to the urgency of a rapid first response, Wells says. “It has to be very, very quick, or people are not going to survive.” Sean Kelly, manager of public relations for the board, says officials would like to see wheels-up in 15 to 20 minutes, although he acknowledges “there may be times where it has to be longer just because of certain conditions.” The board has asked the operators in the province’s offshore sector — Suncor Energy Inc., Chevron Canada Limited, Hibernia Management and Development Company Ltd., Husky Energy Inc. and ConocoPhillips Company — to advise of their plans for implementation. In his letter, Wells also expressed concern over risks associated with night flying, asking that the board revisit the issue until the available rescue helicopter can be equipped with auto-hover and forward-looking infrared technology: the former helps keep the helicopter in a steady position; the latter uses heat sen-

sors to locate bodies in the water. As of February 14, the board had suspended all non-emergency low-visibility flying — including night-time flying — until a fully equipped SAR helicopter is available. Offshore operators “are all now in compliance with that,” Kelly says. Wells notes that Transport Canada will certify auto-hover for the helicopter in question later this year. The inquiry has two phases: Phase I consists of gathering public input and the commissioner’s own research, while Phase II will revolve around Wells’s review of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada’s findings on the crash. As part of that phase, the board will be advised on matters, including the following: UÊ safety plan requirements for offshore operators and establishing how companies will ensure the policies are implemented by helicopter operators; UÊ SAR duties of helicopter operators in contracts, laws or regulations; and, UÊ the role of regulators to ensure that legislative safety requirements are being implemented. Wells has until September 30 to complete the first phase of his review.

RADIATION EXPOSURE SUSPECTED AT NUCLEAR PLANT FEDERAL — Federal ofﬁcials report that as many as 217

workers at a nuclear generating station in Tiverton, Ontario may have been exposed to radioactive material during a reactor restart project last November. A report released in February by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) in Ottawa notes workers at the Bruce Power Inc. nuclear plant may have been exposed to alpha contamination, which is hazardous if particulate is inhaled or ingested. On November 26, workers were grinding feeder tubes when a routine air sample in a vault detected long-lived particulates, identiﬁed as cobalt-60. Bruce Power’s investigation report notes that “in the time frame of November 24 to 28, there is the possibility that workers not directly performing [grinding] work, but working in the vault area, may have been exposed.” The utility immediately stopped work upon receipt of the sample results. Preliminary radiation dose calculations “were conservatively interpreted as a potential indication that an action level for inhalation of airborne radioactivity may have been exceeded,” the CNSC report states. An analysis was to be done by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited’s Chalk River Laboratories to determine actual doses.

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OHS CANADA

Until final counts are available, potentially affected workers have been removed from other radioactive work. “Our preliminary tests are confirming that readings are well below the regulatory limits,” says Bruce Power spokesperson Steve Cannon. Aurèle Gervais, acting director of public affairs and media relations for the CNSC, confirms that the regulatory limit of 5,000 millirems of maximum radiation exposure annually is not likely to have been exceeded in the Bruce Power incident. Cannon reports that whole-body counts for most of the potentially exposed individuals identified six cases of trace amounts of radioactive isotopes cobalt-60 and caesium-137. None of the workers, however, have demonstrated any negative health effects, he says. The CNSC report notes the cause of the incident was determined to be “activated corrosion products” in the feeders that became dislodged during grinding activities. Since the event, Cannon says Bruce Power has “deployed a lot of new alpha-detecting instruments and monitors to the field and upped the requirements for air-supplied plastic suits and respirators inside the reactor vaults.” — By Jason Contant

MOULD SHUTS DOWN BUNKHOUSE CARMACKS — The British Columbia operator of a remote copper-gold mine in the Yukon has shut the doors to two bunkhouse units after mould was discovered in their bathrooms. The mould was identified in mid-February during a joint health and safety committee inspection of the Minto Mine work camp near the Yukon community of Carmacks. Vancouver-based Capstone Mining Corp. opted to close the units pending completion of an environmental hygiene assessment, reports Kurt Dieckmann, director of occupational health and safety for the Yukon Workers’ Compensation Health and Safety Board in Whitehorse. “When they looked in the washrooms and opened up a couple of walls, there [was] a significant mould problem,” Dieckmann notes. He says that workers housed in the two units have been moved to temporary accommodations. Hemmera, an environmental services company in Vancouver, has been hired to do the hygiene assessment, reports Randall Thompson, general manager of the Minto Mine. On February 20, Thompson says, almost four dozen employees and contract workers — employed as part of construction and drilling exploration crews — were bused from the camp to Carmacks. The camp houses almost 200 beds. Information from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) in Hamilton, Ontario notes that the most commonly reported symptoms after inhaling mould include runny nose or nasal congestion, eye irritation, cough, aggravation of asthma, fatigue, headaches and difficulty concentrating. To prevent mould growth, the CCOHS recommends venting showers and other moisture-generating sources directly to the outside; using exhaust fans when cooking, laundering or cleaning large areas; insulating cold surfaces to prevent condensation on piping, windows, exterior walls, roofs and floors; and not installing carpet around fountains, sinks, showers or on top of concrete floors prone to leaks or condensation.

FALL INTO WATER PROVES DEADLY DELTA — A worker at Seaspan Coastal

Intermodal’s Tilbury Terminal in Delta, British Columbia died after falling into

the water on the evening of February 16. At about 7 pm that day, members of the Delta Police Department were called to the terminal. Ofﬁcers discovered “a mechanical malfunction” involving operation of the dock and learned that a worker had fallen into the water. An immediate search was carried out with the assistance of a police helicopter, the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG), tugboats in the area and co-workers, notes the statement from police. CCG divers were deployed and, shortly thereafter, the worker was recovered from the water. Attempts to revive the worker were not successful. Kelly Francis, communications coordinator for Seaspan Coastal, says the employee was on a ramp at Berth 4. The worker had been adjusting the ramp in preparation for a vessel’s arrival when the ramp “unexpectedly collapsed” and both it and the worker fell into the water.

BEST PRACTICES FALL BY WAYSIDE NANAIMO — A review panel examining the deaths of three forestry workers in British Columbia’s coastal logging operations concluded that, despite years of experience, the workers failed to follow industry-recommended best practices. Released on January 22, the report considers the circumstances surrounding the three deaths in 2008. In each case, workers failed to adequately recognize and control inherent risks, the degree of supervision and its effectiveness varied, and the trees involved could be characterized as “dangerous trees,” notes the 15-member panel, with representatives from labour, industry, government, forest safety advocacy, fallers and falling contractors. Panel members were appointed under British Columbia’s Coroners Act. “The panel was challenged by the notion that experienced, knowledgeable fallers would fail to arrive at appropriate, safe control measures,” it states. Another major concern was the physical characteristics and locations of trees involved. In one incident, two fallers were working in close proximity when a tree felled by one of the workers fatally struck the other. The other two deaths involved bucking (sawing a previously felled or uprooted tree into smaller segments), with one incident on a narrow rock ledge and the other on steep ground. Supervision was yet another issue identiﬁed by report authors. Those “who are responsible for their own production

quota, and even dedicated supervisors who may be directing the work of fallers spread out over distant operations, may be facing workload challenges which interfere with effective supervision.” Recommendations penned by panel members include the following: UÊ the B.C. Forest Safety Council in Nanaimo, British Columbia consider leading a study into falling supervisor workload management issues and developing a faller safety performance tracking system; UÊ WorkSafeBC examine how to expand the distribution of falling safety media, including posters, alerts, video materials and commercials; and, UÊ Natural Resources Canada (NRC) in Ottawa allow storage of small quantities of explosives in remote and hardto-access locations so that explosives can be used to eliminate hazards of manual tree-falling operations. In a November, 2009 letter, Roberta Ellis, vice-president of the policy, investigations and review divisions at WorkSafeBC, wrote that the board has already taken or is taking action to address the recommendations. Ofﬁcials for both the NRC and the forest council say suggestions are under consideration.

FATALITY ENDS WITH HEFTY FINE NISKU — The death of a 56-year-old em-

ployee four years ago has resulted in an Alberta pipe-coating company receiving penalties totalling $300,000. Garneau Inc., based in Nisku, Alberta, was cited for breaching requirements of Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, confirms Chris Chodan, a spokesperson for Alberta Employment and Immigration (AEI) in Edmonton. The deadly incident occurred in June, 2006. Sidney Edwards was working at Garneau’s facility in Camrose, Alberta. An agreed statement of facts filed with the provincial court notes large pieces of pipe — weighing between 4,773 and 5,682 kilograms — were being moved across a series of five racks. Each rack was equipped with a kicker, or a hydraulic piston, that would allow a pipe to roll to the next rack. The tally operator was responsible for moving the pipe to the third rack, at which point Edwards was to transport the pipe to another rack. At about 4:30 pm on June 13, 2006, the tally operator activated a kicker and this caused one or more pieces of pipe to

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VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS DESERVE SAME BENEFITS: TOWN REGINA — The voice is growing louder for supporters who argue volunteer firefighters in Saskatchewan should have access to the same workers’ compensation benefits as their full-time counterparts. In early February, the Regina-based Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association passed a resolution submitted by the town of Kindersley to commit to lobbying the province to move forward with changes. The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM), also in Regina, passed a nearly identical resolution in 2008. “Volunteer firefighters are putting their [lives] and their health on the line, same as full-time firefighters,” says Dale Harvey, SARM’s assistant executive director. “They’re not doing it for the money. They’re doing it for the betterment of the community... so why should they be at risk?” Under Saskatchewan’s Workers’ Compensation Act (WCA), presumptive coverage is available to full-time firefighters who develop certain types of cancer or heart problems. Volunteer and part-time firefighters — while able to file for benefits for work-related injuries and deaths — do not fall under the presumptive coverage umbrella for disease, says Mitchell Scott, executive assistant to the CEO at Saskatchewan’s Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) in Regina.

roll toward the rack where Edwards was located. His head was crushed between two pieces of rolling pipe, resulting in fatal injuries. Garneau pleaded guilty to failing to do the following: establish a system that would account for all workers before pieces of pipe are moved; implement a procedure to ensure all racks are clear of workers before kickers are activated; and provide a notification to alert workers that a pipe is being moved. “The procedures that they had in place were insufficient to ensure that the pipe could be moved safely,” says Brian Caruk, acting chief Crown prosecutor for Alberta. Since the deadly incident, the company has implemented a series of measures to enhance employee protection. Garneau was fined $10,000 and directed to provide $290,000 to the University of Alberta’s engineering program.

CHARGES FOLLOW DRIVER DEATH CALGARY — The death of an Alberta

dump truck driver two years ago has resulted in a slew of charges against three companies and an individual. The charges were laid in the wake of an incident on February 14, 2008 in which a dump truck driver at a Calgary

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Volunteer firefighters for Kindersley “are exposed to the same stresses and the same kinds of dangers and risks as professional urban firefighters,” argues Sherry Magnuson, the town’s chief administrative officer. Most of the town’s firefighters are professionally certified and all undergo training on a regular basis, Magnuson says. Garth Palmer, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Fire Chiefs, estimates that there are about 7,200 firefighters in Saskatchewan, approximately 6,500 of them volunteers. Palmer says he worries that the current WCA may deter volunteer firefighters from signing up in the future. “It’s a pretty tough thing to recruit volunteer firefighters if they’re not going to be adequately covered by their employer,” he suggests. “The municipalities that signed them up are their employers, whether they’re paid or not paid.” Ultimately, says Scott, any decision to change the rules rests with the provincial government. The complexity of proving a disease is work-related may be one reason that presumptive coverage has not been applied to volunteers, he suggests. “When you come to diseases or some other conditions where the cause is not a sudden, traumatic, visible thing, that can be harder to prove causation.” — By Emily Landau

construction site was fatally crushed when an excavation wall collapsed. At about 3:30 pm that day, Randy Williams, 47, was sitting in the truck cab when an approximately 15-metre-high wall of earth collapsed onto his vehicle. An excavator operator had been loading earth into the truck. Perera Development Corporation, Perera Development Group Ltd. and Perera Shawnee Ltd. were each cited for the same 10 charges. Don Perera faces three counts. AEI spokesperson Chris Chodan says that, among others, the charges relate to the failure of the three companies to ensure the following: a worker was protected from cave-ins or sliding/rolling materials during an excavation; the soil in an excavation was stabilized by shoring or cutting back; worker health and safety during survey activities near an unstable excavation wall; and the health and safety of workers conducting excavation activities. Counts against Perera cite the alleged failure, as a contractor, to ensure an employer took steps to protect worker health and safety, and to ensure work on the site complied with provincial requirements. Chodan says the health and safety matter was expected to be before a Calgary court on April 7.

WORKER FALLS FROM ROOF WABASCA — A 42-year-old worker help-

ing to build a permanent work camp near Wabasca, Alberta suffered a cracked vertebra after falling from a roof. AEI spokesperson Chris Chodan reports that at about 1:30 pm on February 5, the contract worker was moving from one camp module to another when he slipped off a beam and fell more than two metres to the ground. The worker is employed by a contractor working alongside Laricina Energy Ltd., a private company based in Calgary that has a field office in Wabasca. Following the accident, Laricina Energy was issued a stop-work order, which Chodan reported was to remain in effect until the company “reinstates adequate fall protection measures,” provides those measures to provincial oh&s officers, and the officers “are satisfied they are done properly.” As per Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Code, an employer must ensure a worker is protected from falling if he could fall a vertical distance of three metres or more, fall a vertical distance of less than three metres if there is an unusual possibility of injury, fall into or onto a hazardous substance or object, or fall through an opening in a work surface.

If the vertical distance is more than 1.2 metres but less than three metres, a guardrail must be provided. If a guardrail is not practicable, the provincial code notes a worker must use a travel restraint, personal fall arrest system or an “equally effective” system. Glen Schmidt, president of Laricina Energy, says best practices were being followed at the time of the fall. “Harness and tie-backs are good practice when people are overhead and that was followed,” says Schmidt. Still, he notes, “someone fell, so what are the changes that occur to ensure that there is worker safety?” Company and contractor reps are reviewing the circumstances of the incident, he says.

centage of the city’s 400-plus taxicabs. The taxi sector does not want to restrict drivers from accepting front-seat passengers at night which, despite the increased risk, they have the right to do. Side shields will help protect against front-seat passenger aggression. The board also approved the following: installing enhanced Verifeye cameras, which will be ﬁnanced by a 20cent fare increase, by October; a silent

alarm being connected to ﬂashing LED or strobe roof lights, and a public education campaign on what an activated light means; and reducing the amount of cash drivers carry at one time. In addition to safety equipment, the board will review training practices for drivers, which were last revised in 2007. Because English is a second language for the majority of trainees, Kozubal notes “we’re going to review that

ATTACKS LAUNCH PROTECTIONS WINNIPEG — Winnipeg taxi drivers are expected to soon beneﬁt from enhanced protection on the job. On February 25, a safety committee at Manitoba’s Taxicab Board met to discuss driver security, submitting 14 recommendations to the board for increased protective measures. In mid-March, the board, which currently consists of representatives from the taxicab industry, Winnipeg City Council and the Winnipeg Police Service, approved the committee’s major recommendations. Changes follow about a dozen violent incidents involving taxi drivers in Winnipeg over the last two months, says Jerry Kozubal, secretary for the board. Winnipeg is not alone in its experience of taxi drivers being assaulted. Bubba Singh, general manager of CoOp Taxi in Regina, reports that in just a year his drivers have experienced 11 violent incidents, and six incidents in February, 2010 alone. “Because most of the incidents are happening at night, drivers don’t want to drive at night,” he says. “They’re scared, I guess.” Says Kozubal, “If somebody is going to commit a robbery, they know that drivers are carrying some cash.” He notes that measures such as cameras and shields have been mandatory in Winnipeg cabs since 2002, but is hopeful that adopting the new safety measures will maximize driver protection. It is expected that by summer, all taxis in the city will be equipped with side shields. The option has been available since 2003, Kozubal says, but the devices have only been installed on a small perCircle number 13 on Reader Service Card www.ohscanada.com

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ONTARIO VIOLENCE REQUIREMENTS IN EFFECT SOON TORONTO — Attendees of a recent Toronto conference

were brought up to speed on new Ontario obligations surrounding workplace violence and harassment that take effect in June. A panel discussion of Bill 168 was meant to point workplace parties in the right direction on measures that have proven successful. The amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act will require employers to develop policies to prevent violence and harassment in the workplace. The City of Toronto’s workplace violence policy was established in 2003, but is consistent with new legislative requirements, reports panellist Alison Anderson, director of occupational health and safety for the city. There is “no tolerance for any actual violence,” says Anderson. The policy includes “everyone — employees, contractors, volunteers.” Assessment of violence-related hazards focuses on the nature of the work, she says. The city supplements its risk assessments with a comprehensive incident-history database to understand any risks that have emerged in the past. Anderson touts the beneﬁts of enhanced security in the workplace, speciﬁcally communication warning systems, which alert personnel to visitors who have been violent, as well as equipment and measures to protect workers. “That’s your lighting, your video barriers, your escape routes, your shielding,” she says. Jattinder Dhillon, vice-president of health, safety, wellness and business continuity at Loblaw Companies Limited, told delegates about how his company strives to foster an organizational culture in which workplace violence is less likely

to make sure the material is something they can understand while they’re doing the training.” Training, he says, will include “tips on how to handle different situations, being able to respond, dealing with your dispatchers, dealing with the police, knowing all emergency features in the vehicle.” Jim Donnelly, president of the Canadian Taxi Association and president and CEO of Aboutown Transportation Ltd. In London, Ontario, is an enthusiastic supporter of the forthcoming changes. “Many of our cities have training programs and there can never be too much training,” Donnelly says. He also praises the committee’s call to shift organizational culture. “They speak about how to reduce the risk in the workplace basically by being more aware of your surroundings and your ability to use whatever technology you have.” The Taxicab Board will also work with Manitoba Public Insurance to explore anti-theft devices to deter burglaries and carjacking.

