OHS Canada January/February 2013 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 J AN UARY / F E BR U ARY 2013

C A N A D A

BEHIND the SCENES The hands that pack the tainted meat

STEP BY STEP

Certificate of Recognition a work in progress

SLUMBER WOES

The vicious cycle of sleep impairment

SKY HIGH

Landmark fine against workplace bullying

CIRCLE OF HARM

Filtering the dangers of tanning equipment

total safety at height solutions

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

Features

m e at pac kin g hazar d s 26

CC A A NNA AD DA A

Silence on the Floor

J a nu a ry/ F e b ru a ry 201 3 Vo lu m e 2 9 , Nu m b e r 1

The massive recall at a beef processing plant in Alberta has largely focused on public food safety, but the well-being of workers in these facilities is no less concerning. By Jean Lian

ce rt i f i cate of r ec ogn ition 32

Work in Progress

The Certificate of Recognition is regarded as a safety benchmark in many workplaces. But critics argue that gaps in the program must be plugged if it is to serve its objective. By Danny KucharskY

fat i g u e

Sweet Repose

Sleep disorders that disrupt the reparative function of shut-eye can have a domino effect on a person’s health and function, as well as safety at work. By Ann Ruppenstein

departments 44

L AW FI LE

Above and Beyond

The award of nearly $1.5 million in compensation to an employee who suffered abuse at work highlights the hefty cost of not properly addressing workplace bullying. By Samuel Dunsiger

O ccu pation al H y gien e

Shades of Beauty

Health threats associated with exposure to ultraviolet radiation extend not only to those lying in tanning beds, but also to workers operating tanning equipment. By Sabrina Nanji

38 in this issue E ditor ia l

l etters

Panor ama

Black Christmas

OH & S UPDATE

Yukon death spurs charges; British Columbia refers mill explosion cases to Crown; oh&s changes in Alberta; Manitoba targets domestic abuse; Ontario student injured in fall; blasts rock Quebec plants; Newfoundland firm fined; and more.

In workplaces where chemicals and particles are part of the job, choosing the right eye protection can help keep injuries at bay and vision intact. By Greg Burchell

A cci de nt Pr ev en tion

Under Current

Electricity can seriously hurt or kill us. Following safe work procedures can help stave off potentially fatal injuries when working with or near electricity. T i m e Out

Pants-chaser; Santa’s in town; to the rescue; going postal; flying high; and more.

D ispatches

P r ofess io n a l d ir ec t o ry p r oduc t s ho w c a s e A d I n d ex/ r ea d er s erv i ce i nf o

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Lighting up for posties; cultural fit matters; driving safe in winter; ski safety gets a boost; and more.

S af e t y Gear

All Eyes on Eyes

Who can hope to be safe? Who sufficiently cautious? Guard himself as he may, every moment’s an ambush.

– Horace

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

EDITORIAL

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

Vol. 29, No. 1 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

Black Christmas J

ust 11 days before Christmas, the massacre that killed 26 students and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, shook the world. For many residents in Newtown, this is their 9/11. As America looks deep into her soul trying to make sense of it all, the possible answers put forth in news articles and forums are as varied and complex as the people who offer them. Many have fingered America’s gun culture as the number one culprit — for obvious reasons. Some point to mental health issues. Others blame it on the media for encouraging copycats by giving mass killers the media attention they crave. And if you ask the editor of an occupational health and safety magazine, it is certainly that workplace violence has taken a new, sinister twist, taking aim at soft targets like schools and malls. Before we shake our heads and dismiss these mass shootings as quintessentially an American malaise, it will serve us well to be reminded that similar acts of violence took place on Canadian soil not too long ago. The spate of shootings in Toronto’s Eaton Centre, the block party on Danzig Street and the restaurant belt in Little Italy crowded with soccer fans this past summer, are recent examples. Workplaces where members of the public hang out can be very dangerous. Almost one in five violent incidents in Canada take place at the workplace, Statistics Canada notes. Consider the five employees who were stabbed in the restaurant where they worked in Saanich, British Columbia in November. Or the anesthesiologist at Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital in Windsor, Ontario, who fatally stabbed his ex-girlfriend working as a nurse in the same hospital in 2005. While workplace violence can occur in any industry or sector, certain types of workplaces — such as social assistance, health care, education and accommodation or food services — are at a higher risk. Schools, like the health care sector, are predominantly staffed by women. Add on to that the massive presence of young students (or the sick and the infirmed in hospitals and caregiving homes) makes these places all the more vulnerable to violent incidents, with the potential for a high toll. For Sandy Hook Elementary, tales of heroic acts by staff who follow their training when protecting or evacuating the students have begun to emerge. The doors were locked when they were breached. The school had reportedly put in place new security measures. Everything seems to be done the way it should have been, and yet things still went wrong. Very wrong. Before answers are available, questions must be asked. Is a review of existing security measures in order for vulnerable workplaces, such as schools and hospitals? For workplaces with public access, are additional screening measures required and how far can such measures go without hindering these premises from discharging their functions? Do employees with domestic violence issues need to be looked at a little more closely to assess the potential of these problems spilling over into the workplace? And if so, how can that be done without infringing on privacy? The Newtown incident has touched us all in one way or another. It has also prompted a rethink on just how safe is safe. When I dropped off my kids at school this morning, an announcement over the intercom said all precautions will be taken to keep everyone in the building safe. My daughter’s kindergarten classroom — the very first from the main entrance — was locked, which was unusual. I surmised the teacher had locked it from the inside for security reasons. I hugged and kissed my girl longer than I normally do, feeling the warmth of her tender breath on my face, before I let her disappear behind the door. Jean Lian

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ohs canada

C A N A D A

EDITOR JEAN LIAN jlian@ohscanada.com managing editor jason contant jcontant@ohscanada.com assistant editor greg burchell gburchell@ohscanada.com editorial assistant Sabrina Nanji snanji@ohscanada.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Hazardous substances WILLIAM M. GLENN ART DIRECTOR anne miron PRINT PRODUCTION MANAGER PHYLLIS WRIGHT PRODUCTION MANAGER gary white DIMITRY EPELBAUM MARKETING SPECIALIST Circulation Manager Barbara Adelt ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER SHEILA HEMSLEY shemsley@ohscanada.com PUBLISHER peter boxer pboxer@ohscanada.com PRESIDENT, BUSINESS INFORMATION GROUP 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, October/November, and December. Application to mail at P eriodicals 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, 80 Valleybrook, Toronto, ON, M3B 2S9. TELEPHONE: Customer Service: 1-866-543-7888; Editorial: 416/510-6893; Sales: 416/510-5102; Fax: 416-510-5171. 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 OHS Canada (Print) • ISSN 1923-4279 OHS Canada (Online) 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) 1-866-543-7888; (Fax) 416-510-5171; (E-mail) apotel@bizinfogroup.ca; (Mail) Privacy Officer, Business Information Group, 80 Valleybrook Drive, Toronto, ON Canada M3B 2S9 Canada. 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 Canadian Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities.”