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to occur. A pre-employment criminal background screening program has protected the company from considering for hire almost 5,000 violent offenders over the past two years, Dhillon says. Employee input, on an ongoing basis, is also critical to understand what potential risks might arise. Loblaw assigns buddies on the floor to new employees, who are able to report behaviours and employee development to upper management. “They get to tell us about their job, about their manager, about their company,” Dhillon told delegates. Out of that, he says, emerges a breeding ground for engagement and leadership. Lisa Mihalis, manager of employee relations at Chatham, Ontario-based Union Gas, says her company’s violence policy is fairly new, having been initiated in 2007. Employees were polled on their perceptions of workplace violence and identified two primary hazards: interactions with customers and interactions with co-workers. The company has implemented a three-tiered approach to train employees about workplace violence prevention. Employees at higher risk undergo an education and awareness session, while all employees from front-line staff to management and executives are required to participate in an annual on-line training seminar, says Mihalis. As well, an as-needed soft-skills training program will be implemented for conflict de-escalation and resolution. Says Mihalis, “If you give [employees] the appropriate type of tools to de-escalate [conflict], it may never enter into a workplace violence situation.” — By Emily Landau

SHUT-OFFS NOT FUNCTIONAL THUNDER BAY — Sigfusson Northern Ltd. was ﬁned $50,000 in February following a 2008 incident in which a worker broke his arm when it became entangled in a drill. The heavy construction company, with ofﬁces in several provinces, pleaded guilty to failing to ensure a rock drill was not used while it was defective or hazardous, contrary to Ontario’s Regulations for Construction Projects. On September 14, 2008, workers were drilling and blasting rocks on the site of a new road in Marathon, Ontario, notes a statement from the Ministry of Labour (MOL). One worker started to change the drill bit on a rock drill while it was operating, resulting in the worker’s arm getting caught in the drill. Although a second worker tried pressing an emergency stop button, the drill did not stop. A third worker then had to use a control lever to halt the drill. A provincial investigation determined

that none of the drill’s three emergency shut-off switches were functional. To prevent entanglement in rock drills, the Mine Safety and Health Administration in the United States recommends taking the following precautions: UÊ establish written procedures for clothing and methods to secure garments when working around equipment (never wear loose-ﬁtting clothing); UÊ ensure controls are positioned to provide safe performance in all operating conditions (controls should be able to adapt to work conditions and the operator’s size, height and reach); UÊ provide a variety of emergency stop or shut-off switches, panic bars, tethers, spring-loaded controls and other devices in easily accessible locations; UÊ ensure proper operation of machine controls and safety devices by not overriding, bypassing or tying down these units; and, UÊ always wear personal protective equipment, including safety glasses, hard hats, boots and gloves when operating drilling equipment.

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EMS RULES CHANGE FOLLOWING DEATH TORONTO — The death of a Toronto man last year has

prompted changes to the emergency response procedures used by the city’s ambulance attendants. Paramedics’ requests to delay response because of oh&s concerns will trigger an alarm at the Toronto Emergency Medical Service’s (TEMS) communication centre that, in turn, requires a supervisor to respond to the scene in person. The revised operating procedures follow the death of a patient on June 25, 2009. That day, paramedics opted to use the TEMS staging policy, in which paramedics concerned about either staff or patient safety will wait a safe distance from a potentially dangerous situation until cleared by police. The patient in question died after waiting more than 30 minutes for medical assistance when the paramedics parked their ambulance “away from the scene without obtaining sufﬁcient information, either by assessing the scene or requesting further information from the dispatcher,” notes an incident report from Ontario’s Ministry of Health and LongTerm Care in Toronto. A supervisor was also cited for failing to attend the scene or make direct contact with paramedics to discuss the reasons for staging, something that should be done as per standard operating procedures. The report notes the call to ambulance dispatchers indicated an apparently intoxicated man fell and hit his face in an apartment hallway, resulting in an open gash. Citing oh&s concerns, paramedics staged nearby the building. In light of recommendations ﬂowing from the ministry investigation, the TEMS has implemented an “alert line” in the

TRAINING EXERCISE TURNS FATAL POINT EDWARD — A volunteer firefighter in Point Edward, Ontario died in January after an accident during ice-water rescue training on the St. Clair River. On the morning of January 30, Gary Kendall was taking part in the exercise conducted by Point Edward Fire & Rescue when he became trapped under the ice, notes a statement from the Ontario Provincial Police’s Lambton County detachment. Colleagues pulled Kendall, 51, from the water and members of Lambton Emergency Medical Services transported him to a hospital in nearby Sarnia, Ontario. The 16-year veteran of the largely volunteer-based fire department succumbed to his injuries the next morning. The deadly incident occurred when “a large ice floe came down the river, trapping [the] firefighter underwater,” says William Lin, a spokesperson for Ontario’s MOL. Ice-water rescue training involves certain safety precautions, reports Darren Storey, co-chair of the Firefighters As-

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dispatch call centre to provide management with immediate notification of any staged EMS crew, says TEMS spokesperson Kim McKinnon. An alarm sounds to let “the supervisor or manager who is on duty in the call centre know they have to attend to a staged call,” McKinnon says. The supervisor’s role is to attend the scene to ensure all appropriate steps have been taken, to answer any questions and “to have another set of eyes there in a supervisory capacity,” she adds. McKinnon says “a significant chunk of the regular ongoing training” now focuses on staging. In addition, the TEMS was to begin using a supervisor and paramedic checklist on February 1 so that scene assessments can be completed before any decisions to withhold or delay service are made. A working group made up of representatives from, among others, TEMS, the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the MOL, released recommendations in addition to the changes that have already been adopted: UÊ the scope of TEMS paramedic training be expanded to encompass a broader range of conflict resolution skills; UÊ paramedics be trained on how to distinguish the reasons behind problematic patient behaviour; and, UÊ TEMS approach the health ministry for pilot funding to create a safety officer/clinical advisor position in the call centre to help with assessing on-scene risks. “The recommendations have the potential to be a leading practice for operators in other jurisdictions,” maintains City of Toronto manager Joseph Pennachetti. — By Jason Contant & Dan Birch

sociation of Ontario’s oh&s committee. “Most departments apply a full immersion-type suit that does have flotation properties to it,” Storey says. Many suit manufacturers recommend a second personal flotation device also be used, he says. As well, “there should be secure lines on those guys.” Although the Ontario Fire College offers provincial firefighter training, Storey says there is no legislation requiring fire departments to use these courses. “What the Ministry of Labour requires is that [the training is] done by a competent individual and safety precautions are taken,” he says. In Ontario, says Lin, employer duties under the OH&S Act “that apply to professional fire departments also apply to volunteer fire departments.”

FINE LEVIED IN DEADLY INCIDENT OTTAWA — An Ottawa paving company was ordered to pay a $110,000 ﬁne in January after pleading guilty to failing, as an employer, to ensure a machine operator was assisted by a signaller.

Torus Construction Limited received the penalty under Ontario’s OH&S Act in connection with fatal crushing injuries suffered by a worker in June of 2008. Section 104(3) of the provincial Regulations for Construction Projects notes that “operators of vehicles, machines and equipment shall be assisted by signallers” if an operator’s view of the intended path is obstructed or “a person could be endangered by the vehicle, machine or equipment or by its load.” Ontario’s MOL reports that on the day of the incident, a company labourer located at the intersection of two Ottawa streets was cleaning the concrete chute of a machine that pours and moulds sidewalk curbs. Another worker climbed into the machine, started it and beeped the horn twice before moving it in reverse, the ministry reports. The machine struck and fatally crushed the ﬁrst labourer. MOL spokesperson Bruce Skeaff says three other charges against Torus Construction were dismissed, as were four charges apiece against two individuals. Information available from Ontario’s newly formed Infrastructure Health and Safety Association notes that signallers

should wear high-visibility garments — usually vests — that are ﬂuorescent or bright orange with yellow stripes on the front and a diagonal “X” on the back. In addition, the signaller must be able to communicate with the vehicle operator using clearly understood, standard hand signals and watch parts of the vehicle, equipment or load that are not visible to the operator.

VESSEL INCIDENT CLAIMS TWO BAIE-COMEAU — Two workers died and

a third sustained minor injuries at an aluminum smelter site in Baie-Comeau, Quebec on January 30. That day, the Alcoa Inc. employees were working on board a ship at the smelter’s harbour facilities, says Pierre Turgeon, a spokesperson for Quebec’s Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST) in Montreal. Turgeon says one worker was killed instantly when a pile of aluminum described as weighing “many tonnes” fell on him. A second worker who left to get help suffered a heart attack and was taken to hospital, where he later died. Turgeon reports that the third worker, who was operating a lift on board the ship, was also injured. Indications early in the investigation suggest the workers were loading material onto the ship when the incident occurred, Turgeon says. CSST inspectors issued a stop-work order to Alcoa, which was to remain in place until the company provided the commission with related written work procedures. Lysane Martel, communications manager for Alcoa Canada, noted in a press release that it was too early to determine what, if any, procedural changes may be adopted. Josianne Martel, Transport Canada’s regional spokesperson for Quebec, says that federal investigators “will focus on the safety of the vessel operation when this happened and their compliance with the occupational health and safety measures related to the Canada Labour Code.”

BENEFITS TO BE EXTENDED HALIFAX — A Nova Scotia worker has won her battle for extended beneﬁts related to musculoskeletal injuries after being denied because she was originally

deemed able to work full-time as a customer service clerk. In a January 29 ruling, Gary Levine, an appeal commissioner for Nova Scotia’s Workers’ Compensation Appeals Tribunal, concluded the occupation of customer service clerk or representative was not suitable for, and reasonably available to, the former cook. The decision follows an October, 2008 ruling by a WCB case manager that the worker was not entitled to an extended earnings-related benefit because she was able to work full-time in customer service and fully mitigate her loss of earnings. The following February, a WCB hearing officer denied the worker’s appeal, citing the same reasons. Levine notes that most job opportunities as customer service clerks involve call centre work that demands repetitive upper-extremity activity, such as keyboarding and answering phones. Pointing out that the worker “does not have the ability to do such work given her injuries and limitations,” Levine writes in the ruling that her existing medical problems could be aggravated. “There is clear medical evidence that the worker does not have the capacity to perform repetitive tasks involving her arms, elbows, wrists and hands,” Levine notes. “The worker also testified that she was very limited in her ability to keyboard. This is the very activity call centre workers must perform.” While working as a cook, the worker’s tasks involved peeling, slicing and dicing vegetables, flipping hamburgers, using kitchen appliances and preparing short-order meals. In 2005, the claimant sustained work-related bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome affecting her wrists and hands, but was able to return to work following surgeries. In 2007, however, Levine writes that she was diagnosed with right-sided lateral epicondylitis and neuritis of the ulnar nerve, which affected her elbows. The worker originally received benefits for hand, wrist and elbow problems, but was denied extended benefits. With symptoms such as swelling, weakness, tingling and numbness in her wrists, hands and fingers, the worker would often drop things, and was limited to about 15 minutes of keyboarding every two or three hours. The worker’s symptoms persist “even though her wrists are better than before her surgeries,” Levine notes. She is currently awaiting elbow surgery.

MANDATORY RETIREMENT NIXED CHARLOTTETOWN — A human rights panel on Prince Edward Island has dismissed as age discriminatory a university policy mandating employees over the age of 65 to call it quits. On February 18, the PEI Human Rights Commission ruled in favour of three former employees of the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) in Charlottetown. The employees argued in their complaint against the university, filed after being forced into retirement in late 2005 and early 2006, that the policy discriminated on the basis of age. When they turned 65, Dr. Thomy Nilsson, a psychology professor who had been with UPEI since 1983, Dr. Richard Wills, a professor of anthropology and sociology who had taught at the university since 1973, and Yogi Fell, a shipping and receiving worker for the university’s Atlantic Veterinary College since 1986, were all informed their last days of work would be at the end of the year. “I was approaching the age of 65 and I was applying for a [Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council] grant,” says Nilsson. “The dean of my faculty at the university would not approve my grant application because he said I would be leaving the university the following spring,” he reports. Nilsson says he had tried to file a complaint against the policy in the mid1990s, but was told at that time he could not because it did not yet affect him. “The implications [of the ruling] aren’t just for the teaching population. I think it’s for all of Prince Edward Island — that workers cannot be fired simply because they’ve reached a certain age,” he says. The university maintained that under Section 11 of PEI’s Human Rights Act, it was permitted to enforce mandatory retirement as a function of the university’s pension plan. The commission struck down the argument, ruling the mandatory retirement policy “does not affect the operation of the pension plan” and “the university has failed to show that mandatory retirement age is a ‘genuine occupational qualification’ or a ‘genuine qualification’” as required by the act. The parties were given 45 days to provide submissions for remedy. “The main purpose behind [the policy] for the university was, one, that [it] had to do with our planning process and, more specifically, with the renewal

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SPEED RESTRICTIONS UNDER REVIEW FREDERICTON — New Brunswick’s health minister has asked the provincial ambulance authority to review its speed-restriction policy, a move that could have implications for the safety of ambulance operators. Mary Schryer publicly announced the review on February 19, although Ambulance New Brunswick (ANB) had been going through its policy for “a few weeks,” notes ANB spokesperson Sophie Cormier-Lalonde. In line with the existing policy, ambulance operators can travel 10 kilometres per hour (km/h) over the posted speed limit in a 60 km/h zone (or 20 km/h higher than the limit on a four-lane divided road); and 20 km/h over in zones of more than 60 km/h, up to a maximum of 120 km/h. The day before Schryer’s announcement, a paramedic had asked permission to exceed the 120 km/h limit but was denied, reports Margaret-Ann Blaney, health critic for the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick. At about 6 pm on February 18, Blaney says a 9-1-1 call came in from a woman in distress as a result of an allergic reaction. With the closest available ambulance in Sussex, New Brunswick — about 15 kilometres away — she contends the paramedic travelling on a divided four-lane highway made three requests to exceed the 120 km/h limit protocol, all of which were denied. “When he pulled into the house, [the patient] had gone into cardiac arrest and stopped breathing,” Blaney reports. “You can only imagine the distress the paramedic was in, knowing in this case, it could have possibly made a differ-

of people in the university setting,” says Peggy Leahey, UPEI’s director of human resources. “You want new ideas coming through,” Leahey says. Jeffrey Goodman, a partner at Heenan Blaikie LLP in Toronto, argues the justiﬁcation for discrimination is why protective legislation is there in the ﬁrst place. “The whole purpose of a human rights statute is to avoid people applying generalizations,” Goodman notes. “Just because someone’s new doesn’t mean they’ll have more ideas than a person who’s been there for 20 years.” Issues need to be considered on an “individualized basis,” he emphasizes. Financial planning is another reason that the university supported mandatory retirement, Leahey notes, pointing out that “before, when people were going in to budget time, there was a certain expectation of the people who would be coming up for retirement, and within a few years prior to that you could do a bit of succession planning within the department and at the university level.” H. Wade MacLauchlan, UPEI’s president and vice-chancellor, notes in a university statement that it will be reviewing

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ence had he been able to arrive two minutes earlier.” Policy supporters argue that capping speeds produces safer conditions for ambulance operators and paramedics. ANB’s “number one priority has always been safety of our paramedics, safety of our patients and safety of the general public, and we set those standards because we believe that is the best thing to do,” says Cormier-Lalonde. On Prince Edward Island, the general manager of Island EMS, Craig Pierre, says there are no plans to review the agency’s speed-restriction policy, which allows ambulances to hit a maximum of 120 km/h. “We know that as you increase your speed, you also increase the risk or chance of having a collision,” Pierre says. Island EMS has had a speed-restriction policy in place since 2006, he notes. Island EMS uses a Road Safety International system, or RSI box, which triggers an e-mail alert to the ambulance provider and an audible warning to operators when a speed of 118 km/h is reached, says Pierre. “It’s been a testament to our success with [few] collisions here on the Island.” While Blaney acknowledges that higher speeds could lead to accidents, she remains steadfast that the ﬁnal decision lay with the paramedic. “There has to be some allowance for ﬂexibility to the policy,” she argues. “I don’t think it’s necessary to scrap the entire policy, but you can’t put these paramedics in these impossible situations whereby they have to choose to exceed it without permission.” — By Jason Contant

the decision as it relates to precedents set by the Supreme Court of Canada holding that mandatory retirement is a legitimate employment qualiﬁcation.

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Many of the preceding items are based on stories from our sister publication, CANADIAN OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY NEWS, a weekly newsletter that provides detailed

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DISPATCHES

Safety beneﬁts of a virtual buddy at the wheel By Simon Yau

hree decades after the television debut of Knight Rider, its four-wheeled star, KITT, is being made real, with one caveat: the vehicle is unlikely to be a Pontiac Trans Am. Rather, it is the 18-wheeled truck that KITT was carried in that could soon be driving itself and speaking in dulcet tones. Either way, human operators are about to be protected by increasingly intelligent vehicles — and your name need not be “Michael” to strap in behind the wheel. Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) is the blanket term for developments in advanced and emerging technologies that improve safety for all forms of commercial transportation, including heavy trucks. In Europe, the Highly Automated Vehicles for Intelligent Transport (HAVEit) program is being developed to monitor traffic and vehicle health. HAVEit allows drivers to make decisions with real-time data, informing them how close other vehicles are, warning them when a truck might be veering laterally, and even, in theory, taking control of the vehicle in an emergency. The Intelligent Vehicles Laboratory at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis is embracing ITS concepts. Case in point is the lab’s narrow lane guidance technology, which has benefited the city’s transit service. Buses in the Twin Cities must often navigate narrow shoulder lanes, a task made more dangerous by poor weather and low-light conditions. “We provide a ‘virtual view’ of the road when the view out the windshield is obstructed,” says laboratory director Craig Shankwitz. “The image projected by the [head-up display] is conformal, in that if you can see through [part of] the windshield, the image we project is lined up with the road in the real world,” Shankwitz explains. Instead of only visible or audible cues to warn of any impending danger, the system uses haptic feedback, physically applying “light torque to the steering wheel to provide lanedeparture warnings to the driver,” he says. “Our goal is to make life easier for a driver facing difficult conditions.” Carl Kuhnke, executive director of ITS Canada, describes the system as the “connected vehicle,” and expects versions are “going to be on the road within the next decade.” A Toronto advocacy group bringing together academic, private and government institutions, ITS Canada seeks to keep the country on pace with the technology and infrastructure of international trucking industries. Canada is “actually a little behind,” suggests Kuhnke, but adds that some positive developments, such as transponders, are currently being used in Weigh2GoBC, a British Columbia pilot program.

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Making use of equipment from International Road Dynamics in Saskatoon, drivers in Weigh2GoBC are provided with a radio frequency identification device that enables the use of automated weigh stations that red or green light a truck, the latter meaning the vehicle does not have to stop to be inspected. So how are drivers reacting to ITS developments? “I think it’s great,” says Rob Jackson, who has 23 years in trucking and now serves as both a safety consultant and a driving instructor at Toronto’s Humber College. The technology “gives drivers a vote of confidence, since they think, ‘My truck is equipped with certain things to help me.’” Despite the benefits of safety innovations, Jackson says he believes good drivers are irreplaceable. Citing the complacency that can come with a tooautomated driving experience, “the more people like me educate [drivers] to do their job properly and give them safety awareness, it enhances their abilities and performance level,” he suggests. “The toys put in trucks nowadays are just a bonus in case they do make a mistake.” After all, every KITT needs a Michael. Simon Yau is a writer in Toronto.

Worker death spurs both criminal, oh&s charges By Emily Landau

deadly crane incident in the spring of 2009 has produced criminal charges against an Ontario company, its president and one of its crane operators, representing one of just a handful of such prosecutions ever initiated across the country. Following its 10-month investigation, the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service reported in February that charges of criminal negligence causing death have been laid against the Ontario numbered company operating as Millennium Crane Rentals Ltd., company president David Selvers, 51, and crane operator Anthony Vanderloo, 56. Bill C-45 amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada, which took effect in 2004, created a new legal duty whereby anyone who directs how a person works or performs a task is required to take reasonable steps to prevent bodily harm to that person or any other person. Failing to do so with wanton or reckless disregard can result in a charge. The Sault Ste. Marie police note that on April 16, 2009, James Vecchio, 35, was working at the city’s landﬁll site. The labour operator for the City of Sault Ste. Marie Board of Works was helping to install a large sewer pipe, says Joe Fra-

tesi, chief administrative officer for the city. Fratesi says Vecchio was standing in an excavation when a 73-tonne crane, owned and operated by Millennium Crane Rentals, tipped into the pit on its side, pinning the worker. It appears the crane began to roll backward, perhaps because of the condition of its brakes, but when the operator tried to make a correction, the unit tipped over, Fratesi reports. “It took several hours to get Mr. Vecchio out,” he notes, adding that an equally large crane was needed to free the victim. The worker was pronounced dead in hospital. The announcement of criminal charges comes on the heels of charges under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act. Millennium Crane Rentals has been cited for five violations of the act, while the crane operator faces a single count, confirms Bruce Skeaff, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Labour in Toronto. Skeaff reports the operator was charged with using or operating a machine and/or working in a manner that may endanger himself or another worker. As for Millennium Crane Rentals, the company was charged, as an employer, with failing to ensure the following: the crane was maintained in a condition that did not endanger a worker; the unit was not used while it was defective and/or hazardous; the crane was inspected by a competent worker to determine whether or not it could handle the rated capacity and to identify any defects or hazardous conditions; the maintenance schedule in the crane manufacturer’s operating manual was followed; and the operator was properly licensed to operate the crane. Selvers emphatically disputes the contention within the last charge, insisting that the crane operator is “a certified hoisting engineer.” Fratesi calls the incident “a wake-up call.” Like any organization that rents such equipment, the city “will be more vigilant in terms of being sure that heavy equipment, if being brought onto our work site, is in better shape.” For his part, Selvers says “it’s getting to be a pretty sad day in this country when workers and employers… risk the possibility of going to jail just for getting out of bed and going to work.” The existence of due diligence or ongoing reasonable care should be sufficient to prevent a finding by investigators or the courts of wanton or reckless disregard, notes a recent newsletter from Heenan Blaikie LLP in Toronto. The courts have established a long list of factors that are relevant to the determination of due diligence, write authors, Cheryl Edwards, a partner with the firm, associate Shane Todd and senior associate Jeremy Warning. These include whether or not the following apply: s supervisory staff knew all relevant oh&s requirements; s workplace hazard assessments were done by competent personnel or external experts; s work area inspections were performed to identify hazards; s written oh&s policies or procedures existed; and, s employees had thorough training on policies. Counsel for Millennium Crane Rentals and individuals were scheduled to make a first court appearance on the oh&s charges on March 10, and to be back in court on March 22 for the criminal charges. Emily Landau is editorial assistant of

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Pinpoint accuracy on track to bolster worker safety By Angela Stelmakowich

nowing exactly where a worker is can make all the difference — safety-wise. At least that’s the thinking behind a $1.4-million research collaboration involving Bombardier Transportation in Saint-Bruno, Quebec, McMaster RFID Applications Lab (MRAL) in Hamilton, Ontario and the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) in Toronto. OCE is providing $600,000 in funding, with the remainder coming from project partners. The three organizations have joined forces with a view to improving the safety of trackside transit workers by equipping them with radio frequency identiﬁcation (RFID) tags while on the job. Using the tags can serve to notify subway vehicles of the exact locations of track inspectors and other trackside workers, notes a joint statement from the partners. In response to customer requests to enhance safety for the workers, Keith Sheardown, general manager of Bombardier Transportation’s technology solutions unit, says in the statement, “We developed some early concepts and now we’re looking to the RFID team at McMaster to help us complete the solution and test it.” At present, subway operators use manual methods, including system-wide broadcasts or coloured lights, to indicate where crews are working. Lookouts are then used to notify track workers of any approaching rail vehicles. “We will be looking at how to create an entire automated communications ecosystem using technologies such as RFID systems, sensors, networks, data processing, user interfaces and new antenna technologies,” says MRAL manager Pankaj Sood. The research group is hoping to commercialize the technology once testing is complete. Real-time location systems are also in demand in sectors such as health care and mining. “The development of these solutions could lead to the growth of new technology suppliers in this segment and the creation of new jobs,” suggests John MacRitchie, director of business development at the OCE. Angela Stelmakowich is editor of

OHS CANADA.

Agency offers clear path to improved risk management By Jason Contant

he Canadian Standards Association (CSA) announced in early February that it plans to fully adopt a risk management standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

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Available in English and French, CAN/CSA ISO 31000, Risk Management: Principles and Guidelines, is a national standard that provides principles, a framework and a process for managing risk. The main objective is to give organizations guidance on how to integrate “risk management within their overall governance and management structure,” says Doug Morton, director of life sciences and business management for CSA Standards in Mississauga, Ontario. Risk management is defined as the identification, assessment and treatment of hazards that may affect an organization, business or municipality, notes a statement from the CSA. Changes may be negative or positive: the former includes events such as accidents, disasters, natural causes and legal or financial liabilities, while the latter may flow from new technologies, business ventures or continual improvement, the agency reports. “Of great importance is the fact that ISO 31000 defines risk as the ‘effect of uncertainty on objectives,’” Morton says. “Therefore, risk management is related not only to operational objectives, but to the strategic objectives of the organization,” he adds. Topics within the standard include the following: s internal and external factors that can affect risk; s review and continual improvement of the framework to ensure ongoing reflection of an organization’s strategic objectives; s steps involved in carrying out risk assessments; s considerations for selecting appropriate risk treatment options; and, s preparation and implementation of risk treatments. Z1002, another CSA standard that will deal with health and safety elements of risk management, is currently in the works and is expected to be released next year. Jason Contant is editor of SAFETY NEWS.

CANADIAN OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

A little TLC for man’s best friend By Emily Landau

n the evening of December 28, a member of the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) was injured in the line of duty when a suspect stabbed her twice — once between her left ear and left eye, and once on her… muzzle. Cora, a German Shepherd police service dog, and her partner, Constable Darren Smith, were responding to a criminal ﬂight call. A foot (and paw) chase got the suspect in the team’s sights. “After several verbal commands to stop, the suspect kept running, and Cora was sent in to apprehend,” says EPS spokesperson Jeff Wuite. But as Cora worked to bring down her man, “he turned on her and assaulted her with a weapon he had in his hand,” Wuite reports. Cora has since recovered from the serious stab wounds and is back on the job. Still, the assault underscores the dangers that police dogs — and the human partners who rely on them — can face. “If they come across a bad guy in the track, there is the

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potential that they could be either stabbed or shot, depending on if that person is armed,” says Sergeant Dan Berrea, a spokesperson for the Ottawa Police Service’s (OPS) canine unit. “There’s any number of things that can happen to them, and you just can’t protect them a hundred per cent of the time,” Berrea says. The OPS “K9” unit, he notes, consists of eight German Shepherds cross-trained for tracking (locating people who are missing or on the run) and drug detection; another German Shepherd and four Labrador Retrievers are trained solely for detection of guns, drugs and explosives. In addition to the valuable services they provide and the protections they afford their officer partners, the dogs represent a significant financial investment. Taking into account training, housing and necessary equipment, Berrea estimates that the cost per police dog tops “well over $100,000” a year. Concern for the welfare of these furry public servants has spurred the Ottawa Paramedic Service into action. Members of the Paramedic Tactical Unit (PTU) — a specialty unit within the service that accompanies police officers on dangerous calls — have received two weeks of first aid training to patch up any four-legged partners that are injured on the job. The hope is that the training can eventually be enhanced to the point where PTU members will be able to treat dogs with medication on scene, says J.P. Trottier, a public information officer for the paramedic service. The intensive, two-week training course included a seminar led by Dr. Tyler Dearden, a veterinarian at Ottawa’s Alta Vista Animal Hospital who specializes in emergency and critical care, says Trottier. Through a mix of hands-on instruction and lectures, the paramedics learned veterinary skills ranging from splinting and bandaging to recognizing pain, delivering medication and identifying health conditions, says Dr. Dearden. The OPS has been fortunate enough never to have lost a dog in the line of duty, Berrea reports, and trusts that the special care to be received from paramedics following an injurious incident will help ensure that continues to be the case. “Now if something happens to one of our police dogs, we’re going to have [the paramedics] — who have more medical training than we do — basically be able to assess the animal, treat him and provide some potentially life-saving care until we can get him to a vet,” he says. No doubt that will serve as welcome news to both police dogs and officers. “It might sound a bit silly, but we feel that [the dogs] are police officers as well,” Trottier says. “And the canine officers think of these dogs as partners,” he adds. In the future, Trottier notes that Ottawa’s paramedic service hopes to expand its K9 training beyond the PTU to all paramedics. For now, though, the PTU will be prepared to treat injured police dogs. “They love to work as well,” he says of the dogs. “It’s really amazing the work that these animals do.” And that’s the doggone truth.

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Mounties up North to march two by two By Donalee Moulton

ew money and a new policy are working hand-inhand to make life safer for RCMP officers in the Northwest Territories. Earlier this year, the territorial government earmarked an extra $1.5 million to beef up staffing in remote detachments. This is in addition to the $2.8 million since 2008 that has been pumped into stand-by pay and safety measures. The latest influx of money will finance seven new positions within existing RCMP units, says Shirley Kemeys-Jones, director of community justice and community policing for the territorial government in Yellowknife. In addition, the extra cash will be used to reduce drug- and alcohol-related crime, develop a program for abusive men and bolster police presence in smaller NWT communities. The funding comes on the heels of a new back-up staffing policy developed by the RCMP in December of 2007. The procedural change followed the on-duty deaths of two Mounties in remote northern communities that year. The policy states that “resources must be in place to provide readily available back-up.” As well, says Sergeant Julie Gagnon, a media relations officer with the RCMP in Ottawa, there must be “multiple-member responses” in situations where violence is anticipated, in domestic disputes, when a weapon may be involved, and where an individual poses a threat to himself or others. To ensure proper implementation, Gagnon says, each RCMP unit must carry out a risk assessment and develop an appropriate back-up plan. The policy puts into words — and cold hard cash — what Mounties in the North have already been doing, says Staff Sergeant Law Power, the non-commissioned officer in charge of client services in the Northwest Territories. “A lot of dayto-day things with respect to the back-up policy we were doing before. It has been the course of business here.” Unique to the NWT are newly established relief units that provide back-up services when an officer needs support, falls ill or takes vacation — events that could halve the staff complement in the nine twoperson detachments throughout the territory. Based in Inuvik and Yellowknife, the sole objective of the new relief units is to offer support to remote locations. For smaller, more isolated detachments, the relief units are crucial to help staff maintain a healthy work-life balance. “In the North, the members feel an obligation to the community and may not take time off in case they are needed as back-up,” says Power. On the positive side, however, the federal force has recently witnessed more willingness among RCMP members to request support. “We’ve become more attuned to the risks,” Power suggests. Kemeys-Jones says officers come to their posts aware of the challenges and risks that accompany community policing in the territories, including living in isolated locales and attempting to navigate

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the 11 official languages spoken there. RCMP officers in the NWT are not alone when it comes to grappling with the challenges of two-member detachments. Nationwide, there are 39 such detachments and 43 staffed by three officers. Kemeys-Jones suggests that, outside of the North, these smaller detachments may soon become a thing of the past. In other jurisdictions, there is talk of going to four-person detachments, she says. In the end, the RCMP’s focus is on the rigorous use of policy, not numbers, with the idea being that new initiatives will enhance officer safety. “Our goal is to provide the best policing services we can, not only with the number of officers, but with strong local justice committees,” Kemeys-Jones says. “Policing is basically seen as a shared responsibility.” Donalee Moulton is a writer in Halifax.

Don’t get weighed down by too much this or that By Angela Stelmakowich

t’s all over but the crying — and the weighing. Those extra bits of bulk that, no doubt, find their way onto hips, guts and butts over holiday seasons may have more staying power (and ill effect) than anyone would like. It may be best to avoid the whole mess in the first place. That was likely the thinking behind offerings such as the recent challenge for corporations to “Beat the Holiday Bulge” with an on-line weight-management program. Out of Vermont, PureWellness, Inc. launched its first-ever such challenge last October. The idea behind throwing down the gauntlet, as it were, was to allow each of the 20 participating organizations to take part in a structured weight-management workshop, notes a statement from the company. Participating organizations represented multiple sectors, including steel, health care and school boards. Debbie Zimmerman, wellness manager for the Polk County School Board Wellness Program in Lakeland, Florida, notes in the statement that “based on national standards, our employees could gain up to 70,000 pounds over the holiday season.” The challenge represents an opportunity “to curtail this trend,” Zimmerman says. PureWellness points to a study published in Health Affairs last summer that found annual health care costs associated with obesity may have reached $147 billion in 2008. Here at home, information from Statistics Canada in Ottawa notes that in 2004, 23.1 per cent of adult Canadians aged 18 or older were obese, while 36.1 per cent were overweight. The obesity figure was up substantially from 25 years earlier, when the rate was 13.7 per cent. A higher body mass index is accompanied by an increase in an individual’s likelihood of experiencing high blood pressure, diabetes or heart disease.

That can spell bad news for individual health and workplace productivity. A 2007 survey on Monster.ca showed that only 20 per cent of respondents had corporate wellness programs that cover such things as gym memberships or fitness and nutritional coaching. Gabriel Bouchard, vice-president and general manager of Monster Canada, cautioned at the time that Canadian business loses billions of dollars every year to sick days, employee absenteeism and stress leave. “Our employees are very aware and conscious of making healthy choices,” Paul Stoyan, chairman of Gardiner Roberts LLP in Toronto, notes in a recent statement. The law firm was listed as one of the 75 best workplaces in Canada by the Great Places to Work Institute last year. Employees have started using a personal feedback device, called Mytrack, which is worn on the belt. At the touch of a button, users can find out through a series of lights whether or not they are on track with their personal health goals. With Canadians spending much of their days at work, the environment must help foster healthy habits, notes Mytrack Health Systems Inc. in Mississauga, Ontario. The message then? Beat it, don’t eat it.