POSTAL INFORMATION: Publications mail agreement no. 40069240. Postmaster, please forward forms 29B and 67B to Business Information Group. 80 Valleybrook Drive, Toronto, ON Canada M3B 2S9. Date of issue: JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

LETTERS

Recent issues of ohs canada and our website, www.ohscanada.com, have provided readers with plenty to chew on. CULTURE CHANGE New research calls for changes to hockey rules to reduce the risk of injuries on ice. (canadian occupational health and safety news (cohsn), December 10, 2012) The checking to the head call (as it is in minor hockey) should be applied at all levels. If you contact the head, you are penalized accordingly, even if it is just a “face wash.” The Canadian Lacrosse Association has recently put in place additional penalties to help eliminate fighting in our game as well. If you fight, you are removed from the game, even at the Major Lacrosse levels (previously, only a major penalty was called). Steve O’Shaughnessy

The Todd Bertuzzi incident was not a check from behind — it was an attack; that is why he was criminally charged. That incident alone has given hockey a black eye, but recent rule changes, i.e. hits to the head, have changed hockey dramatically. The game is much bigger and faster than what it was even ten years ago; the game can adapt but if body contact is removed from the game, it then becomes basketball. Mike

HITTING THE BRAKES New laws will require motorists in Manitoba to slow down when passing emergency vehicles stopped on the highway. (the canadian press, December 4, 2012) This is a great idea and there is nothing wrong with this as a law. The smart drivers out there are doing this already but there are some that require a little more help. Mike Kroetsch

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ohs canada

ON THE BRINK Overcrowding in penitentiaries has put the safety of correctional officers on shaky grounds. (ohs canada, December 2012) Crowding in Canada’s provincial and federal correctional facilities creates unsafe conditions for both staff and prisoners and ultimately undermines public safety through the release back into our communities of those who have been subjected to harsh, violent circumstances without access to the programs needed to support reform. A broader strategy is urgently needed that promotes justice through effective, safe and humane sentences and corrections. Thank you for this excellent article. Catherine Latimer John Howard Society of Canada

shot into their bodies... Many lives could be saved if these weapons were used as a last resort. There needs to be a united public effort supported by the media and religious organizations to demand legislation that would govern the use of these dangerous weapons. If the news media would educate the public by investigating deaths and injuries caused by these weapons and edit the propaganda that the police public relation officers releases with the truth, citizens would automatically fall to the ground face down anytime these deadly weapons are pulled; however, the public is led to believe that these weapons are harmless and cause no injuries. Presently, most news releases state the same propaganda, the injuries were minor and that the victims caused the injuries to themselves. If the person dies, then they say that the victim had heart trouble or was on drugs. Bob Richardson

REVIEW ON energized weapons A review on conducted energy weapons could influence how stun guns are used by police officers in British Columbia. (cohsn, December 3, 2012) The U.N. needs to provide guidelines for the use of high voltage weapons. The number of deaths recently exceeded 550 and the count is rising each month. The long term effects are not known for those discharging these weapons or for those on the receiving end. This is similar to the way the state and local governments purchased radar for patrol cars. Officers developed numerous medical problems and some died as a result. After years of use, it was determined that the radar was emitting harmful levels of radiation. That radar was not properly lab-tested nor was a database set up to track health problems. A national database needs to be created for at least ten years so that statistical data can be gathered concerning ongoing health problems, both for the officers holding these weapons and for those who have had high voltages darts

CLOSER LOOK New Brunswick’s auditor general is raising questions about the amount of money being paid to doctors in the province. (the canadian press, December 4, 2012) When a doctor bills both the Medicare and Worksafe, the action would appear to me to be fraud and I believe they should be prosecuted for it. Rapid Rambler

MINERS VINDICATED Miners in Nova Scotia diagnosed with lung disease will be permitted to keep their full workers’ compensation benefits, regardless of health condition. (the canadian press, November 27, 2012) It is good to see that good sense has prevailed even if only for these less than 100 miners. What I find disturbing is that several WCB/WSIB administra-

tors appear to have totally written off the prime intent of the acts that gave their organizations birth — and I include Veterans Affairs Canada for what should be obvious reasons. Their aims are often phrased in this manner: “WCB-Alberta, working together with our partners, will significantly and measurably reduce the impact of workplace illness and injury on Albertans.” Most organizations end up failing because they did not hold to their founding principles. They become monolithic blocks of baffling bureaucracies that only serve the bureaucratic employees and not the clients. One only has to recall the incredible shake-up the North American auto industry received. Pat Almond

GUILTY PLEA The federal department of public works has pleaded guilty to three charges over a worker fatality. (the canadian press, November 20, 2012) It is not uncommon that it takes four years for a public employee’s family [to] finally see that people, who are managers, do not understand the process they have under their control. It is a sad day for all who have to live under this type of bureaucratic system where others walk away unpunished due to the process that they themselves created for failure. Gordon

HEALING PAIN Ministers’ call for suspension of OxyContin generics have implications for injured workers. (cohsn, November 19, 2012) I do understand how people feel that had problems with their kids that abused this medicine and have died from the original OxyContin, but real legitimate pain patients have seen the difference. Their pain is not nearly relieved by this new reformulated version. I suggest that schools and parents teach the kids that pain medications are not for them to use, that they are dangerous and should never be taken by anyone whom they are not prescribed. I feel there are many other ways of dealing with addiction instead of catering

to addicts by ruining effective medications that were never intended for abusers in the first place. Legitimate pain patients need effective medications… and most [of] them are being ruined and the undertreatment and suffering is continuing because of kids or non-prescribed persons. So this needs to be dealt with another way. Patients should not be left to suffer under any circumstances. Pain patient advocate

LIGHT FOR POSTIES Postal workers in Newfoundland are asking homeowners to shine a light on their property during the winter months. (cohsn, November 12, 2012) Yes, this sounds like a reasonable request, however, surely those posties that are working after dark are carrying a flashlight, aren’t they? Linda Coghlan

PRIVACY AT WORK Information contained on work-issued computers remains private if personal use is permitted or reasonably expected, ruling says. (cohsn, October 29, 2012) I totally disagree with a law that gives a person the right to break a law that is for the benefit of the greater good of our society and the workplace. If a person is breaking the law, looking at illegal child porn, for instance, then why should we protect that person’s privacy? No matter what computer it is being viewed on? I think any law that allows someone to secretly do things that are detrimental to our society is a very bad law. Privacy has gone too far, if it means that one person has the right to break the law that is meant to protect all people. It seems that the law is starting to have more loopholes than it has any power to stop bad behaviour. Why make any “policies” or “rules” if the courts are just going to come up with more “rules” to defeat an employer’s right to manage their workers and expect that their time on the job is spent productively for the good of all? Dee

right to challenge Ruling upholds the right of a sex-trade workers’ group to challenge anti-prostitution law. (cohsn, October 1, 2012) I’m not sure how someone can argue anything concerning their rights to participate in illegal activities. The reason they have to work on street corners outside is because what they are doing is illegal. It is no different for drug dealers, they also cannot stand in front of the public (authorities) and sell their wares. They have to do it in a fashion as to try and not get caught. The same reason sex trade workers have be incognito. I say legalize it once and for all! It isn’t going away no matter how hard society tries. So make it legal give them a place to operate (not in residential neighbourhoods) and tax them like the rest of the nation. lmilne

I agree with lmilne that anyone willfully doing illegal activities should not have the same rights pertaining to their illegal activities as someone else in our country does when they are engaged in legal occupational work. Seriously, don’t expect your drug dealing boss is paying into WCB, should you get roughed up when a deal goes south. You are taking a risk for the ‘glam’ life, plain and simple. In the same way, brothels or similar establishments should not be made legal on the basis of protecting the safety of its workers. These women and men have full rights to obtain a legal job and to refuse the conditions which accompany the sex trade, and they can walk away from the personal risks they would take while engaging in sex trade activities, including some risks which would not be controlled or eliminated even by legalization. If these women and men are being forced in any way, then they must be supported to make the transition to legal occupations, by criminal justice and by supporting organizations. Mpatterson Follow us on Twitter @OHSCanada

Would you like to share a comment? Send an email to jlian@ohscanada.com. Letters may be edited for style, grammar and length.