Little positive about being overloaded By Emily Landau

ork role overload is creating stress among a growing number of health care professionals, notes a report released in January. Defining role overload as “having too many responsibilities and too little time in which to attend to them,” the review cites some of the contributing factors as understaffing, competing priorities (both at work and at home) and the organizational culture of the health care system. The last necessitates urgency, thereby making it difficult for health care providers to say “no” to any given task. “You’ve got people who care and who are working in a life-and-death kind of environment,” notes Linda Duxbury, Ph.D., one of the report’s authors and a professor at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business in Ottawa. “If a nurse or a doctor [is] asked to stay late and [they] don’t, there could be significant consequences,” Dr. Duxbury says. The investigation, funded by Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) in Toronto, represents the first detailed research project examining the causes and effects of role overload. The decision to focus on health care follows findings in Dr. Duxbury’s 2001 study on work-life balance that indicated overload had increased more among health care workers than employees in any other sector over the previous decade. In the latest review, four hospitals in the Ottawa area and almost 1,400 of their employees took part in focus groups, surveys and interviews. Results show that 57 per cent of employees are experiencing high levels of work role overload, with 59 per cent of respondents reporting high stress levels,

36 per cent citing high levels of depressed mood, and one in five pointing to poor physical health. To deal with the overload, more than half of those polled said they were cutting back on sleep, and almost one-fifth admitted to occasionally using prescription drugs or alcohol to take off the edge. But employees are not alone in experiencing negative or stressful effects. Role overload is also taking a toll on organizations, especially in terms of absenteeism and presenteeism, which, in the context of the current study, Dr. Duxbury defines as attending work when sick. Authors write that three-quarters of review respondents acknowledged the urgency of the health care system means they frequently come to work while ill, a response that contributes to reduced efficiency and performance. Absenteeism is also a problem, with one in three health care workers admitting to frequently calling in sick because of emotional or physical fatigue. “They push themselves [until], rather than having taken one day off to recuperate at the beginning of a disease, they end up getting a lot sicker and having to take higher absenteeism,” says Dr. Duxbury. Of course, role overload is not limited to four hospitals in the Ottawa area. Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital in Windsor, Ontario reports that staff members are also having to deal with the stress of the system’s organizational culture. Over past decades, the health care sector has been constantly “asked to do more with a lot less,” says Kim Spirou, vice-president of the communications department at HôtelDieu Grace. “That definitely adds to the stress of people trying to do the very best they can [and] provide optimal care to everyone. But when occupancy rates are at an all-time high and it’s every day, it gets harder and harder [for] staff to cope.” To date, however, work demands have not manifested “in significant changes to our absentee rate,” she adds. Linda Haslam-Stroud, president of the Ontario Nurses’ Association in Toronto, says she is not surprised by the findings in the recent review. “We’ve been saying for some time that the complexity and the intensity of the work have dramatically increased and, unfortunately, the appropriate staffing has not equalled the increase,” says Haslam-Stroud. Dr. Duxbury recommends that health care employees facing work role overload put themselves first, make time for both their families and friends and get enough sleep. “As long as [they] keep trying to [do] it all, the system has no real incentive to change,” she suggests. Both Haslam-Stroud and Dr. Duxbury agree that Ontario should review its current funding formula to help relieve the staffing crisis in hospitals. Until that happens, though, Dr. Duxbury emphasizes that health care workers need to be made aware of work role overload. “[It] is a forgotten construct. We just haven’t looked at it,” she says. “We talk about stress and mental health, but what causes those issues? It’s being overwhelmed.”

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RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION

BUILT TO LAST?

PHOTO: PHOTOS.COM

BY ANGELA STELMAKOWICH

So the work is residential con- slips and trips. And, of course, posure to hazardous substances struction, is it? Well, measures there’s the potential for excavawill need to be in place to

tion cave-ins, electrical contacts,

guard against falls, then. Also,

entrainments, strikes by moving

and chemicals. Oh, yeah, what about the… And the list goes on and

steps must be taken to prevent vehicles, sprains, strains and ex- on. It is all residential con-

DIFFERENT TAKES Residential construction sites present a mixed bag of contractors, all with different work experiences, accident histories and views on safety. Sometimes, though, how “quickly,” not how “safely,” seems to take the lead. Just as varied are the fuels that drive potentially hazardous conditions: poor communication, inadequate planning, a lack of supervision, insufficient or ineffective worker training and far too little enforcement, suggests “Safe Work Practices for House Construction,” released by WorkSafeBC in Richmond, British Columbia in 2005. And all this can spell bad news for occupational health and safety. Consider the following examples: s a Saskatchewan firm was recently fined $480 for failing to ensure that workers who could fall three metres or more used protective gear; s an Ontario worker, 19, was fatally injured last year when he was crushed between a bulldozer bucket and the counterweights of a crane; s two workers at a project in Alberta sustained minor injuries last August when a skid-steer loader back filling a hole toppled, pinning them; s an employee working on the siding of an Ottawa townhouse suffered injuries, including paralysis, when his ladder slid and he fell, spurring a $120,000 fine for his employer; and, s a worker in Ontario received an 8,000-volt electrical shock in 2007 after touching a flatbed truck that had contacted an overhead live wire.

struction, it all remains a challenge, regardless of the jurisdiction, and it all deserves mention, notice and maybe a bit of concern.

OLD IS NEW As far as John Fuke is concerned, it all comes down to choice. “Choices, bad decisions, period,” says Fuke, global ISafe manager at Capital Safety in Mississauga, Ontario. “There is nothing worse than what’s been going on here with the choice of putting people in the air without fall protection on.” Of course, none of this is new. Pick a province — any province — and some warning, caution or advice about residential construction has likely been dispensed in past. For example, Nova

Scotia released a statement in May of 2005, reminding stakeholders to take site safety seriously. “It is still early in the construction season, and already this year we’ve had to deal with a number of complaints and accidents related to falls at construction work sites,” then labour minister Kerry Morash said. As part of an associated awareness campaign, provincial staff conducted 49 inspections of residential construction sites in and around Halifax. In all, 95 orders were issued for violations mostly relating to fall protection, scaffolding and first aid. “There’s still a mentality that injuries and fatalities happen to other people. But the statistics tell a different story,” Morash said at the time. Five years later, Nova Scotia’s Department of Labour and Workforce Development was considering the findings of a recent review of the root causes noted in about 700 accident investigations. Some of the conclusions reached, says Jim LeBlanc, director of the department’s Occupational Health and Safety Division, stick out. Either “safety just wasn’t considered when they undertook to do the work” or “there wasn’t the commitment in the organization to do the work safely,” LeBlanc reports. The message relayed (or not) looks to influence behaviour. Ontario’s Ministry of Labour (MOL), for example, points out that in many cases of fall-related deaths in residential construction, “the victim was wearing a fall arrest harness, but it was not secured.” In Nova Scotia, the labour department currently has one figure for all construction injuries, but plans to tease out residential construction numbers in the future. With regard to fatalities, there has been one residential construction death in 2010 (heart attack), one in 2009 as a result of a fall, and one in 2008 (another heart attack), LeBlanc notes. Historically, he says, about a quarter of oh&s compliance orders, in general, revolved around breaches of the provincial Occupational Health and Safety Act — relating mostly to administrative demands. Beyond that, 11 per cent of orders were for fall protection; 10 per cent for first aid; 36 per cent for obli-

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gations under the oh&s general regulations (which cover things like guarding, ladder use and excavation); and seven per cent for workplace hazardous materials information system requirements. “My expectation is that you’re going to see a similar pattern in residential construction: fall protection, scaffolding, personal protective equipment, guarding and first aid,” says LeBlanc. In Saskatchewan, 39 per cent of work inspections conducted in 2010 have been at construction sites, notes the Ministry of Advanced Education, Employment and Labour in Regina. The MOL reports that residential construction in Ontario is characterized by multiple contractors and independent operators. From 2006 to 2008, ministry staff conducted 40,961 field visits to these sites and issued 112,166 orders. (This compares to 36,200 field visits and 78,423 orders in the industrial/commercial/institutional construction sectors.) Although the number of work-related deaths in construction overall decreased from 27 in 2006 to 20 in 2008, the ministry notes, “residential construction was responsible for the largest number of fatalities.” And falls continue to be a major cause of traumatic fatalities and critical injuries, accounting for 11 of the deaths and 99 of the aforementioned injuries in 2008. Of the latter, 28 were falls from ladders, 14 from scaffolds and work platforms, and 57 from roofs and floors. A LASTING REVIEW The high-profile deaths of four immigrant workers in Toronto last December, coupled with the ongoing toll of construction fatalities, spurred a call by the Toronto-based Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario to appoint an investigator to look into the relationship between industry business practices and current legislation.

“Our health and safety laws need to adapt to our changing workplaces and emerging technologies,” Patrick Dillon, business manager of the council, said in a statement. “We need to make sure that our safety, training, monitoring and enforcement provisions and structures are up to date and able to address a changing workplace,” Dillon later added. The trades council did not receive exactly what it asked for — but it may, in the end, have gotten more. Ontario labour minister Peter Fonseca has named Tony Dean, a professor at the University of Toronto’s School of Public Policy and Governance and a former deputy labour minister, to head up a new expert advisory panel. The panel is charged with carrying out a comprehensive review of the province’s oh&s prevention and enforcement system. By setting a critical eye on Ontario’s OH&S Act, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act and any other related acts, Dillon says he is hopeful necessary changes will be made to ensure laws reflect construction’s current work force. The use of independent operators and the size of crews today, for example, may not reflect what was the norm when the various pieces of legislation were enacted, he suggests. Ontario is not alone in exploring ways to bolster safety. Research funded by Nova Scotia’s labour department, the Nova Scotia Construction Association and the Workers’ Compensation Board — and conducted by Saint Mary’s University in Halifax — recently got under way, says LeBlanc. By looking “at a cross-section of companies in the construction industry that are performing well and have good accident experience,” he reports, others can learn and benefit from “what they’re doing right.” Not only will companies get a peek at successful measures, the department will be able to access valuable information. “When we’re visiting the companies that are poor performers or even the ones that are average performers, we can certainly

Residential Run-Down Being in the know is never a bad thing. To help Prince Edward Island’s workers, employers, joint health and safety committee members and safety representatives better understand hazards and legislated requirements related to residential construction, the provincial Workers’ Compensation Board released a guide in April of 2009. The guide offers tips on topics ranging from personal apparel (such as head, eye, face, foot and hand protection) to stairways, ladders, scaffolds and work platforms. Below are a few details: UÊ personal apparel — an employer must ensure a worker’s apparel is of a type and condition that will not expose that person to unnecessary and avoidable hazards, and the gear must be approved by the Canadian Standards Association; UÊ stairways and ladders — obligations include installing permanent or temporary guardrails on stairs before they are used for general access between levels, correcting any slippery conditions on stairways before use, inspecting ladders for defects before use, and securing ladders near the top or at the bottom to prevent slippage; UÊ scaffolds and work platforms — provide safe access to get on and off scaffolds and work platforms, erect scaffolds on firm and level foundations, do not work from any part of the scaffold other than the platform, and do not put more weight on a scaffold than it is designed to hold; and, UÊ roof work — inspect for and remove frost and other slipping hazards before getting onto roofs, stop roofing work when storms, high winds or other adverse conditions create an unsafe working environment, and wear slip-resistant footwear. Slippery roofs can be deadly, WorkSafeBC notes in a 2008 alert issued after a worker fatality. Workers had been installing a bracket system on the roof of a four-storey building, but postponed the task after arriving one morning to find that heavy frost had formed on the plywood sheathing. The idea was to wait until the sun melted some of the frost. A fall protection lifeline system had been installed and inspected, and the worker tied off when work later began. While moving metal bars for the bracket system, though, he unhooked his lanyard. He then found two bars frozen together, prompting him to strike them on the roof to break them apart, which caused one of the bars to slide toward the roof’s edge. When he reached out to grab the bar, he slipped on the frost, slid down the roof and fell 16 metres to the ground.

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focus in on the things to make them better,” LeBlanc says. So far, he says that researchers have a list of best performers and are now identifying “why they’re successful in terms of preventing accidents and keeping costs under control.” BIG AND SMALL Size is one element that may make a difference in residential construction. Grant McMillan, president of the Council of Construction Associations (COCA) in Richmond, British Columbia, suggests one difficulty in improving safety traction in residential construction is that there are many very small contractors who are not aware of provincial requirements. “This problem is compounded by the fact that residential contractors tend to hire for the short term and it is, therefore, more costly to train a revolving door of workers.” That revolving door can be even more challenging when vulnerable workers begin walking through. This status, Dillon says, “may be used as a threat to force [workers] to do certain things that they’re not trained to do.” Fuke notes that with immigrant workers, the case can certainly be made that they do not understand the law or know that they can refuse unsafe work. It is not the fault of an immigrant who is simply trying to earn a living, he emphasizes, but rather those who are “taking advantage of the system” and, in so doing, “are choosing to let people work unprotected.” The potential for injury and death is increased “because, first of all, you have untrained workers on the site; second of all, you’re not adhering to code with respect to what they’re supposed to do in a fall protection scenario,” he says. Dillon reports that he was recently speaking to an Ontario contractor who has a stellar reputation. He asked the contractor, “‘How many of these voiceless workers come knock on your door looking for work?’ And there are none. That tells me there’s an underground network at play here that is feeding voiceless, untrained people into certain contractors.” It is crucial to get “people as educated as quickly as possible with respect to their rights,” Fuke says, and to “get these employers or people employing them to work within the law.” McMillan suggests that objective may be advanced by notifying workers’ compensation bodies of all building permits. In British Columbia’s case, the link would mean WorkSafeBC is made aware of residential projects so that it could ensure contractors are registered for insurance and oh&s purposes. Fuke suggests it would be helpful to streamline the process so contractors can complete things like bonding and building permits in fewer steps — or even before a single agency. ECONOMIC HIT What about the current economic situation? Does it threaten to erect obstacles to improving health and safety performance? It depends on who is being asked. “The pressure to do construction work as quickly as possible often results in guardrails not being erected, openings in floors not being covered, or safe access to work platforms not being provided,” notes the WorkSafeBC guide. But LeBlanc says he sees both good and bad. To the good, “if the economy is slow, then some of the larger companies that may work on commercial projects aren’t engaged in that side of the industry and they’re competing with the other firms, say, for residential construction and renovation. And they bring with them their attitudes toward safety,” he says. With a slower economy, notes Fuke, there is more time to

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One and All Alberta has adopted residential construction compliance monitoring strategies — which apply to prime contractors, contractors, employers and workers — that occupational health and safety officers use when visiting sites. There are plenty of hazards for which officers keep eyes peeled, including, but not limited to, the following: UÊ fall hazards (considered imminent danger) as a result of floor and wall openings that are unguarded or do not have markings and secured covers, or falls from roofs and scaffolds; UÊ trenching/excavation issues (considered imminent danger) in which there is poor entry/exit capabilities, or underground services have not been identified, meaning they could be damaged or workers put at risk if these are disturbed; UÊ scaffolding that is not safe because of missing parts, an unstable or unsupported base and improper planking; UÊ use of equipment that is not certified, properly maintained or used in accordance with its designed intent; UÊ first aid and WHMIS non-compliance; UÊ lack of a written hazard assessment and emergency response plan; and, UÊ work near operating equipment without effective hazard controls being in place. Source: Alberta Employment and Immigration, 2008-2009 Residential Construction Program

you’re going to have to grow the underground economy.” McMillan says COCA strongly supports WorkSafeBC having a dedicated team of officers to focus on residential construction. The need is clearly there, he argues, because “there have been cases where regulations are being ignored.” There also needs to be education from within. The Construction Sector Council (CSC) in Ottawa notes that almost 200,000 construction workers are expected to retire between 2010 and 2018. With a view to the future — one that ensures sufficient skills and knowledge are available on the work site — the CSC announced in February that a national mentoring program has been developed and piloted. “Since 80 per cent of training takes place on the job, an effective mentoring program will go a long way toward achieving” the goal of training the next generation, CSC executive director George Gritziotis says in a statement. The program was to be rolled out to key stakeholders over the spring. CULTURE CLASH It really comes down to culture. “The level of engagement with the workplace depends on factors such as the employer’s commitment to a strong health and safety culture, and a welldefined, suitable and sustainable internal responsibility system,” notes the MOL’s Construction Sector Plan 2009-2010. Other factors affecting engagement include the number of lost-time injuries, no-lost-time injuries, the nature and extent of any past non-compliance, and corrective actions required of the employer to achieve compliance, the plan adds. In Ontario, a construction fatality is currently subject to a mandatory coroner’s inquest. Dillon wholeheartedly supports that system continuing, but notes there have been hundreds of construction inquests over the last 20 years or so. “And we haven’t got the job done,” he says. “That is evidence in itself ” that something additional is needed. For LeBlanc, “if there’s anything that we would hope for with residential construction is we would like the sector to become more involved with the construction safety association.” There are services and knowledge that are “waiting to make some inroads in residential construction,” he adds. Fall hazards are all known, Fuke says simply. “The key is, why aren’t we getting better at this? And, again, it brings me back to choices and the decisions that we make.” Angela Stelmakowich is editor of

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OHS CANADA.

PHOTOS: PHOTOS.COM

do the job, “so safety should be more important. You take it to a hot economy, in my opinion, it’s the other way around.” McMillan argues that “people tend to go for the lowest bid without asking about the safety program of the contractor.” Combine insufﬁcient knowledge about oh&s demands with “the cost of buying fall protection equipment, training workers and following safe work practices using fall protection equipment, this takes time. And time is money,” he says. “The more costs you incur,” adds Fuke, “the more impetus

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BRAIN INJURY

Centre 4RAUMA BY DAN BIRCH

We all know the brain is important. Knowing just how important, though, is another grey matter. Many people may not fully appreciate that the brain fundamentally controls nearly everything about us, says Richard Braha, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist and program manager for acquired brain injury at the Nova Scotia Rehabilitation Centre in Halifax. And that becomes information worth having, because the brain — like any other part of the body — can get injured. Speciﬁc effects and symptoms will depend on the nature of the brain injury, but there “are some fairly common consequences that do interfere with an individual’s ability to adapt to day-to-day life and work life,” Dr. Braha suggests. Damage the brain — be that at work or at play — and the Brain Injury Association of Canada (BIAC) reports a host of negative outcomes may result: memory loss, ILLUSTRATION: POL TURGEON

speech impairment and difﬁculty controlling emotion, to name a few. Once the damage is done, effective diagnosis and treatment are vital to ensure a healthy recovery for the body’s ultimate organ.

SLOW TO SHOW Angela Colantonio, Ph.D., a long-time researcher in the field of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among workers, understands the value of proper diagnosis. Mild cases of TBI too often fly under the radar, going undiagnosed in hospital emergency rooms and family physician offices, reports Dr. Colantonio, an associate professor at the University of Toronto and a senior research scientist at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. That’s not altogether surprising, she suggests, since symptoms of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) may not surface until days following the initial incident.