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

panorama $

1.46 million

Compensation awarded to a former employee of WalMart Canada Corp. in Windsor, Ontario for suffering harassment and mental abuse.

3 4

1. Stunning Changes: A review into the safe use of conducted energy weapons for police officers in British Columbia may change the way officers use stun guns in the province. The Special Committee to Inquire into the Use of Conducted Energy Weapons and to Audit Selected Police Complaints concluded the first portion of the process, which involved consultations with the public and presentations from expert witnesses in the field. The final report from the committee is slated for release as early as February. 2. Tighter Rein: Employers and workers in Alberta who violate safety rules will face stiffer penalties and higher fines with Bill 6: Protections and Compliance Statutes Amendment Act. Under the proposed legislation introduced by Minister of Human Services Dave Hancock on October 23, the Protections and Compliance Statutes Amendment Act will see an overhaul of the current oh&s legislation. 3. Close Shave: School administrators in Saskatoon are looking at mandatory carbon monoxide detectors after 15 students at St. Joseph School were sent to hospital following a carbon monoxide scare on December 10. 4. Mea Culpa: Stacey Electric Company Limited was fined $150,000 on November 19 over a worker fatality that took place in Toronto in 2010. Two workers were repairing a broken beacon located at the cement median of a four-lane traffic with no traffic cones or signs in place. Both workers were struck by an oncoming bus. The company pleaded guilty to failing to take the reasonable precaution of ensuring that their workers prepare a traffic protection plan for their safety. 5. Simulating Stability: A new virtual tool to help those working at sea have a better understanding of their boat has been launched in Newfoundland on November 30. The Fishing Vessel Stability Simulator gives fish harvesters the ability to learn the concepts of fishing vessel stability and apply them to virtual ships — on their computers — through three-dimensional interactive simulations, gaming scenarios, animations and narration.

360°

Up in Flames An electrical malfunction compounded by the lack of basic safety features, such as alternate exits, functioning fire extinguishers and worker training, were fingered as contributing factors behind the catastrophic fire at Tazreen Fashion factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh on November 24 that killed more than 112 workers. The factory, which produces clothes for retailers like Walmart, Sears and Disney, was operating without a safety license and had been warned twice to improve work conditions.

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ohs canada

7million

Value of the cocaine found hidden among boxes of lettuce in a truck driven by a trucker in Brampton, Ontario. The driver was found not guilty of smuggling due to lack of evidence linking him to the crime.

30-50 %

Higher risk of work injury among workers in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, compared to their counterparts in Ontario. The risk of work injury remains higher in the three provinces even after taking into account factors, such as industry type.

30,000

Number of migrant workers employed under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program, who can no longer take leave and collect a fraction of their wages while caring for their newborns or sick children, following the elimination of special parental benefits for foreign migrant workers.

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INTERNATIONAL CENTRE | 6900 AIRPORT ROAD, MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO INTERNATIONAL CENTRE Health & Safety Ontario is comprised of the following organizations:

OH&S UPDATE

Plane crash claims pilot FEDERAL — The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating a plane crash in Manitoba that claimed the life of a 40-year-old pilot and injured all seven passengers on board. At about 10 am on November 18, the Winnipeg-bound Cessna 208B departed the airport in Snow Lake, Manitoba and crashed in a heavily-forested area near the runway shortly after takeoff. Police responders and volunteer firefighters travelled in snowmobiles to reach the crash site, along with a local contractor who used a bulldozer to cut a path, reports Sergeant Line Karpish, a spokesperson for the Manitoba division of the RCMP. It took responding crews more than

an hour to reach the site. Rescue efforts were initially hampered by weather conditions as planes could not land in Snow Lake due to the low ceiling. The plane, operated by Gogal Air Services Ltd, sustained substantial damage, says Chris Krepski, a spokesperson for the board. All surviving passengers, who are employees of an international mining and energy company, sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Fuel tanker runs aground — The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has sent a team of investigators to Newfoundland after a fuel tanker ran aground. In late October, the MV Nanny ran aground near Baker Lake in Nunavut,

FEDERAL

but was given the green light to head to St. John’s for repairs. “We deployed two investigators to St. John’s, they met the vessel upon its arrival, they were there to interview the crew and gather any information about the occurrence that was available,” reports Chris Krepski, a TSB spokesperson, adding that none of the crew was injured. After finding no damage during their initial inspection, the team took a closer look and discovered a small hole in the double hull of the ship, owned by Coastal Shipping Ltd., a division of the Woodward Group of Companies in Happy Valley Goose-Bay, Newfoundland. This is the second time the MV Nanny has run aground. In September of 2010, the tanker was lodged in a sandbar in Nunavut’s Simpson Strait and was stuck there for nearly two weeks.

Mill explosion cases referred to Crown — WorkSafeBC’s decision to hand over to the Crown two recent cases involving deadly mill explosions in British Columbia brings forward the possibility of jail time. The regulator announced on November 29 that it would not be pursuing administrative penalties in the Lakeland and Babine lumber mill explosions. Instead, it will refer the cases to Crown counsel, who will decide whether or not to pursue charges under the province’s Workers’ Compensation Act. “When WorkSafeBC comes to these decisions, it is in very serious circumstances and these are serious consequences,” says Roberta Ellis, senior vice-president of human resources and corporate services at WorkSafeBC in Richmond, British Columbia. While the organization can issue penalties of just under $600,000 for a first offence and $1 million for subsequent offences, the courts can impose a fine of up to $650,000, a maximum of six months imprisonment or a combination of both. “The courts can address individuals; WorkSafeBC only addresses the employer,” Ellis adds. “There are situations where we look at the consequences to workers and the violations and determine that we are going to make a referral.” WorkSafeBC will turn over to the Crown all the information gathered during the investigation of both mills in early 2013, says director of investigations Jeff Dolan. The Crown has up to two years after receiving the information to decide if charges will be laid. If not, WorkSafeBC has the option of proceeding with administrative penalties. No criminal negligence charges are being considered in either case, Ellis says. “If our officers had seen evidence of criminal negligence, the law would have required us to give

RICHMOND

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that evidence to the police and the police would then have investigated,” she says. “But the violations are violations of the Workers’ Compensation Act, not the Criminal Code.” The United Steelworkers union representing workers at both mills called for Crown prosecutors to “expedite their decision-making process and exercise their full authority” in assessing the cases. It also says in a statement that the investigations revealed a lack of co-ordination between the government and the two mills, claiming: • The Babine mill had not been inspected under the federal or provincial fire safety codes for several years; • The Prince George Fire Department had several inspection reports detailing concerns about combustible wood dust at the Lakeland mill; • WorkSafeBC noted high dust levels in both mills; and, • There was a lack of co-operation and information sharing between parties. Sinclar Group Forest Products (owner of the Lakeland mill) and Hampton Affiliates (owner of the Babine mill), along with the Burns Lake Native Development Corporation, which has a stake in the Babine mill, expressed surprise and disappointment with WorkSafeBC’s decision. “We anticipated WorkSafeBC would release its report into the cause, so it is disappointing to learn that that information is being withheld,” Greg Stewart, president of Sinclar, says in a statement. The last case referred to the Crown was the deadly mushroom farm incident in 2008, in which four workers died. A total of $350,000 in fines were handed out to two companies and three officials. — By Greg Burchell

Fatality spurs charges WHITEHORSE — More than a dozen workplace safety charges have been laid in connection with the death of an employee of a Yukon tire company, who was killed when the truck he was working on backed over him. On November 15, 2011, 34-year-old Denis Chabot from Sherbrooke, Quebec was servicing a fuel truck in Whitehorse and had been putting slits in its tri-axle tires to provide better traction on ice and snow. After informing his supervisor that the truck was ready for pick-up, the driver climbed onto the idling vehicle and drove away when Chabot was still underneath the truck. Following an investigation by the Yukon Worker’s Compensation Health and Safety Board, spokesperson Richard Mostyn in Whitehorse confirms that both Integra Tire (Chabot’s employer) and North 60, which owns the fuel truck, were charged with a total of 14 occupational health and safety infractions. On November 6, Integra Tire was

charged with, among others, failing to control the truck when a worker could be injured by an unexpected start-up or when it was shut down and failing to stop or immobilize machinery or equipment that may endanger a worker. The company was also charged with failing to develop safe and effective lockout procedures and effectively explain those procedures to their workers. Charges have also been laid against North 60 Petro and its employees, which include two supervisors, a general manager and a worker.

DERAILMENT CLAIMS WORKER — A CN Rail employee was fatally injured when a tanker car derailed in the Gutah area north of Fort St. John, British Columbia. On November 28 at approximately 5 pm, Bryan Giesbrecht, 30, had been working approximately 250 kilometres north of Fort St. John near the Alberta border when an oncoming car derailed during the routine switching of a diesel

FORT ST. JOHN

tank. Giesbrecht, who was unable to avoid the oncoming train in time, was struck and severely injured, the British Columbia RCMP reports. Giesbrecht had succumbed to his injuries by the time workers from a nearby camp came to the scene. The BC Coroners Service and Transport Canada are investigating the accident.

recruitment fees probed TUMBLER RIDGE — Allegations that recruitment agencies are charging exorbitant fees to temporary foreign workers (TFWs) for the chance to work in British Columbia have prompted investigations from provincial and federal governments. In a letter dated October 22 to Pat Bell, minister of jobs, tourism and innovation, Jim Sinclair, president of the British Columbia Federation of Labour in Vancouver, cited recent allegations that recruitment companies in China, acting on behalf of mining companies in the province, are charging fees as high as $12,500 per person. The letter also al-

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

leged that training and a certificate of qualification was being offered for sale at $160. Bell confirms that an employment standards investigation is underway, but could not provide specifics. “What I can tell you is the investigation was started as a result of accusations that were made regarding payments to recruitment agencies in order to acquire employment in British Columbia,” he says. “That is com-

pletely against our labour laws.” The labour federation has urged the ministry to work with its federal counterparts to immediately suspend any TFW permits issued for the mine in question, the Murray River Coal Mine in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. The mine is developed by HD Mining International Ltd. “There really has not yet been any substantial information that has been provided that indicates these allega-

tions are accurate,” Bell stresses. He notes that HD Mining submitted a request to the federal government seeking approval to hire about 200 TFWs, who will work underground to extract a 100,000-tonne bulk coal sample during a six-to-eight month exploratory project. Just under 300 Canadian workers are employed above ground at the site. “Once the company understands whether this type of coal can be used for their purpose, then they would make a final decision on whether it goes into full production and 2015 is the estimated target for that,” Bell explains. The labour federation is calling for the appointment of an independent investigator to determine if the federal Temporary Foreign Worker Program has been used properly, if all necessary conditions are in place for the safe development in the mine and if any laws have been breached.

staff attacked before shift — Five workers of the Red Lion Inn and Suites in Saanich, British Columbia were injured after being stabbed in what police called “a chaotic rampage.” At around 4:30 pm on November 17, three employees were attacked with a pair of scissors while taking a break between shifts to prepare for the dinner service at the inn’s restaurant, the Jade Fountain, notes a report from the Saanich Police Department. A fourth employee was stabbed in the kitchen and a fifth at the front desk. The restaurant was closed at the time of the incident. The restaurant manager, 52-year-old Zhi Wei Meng, was taken into custody and charged with five counts of aggravated assault. Sergeant Chris Horsley of Saanich police says no motivation for the attack has been determined and police have requested a psychiatric review. A traffic patrol officer making his rounds nearby was the first to arrive on the scene. Several more officers showed up minutes later to find that the attacker had holed up in his office. As police were unaware if other potential victims were in danger, the first three officers on scene formed a team to search the large hotel complex. “The officers were able to quickly ascertain the suspect had gone inside a rear office,” the statement says. Police breached the door and arrested the suspect without incident.

SAANICH

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SWEEPING CHANGES introduce TOUGHER PENALTIES — Alberta has proposed sweeping changes to workplace safety laws that will see stiffer penalties and hefty fines being imposed on employers who violate safety rules. Under the proposed legislation introduced by Minister of Human Services Dave Hancock on October 23, the Protections and Compliance Statutes Amendment Act will see a massive overhaul of the current oh&s legislation. It affects three separate pieces of legislation and would amp up fees for violations under the Fair Trading Act, Safety Codes Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). Infractions under the OHSA could set employers back by a maximum of $10,000. A separate on-the-spot ticketing system would also allow safety regulators to issue tickets to offending employers and employees, anticipated to be in the range of $500 for the former and $200 for the latter. “The new administrative penalties aren’t a slap on the wrist. It is a maximum $10,000 fine per infraction per day and for most Albertans, that is far beyond the cost of doing business,” says Brookes Merritt, a spokesperson for the human services department in Edmonton. The Alberta Construction Association says while they approve of the ticketing system, the administrative penalties are “ill-advised.” In a letter penned on October 26 by chairman Brian Freemark, the association noted that further proof

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is needed to justify such hefty fines. Instead, it suggests that a better approach might be to develop a system where repeat non-compliant workplaces would be forced to close and not be allowed to reopen unless they meet the burden of proof that safety measures have been implemented. “On-site ticketing provides a tool to reinforce the message that worksite safety is a shared responsibility, applicable to selected infractions for any personnel on site,” Freemark writes in the letter. “It is our understanding that the occupational health and safety [department] has been unable to articulate how many chronic repeat non-compliant employers they wish to target, nor have they been able to identify specific performance measures to understand whether the proposal is making progress.” The letter adds that the oh&s department has been unable to provide evidence that administrative penalties in other Canadian jurisdictions have improved workplace safety performance. The association has petitioned the provincial government to tweak Bill 6. Merritt says the department will likely go through a period of raising awareness among employers about the stiffer penalties. The proposed changes to Bill 6 are scheduled to roll out in 2013, starting with the on-site ticketing initiative. — By Sabrina Nanji