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Indeed, notes information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States, â&#x20AC;&#x153;MTBI results in a constellation of physical, cognitive, emotional and/or sleep-related symptoms and may or may not involve a loss of consciousness.â&#x20AC;? Headaches, nausea, poor balance and sensitivity to light and noise are among the physical symptoms; cognitive effects can include diminished concentration and mental fogginess; and emotionally, there may be irritability, sadness and nervousness, the CDC reports. For Joanne, an MTBI sufferer who lives in the Hamilton, Ontario area, her symptoms were slow to come. But when they ďŹ nally did, the impact was immediate. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t until I was on my way back home from vacation that I ended up with severe head pain,â&#x20AC;? she says of her injury in December of 2001. Joanne, then 43, was enjoying her Miami vacation when she fell in the hallway of her hotel, slamming her head on the concrete ďŹ&#x201A;oor. She was unconscious for a brief time. There was no bleeding from the head, she knew her name when she came to and, in general, she felt pretty good. As such, she brushed off suggestions by her partner that she visit a local hospital for a check-up. Coping with headaches, but not concerned it was anything serious, Joanne returned to work as a customer service manager at a bank a week after the fall. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s when she realized something was deďŹ nitely not right. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t remember what to do,â&#x20AC;? she recalls, describing her ďŹ rst morning back. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ďŹ gure out how to start.â&#x20AC;? As Joanne would soon learn, the fall had damaged the part of her brain responsible for concentration and focus. But sitting at her desk that day, all she knew was something was off. She grew anxious and decided she had to tell her comanagers what was happening. That ďŹ rst day back turned out to be her last, at least for 14 months, with the intervening time ďŹ lled with a gamut of medical tests and rehabilitation sessions.

The brain can be injured anywhere â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and TBI hazards at work are hardly in short supply. Common workrelated sources of brain injury include falls (both from heights and on the same level), struck-bys involving the head, and motor vehicle accidents that result in whiplash or head strikes, says Vicky Forsyth, a physical therapist and manager of rehabilitation services at Back in Motion in Richmond, British Columbia, a WorkSafeBC-accredited brain injury assessment and rehabilitation clinic. Of course, not every hit to the head will cause a brain injury, says Dr. Simon Tinawi, a physiatrist at McGill University Health Centre in Montreal. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The blow has to have a certain kinetic energy to make the brain shift inside the skull and hit the walls,â&#x20AC;? Dr. Tinawi explains. Over the last decade in Ontario, statistics from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board in Toronto show the number of accepted claims for concussions, a form of TBI, has climbed from 498 in 1999 to 734 in 2008. In Alberta, 2008 saw 529 lost-time claims for brain injury, including concussion, intracranial, multiple intracranial and cerebral hemorrhage. That compares with 476 in 2003, says Jennifer Dagsvik, a media relations specialist for Albertaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Compensation Board (WCB) in Edmonton. Over three years, the WCB found that almost 47 per cent of brain injury claims resulted in more than 12 days of lost work time, 32 per cent in one to three days, and 11 per cent in four to six days. St. Catharines, Ontario resident Chris Gaudet, 30, is among the much smaller percentage of TBI sufferers who are unlikely to ever return to work. Despite Gaudetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s survival and recovery from an 11-metre fall on the job six years ago, there is limited room for improvement with his severe TBI, which is accompanied by debilitating chronic head pain. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Everyday I get a headache. It starts at the back of my head and works right into my eyes,â&#x20AC;? says Gaudet. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I pretty much have to go right to bed because if not, again, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not the best person to be around,â&#x20AC;? he says. Gaudet had been the type of guy who would â&#x20AC;&#x153;hold everything in,â&#x20AC;? but still shrug off the frustrations and annoyances of daily life. Now, he reports, he is more likely to become visibly angry

Â&#x153;%VERYDAY ) GET A HEADACHE )T STARTS AT THE BACK OF MY HEAD AND WORKS RIGHT INTO MY EYES Â? SAYS 'AUDET

HARD HIT Brain injury is a broad category that includes acquired brain injury (ABI) and neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disease. The Ontario Brain Injury Association (OBIA) in St. Catharines, Ontario deďŹ nes ABI as â&#x20AC;&#x153;damage to the brain, which occurs after birth as a result of a traumatic or non-traumatic event. [It] is not related to a congenital or a degenerative disease and can result in temporary, prolonged or permanent impairments.â&#x20AC;? To that, Dr. Braha adds ABI is further deďŹ ned as traumatic or non-traumatic, with the former including open- or closed-skull injuries, and the latter including strokes, infections and more.

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if someone or something rubs him the wrong way. Back in 2004, Gaudet was a roofer working on the construction of a new high school in Oakville, Ontario. Anything he knows about his fall is second-hand, gleaned from co-workers and emergency responders. The only memory of his own is saying goodbye to his parents as he set out for work that morning. While working on the school roof, Gaudet slipped on an unfastened piece of decking and fell through an opening, hitting his head on a portion of the ďŹ rst ďŹ&#x201A;oor before landing and striking his head again at ground level. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was bleeding out the eyes, ears, nose and mouth,â&#x20AC;? he says. His skull, however, had not been cut open. Quick response from paramedics â&#x20AC;&#x201D; an ambulance base was located nearby â&#x20AC;&#x201D; meant Gaudet was receiving what he now considers to have been life-saving treatment within a minute. He was rushed to a local hospital and then, by police escort, to a hospital in Toronto. An airlift was out of the question, he reports, because any extra pressure produced by altitude changes would risk further damage to his brain. Gaudet was kept in an induced coma for almost three weeks while medical staff performed multiple surgeries, including the removal of his brainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s right frontal lobe and part of his central frontal lobe. Gaudetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s severe TBI has claimed his sense of smell and hearing in his left ear, and has severely compromised his eyesight â&#x20AC;&#x201D; he suffers from tunnel vision, double vision and is legally blind. WAYS TO HARM Three different processes can work to injure the brain: bruising, tearing and swelling, writes Dr. Glen Johnson, a head injury specialist in Traverse City, Michigan who has penned an on-line TBI survival guide, which is available at www.tbiguide.com. Bruising can occur when the brain, which ďŹ&#x201A;oats in a liquid called cerebrospinal ďŹ&#x201A;uid, collides against the skull. To illustrate, Dr. Johnson compares it to a car crash where the vehicle goes from about 70 kilometres per hour to zero in an instant. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The brain tissue is â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;squishedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; against the skull and blood vessels may tear. When blood vessels tear, they release blood into areas of the brain in an uncontrolled way,â&#x20AC;? he notes. If the pressure from the blood is not released, delicate brain tissue could die, Dr. Johnson adds. But it is not only direct head strikes that are of concern to the medical community. Pointing again to a car crash, Dr. Johnson describes how a severe whiplash effect can tear the microscopic

â&#x20AC;&#x153;wiresâ&#x20AC;? that are crucial to proper brain function. A third process, swelling of the brain, can also take place. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The problem with the brain is that there is no extra room and the pressure begins to build up,â&#x20AC;? Dr. Johnson writes. AT WORK LEVEL A 2006 study of work-related TBI fatalities in Ontario, coauthored by Dr. Colantonio, notes that primary industry witnessed the highest TBI mortality rate, followed by the agriculture and construction sectors. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our big problem is [construction] workers falling and striking their heads against other objects, or the ground or the ďŹ&#x201A;oor,â&#x20AC;? reports Doug McVittie, vice-president of technical services for the Infrastructure Health and Safety Association in Toronto. Preventing such falls has â&#x20AC;&#x153;been a prime focus for our industry for many years,â&#x20AC;? says McVittie, who co-authored a study with Dr. Colantonio, released in October of 2009, that explored various factors associated with TBI in Ontarioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s construction sector. The ďŹ ndings indicate that TBI incidents among construction workers are more likely to occur in the hour before and the hours after lunch break. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Most of us know that lethargic feeling that hits just before or after lunch at work: our energy dips, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard to focus, but we have a job to ďŹ nish,â&#x20AC;? Dr. Colantonio said in a statement released at the time. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For construction workers, this could have devastating consequences.â&#x20AC;? Researchers also found that the highest number of TBIs occurred in August with a second peak taking place in October. The latter bump was not necessarily anticipated, authors say, noting that it could â&#x20AC;&#x153;reďŹ&#x201A;ect the surge in activity that may occur to complete projects before adverse weather conditions set in during the winter months.â&#x20AC;? Other possible factors for the peak include shorter workdays, less light and temperamental weather conditions. Of course, brain injuries can occur in work settings other than construction. Forsyth says she recalls an incident in which a secretary needed treatment in a clinic after a heavy, improperly shelved item fell on her head.

Â&#x153;/UR BIG PROBLEM IS ;CONSTRUCTION= WORKERS FALLING AND STRIKING THEIR HEADS AGAINST OTHER OBJECTS OR THE GROUND OR THE ÂŚOOR Â?

CAUSE AND EFFECT Just as the sources of TBI vary, so too do the outcomes. There are four degrees of TBI: mild, moderate, severe and catastrophic, reports Ruth Wilcock, assistant executive director of the OBIA. Brain injury effects are longer lasting and more pronounced at the severe end of the scale, Wilcock notes, but adds the types of symptoms are not limited to any one level. Multiple tools are employed to assess TBI severity, points out Dr. Braha, often starting immediately following an incident and continuing over the course of recovery. Paramedics attending to an injured person employ the Glasgow Coma Scale, a widely used assessment tool that rates patient consciousness by surveying motor, verbal and eye responses.

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Duration of post-incident amnesia and results from CT and MRI scans also need to be considered when determining severity, Forsyth says. As a TBI or suspected-TBI sufferer enters the rehabilitation stage, Forsyth notes that various tests are used to assess and monitor severity: some cognitive tests involve reading comprehension and problem-solving exercises, while vestibular assessment is used to pinpoint concussive damage to the inner ear, which can throw off a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s balance. All such tools should be employed to gain a complete understanding of a workerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s TBI status, Dr. Braha advises. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In my experience, there really isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t one procedure that gives all the answers.â&#x20AC;? Results from early assessments can be used to predict the future recovery of severe TBI (STBI) patients, suggests the 2008 research, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Long-Term Outcome After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: The McGill Interdisciplinary Prospective Study.â&#x20AC;? It was based on follow-up with 46 STBI sufferers between two and ďŹ ve years after their accidents. Three tests were administered (the Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale, the Neurobehavioural Rating Scale-Revised and the Functional Independence Measure), and results were compared with patientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; earlier performance on the same tests upon their discharge from acute care. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In a physical and functional point of view, our patients were doing not too badly,â&#x20AC;? says Elaine deGuise, Ph.D., study co-author and a neuropsychologist at the McGill University Health Centre. Physical functioning and ability to perform daily tasks had improved over time, Dr. deGuise notes, but cognitive and emotional faculties, such as the patientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; abilities to perform more complex tasks and to cope in society, did not develop to the same extent. Nonetheless, exceptional recovery among individuals is possible, she suggests. A large majority of workrelated TBIs are mild cases, Dr. Colantonio says, adding that only about 10 to 15 per cent of TBIs are likely to produce symptoms over the long term. But brain injury numbers can be difďŹ cult to pin down, suggests Charles Leclerc, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist at the Ottawa Hospital Rehabilitation Centre. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are no dependable statistics on the incidence of TBI, particularly of mild TBI. Many people never have a medical examination, and in many cases those who do see a doctor are either undiagnosed or misdiagnosed,â&#x20AC;? Dr. Leclerc says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Often, mild TBI is something that you sort of become aware of down the road, because the person just isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t getting back [to his former self] as quickly,â&#x20AC;? says Dr. Douglas Margison, chief medical ofďŹ cer for WorkSafeNB in Saint John. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a subtle kind of thing,â&#x20AC;? Dr. Margison says. And that subtlety means some work-related MTBIs will slip through the cracks, he acknowledges.

WorkSafeNB completed a review in 2006 of best practices for assessing and treating clients who have MTBI, resulting in a more standardized treatment protocol, Dr. Margison says. Prompted in part by feedback from front-line rehabilitation staff, the board review recognized the need for a standardized, multi-disciplinary team approach to MTBI. Dr. Leclerc notes that there are two challenges linked to MTBI identiďŹ cation: First, apparent symptoms can actually be caused by other pre-existing ailments, such as depression; second, CT and MRI imaging may not capture the ďŹ ner details, he reports. THEN AND NOW Dr. Braha says he is seeing a change in attitude toward the impact of concussions and MTBIs. The medical community today appears less likely to automatically conclude that a clean CT or MRI scan means no brain injury has occurred, he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is an increased understanding that some of the changes that the brain experiences at the inter-cellular level, or in terms of white matter, can result in marked functional limitations,â&#x20AC;? he adds. Wilcock says public understanding may be advanced with a name change for concussion. In a study released in January, researchers from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario note doctors â&#x20AC;&#x153;may use the concussion label because it is less alarming to parents than the term mild brain injury, with the intent of implying that the injury is transient.â&#x20AC;? Their ďŹ ndings indicate that children with TBIs who are diagnosed with concussions are likely to be released from hospital and return to school earlier than their counterparts who are diagnosed speciďŹ cally with some degree of TBI. The same thing can happen with workers diagnosed with concussions, Wilcock suggests. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Return-to-work planning should be based upon careful evaluation of symptoms and neurocognitive status,â&#x20AC;? the CDC reports. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To help expedite recovery from MTBI, patients may initially need to reduce both physical and cognitive exertion. Rest is key.â&#x20AC;? In some cases, says Dr. deGuise, returning to work too early could produce â&#x20AC;&#x153;catastrophicâ&#x20AC;? results, such as a person with inhibited balance working in a safety-sensitive position. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In general,â&#x20AC;? adds Dr. Colantonio, â&#x20AC;&#x153;a prior brain injury is a risk factor for another brain injury. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really important for the brain to heal after an initial, even mild, brain injury.â&#x20AC;?

Â&#x153;$EPRESSION AND ANXIETY ARE AMONGST THE MOST COMMON EMOTIONAL SYMPTOMS Â?

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DAY TO DAY Dr. Leclerc says many symptoms are associated with TBI, ones that can interfere with cognitive, emotional, behavioural or physical functioning. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is highly dependent on the location of the brain injury,â&#x20AC;? he explains, pointing out that among the most common cognitive effects are challenges related to memory, attention and processing speed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Depression and anxiety are amongst the most common emotional symptoms. Studies indicate that the rate of post-TBI depression ranges between 33 per cent and 66 per

Â&#x153;) DIDNÂ&#x;T WANT TO LIE ON A COUCH AND NOT BE ABLE TO GROCERY SHOP OR WORK ) WANTED TO BE INDEPENDENT Â? SAYS *OANNE

cent in the year following the event,â&#x20AC;? Dr. Leclerc reports. Behavioural symptoms can include a lack of motivation, increased impulsivity and reduced inhibitions, which can negatively affect social behaviour, he adds. Brian Tapper, a vocational counsellor at the Nova Scotia Rehabilitation Centre, says a troublesome cycle can develop among TBI sufferers who ignore their symptoms. For instance, they may process information and carry out work tasks more slowly, leading to job dismissal. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They go through a whole series of unsatisfactory jobs,â&#x20AC;? Tapper says. But with suitable understanding and accommodation from employers, they can use their skills, Tapper adds. For MTBI sufferers, an important aspect of getting medical attention is reassurance. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They need answers,â&#x20AC;? says Dr. Tinawi, noting that anxiety will increase absent that information. Answers are exactly what Joanne, the customer service manager, got from her employer. After leaving the bank on her ďŹ rst day back, she set out on the road to recovery and was supported in her therapy by her work beneďŹ ts. Visiting numerous doctors, including a neurologist, and undergoing tests on her heart and brain, the real breakthrough came when Joanne visited an acquired brain injury clinic, she says. Clinic staff advised her of the areas where she would require rehabilitation, such as her memory and concentration skills. Through much cognitive therapy, she was able to improve her memory. One exercise involved repeatedly listening to recordings and having to remember certain words in a sentence. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the same as if you work out in a gym and you have to keep doing [exercises] to get in shape,â&#x20AC;? she says. Before getting back to work, Joanne sat down with her companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s human resources staff to draft a return-to-work schedule that she says was ďŹ&#x201A;exible and allowed time for her ongoing cognitive, speech and emotional therapy. The bank was also ďŹ&#x201A;exible about Joanneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s desk set-up, allowing her to add some sound-prooďŹ ng material. Even with that, it was difďŹ cult to concentrate. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It required a great deal of energy for me to blank out some of the extra stimuli and stick to what I needed to do.â&#x20AC;? In most cases of mild to moderate TBI, Forsyth says affected individuals are expected to return to work, often to their former positions. The greatest amount of recovery for those with mild to moderate

TBI usually takes place within the ďŹ rst six months, with ďŹ rst visits to the Back in Motion facility often occurring two to three months after the injury, she notes. Clinical programs for mild cases run six weeks, while programs for moderate cases could last as long as 10 weeks, says Forsyth. Both programs may involve relaxation, cognitive and physical training, as well as behavioral management instruction. Crucial is that the clinical program will often overlap with return to work, allowing the client to share information about his or her reintegration into the workplace. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We can problem solve what is working at work and what isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t working,â&#x20AC;? Forsyth says. Joanne is thankful for the support she has received from her employer, recognizing that many traumatic brain injury sufferers may not be so fortunate. Yet a key part of her recovery has been sheer willpower. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to lie on a couch and not be able to grocery shop or work. I wanted to be independent,â&#x20AC;? she says. Recently promoted, but still dealing with severe headaches and both mental and physical fatigue, she says â&#x20AC;&#x153;you have to just keep saying, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s okay. I am who I am.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? Gaudet says he thinks about how his life could be different, and what might have been had he not gone to work that day. After being in hospital for a month, Gaudet underwent a monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worth of rehabilitation to relearn how to walk. He can now bowl and hangs out with his support group of family and friends, but says he also misses the sports and activities that were once part of daily life â&#x20AC;&#x201D; hockey, mountain biking, rollerblading and paintball. Gaudet says he would like to move out of his parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; home to lessen their load, but cannot swing things ďŹ nancially with the beneďŹ ts he receives. For now, he must be patient. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m really not quite sure whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to happen. I just take one day at a time.â&#x20AC;? Dan Birch is assistant editor of OHS CANADA.