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Workers claim mistreatment DAWSON CREEK — The former owner of a Tim Horton’s franchise was hit with a human rights complaint after four temporary foreign workers alleged mistreatment, discrimination and exploitation. On November 9, the British Columbia Public Interest Advocacy Centre filed a complaint with the human rights tribu-

nal on behalf of the four Mexican workers against Tony Van Den Bosch, who owned two Tim Horton’s franchises in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. The workers alleged that they were subjected to racist comments, forced to work under unreasonable conditions that their fellow Canadian workers did not have to follow, and at one point, even had their passports withheld by their boss. Their counsel, Eugene Kung, says

the workers had to live in a five-bedroom home with up to 10 foreign workers. “When these workers raised concerns about their working or living conditions, the employer threatened to send them back to Mexico,” Kung charges. He adds that the workers have filed complaints with the labour ministry under the Employment Standards Act, including breach of pay agreements. Tim Horton’s declined an interview, but released a statement saying that Van Den Bosch has not been with the company since July, 2012. “We work with our restaurant owners and various governments to help achieve compliance with required practices and standards on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. We don’t condone any of the behaviours alleged in this complaint,” says Alexandra Cygal, manager of public affairs for the coffee chain in Oakville, Ontario.

OLDER FARMERS AT GREATER RISK — As the average age of operators on Canada’s farms continues to rise, so too does their risk of injury while working the land, says a new study out of the University of Alberta. A survey of more than 2,700 male farmers over 25 years of age in Saskatchewan conducted in 2007 found that as farmers aged, their weekly hours of work dropped by about 34 per cent. However, the time older populations spent on using machinery, such as combines, tractors and swarthers — considered the most dangerous part of the work — increased by about 40 per cent. “We know that farmers don’t retire like normal folks. Even a 70-year-old farmer is working for 30 or 40 hours a week,” says Dr. Donald Voaklander, author of the study published in the November issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine. “While they might be working fewer hours, they are proportionally more exposed to the most dangerous aspect of farm work.” Data from the report, Agricultural Fatalities in Canada 1999 to 2008 by the Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting, indicates that 70 per cent of the nearly 2,000 farming fatalities in the country were machine-related. Farmers aged 50 to 69 years represented 621 deaths in that time period, while those over 80 years of age have the highest rate of mortality at almost 80 deaths per 100,000 farmers.

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RULING UPHOLDS PRIVACY OF INFORMATION AT WORK OTTAWA — Canadians can still expect privacy when it comes

to information kept on work-issued computers if personal use is permitted or reasonably expected, a recent ruling from Canada’s highest court says. The Supreme Court of Canada has ordered a new trial for a high school teacher charged with possession of child pornography, after ruling that excluding unlawfully-obtained material found on his work-issued laptop would negatively impact the criminal trial process. The decision, released on October 19, notes that although the teacher’s privacy interests were diminished due to the school board’s ownership of the laptop and workplace policies regarding computer use, the expectation of privacy is warranted where computers are allowed for personal use. Richard Cole was charged after a computer technician found a hidden folder containing nude photographs of an underage female student on his laptop during maintenance activities. The technician notified the principal, who ordered the photographs to be copied onto a compact disc. The principal seized the laptop and technicians copied temporary Internet files onto a second disc. The laptop and both discs were handed over to the police, who reviewed their contents and created a mirror image of the laptop’s hard drive for forensic examination — all without a warrant.

The Supreme Court ruled that police infringed on Cole’s rights under Section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protects the right to be secure from unreasonable search or seizure. Receipt of the computer did not afford the police warrantless access to the personal information contained within, although the conduct of the officer in this case “was not high on the scale of seriousness, and its impact was attenuated by both the diminished privacy interest and the discoverability of the evidence,” writes Justice Morris Fish in the decision. Erik Marshall, a lawyer with Miller Thomson LLP in Toronto, says employers can “manage employees’ expectations by ensuring there is a policy that clearly states computers and the data on them are the property of the company, outline the acceptable use of computers and inform employees that their use will be monitored.” In this case, the school board did all the above. Abby Deshman, director of the public safety program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association in Toronto, says the association was generally pleased with the decision. “The Supreme Court has clearly stated that we do not lose our privacy rights simply because we step into a workplace or use a computer or cell phone owned by our employers.” — By Jason Contant

Making this data more significant is the greying of the workforce in the farming industry. In the 2011 census, the number of farm operators aged 55 and above surpassed those aged between 35 and 54. The average age of farmers is also on the rise in every province. Voaklander advises that older farmers should be looking at new equipment where safety controls are an inherent part of the machine’s construction, such as dead-man switches, guarding and better ingress and egress platforms. The study indicates that their equipment could be the oldest on the farm. “When we talk about safety on farms, it really is about shifting the culture so that we stop and think safety first. That is true for any age group working on farms, but in some ways more important for our older age groups,” says Glennis Bihun, executive director of Saskatchewan’s occupational health and safety division in Regina.

police test cameras in pilot program CALGARY — The Calgary Police Service (CPS) has launched a

pilot program to test body-worn cameras. Since November 12, 50 cameras have been deployed to officers across the CPS, including district patrols, K-9 unit and the city’s traffic section. The cameras allow officers to capture evidence, provide transparency and enhance officer and public safety, the CPS says in a statement. The cameras may be activated when an officer responds to a call or comes across an incident that may require investigation. The pilot project will run until spring of 2013 to allow the CPS to assess the potential of this technology as an additional policing tool. The cameras cost $1,200 each, putting the estimated cost of the pilot at $60,000.

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

two plants in quebec rocked by blasts — Three workers were killed and 18 injured after a deadly blast and fire broke out at a marine sciences plant in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. On November 8, an explosion occurred at the Neptune Technologies & Bioressources factory in Sherbrooke, east of Montreal. Rescue crews spent hours taming the blaze. Two workers were found dead amongst the rubble. The third worker, 42-year-old Marc Couture, was kept in a medically-induced coma after sustaining burns to 90 per cent of his body. He succumbed to his injuries in hospital. Eighteen others were taken to the hospital with varying degrees of burns. Hours after the explosion, firefighters discovered a woman in the debris who had taken refuge under her fully-intact desk. She did not suffer any physical injuries. Although Quebec officials say it is too early to speculate on the cause of the blast, initial reports point to a leak of acetone, a highly flammable and commonly used substance. “At this point, what we think happened is that there was maybe a leak somewhere along the line and some acetone came out,” says Jacques Nadeau, a spokesperson with the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST), Quebec’s workplace health and safety regulator. Before the clean-up and investigation can get under way, inspectors need to eliminate any potential for another blast.