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SECURITY

BY JEAN LIAN

A Safe

PHOTOS: LEFT: CP PHOTO - JIMMY JEONG; RIGHT: CP PHOTO - JOHN ULAN

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For many who work at the Edmonton office of Alberta’s Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB), October 21, 2009 is a day they will not soon forget. At about 8:30 am that morning, a 38-year-old man, carrying a rifle and battle-weary from a load of grievances, entered the downtown building housing approximately 700 WCB staffers and took nine employees hostage. Police evacuated everyone else, taking the precaution of clearing nearby buildings as well. For almost nine hours, officers with the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) negotiated with the gunman, believed at the time to be a disgruntled claimant. Hunkered down in a conference room, the gunman released one hostage almost immediately; others followed over the course of the day, police later confirmed. Widely covered by news media, many people from across the country watched with bated breath until the suspect surrendered at about 6:15 pm, bringing the hostage-taking to a peaceful end. No one was injured in what WCB officials described as a “serious security breach.” The man faces numerous charges, including unlawful confinement, possession of an offensive weapon dangerous to the public, and use of a firearm during the commission of an offence.

The Edmonton Police Service’s tactical squad (left) prepares to enter the Workers’ Compensation Board building (above) in Edmonton on October 21, 2009. An armed man was holding several board employees hostage inside.

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SAFE AND SOUND “A lot of people worked hard to achieve a peaceful resolution to the situation and we are very relieved to report that all of the hostages are safe and sound,” WCB president and CEO Guy Kerr said in a statement issued the next day. The hostage-taking was resolved without physical harm to the victims, though it may be too early to tally the emotional toll. That the incident could even occur has likely stripped away confidence to reveal a system that could allow a lone gunman to gain access to what should be — and possibly was assumed to be — a secure building in the heart of the city. The breach raises questions for Gordon Peach, president of B&G Security Consultants Inc. in London, Ontario. “How could it happen? How is it allowed to happen? And why were there no procedures and steps in place to have prevented it, or at least delayed the inevitable?” Peach asks. Daniel Clayton, president of the security firm, Diligence LLP in Calgary, says the hostage-taking becomes a security issue for the simple fact “that he was even able to get past security measures with a rifle.”

Front Line Office settings can be targets of theft, unlawful entry, bombings, forcible occupation and sabotage. A risk assessment that takes existing security measures and possible weak points into account would be the first step in developing an effective security program, notes information from the Department of Agriculture’s Office of Procurement and Property Management (OPPM) in the United States. It is essential to look at workplace design, considering physical factors such as layout, barriers, locks, lighting and electronic surveillance. For front-line offices that deal with the public, the OPPM suggests the following measures: UÊ post security guards, who have a clear view of the controlled area, at the main building entrance or at entrances to specific offices; UÊ install a metal detector or closed-circuit television camera to monitor people coming in all building entrances; UÊ issue all employees photo identification cards and assign temporary passes to visitors who are permitted to sign in and out of the building; UÊ rearrange office furniture and partitions so that front-line employees are surrounded by “natural” barriers such as desks, countertops and partitions; UÊ brief employees on steps to take should a threatening or violent incident occur; UÊ establish code words to alert co-workers and supervisors that immediate help is required; UÊ provide an under-the-counter alarm system to signal a supervisor or security officer in the event that a customer becomes threatening or violent; and, UÊ establish an area in the office for employees and/or customers to escape to if they are confronted with violent or threatening people.

Clayton first learned of the incident on Twitter 15 minutes before news services had released any reports. “People inside the building were actually [tweeting] that there was a gunman inside,” he says. Having visited the WCB building about a week before the incident, Clayton comments that “the security measures are nowhere near as much as they actually need. They definitely need to be reviewed.” For example, he says, the building’s numerous entrances can increase the likelihood of bypassing systems. “It really depends on which entrance you entered by and how busy it is.” Following the incident, the WCB began working with external consultants commissioned to carry out a security review, says the board’s media relations specialist, Jennifer Dagsvik. With regard to existing security measures, Dagsvik notes they “are typical of the security you would see at many secure government offices.” On this list are the following: s security desks manned by trained officers who oversee all individuals entering and exiting the building; s visitor passes issued only after security personnel have verified identity; s designated emergency response officers on each floor; s staff photo ID access cards that must pass through a card reader; and, s security awareness training for staff who deal one-onone with the public. “We have hired additional permanent security personnel and strengthened our monitoring of people entering and leaving our buildings,” Dagsvik noted in February. “We now have security enhancement recommendations and input from employees. We’ve blended all these recommendations and are currently reviewing them to schedule implementations,” she says. Details about specific measures will not be released. “We do not want to create a workplace where injured workers do not feel welcome, but at the same time, we need to protect our employees and our claimants,” says Dagsvik. And there are plenty of people coming through the WCB’s doors — the board works with 200,000 individuals each year, in fact. “Out of those hundreds of thousands of people, very few are volatile,” Dagsvik reports. But there is certainly the potential for discord. “Any time you deal with the adjudication of financial benefits, high emotion is possible and, therefore, the risk of a volatile response is also possible,” Dagsvik says. That is one reason why the WCB has a security process in place to identify volatile clients. Unpredictability may further be fuelled by a claimant’s stress and emotional turmoil when dealing with an injury, she adds. Information about the hostage-taker or his claim cannot be released, Dagsvik says, but she reports that the claim was reviewed “and we can confirm WCB staff acted appropriately. We wouldn’t have done anything differently.” FULL COVERAGE Louis Rovner, a polygraph-testing consultant and president of Rovner and Associates in Los Angeles, defines corporate security as an umbrella term encompassing all aspects affecting

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PHOTO: CP PHOTO - JIMMY JEONG

Occupants are evacuated from the Workers’ Compensation Board building in Edmonton last October.

the safety and security of a company’s assets. These assets may include staff, intellectual property, information technology, paper records and actual offices and structures. Rovner suggests that an organization’s security needs are influenced by both its mission and the nature of its business operations. For example, he says the security risk that a clothing retailer faces would be fairly low. With regard to one of his clients, he points out, “You walk into their headquarters and it’s no different from walking into one of their stores.” But if an organization has reason to believe employees are at risk of attack from a disgruntled employee or if their industry is one that may be the target of a terrorist attack, security measures such as metal detectors and screening procedures at every point of entry would be appropriate. Rovner advises that companies should develop contingency plans for threats that can emerge from outside and from within. Consider, for example, the preparedness that may be required for handling a disgruntled employee. “If I were a president of a company, I would always keep in close contact with my human resources department,” he suggests. Employee grievances may result from many things, such as increased workload, a lack of promotion, a pay cut or actual dismissal. Depending on the number of employees, Peach suggests adopting “proper background checks for security clearance to ensure there are no red lights that come on.” Rovner contends that it is near impossible to predict if a dismissed worker will try to exact revenge on either the company or specific staff members. But if the worker was making threats, “it seems to me that would be the time to seriously consider putting in some more stringent security measures.” Apart from steps to prevent physical re-entry (this can start by retrieving the employee’s swipe card or changing codes), Rovner says an employer must also weigh whether or not the former employee might try to compromise information systems and intellectual property. Guarding against such action would involve asking certain questions: When was the last time the security system was upgraded? Are information systems protected from industrial espionage? Is it possible that the computer system can be manipulated from an external port? Still, Rovner cautions, “all the best technology in the world would not be worth anything if the people who are responsible for these security measures aren’t paying attention 100 per cent of the time to their jobs.”

CAREFUL REVIEW Clayton concurs. “It’s not just a matter of physical barriers. It’s about having the right people in the right places.” He points to what he regards as a “serious” lack of training and understanding of security issues across Canada. In Alberta, there is currently no minimum requirement for security officer training. Criteria are also few: one only need have a work permit or be a Canadian citizen, be 18 or older and have no criminal record. “If you have all those three things, you can probably get hired by almost any security company in Calgary,” reports Clayton, who previously owned a security firm. “It’s definitely a huge problem.” Complacency over security risks is another hurdle that often needs to be cleared. “People don’t really take the threat seriously until something happens to them,” he says. Peach identifies cost as a key barrier to improving an organization’s security. “Most companies look at the bottom line and security usually falls way down on the gambit.” Companies that contract out security services usually opt for bids on the lower end of the tenders, Peach says. “Once they do that,” he cautions, “the bodies that they have in place are making minimum wage, and they are going to respond as minimum-wage employees.” Determining security needs often begins with a risk and threat assessment, a comprehensive process possibly taking six or more months to complete, Clayton says. The assessment involves profiling a company’s senior management, employees, locations of other offices or operations, and the nature of the business. “It always depends on the type of business,” he insists. “Oil and gas companies with operations in the Middle East are at a higher risk than a web-design company that is in Calgary.”

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ALL THE BASICS Pointing to the hostage-taking incident at the WCB, Clayton is of the mind that all government buildings across Canada should have the same sorts of security measures: swipe card systems, X-ray machines to screen visitors and what they may be carrying, a visitor registry and a means of verifying visitor identification. Should corporate security be primarily regarded as a system of physical barriers and devices or should companies throw internal work processes and their possible effects on human emotions into the mix? What advice or cautions can the Edmonton incident offer to workplaces such as banks, insurance companies or mortgage institutions that deal on a daily basis with sensitive financial matters, or even courthouses and health care services? Consider the September, 1997 case of a Toronto general practitioner, Dr. Bernard Lau, who was fatally shot by a man he had earlier declared ineligible for government disability programs. Says Dagsvik, “Our issues are simply more emotionally charged than most because we are dealing with people in financial, emotional and physical stress.” Gail Cumming is head of Cumming Consulting Inc. in St. Albert, Alberta. “If you have somebody that wants to breach security, they will find a way,” says Cumming, who attributes the security breach at the WCB “to discontentment.” The former WCB case manager, who was with the Al-

A Claimant’s Story Nick Iozzo’s life took a dramatic turn on August 26, 2007. That day, the senior sales and marketing manager in Alberta broke his back after falling from stairs while inspecting a house that his company was building. Iozzo was granted compensation benefits and spent the next few months convalescing in a body cast. But that did not eliminate the frustration. “The compensation board wanted you to get off the meds as quickly as possible so that you can get back to work,” reports Iozzo, who fought to stay on medication, the only thing that alleviated his pain. Three months after his injury, Iozzo began modified duties, working from home before building up to going into the office four times a week. Last July, he was terminated on reason of a flagging economy. Life post-injury is far different. Iozzo used to take part in extreme sports; today, he walks with a cane and his pain necessitates taking “a bunch of narcotics.” Iozzo relies on compensation benefits and personal savings. “It is really a big, dramatic wake-up call,” he says. “I feel for the people who work at the WCB,” says Iozzo, who adds that he was “mortified” by the hostagetaking incident. “But the other thing is that I can understand why that fellow went to that extreme.”

berta board for more than 20 years, witnessed her fair share of frustrated claimants dealing with a system she describes as bureaucratic and lacking in customer service. “Case management is a very high-stress job where no matter what decision you make, somebody is not going to be happy.” Cumming says the latest hostage-taking — the WCB’s Calgary ofﬁce was the scene of another incident in the early 1990s, during which a disgruntled claimant armed with a double-barrelled shotgun held four people hostage — is “not a coincidence.” But Dagsvik says that she sees “little to connect” the Calgary and Edmonton incidents. Following the Calgary case, however, she says that a number of changes were made, including the following: separating the Appeals Commission to be independent of the WCB; adopting a more collaborative internal dispute resolution process; and establishing a new medical panel process. “We are constantly reviewing, monitoring and assessing to ensure our decisions are fair, factual and appropriate,” Dagsvik reports. “Any decision can be reviewed, validated

Edmonton police bring out a man in handcuffs, left, at the city’s Workers’ Compensation Board building. The man, who had barricaded himself with hostages inside the building, surrendered after several hours.

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PHOTO: CP PHOTO - JIMMY JEONG

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or changed if the right channels are used,” she says. Claimants who disagree with a decision can speak to the supervisor manager or can secure an advisor who will advocate on the worker’s behalf as the claim goes through the internal Dispute Resolution and Decision Review Body. If the claimant in question still disputes that body’s decision, Dagsvik notes that the matter can be appealed to the external Appeals Commission. Dagsvik says less than 0.01 per cent of all decisions made by the compensation board are resolved at the external appeal level. Some 77 per cent of cases are resolved during internal review, she reports. FEELING FRUSTRATED Cumming cites financial hardship, even destitution, as something that can bring a claimant to the edge. Some feel that they have been put through the wringer — not only applying, but then waiting to learn whether or not compensation has been granted to them. But even those claimants awarded benefits may not escape the financial fallout and the psychological stress associated with being injured and absent from work, sometimes for long periods of time. It is not unusual for a tradesperson in Fort McMurray — which was, until recently, booming — to be paid more than $100,000, Cumming reports. If injured, those earnings will definitely drop significantly.

“So he’s losing already,” she says, pointing out that the drastic shortfall is likely to have a negative impact on home life and financial obligations. As well, outlook for the future may be grim. When people grow frustrated and do not understand the workers’ compensation system, says Cumming, they vent to the WCB. “And when they vent to the WCB, they become troublemakers. When they become troublemakers, nobody wants to deal with them,” she suggests. The financial hardship for injured workers not granted compensation, however, may be far worse. “The effect of a worker not having any income is immediate. It’s dire and generally it’s not reversible,” argues Bob Barnetson, Ph.D., an assistant professor of labour relations at Athabasca University in central Alberta. The immediacy and gravity of the financial impact may result in workers being “more prone to act outside the system,” Dr. Barnetson suggests. Peach notes, however, that there are usually red flags. “No one took the time to find out and listen [that] this person has a problem,” he contends. Rovner suggests that training is one measure that organizations can take to prepare their employees in the event of a violent encounter. Staff members need to be cognizant of the behavioural indicators of someone in distress or verging on acting out, and provide them with guidance on what should or should not be done, he says.

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Compromising Positions Security threats at work can occur under a variety of conditions. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety in Hamilton, Ontario notes that the following work-related factors, processes and interactions can put workers at increased risk on the job: UÊ working with the public; UÊ handling money, valuables or prescription drugs (such as cashiers and pharmacists); UÊ carrying out inspection or enforcement duties (including government workers, municipal housing inspectors and public works personnel); UÊ providing service, care, advice or education (such as health care staff and teachers); UÊ working with unstable or volatile persons (including in social services or in the criminal justice system); UÊ working in premises where alcohol is served (such as restaurants and bars); UÊ working alone, in small numbers or in isolated or low-trafﬁc areas (including retail store clerks and real estate agents); UÊ working in community-based settings (such as nurses, social workers and other home visitors); UÊ having a mobile workplace (including cab drivers and truck operators); and, UÊ working during periods of intense organizational change (as part of strikes and downsizing initiatives).

CERTAIN LIMITS Clearly, however, no level of frustration justifies the taking of hostages. “None of us should be fearing for our lives, calling loved ones on the phone, with what you believe at that moment may be the last time you speak to them,” Nancy MacCready-Williams, chief executive officer of the WCB of Nova Scotia in Halifax, wrote in an open letter on October 26, following the Edmonton hostage-taking. MacCready-Williams says she appreciates that when a board says no, “employers and workers can be disappointed, frustrated and even angry. But there is a point where my empathy stops. I have no empathy for anyone who walks into a workplace purposely intent on violence — intent on hurting the people who work there.” The Edmonton incident represents “a sobering reminder” to employers and workers to review workplace safety policies and plans “and make sure you are doing everything possible to keep your employees and your colleagues safe at work.” “As we implement changes, we want to find the right balance between providing protection, yet ensuring we offer a welcoming environment,” says Dagsvik. “It’s important that our enhanced security will not interfere with our focus on customer service,” she emphasizes. “Imagine the worst-case scenario that can happen,” suggests Peach. “Evaluate what you have in place. How can we possibly stop this? How can we possibly lessen the blow if it does happen?” Jean Lian is assistant editor of

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ACCIDENT PREVENTION

VENTILATION

Air It Out BEYOND COMFORT: In the workplace context, ventilation can help guard against some dramatic hazards, indeed. Depending on conditions, proper ventilation may be critical to avoid potentially deadly explosions, ﬁres and worker overexposures.

PART AND PARCEL: An industrial ventilation system includes an air-intake area, fans, ducts and air-cleaning devices, notes the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) in Hamilton, Ontario. The purposes of ventilation? The CCOHS reports these are as follows: s provide a continuous supply of fresh outside air; s maintain temperature and humidity at comfortable levels; s reduce ﬁre or explosion hazards; and, s remove or dilute airborne contaminants.

HEALTH EFFECTS: Hazards will depend on workplace conditions and activities, notes information from Ontario’s former Industrial Accident Prevention Association, now part of Safe Workplace Promotion Services Ontario in Toronto. Beyond explosions and fires, risks linked to poor or no ventilation include a lack of oxygen (which could result in headache, fatigue or asphyxiation, particularly in confined spaces); excessive heat, cold or humidity; exposure to toxic fumes, vapours or gases; and exposure to dusts (which could lead to reduced lung capacity). SIMPLE EXCHANGE: Ventilation can be implemented in a couple of ways: naturally, say by opening windows to let what’s in find its way out; or mechanically, by employing devices such as fans and blowers to force the exchange of fresh outdoor air and contaminated indoor air. But there is method to the exchange of good and bad. Industrial ventilation systems move specific amounts of air at specific speeds, the CCOHS notes, thereby matching the type of work being done to the rate of contaminant release required.