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“Because the structure is not sound, we cannot send any people in to take the debris out, so we are looking at safe methods,” Nadeau explains. “Our main concern at this point is to make sure there is no flammable liquid in the tanks, because there are a couple of things that are still hot inside what’s left of the plant.” The company says it is focusing on finding the cause of the incident and providing counselling services to affected workers. “Upon our arrival, we began working with emergency services to understand what caused this incident. We will continue to closely collaborate with them for as long as it is necessary,” Michael Chartrand, Neptune’s chief operating officer, says in a statement. Nadeau confirms that the facility, which was expanding, was undergoing construction at the time of the incident. However, it has yet to be determined whether or not that had a bearing on the explosion. Within 24 hours, a second deadly blast shook the Bombardier R&D plant in nearby Valcourt. The company announced that one of its employees, a 38-year-old dynamometer operator, died in the hospital following the explosion on November 9. A night shift security guard was in intensive care at Quebec City hospital’s burn unit at press time. — By Sabrina Nanji

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City YIELDS double fatality LETHBRIDGE — Two worker fatalities have occurred in the city of Lethbridge in Alberta in less than a month. The first fatality took place on October 17 as an employee of Mo Tires Ltd. was fueling a forklift truck when he became pinned between the forklift and the door of a shed, reports Alberta Human Services spokesperson Brookes Merritt in Edmonton. He later succumbed to his injuries in hospital. The second incident occurred on November 14. Workers at a residence under construction at the University of Lethbridge were attempting to place an air handling unit when it tipped over and crushed a 31-year-old employee of Zero Gravity Cranes and Rigging Inc. A stop-work order on the positioning of air handling units was issued, Merritt says. Calgary-based Stuart Olson Dominion was the prime contractor on site and KB Heating & Air Conditioning Ltd. in Lethbridge was the subcontractor. In a statement, the university says confidential grief counselling was made available to those in the campus community who may have been affected by the incident. The university also reminded members of the university community

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that safety issues can be brought to the attention of their representative on the Joint Work Site Health and Safety Committee.

certification needed for young workers — Young workers in Saskatchewan were reminded by the province’s workplace safety regulator to complete their Young Workers Readiness Certificate Course (YWRCC) before getting a job during the festive year-end period when employers hire extra staff to help them get through the busy weeks. Young workers aged 14 and 15 must successfully complete the course and print out a certificate in order to be allowed to work. Employers are required to keep a copy of the certificate in their files for each of these employees. “The YWRCC is an invaluable resource for young people because it teaches them about their rights and responsibilities, as well as health and safety in the workplace,” Minister of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety Don Morgan said in a statement on December 12. More than 7,400 young people have completed their certificate so far this fiscal year. Since the course was launched in February of 2010, more than 17,000 young workers have earned their certificates. The YWRCC modules, available in French and English, can also be printed out, completed on paper and submitted to Labour Standards. While 14- and 15-year-olds are able to apply for jobs and go for interviews before completing the certificate, they must provide a copy of the completed certificate to their employer on or before their first day of work, the statement notes. Young workers under the age of 16 must also have the consent of their parent or guardian; are not allowed to work after 10 pm on a day preceding a school day or before the time that school starts in the morning; and cannot work more than 16 hours during a school week.

REGINA

The efforts were in response to the 2011 death of Jimmy Ray Wiebe, who was shot by armed robbers while working the late shift at a Shell gas station in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. The incident spawned Jimmy’s Law, an initiative calling on the government to improve protections in 24-hour workplaces. “We are pleased that the government is actually taking the first step to recognize that people who work in 24-hour convenience stores and gas stations are very vulnerable, and are often the victims of violence,” says SFL president Larry Hubich. He suggests that more options, such as bulletproof and shatterproof barriers between customers and clerks, a pay-beforepump system, and ensuring that at least two workers are on duty during each shift, can help bolster workplace safety. The Western Convenience Stores Association commended the government’s move, adding that it is developing a recognition program for convenience store owners in the province who implement safety standards applicable at all hours of the day and go beyond the new regulatory requirements.

province targets domestic abuse WINNIPEG — During Domestic Violence Month in November, SAFE Work Manitoba reminded workers and employers that domestic violence and abuse can extend beyond the home and spill over into the workplace. In Manitoba, violence prevention policies are a requirement for all workplaces where violence has been identified as a po-

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New rules bolster lone worker protection REGINA — Saskatchewan is beefing up its labour laws to better protect late-night workers in the wake of several high-profile fatalities that took place in convenience stores and gas stations across the country. At the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL) convention in Regina on November 3, labour minister Don Morgan introduced new rules that he says will better protect late-night retail workers and those who face a high risk of assaults. The new regulations will come into force as early as January, 2013. A statement from Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety cites safe cash handling procedures, use of video cameras and the provision of good visibility and signage for all late-night premises as among the improvements. Establishments are also required to put in place a check-in system and provide personal emergency transmitters to all clerks working alone on the late shift. Glennis Bihun, executive director of the province’s occupational health and safety department in Regina, says those mandatory regulations are part of the overall workplace hazard assessment programs. “It provides an opportunity for an employer to do an assessment to identify the kinds of things, in addition to the mandatory security measures, they might need to do to minimize or eliminate the risk of violence for workers.”

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tential risk to worker safety and health. SAFE Work Manitoba offers the Family Violence and the Workplace: It’s Everyone’s Business toolkit, which provides information on how employers can handle instances of domestic violence through health and safety committees, employee assistance programs and training employees on the signs of family violence. The toolkit also addresses the impact of domestic violence in the workplace, the importance of confidentiality, how to make referrals and developing individual response plans.

Premium process under review WINNIPEG — The government of Manitoba is conducting an external review of the Workers’ Compensation Board, focusing on the process the board uses to set employer premiums. Jennifer Howard, minister of family services and labour, announced on November 6 that the review will look at increasing the effectiveness of injury prevention while targeting illegal claim suppressions. “The current method used to assess WCB’s employer premiums has been in place for over 10 years. While it has mostly worked well, the review will look at ways to improve it by ensuring that injuries are reported and prevention efforts are rewarded,” Howard says in a statement. The report is expected to be completed by spring.

Cancer risks probed — A groundbreaking study has found evidence linking female workers exposed to toxic chemicals with a heightened risk of breast cancer. The six-year study, published in November, focuses on the automotive industry in Windsor, Ontario. It concludes that workers in the farming and manufacturing sectors — namely the automotive plastics, metalworking, agriculture and food canning industries — face exposure to carcinogenic chemicals and endocrine disruptors, with women at an especially high risk. Women in the industry were exposed to a “toxic soup” of hormone-mimicking chemicals known to cause cancer. These chemicals include solvents, heavy metals and bisphenol A. Although labour and safety codes standardize restrictions on exposure levels, the cumulative effect of working with WINDSOR

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a combination of chemicals makes this occupational exposure issue particularly challenging, suggests Sari Sairanen, health and safety director at the Canadian Auto Workers union in Toronto. “We have exposure limits on single chemicals, but not when they are in unison,” she says. “How do you control your exposure to these hazards when the threshold limit value tells you that you are within the norms, but then you have five other chemicals that you are exposed to and they have synergistic effects?” The American Chemistry Council argues in a statement that the findings are inconsistent with other research and the study “should not be used to draw any conclusions about the cause of cancer patterns in workers.” Sandy Knight, who worked in Windsor in the plastics industry for 20 years, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001 and had to undergo a mastectomy. Knight says she believes her workplace contributed to her cancer. “It takes more than a day or two to affect you — it takes years. I went to work healthy at 19, I should have left there healthy,” Knight says, adding that she had no family history of breast cancer.