HERE OR THERE: To make indoor air safe, the CCOHS reports, a ventilation system may either dilute contaminant concentration or capture contaminants at or near the source before exhausting them outside. s Dilution (or general) ventilation regulates indoor pollutants by ventilating the entire workplace, resulting in a lower concentration of pollutants throughout. Dilution ventilation can be made more effective if the exhaust fan is located close to exposed workers and make-up air (air to replace that which has been exhausted) is behind them so that contaminated air is drawn away from their breathing zones. This type of ventilation is appropriate if the amounts of pollutants generated are not very high, their toxicity is relatively moderate, and work is not being done in the immediate vicinity of the source of contamination. General ventilation is not suited for highly toxic chemicals, dusts or metal fumes, large amounts of gases or vapours, irregular emissions or when handling surges of gases or vapours. s Local exhaust ventilation (LEV) traps contaminants and exhausts them outside. LEV uses a hood to capture the contaminant at or near the source, ducts to transport airborne chemicals, an air-cleaning device to remove the contaminant, fans to move air through the system, an exhaust stack to discharge contaminated air, and make-up air to replace exhausted air. This type of ventilation is appropriate if air contaminants pose serious health risks, large amounts of dusts or fumes are being generated, emission sources are few, and those sources are located near a worker’s breathing zone. IN THE ALTERNATIVE: Ventilation is an engineering option, notes the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in the United Kingdom. As with any occupational hygiene issue, other options are available and should be considered ﬁrst: s eliminate the contaminant source; s substitute the material with something safer; s reduce the size of the source; s modify the process to reduce the duration or frequency of emission; and, s reduce the number of employees involved in a process.

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CHECK, CHECK, CHECK: The HSE notes that if LEV systems are being used, they should be subject to a daily checklist: s Does the indicator show the unit is working properly? s Is the worker close enough to the LEV to ensure it can do its job properly? s Are there signs, such as smells or settled dust, that the unit is not working properly? s Is the system generating any unusual noises or vibrations? STANDARD OR NOT: A standard LEV system may suffice; other times, modifications are in order. The HSE advises that this will likely demand assistance from either an LEV supplier or a ventilation engineer. Among other things, the following should be provided or should apply: s a description of the process, the contaminant, its hazards, sources to control and how stringent control must be; s indicators fitted to show that the system is working as intended; s the LEV is easy to use, check, maintain and clean; and, s training on how to use, check and maintain the LEV system, a user manual that describes the schedule for replacing parts, and a system logbook to record the results of checks and maintenance. The HSE recommends that training for operators, supervisors and managers should cover the basics: the harmful nature of the substances being used; how exposure may occur; how the LEV system works; the consequences of the LEV failing; and what to do should something go wrong. NECESSARY NOTICE: Of course, nothing is perfect. The CCOHS notes ventilation systems have limitations: s systems can deteriorate over time because of contaminant build-up; s regular maintenance is required; s routine testing is necessary to identify problems early on so that remedies can be implemented; and, s system modifications should be done only by qualified persons.

PROVINCIAL MATTERS: Each jurisdiction has specific requirements relating to workplace ventilation. In British Columbia, for example, a ventilation system for controlling airborne contaminants must be designed, installed and maintained using established engineering principles. If LEV is not practicable, then general ventilation or a combination of dilution and LEV is to be used. Among the many other provincial requirements in British Columbia are the following: s since a system can fail (but its failure may not be readily apparent to individuals working), it must be equipped with some means to alert workers; s the employer must provide a separate exhaust ventilation system for an operation or process if the aforementioned produces a combustible or flammable air contaminant in concentrations that may pose a fire or explosion risk; s an adequate supply of make-up air must be provided to maintain the effectiveness of an exhaust ventilation system, or to prevent a contaminant from being drawn into the work space from another work area; and, s an exhaust ventilation system is to remain in operation until the work process is completed and the air contaminants generated have been removed so as not to be hazardous to workers.

SAFETY GEAR SPILL RESPONSE

Hunt and Gather By Jason Contant

eaving worker safety to chance in environments where spills are possible is not an option. For those tasked with clean-up and containment — whether a spill is as simple as an oil drip from a machine or as complex as clearing all remnants of a corrosive and toxic chemical — a wellthought-out spill response plan is in order. But a plan only takes safety so far; it must be complemented by work procedures and gear appropriate to help contain, clean up and dispose of spills. For companies in the market for spill response products, a good starting point is to analyze the work environment and identify any tasks that may end in spills. From there, experts suggest A good that other considerations include the following: flammability of the spilled starting point product (if applicable); if a chemical can be neutralized; secondary conis to analyze tainment issues (such as spill pallets or berms that can be used to help prethe work vent a substance from spreading); type, environment characteristics and chemical-resistance capabilities of protective equipment and identify (such as gloves) included in spill kits; methods to minimize the environany tasks that mental impact of a spill; and a review of procedures to prevent releases and may end improve spill response. The staggering number of workin spills. place chemicals and the breadth of consequences that industrial spills can produce make choosing the right combination of equipment and products a tall order. So how do employers go about making the right decision? Mike Dodd, customer service supervisor for Can-Ross Environmental Services Ltd. in Oakville, Ontario, recommends narrowing the options by reviewing which needs must be met. Will the product be used for oils? Will the product be used for chemicals? If so, which chemicals? Are the chemicals flammable or combustible? Once the substance has been identified, resources necessary for an effective response will change in step with the size of the spill. Advice is a little light on specific procedures, but a basic caution is as follows: “If you have a spill, it’s your duty to react to it and mitigate,” says Rick Beecham, an inside sales specialist at Pacesetter Sales & Associates in Sharon, Ontario. Beecham offers the following pointers: s remove unauthorized personnel and ensure that no one enters or comes into contact with the spill; s if outdoors, consider the possible impact of the elements, such as rain and wind;

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s if the substance is flammable, ignition sources must be controlled and the area ventilated; s when dealing with an acid or caustic, determine if the spill will be neutralized first (only practical for smaller spills); s work from the perimeter to contain the spill and ensure its source is blocked (for example, by plugging a tank or turning off a valve); and, s if required, report the spill to the appropriate authorities. KIT AND KABOODLE Spill kits are meant to help contain spills within the first few minutes, and come in various forms and sizes. Gator International in Penticton, British Columbia offers both vehicular spill kits, which are compact enough to fit behind or under a seat, and kits more suited to industrial environments. Vehicle kits provide users with containers for spilled substances, pads to absorb most hydrocarbons, a sock made of a 100 per cent cellulose material for all types of liquid, a chemical-resistant dust mask, chemical-resistant safety goggles, neoprene on latex gloves, disposal bags with tie wraps, a whist broom and dust pan, and assorted wooden plugs. The bigger and more potentially complicated the spill, the more enhanced the kit’s contents. Gator’s “national guard” kit, for example, includes among its contents: a poly drum with a lid and lock ring, a box of latex chemical gloves, coveralls, eyewash, goggles, a broom, an alarm horn, duct tape, a first aid kit, and a bag of assorted wooden plugs. IN THE FLOW With regard to liquids, depending on the type spilled, it may be possible to neutralize or absorb the liquid. One option is to sprinkle a granular absorbent onto the spill and sweep it up; another is to soak up the spill using a different type of absorbent, such as a pad that captures and contains the material within its fibres. The latter option works like a sponge and is available in many grades, with fibres ranging from fine to coarse. Dodd likens this method to a spider web. “The fibres are twined together and the coarser that twine is, the less it’s going to hold because [oil, for instance] will kind of wick through,” he says. A more tightly knit fine fibre will hold more. When selecting an absorbent, however, Beecham advises that care must be taken if the work environment contains flammable or combustible liquids. “You probably don’t want to use any of the organic materials like sawdust or peat moss because they may add to the flammability issue,” he cautions. Bill Robins, president of Cartier Chemicals Ltd. in Montreal, says there’s a downside to using absorbents to clean up flammable or other spills as opposed to neutralizing them. Typically, acids and bases (the latter known as alkaline substances) can be neutralized, but not flammable materials, Robins reports.

PHOTOS: TOP - CAN-ROSS ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES LTD.; CENTRE, BOTTOM - SHOWA-BEST GLOVE

Top: Granular absorbents can help prevent a spill from spreading. Centre, bottom: chemical-resistant gloves are a consideration.

Absorbents — one option being polymeric-type sheets — may be applied to the spill, he says. But since they may work like sponges and fail to fully absorb the liquid, when “you lift them up, they drip all over the place,” says Robins. The sheets are then placed in a bag, in which the liquid may leak and collect, opening the door to contamination spreading. “Every bit of handling has a risk involved with spillage,” he warns. Then there are neutralizers. The rule of thumb is “if you have an acid spill, you use something that is alkaline; if you have an alkaline spill, you use something that is acid.” The neutralizer need not be complicated. If an acid spills, says Robins, “mild alkaline materials, even something like bicarbonate soda, could be used, but it’s messy.” Lauri Solsberg, president of Counterspil Research Inc. in North Vancouver, reports that soda ash is often applied to acids, with spill kits containing colour-indicator systems to demonstrate when neutralization has reached a safe level. By using dedicated neutralizers, as opposed to the “old system” of throwing a bag of material onto a spill, worker safety can be enhanced, Robins argues. Neutralization is an effective and practical way to handle spills of 205 litres or less, he says. “Every agent you might spill has a neutralizer that is relatively optimal for dealing with it safely.” NICE AND CONTAINED Once a spill has been contained and cleaned up, it is then time to consider any secondary containment products — such as pallets or berms — designed to prevent hazardous materials from spreading during transport, storage or unloading. Spill Killer Environmental Products Ltd., based in Calgary, offers a wide array of berms and absorbents. For instance, the company’s Mini-Berm spill trays are suitable for leaky vehicle or aircraft ﬁttings during repair, and Insta-Berm can be used

with containers of liquids such as fertilizers, pesticides, paints and solvents. The company’s absorbents come in both indoor and outdoor versions, and are also available in granular socks and granular supersocks. Consider a forklift hitting a 55-gallon (208-litre) drum of hazardous liquid. A spill pallet could be used to prevent liquid from entering the factory drain, for example, because it is contained within a sump inside the pallet, says Patricia Maruszak, manager of marketing and communications for Justrite Manufacturing Company in Des Plaines, Illinois. The company notes the pallets are usually constructed of steel or polyethylene. The latter is capable of withstanding “the toughest environments,” making them “nearly impervious to chemical attack.” Although steel pallets are sometimes preferred in workplaces like steel mills, railyards, naval stations, shipyards and the military, Maruszak points out that the “real” driving factor in the marketplace is price, with steel typically costing about two to two-and-ahalf times more than polyethylene. “From a functional standpoint, they work the same and both are durable.” Beecham, for his part, might be considered a steel man. Over the course of his career, he reports having conducted fire demonstrations where the containment “was steel and it was used many times without any particular failure.” There are customers who store flammable liquids on polyethylene, he says, but if “I were storing extremely flammable material, [like] drums of liquid, I would prefer steel.” SUIT UP Another necessary check when storing, handling or cleaning up a spill is personal protective equipment. Knowing which classes of chemicals workers will handle — be they fuels, acids or caustics — will go a long way in helping employers understand the type of gloves and spill kits that are necessary to get the job done, says Joe Geng, vice-president of Superior Glove Works Ltd. in Acton, Ontario. Material safety data sheets (MSDSs) can be a good starting point, says Michael Everett, general manager of Showa-Best Glove Inc. in Coaticook, Quebec, but he offers a caution: “Often MSDS sheets will just say, ‘use protective gloves,’ so that leaves people hanging sometimes.” When dealing with solvents, Everett says if the solvent is a mixture of toluene, acetone and another chemical, one glove might work for two chemicals, but not the third. In that case, the user should go with gear designed to protect against the most dangerous chemical, he says. “A lot of people just like to say, ‘Can you not give me one glove for everything and it will solve the problem?’” Everett says. That may not be possible, he notes, though if pressed to

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recommend one material, he would go with neoprene. Chemical-resistant gloves are made from a variety of materials — natural rubber, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), nitrile, neoprene, butyl and butyl-viton, to name a few — and offer distinct advantages and disadvantages, Geng notes. Rubber is flexible, comfortable and inexpensive “and it works fairly well with some types of acids,” says Everett, but not very well at all with hydrocarbons, oils or greases. For these, PVC serves as a better fit, as it offers a bit more chemical resistance. Still, says Geng, PVC is not an ideal choice for spill kits. Nitrile, a synthetic rubber, provides a wide range of chemical resistance and is a safer bet for fuels like diesel and gasoline. Neoprene, for its part, provides good chemical resistance for acids, caustics and hydrocarbons. It is chlorine-based, making it an option for workplaces dealing with flammable chemicals, Everett suggests. The downside may be that neo-

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prene does not provide strong abrasion resistance. Butyl and butyl-viton gloves are recommended for major “contaminations that are considered seriously harmful or potentially fatal,” Geng says. The option, albeit expensive and less comfortable, offers a broader range of chemical resistance than nitrile or neoprene. The lifespan of gloves varies greatly depending on their type and the chemicals used. “In certain chemicals, some gloves will only last a few minutes; for another chemical, they can last for hours,” says Geng. The good news, at least in the forestry industry and parts of the petroleum sector in British Columbia, is that small spills have been “increasingly declining” with worker awareness and training, says Solsberg. And less is often more, especially when worker safety is on the line. Jason Contant is editor of SAFETY NEWS.

CANADIAN OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

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LAW FILE DAMAGES

Court Adjourned By Emily Landau

t has taken 18 years and three court rulings since a deadly explosion at a Northwest Territories mine to get a ﬁnal answer on whether or not surviving family members of the deceased workers should receive damages. The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) determined in February that the answer to that question is “no.” In a unanimous decision, the SCC dismissed the widows’ claims, originally detailed in a lawsuit under NWT’s Fatal Accidents Act. The suit sought damages from, among others, now-defunct Royal Oak Mines Inc., then the employer; the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT), the regulator; Pinkerton’s of Canada, the company hired to provide site security; the Canadian Association of Smelter and Allied Workers (CASAW), later amalgamated with the Canadian Auto Workers The widows (CAW), the miners’ union; and several union members or ofﬁcials. argued the NWT’s Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission (WSCC) initiated the civil action in 1994 to recover parties named additional compensation that it has in the lawsuit paid and will continue to pay to the deceased workers’ families.

owed a duty

DEADLY HISTORY of care. The bid for damages follows a bitter strike at the Giant Mine, operated by Royal Oak Mines, near Yellowknife in 1992, notes the SCC ruling by Justice Thomas Cromwell. Punctuated by threats, acts of vandalism and violence, the months-long labour dispute was brought to a deadly climax on September 19, 1992, after striker Roger Warren surreptitiously entered the mine and planted an explosive device underground. The explosion, triggered by a trip wire, killed nine replacement miners. Warren is currently serving a life sentence after being convicted of second-degree murder. The widows argued the parties named in the lawsuit owed a duty of care to the replacement miners. For example, the suit contends that both Royal Oak Mines and GNWT were negligent in failing to shut down the mine. As well, Pinkerton’s stood accused of failing to adequately guard the site and take reasonable steps to prevent Warren from entering the mine, and the union was said to have incited Warren and failed to control his actions. In 2004, Justice Arthur Lutz of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories ruled that several parties had breached the duty of care to the deceased, noting that the consequence of the cumulative acts was “reasonably foreseeable.” He apportioned responsibility to Warren, Royal Oak Mines, CAW, Pinkerton’s and GNWT, and ordered that the widows receive

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damages amounting to $10.7 million. The employer settled its share of damages with the widows, but the other defendants appealed to NWT’s Court of Appeal. The appeal court overturned the trial ruling, finding that the appellants “did not owe a duty of care in negligence to the respondents.” That decision led to the appeal to the SCC, which upheld the appeal ruling, albeit with a few caveats. “While we are disappointed with the outcome, we believe it was necessary to pursue this civil action,” Anne Clark, the WSCC’s president and CEO, says in a statement. Jeffrey Champion, a lawyer with Bishop & McKenzie LLP in Edmonton, who represented the families in the SCC case, adds, “It’s an understatement to say that [the families] are just devastated by the whole decision.” SOME CLARIFICATION Beyond providing a final answer to the parties involved, the high court’s ruling offers clarity on some murky issues. Noting there were “inconsistent findings at the lower court levels,” Stuart Rudner, a lawyer with Miller Thomson LLP’s labour and employment group in Markham, Ontario, suggests the SCC “used the opportunities to clarify when duties of care exist, and when they’re breached.” And that is likely the gist of what employers want to know, says Noella Martin, a lawyer with the Halifax firm of Wickwire Holm. “What duty do we owe to someone?” Martin asks. Clarity is provided not only for employers and workers, but also for tertiary parties. Although both Pinkerton’s and GNWT were determined not to have violated the duty of care, the SCC ruling does make clear these types of organizations do, in fact, owe a duty of care. “In my view, the trial judge did not err in finding that both Pinkerton’s and the government owed the murdered miners a duty of care,” notes Justice Cromwell. “However, I agree with the Court of Appeal that the trial judge erred in finding that they failed to meet the requisite standard of care.” The SCC ruling “emphasizes that employers [and] security companies are not there to guarantee people’s safety, because that’s not the test that any of us have to meet,” comments Len Polsky, a lawyer with the Calgary law firm of MacPherson, Leslie & Tyerman LLP, who represented Timothy Bettger, a striking miner named in the lawsuit for inciting violence. “They have to act reasonably, and if they do, they will not be held liable if something happens to life, limb or property,” Polsky says. (The claim against Bettger was also dismissed.) Duty of care demands an individual or organization take reasonable steps to prevent harm. For the duty to be proven, it is necessary to establish proximity between two parties — or that the relationship between them was sufficiently close to involve such factors as reliance, expectations and/or fiscal interests — and foreseeability of the incident. Justice Cromwell writes, “The relationship between the

murdered miners and Pinkerton’s and the territorial government meets the requirements of foreseeability and proximity such that a prima facie duty of care existed.” He maintains, however, that “since the plaintiffs seek to have these parties held responsible for their own negligence, not for the fault of others, holding them liable for their own negligence does not undermine the general principles that tort liability is personal and fault-based.” The ruling determined that GNWT acted in good faith; knowing the environment was dangerous, it sought legal advice to shut down the site but was told, erroneously, that such a move was within the purview of the federal government. The decision clarifies that a jurisdiction with responsibility for overseeing workplace safety “has to take all factors into account, even if some of those factors arose in a setting that exceeded their jurisdiction,” Polsky says. Justice Lutz had found CASAW National “directly and vicariously liable for breaches of a duty to avoid conduct that created a foreseeable risk of harm, for failing to make clear to all persons under its influence that causing death or injury was unacceptable, failing to prevent Mr. Warren from acting and failing to warn the deceased miners.” But Justice Cromwell found that “the relationship between CASAW and the striking union members... was not sufficiently close to justify imposing vicarious liability on the national union for [the members’] unlawful acts.” Says CAW president Ken Lewenza, “The CAW is relieved, and the labour movement should be relieved.” Ultimately, the SCC decision affirms that duty of care is not absolute. However, the subjectivity of what constitutes

“reasonable measures” continues to be a challenge. “It’s inherently ambiguous,” suggests Landon Young, a partner at SBH Management Lawyers in Toronto and co-chair of the firm’s oh&s group. Polsky adds that it is “always going to be difficult to try to isolate people’s actions.” BUT FOR Upon determining duty of care has been breached, courts must apply the “but for” test for causation, which the ruling defines as “[establishing] on the balance of probabilities that the injury would not have occurred but for the negligence of the defendant.” The SCC ruled Warren would have committed his act even if defendants’ actions had been different. The decision, Young suggests, could be used to argue for both expanding or imposing limits on the duty of care. Beyond that, Polsky notes that Royal Oak Mine’s liability remains unaddressed. “Because they settled, the Supreme Court didn’t address their obligations, and perhaps that would be the greatest unanswered question in this tragedy.” Rudner notes, however, that every jurisdiction has oh&s legislation that requires employers to “take steps to ensure that their employees are safe at work.” As such, although workers’ comp law protects employers from lawsuits, Royal Oak Mines was still legally responsible for worker safety. With its high profile, Martin suggests the case has elevated awareness of oh&s concerns and altered attitudes of what constitutes accountability. “This will be a very helpful precedent for having clarified the law on those points.” Emily Landau is editorial assistant of

OHS CANADA.