Student injured on site PELHAM — A co-op construction technol-

ogy student suffered minor injuries after falling about 2.4 metres from a ladder. On November 19, the high school student from the District School Board of Niagara was working on framing a home at a new housing development site in Pelham, Ontario when he fell off a ladder, the Ministry of Labour reports. The student was transported to a nearby hospital, notes a statement from the Niagara Regional Police Service. The ministry is investigating the incident. Three orders under the provincial Occupational Health and Safety Act’s Ontario Regulation 213/91 regarding construction projects have been issued to constructor DeHaan Homes Inc.: A guardrail system that meets the • requirements of this section shall be used if a worker has access to the perimeter or an open side of a floor, a bridge surface, a roof while formwork is underway or a scaffold or work platform and is exposed to a fall of 2.4 metres or more; • A ladder used as a regular means of access between levels of a structure

shall be secured at the top and bottom to prevent movement; and, • The constructor shall ensure that the emergency procedures are posted in a conspicuous place at the project. Brett Sweeney, media relations officer for the District School Board of Niagara, says the district has been running the coop house building program since 2003. “They have built 15 houses now and this would be the first injury.” He adds that the program, available to students in grades 10 to 12, offers training in ladder safety, Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System, first aid and cardiac pulmonary resuscitation prior to heading out to site.

worker fall spurs fine GUELPH — Maple Reinders Construction Ltd. was fined $55,000 on November 29 for a worker injury that occurred in 2010. Workers were stripping forms off of a concrete wall at a waste processing facility under construction in Guelph, Ontario when the form tipped over, causing the worker to fall from the top of the wall and sustain leg injuries. An inspection found that metal rods used to hold the forms in place had been removed and replaced before the teardown began, which was against normal practices, a statement from the Ministry of Labour reports. The company pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that the forms were moved in such a way that would not endanger a worker.

Mental health guide released — Canadian employers will now have access to a voluntary national standard addressing mental health issues in the workplace. The standard, Psychological Health & Safety in the Workplace CSA Z1003/ BNQ 9700-803, released in November, focuses on the hazards and risks associated with mental injury. It provides organizations with guidance on how to support and continuously improve psychologically healthy and safe work environments for employees. The standard deals with various aspects that include drafting a policy on psychological health and safety (PHS) and the roles of workplace parties; developing and implementing the PHS system; and identifying and investigating

TORONTO

PHS incidents. It also requires companies to establish an audit program to determine compliance and if the system is effectively implemented and maintained. Management must ensure that documented corrective action is taken, and that these actions and audit results are communicated to affected workplace parties. “This standard is meant for everybody in the workplace, not just for those who might have a diagnosis of depression or anxiety,” says Mary Ann Baynton, co-chair of the standard’s technical committee. The standard is available online from the Canadian Standards Association and the Bureau de normalisation du Québec in both official languages.

TRANSIT EMPLOYEE SUSPENDED MONTREAL — A transit operator in Montreal has been suspended for the third time in six months after he refused to speak English to anglophone riders. On November 23, the ticket-taker was accused of being rude to clients who spoke English. He was first suspended in June and has racked up a total of eight days off work. However, provincial law dictates that public service workers, including those employed by the transportation authority, are only obligated to speak the official language — in this case, French — while on the job. Martin Bergeron, the official spokesperson for the Office québécois de la langue francais, which enforces language rights in the province, says each worker has a right to carry on their duties in French, unless their employer deems it necessary to be bilingual. “It is up to the employer to decide whether that knowledge is necessary or not. It really depends on the job,” Bergeron says. An example where an employee could reasonably be required to fulfill additional language requirements is working in a customer service department for a company that deals with international clients, he suggests. Officials from Montreal’s transit service, Société de transport de Montreal (STM), say they could not comment on this case. However, STM issued a statement the past summer regarding a similar incident in which an English-speaking patron was turned away at a ticket booth. “That does not mean that an employee should refuse to serve someone who does not speak French. He has to serve the client any which way he can find.

Gestures, drawings, showing maps or titles list with fares, etc. And he has to do so with respect to the person he is serving or answering to,” STM says.

INSPECTION PROMPTS CHARGES

— The Nova Scotia Workers’ Compensation Board has announced changes to permanent medical impairment benefits related to lung function. Citing an appeal decision in 2012, benefits will now be decreased if an assessment shows an improvement in lung function. Conversely, benefits will increase if testing shows reduced lung function, notes a statement from the board. Previously, benefit rates were maintained if an assessment shows improvement. The change comes into immediate effect for new reassessments and workers will be advised when a new assessment is booked. Workers will be notified in advance if a reassessment has an impact on their benefits. The previous practice will be maintained for claims where entitlement comes from Section 35 of the Workers’ Compensation Act.

— DET Enterprises Ltd. and a supervisor at the company have been fined $10,000 and $500 respectively after pleading guilty to charges following an inspection of a commercial building construction site in Gander on June 23, 2010. The inspection by Service NL found violations under the provincial Occupational Health and Safety Act, although no injuries were involved. The company has pleaded guilty to four charges and was fined $10,000. The charges relate to the failure to provide a safe workplace, failure to provide training for their health and safety representative, not having adequate fall protection equipment and not ensuring that a written fall protection plan was in place. Two charges were withdrawn in exchange for guilty pleas, a statement from Service NL noted on November 28. The supervisor pleaded guilty to the charge of providing inadequate supervision and was fined $500. Follow us on Twitter @OHSCanada

WCB offers new videos

Many of the preceding items are based on stories from our sister publication,

Changes to comp benefits HALIFAX

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— The Workers Com-

pensation Board of PEI is offering six new videos for use in occupational health and safety meetings. The videos, available for borrowing up to two weeks, deal with leading indicators; slips, trips and falls; supervisors in health care and improving office comfort, among other topics, information from the board noted on November 14.

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DISPATCHES

Shine a little safety light for postal workers By Greg Burchell

ith the cover of night descending earlier during the winter months, some 100 postal workers in Newfoundland are asking homeowners to shine a little light on their property. Mail carriers in St. John’s, Newfoundland launched the “Porch Lights for Posties” initiative in November, asking residents of the capital city and surrounding area to leave their porch lights on in the evening so that workers will have an easier time navigating their way from the street to the houses. “We have got driveways that are 600 feet, we have got houses that are one foot off the curb,” says Craig Dyer, spokesperson for the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) Local 126 in St. John’s. Denis Lemelin, president of the CUPW in Ottawa, says the campaign helps to remind homeowners that postal workers will be coming up to their houses in the dark, making it less likely that the workers could be wrongly harassed. The genesis of the campaign dates back to 2010 after Canada Post introduced the postal transformation sequencing technology — a new delivery model implemented countrywide — as part of an infrastructure renewal. Anick Losier, a spokesperson for Canada Post in Ottawa says the corporation began retrofitting mail sorting depots with new machines that sort most of the mail, leaving only the larger envelopes to be hand-sorted by postal workers when they begin their shift in the morning. “That gave us an opportunity to change how we delivered the mail,” Losier says. More than 90 depots, representing in excess of 1,000 workers and 2.7 million addresses, have been moved to the new system. Instead of having one depot for 60 letter carriers, the same facility is now used for up to 120 carriers. This means there are now two waves of carriers: the second starting about two hours after the first wave and ending their days later, when it is darker out. In St. John’s, about 40 per cent of workers begin their day at 9 am while the rest start at 11 am, explains Dyer, who delivers in the first wave. However, the union claims that this new delivery model is the source of many new problems postal workers now face. “We do understand that part of our job may be, on given

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days, to deliver mail in the dark, but for the most part, for my 24 years and for the history of the Canada Post, most carriers got off in the daylight hours,” Dyer notes. He says schedules could have been adjusted so that more workers start on the earlier shift, leaving less workers out in the dark. Losier suggests many of the issues are growing pains arising from the overhaul to work processes. Workers are provided with headlamps and crampons to strap to their boots in icy conditions. More workers are also taking trucks with the new system, protecting them from the elements. “We are trying to be more efficient,” Losier says. “To do anything that would hurt our employees would be incredibly inefficient for us. Lost-time injuries cost more money to an organization and slows down process and production.” Greg Burchell is assistant editor of

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dian occupational health and safety news.