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OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE NANOPARTICLES

Small Talk By Emily Landau

t is often recommended that one “think big.” But a growing body of research is advising that it may be best to “think small” — nano-small, in fact — to avert a potentially big, bad impact on worker health down the road. Researchers and manufacturers are developing new technologies and processes involving nanoparticles, bits that measure from one to 100 billionths of a metre. And while this flurry of activity holds promise for improving products and generating new business, forecasts for the health impact of those working with nanoparticles remain cloudy. Despite some impressive properties, nanoparticles may be harbouring a dark side, suggests a study in the September, 2009 issue of the European Respiratory Journal. Led by Dr. Yuguo Song, on staff at the Department of Occupational Medicine and Clinical Toxicology at the Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, researchers followed seven women exposed to nanoparticles in polyacrylate paste over five to 13 months at the Chinese print plant where they worked. All subjects were admitted to hospi- Despite some tal for shortness of breath, where they were diagnosed with pleural effusion impressive (excess fluid in the lining of the lungs) and pulmonary fibrosis (scarring of the properties, lungs). Two of the women died of respiratory failure about a year and a half nanoparticles after symptoms first manifested. may be “Nanoparticles were observed to lodge in the cytoplasm and caryoplasm of pulmonary epithelial and mesothe- harbouring a lial cells, but are also located in the chest dark side. fluid,” notes the study. Researchers conclude that “the patients may have suffered from damage related to nanoparticles (30 nanometres in diameter) by comparing these cases with the toxicity of nanomaterials observed in the animal experiments.” Findings have been met with reactions ranging from positive to negative. Some experts question whether or not it was, in fact, the nanomaterials that caused the symptoms. The researchers “didn’t really account for all these other chemicals that were involved with the process, and any possible combination or mixture of these chemicals with the nanoparticles,” suggests Shane Journeay, Ph.D. and CEO of the Halifax firm, Nanotoxicology Consulting and Training, Inc. Further, Dr. Journeay contends exposure levels in subjects were not adequately measured. Some nano experts cast the study in a different light, noting that it has fuelled discussion in public circles. “It raised the eyebrows. It brought the issue back again into the media, there’s no doubt about it,” comments Renzo Dalla Via, a senior strategy advisor for technology at Safe Workplace

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Promotion Services Ontario in Toronto. With concern around exposure inevitably comes the need for an occupational hygiene response. Nanoparticles can be inhaled, ingested or absorbed through the skin, and exposure is a possibility for those working in a variety of industries, including the electronic, coating and auto sectors, waste disposal, research and “just about anyone who manufactures products,” says Dalla Via. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in the United States cites a number of processes as posing significant exposure risk, including: pouring or mixing liquids containing nanoparticles; generating gaseous nanoparticles in non-enclosed spaces; cleaning up spills or waste materials; machining, drilling or sanding (which can lead to the aerosolization of nanoparticles); spraying, weighing or blending powders containing nanoparticles; and cleaning or maintaining equipment and dust-collection systems. Studies have revealed certain nanoparticles can cause toxicity in animals, notes a 2008 report issued by the Institut de recherché Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail in Montreal. Toxic effects were reported in rats who ingested or were injected with fullerenes (spherical cages containing from 28 to 100 carbon atoms), while carbon nanotubes (hollow cylindrical molecules composed of carbon atoms) have been linked to pulmonary toxicity. To date, there have been no definitive studies in humans. TRICKY TOXICITY Not having a firm grasp on toxicity is likely viewed as disconcerting, since the size, precision and unique physiochemical properties of nanomaterials seem poised to revolutionize science and industry. “To some degree we’ve used nanostructures in the workplace for years and years,” says Dalla Via. As examples, he points to certain types of nanosized clays, carbon black and titanium dioxide. “However, what has and will be changing is the ability for science and manufacturing to manipulate a far greater number of these nanomaterials by changing certain parameters to create very different, very novel nanostructures and nanoobjects,” he reports. “A lot of the properties of the particle — meaning that it could be the electrical, the optical, the magnetic or even the biological properties — can be tuned by changing the size or shape of the material,” explains Warren Chan, Ph.D., an assistant professor of biomaterials and biomedical engineering at the University of Toronto and a member of the Council of Canadian Academies expert panel on nanotechnology. “Once you get above 100 nanometres, in most cases, as you start making the material bigger, the properties won’t change.” Dalla Via notes it is precisely the changeable nature of nanoparticles that can present challenges for occupational

hygiene. “Right at this stage, we can’t fully appreciate which is which and what characteristic is causing the problem.” Dalla Via says he hopes that one day, the gaps in knowledge will be filled. “There’s a tremendous amount of energy going on throughout the world to try and identify all of these characteristics and types of materials which will cause a problem,” he reports. “In the interim, precaution. In the future, there will be more definitive knowledge about which are problematic and which aren’t.” IFS AND BUTS While nanotechnology ticks off advance after advance, experts have amassed little definitive knowledge about the health impacts of specific nanoparticle types. That may be the result of the sheer number of the types of particles involved — ironically, the field may be just too big. “Originally, it was thought [toxicity] was strictly a function of size,” Dr. Journeay says. And while size definitely plays a role, at the nanoscale, “their shape, their charge, solubility — all these things impact how they move. But they’re also quite variable once they get into the body, so they can interact with various structures.” Dr. Chan says nanoparticles are “the size of a lot of proteins and viruses and bacteria, so the claim is that they can actually access certain vital organs that cannot be accessed using larger systems.” The nuclei of cells and the brain are examples of thresholds that could be breached, he cautions. Once in the body, nanoparticles are thought to cause a great deal of oxidative stress, says Dr. Journeay. “They essentially can respond to environments high in oxygen, like the lung, and the chemistry of the particles can change,” he explains. “That can cause damage to the lungs and trigger inflammatory responses.” But experts insist these theories are just that. “Everything, I think, is still very much up in the air,” acknowledges Dr. Chan. “I can’t just say, ‘These things are toxic and this is how you get rid of it,’ right?” Potential work-related exposure, Dalla Via emphasizes, is not limited to particles in a factory. “The life cycle takes you from the manufacturing of the particles through to the production of the materials, eventually to the public that would use it, through to the waste,” he says. MONITORING MATTERS Unfortunately, suggests Dr. Journeay, the scientific and occupational hygiene communities lack effective ways to monitor nanoparticle exposure on the job. Anthony Veltri, vice-president of industrial hygiene and safety at AM Health and Safety Inc. in Pittsburgh, says occupational hygiene practitioners have been trying to measure exposure using the same devices generally used for respiratory fit tests (TSI portacounts). “The problem,” Veltri suggests, “is that there’s nothing to compare monitoring data to as far as exposure limits.” Agencies are attempting to provide some guidance. Last year, NIOSH published the document, “Approaches to Safe Nanotechnology,” which offers a general outline of precautionary principles that workplace parties should follow to minimize risk. The document provides descriptions and definitions of nanoparticles and other nanomaterials; the known effects of exposure based on animal and epidemiological studies; potential safety hazards, such as catalytic reactions,

fires and explosions; details on how to assess and characterize exposure; and an outline of protocols for working with nanoparticles and other nanomaterials. “It’s a basic reapplication of good industrial hygiene principles,” suggests Chuck Geraci, Ph.D., a certified industrial hygienist and coordinator of NIOSH’s Nanotechnology Research Center in Cincinnati. “We’re concerned mostly about controlling dust releases and exposures, or whenever the nanomaterials are in dry powder form,” Dr. Geraci says. As such, he recommends employers minimize releases through the use of low-flow dust cabinets and high-efficiency, particulate-absorbing filters in ventilation control systems. Personal protective equipment should also be worn, Dr. Geraci notes, “Everything, recommending N95 or P100 respiraI think, is still tors, as well as gloves and suits that have been demonstrated to be effective very much up against nanoparticle exposure. Beyond that, Veltri adds tasks should be done in an enclosed enviin the air,” ronment to prevent any particles from acknowledges migrating to the general work space. While the NIOSH document offers a solid general framework for miniDr. Chan. mizing exposure, Veltri and Dr. Journeay urge employers to evaluate the specific tasks, processes and nanomaterials with which employees will be working. “Part of the problem is that there’s so many particles and so many applications for nanotechnology that companies don’t know where to turn,” suggests Dr. Journeay. Veltri recommends employers educate themselves by exploring the availability of studies related to their particular industries. STANDARD APPROACH Dr. Chan says he is hopeful there will soon be some standardization of nanotechnology nomenclature and particle characterization. Standardization is something that the National Institute of Nanotechnology Research in Edmonton, established in 2001, is pursuing, says the agency’s director general, Nils Petersen, Ph.D. “Do we use existing regulatory frameworks and understand which part of it is most applicable, or do we create entirely new ones?” Dr. Petersen asks. “Do we regulate just simply because it simply has the word ‘nano’ on it, or do we regulate it because it has a certain set of properties that we want to understand and deal with?” The Canadian Standards Association in Mississauga, Ontario has appointed Dalla Via as the chair of its nanotechnology committee. The hope is that a Canadian standard for nanotechnology will be available to the public by this fall. The committee has representation from the provinces, federal government, industry and labour, says Dalla Via. “We are in the process now of producing a guideline,” he says, adding that the standard will offer a sense of how to monitor, what protective devices are needed, ventilation system demands “and a little bit of an update on the current state of toxicology.” Says Dalla Via, “The chapter is nowhere near closed, and we’re just in our infancy in understanding the toxic nature of some of these materials.” Emily Landau is editorial assistant of

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TIME OUT

ON POINT: A picture is worth a thousand words. Or is it a ﬁnger that’s worth a thousand *&!%@ words? A Liberal MLA in New Brunswick was shown the door (temporarily) for a pointed gesture directed at an honourable member of the Tory kind during a recent heated exchange, CBC News reported in February. Liberal MLA Abel LeBlanc was given an opportunity to offer his “sorry” for the ensuing raucous ruckus, but opted to let his feet do the talking instead. No immediate word on how long the suspension will last. Unparliamentary language, indeed.

CUT THE CHEESE: Perhaps this bit of cheese was a tad too sharp. A Dutch court has ruled that a McDonald’s in the Netherlands should have issued a written warning — not a termination — to an employee who added a bit of fromage, sans charge, to a co-worker’s burger, Agence France-Presse reported in January. The court determined the employer would need to fork over about $6,000 in salary to cover the remaining ﬁve months of the worker’s contract. The whole matter came about in March of 2009 when an employee upgraded a co-worker’s hamburger to a cheeseburger — although payment had been made for only the former. McDonald’s stance: No free gifts to families, friends or colleagues. The court’s view: “It was just a slice of cheese.”

SECURITY-ISH: A group of lawyers has successfully argued for an interim injunction on the practice of subjecting them to police searches alongside all other visitors to the new Durham Consolidated Courthouse in Oshawa, Ontario. Citing the need to ensure public safety, the Durham Regional Police Service began using screening that includes metal detectors, X-ray machines and manual “wanding” when the metal detector sounds, Canadian Occupational Health & Safety News reported in February. The move was not well-received by lawyers using the courthouse, some of whom staged a protest, refusing to enter the facility for about two hours. The searches are mandatory even if valid picture identiﬁcation is produced. A lawyer representative reports that no other court in Ontario searches lawyers with proper ID and only the Supreme Court of Canada building subjects all visitors to security screening. A mediator was reviewing the issue at press time.

MAIL BAIL: Almost everyone, at one time or another, has wished they could take something back. And e-mails that should never have seen the light of day are no exception. Seventy-eight per cent of advertising and marketing executives on both sides of the border who took part in a phone poll last year experienced at least one “D’oh” moment after hitting the send button, notes a statement from The Creative Group, a job search company with offices in both Canada and the United States. The 250 respondents reported snafus that ranged far and wide: from releasing confidential salary information to the whole firm to sending a job offer to the wrong person, and distributing an internal memo about rest room etiquette to a prospective client. Recommendations from The

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Creative Group include saving the distribution list for last, checking all attachments carefully and not sending messages when angry.

CALL OUT: It was an emergency of a different kind for two Winnipeg paramedics who had their ambulance stolen in early January. CBC News reported at the time the paramedics were inside a house at about 4 am attending to a patient — who ultimately decided not to go to hospital — when someone made off with their vehicle, despite anti-theft features being available. When these devices are in place and ambulance keys have been removed, touching a brake or putting the vehicle in gear will cause the engine to stall and the siren to sound. Police later recovered the ambulance a short distance away. The unit had not been damaged. POP GOES THE OP: Fire officials in British Columbia and Ontario are warning that the safety of those licensed to produce medical marijuana could go up in smoke. Approved permit-holders do not appear to have adequate guidance on how to safely build a grow-op, with concerns revolving around, among other issues, wiring and storage of volatile chemicals, The Canadian Press reported in January. The fire associations have lobbied Health Canada, which issues the licences, to ensure that zoning, electrical safety and fire safety are all carefully considered as conditions of being granted a licence. As well, federal inspectors should have access to dwellings to determine whether or not conditions are safe for occupants, nearby buildings and emergency personnel who may need to respond to any resulting fires or explosions.

INSPIRATION, PERSPIRATION: Sweating it because someone has stolen your thunder? The uncomfortable feeling may be more common than one might think. Fifty-eight per cent of respondents reported a co-worker had taken credit for their ideas — and four in 10 said they did nothing in response, notes a survey developed by OfﬁceTeam and carried out by Angus Reid Public Opinion. In all, 367 Canadian adults employed in ofﬁce environments were interviewed. Some advice: use status updates to remind managers of any ideas and progress being made; do not act in haste; and look for patterns if people routinely get credit for your ideas. NOSE FOR DANGER: The mother of a fallen soldier has raised the money necessary for a mine-detection dog to work in Afghanistan. Corporal James Hayward Arnal, who died in the line of duty two years ago, had always wanted a dog — and now his brethren in Afghanistan will have “Jimmy,” The Canadian Press reported in February. Wendy Hayward set up a foundation through which she raised the $20,000 needed to purchase and train the dog. Jimmy was to undergo training in Bosnia before his deployment in Afghanistan. The twoyear-old Belgian Shepherd-Malinoa cross is being trained by the Canadian International Demining Corporation, which reports that none of its dogs have been hurt or injured while carrying out their duties.

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3M is Health &

Safety

Engineered For Safety, Designed For Style Safety, style and comfort are all critical factors in selecting the right personal protective equipment for your needs. 3M’s global technology, manufacturing and knowledge network, is dedicated to continually advancing beyond the expected boundaries. Product families such as, Fuel2™, Lexa™, Metaliks Sport™, Maxim™, Tuffmaster™, and BX™ all offer adjustable features designed to improve fit and comfort while accommodating for variations in face size and shape.

Experience the comfort for yourself! To receive a free eyewear sample visit www.3MisHealthandSafety.ca or call 1 800 265-1840 (ext. 2456)

3M also specializes in occupational prescription safety eyewear and the administration of employee safety eyewear programs. Our experienced sales team can customize a program to meet your requirements. No matter the application, you’ll find what you need because 3M is Health and Safety.

3M reserves the right to qualify requests and amend offering at any time. Limit 1 free sample per request. Offer limited to Canadian residents only.

3M Canada Occupational Health and Environmental Safety Service and Technical Support Centre

1 800 267-4414 or visit 3M.ca/Safety

Circle number 22 on Reader Service Card

Regulatory and Technical Expertise

Respiratory Protection

Eye Protection

Protective Apparel

Hearing Protection

Active Communication

Welding Protection

Fall Protection

Head and Face Protection

Training and Services