Cultural fit first, then skills: study By Jean Lian

he résumé is often regarded as one of the most important pieces of arsenal in any job-hunting effort. But once a candidate has been offered face-time with a potential employer, the paper listing the job-seeker’s academic and professional credentials may be just that — a piece of paper. Employers are often more focused on hiring someone they would like to hang out with than on finding the best person for the job, suggests a study published in December in a journal. “Employers are looking for people who have the baseline of skills to effectively do the job,” says study author Lauren Rivera, assistant professor of management and organizations and sociology at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. “Beyond that, employers really want people who they will bond with, who they will feel good around, who will be their friend and maybe even their romantic partner. As a result, employers don’t necessarily hire the most skilled candidates,” Rivera suggests. The study, Hiring as Cultural Matching: The Case of Elite Professional Service Firms, is based on 120 interviews conducted between 2006 and 2008 with professionals involved in undergraduate and graduate hiring in elite investment banks, law firms and management consulting firms, and observations of interviews conducted by a recruiting department with a staffing company down south. Results indicate that more than half of the evaluators in the study ranked cultural fit — the perceived similarity to a

firm’s existing employee base in leisure pursuits, background and self-presentation — as the most important criterion at the job interview stage. “It is important to note that this does not mean employers are hiring unqualified people,” Rivera says in a statement. “My findings demonstrate that — in many respects — employers hire in a manner more closely resembling the choice of friends or romantic partners than how one might expect employers to select new workers.” She compares the qualities an employer looks for, which include level of education, the calibre of schools attended and the types of activities pursued, as being similar to that of someone looking for a date or potential partner in life. “These types of things are salient at least to the employers I have studied,” Rivera adds. She notes that her findings about the importance of cultural fit in hiring practices at elite professional service firms can be generalized and applied to other types of occupations to some extent, although the degree of importance attached to cultural similarity will vary across occupations, depending on the technical demands and how structured interviews are. “If you were hiring a neurosurgeon, I think there would be more of an emphasis on performance than cultural fit.” As well, the types of cultural similarities valued may differ from occupation to occupation. “Cultivating leisure time is a hallmark of the upper-middle and upper classes, and it is really important as a class marker and as a source of identity,” she suggests. “You may see different types of cultural similarities that matter in occupations that are less elite.” Jean Lian is editor of

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Santa sleighs on a garbage truck in the Yukon By Jason Contant

anta Claus has already come to town in one city in northern Canada — not on a sleigh pulled by reindeers — but on a one-tonne waste management truck owned by the City of Whitehorse, flanked by a cadre of elves, no less. At a city council meeting on November 26, Councillor Kirk Cameron brought forward a motion for the city to institute and fund a goodwill program during the holiday season complete with a “mobile waste management truck lit with Christmas lights and driven by our own St. Nick” starting in December. “After much debate, I am pleased to announce that our Civic Santa program will be continuing,” mayor Dan Curtis said in a statement on December 3. “We will be providing Santa with elves this year who will be driving, to ensure he has his hands free to hand out candy canes,” Curtis adds.

As part of his rounds, Santa will also be collecting donations for the Canadian Cancer Society and the Whitehorse Food Bank. Proceeds will go to three programs for children and families coping with childhood cancer in British Columbia and the Yukon, the statement adds. Civic Santa has been a Christmas tradition in Yukon’s capital city for about two decades. Brian Crist, director of infrastructure and operations for the city, says the tradition started with a garbage packer operator putting on a Santa suit while picking up garbage. The staff member eventually moved onto another job, but he kept up the tradition by decorating a garbage truck and going around elementary schools, daycares and senior citizens’ homes. In preparation for the event, the city’s internal safety committee identified safety issues and brought them to the attention of the city’s senior management team. “The safety committee did a fine job of identifying these issues and working with the event planners to ensure the event is carried out in a safe manner for both city staff and the public,” Crist says. He notes that garbage packers have grown in size and complexity from the original trucks used in the past. Packers today are multi-axle vehicles equipped with more advanced technology, such as hydraulic lift mechanisms. “Driving large equipment into schools and daycares, et cetera, is seen as unsafe,” Crist suggests. “For this reason, a smaller truck will be used this year.” Concerns were also raised that Santa would be driving the vehicle with all his gear on. As a result, a provision was made for a driver to accompany him to allow his full attention on the road and help eliminate any potential conflicts with the suit. Although lighting the truck is contrary to the Motor Vehicle Act by creating a “distraction,” a specific waiver has been granted for this event. “The city always agreed to continuing with the event; it mostly came down to making some changes to address both safety and operational issues,” Crist adds. Jason Contant is managing editor of

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Forest fire lessons go cross-cultural By Greg Burchell

orestry workers are coming to British Columbia from halfway round the world to learn the techniques used in investigating a forest fire. A group of 25 students from the Korean Forest Service attended a two-week course held at the Wildfire Management Branch in Victoria. The course teaches participants how to dissect the minutia of a blaze to determine the point of origin and document the evidence. “We have a reputation internationally as being leaders in a lot of things wildfire-orientated and our training is used internationally,” says John Flanagan, superintendent of international strategic development for the branch. He reports that they have had forestry workers hailing from Greece, Argenwww.ohscanada.com

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tina, Brazil and Australia. In addition to classroom lessons on the theoretical aspects of an investigation, the knowledge-seekers from Korea were also offered a practical lesson with test burns being lit and extinguished near Silver Creek, offering them a chance to examine the remains of a real fire. Flanagan says the five-day course was extended to two weeks because of language barrier. “My Korean isn’t very good, but most of them have some rudimentary conversational English,” he says, adding that a translator is available to help with the technical aspects of instruction. “It is difficult, but with a lot of sign language and showing them the practical application out there, it works out well.” The cross-cultural learning expedition is an effort on the part of the South Koreans to build a world-class fire investigation division by 2015, when the International Wildland Fire Conference will be held in Seoul, Flanagan reports. Representatives from the Korean Fire Service have been coming to British Columbia on touring visits for about 16 years. In the last four years, there was a major effort to replace the trees destroyed in the Korean War. This had created an influx of fires caused by human activity, Flanagan explains. “When we went over this spring, they asked three of our staff to go over to Korea for six days and look at what some of their fire cause issues are, and they have adapted the course for Korea.” He says incense and candles left at roadside shrines and the agricultural practice of burning off the stubble from rice paddies are causes of fire not present in Canada. Flanagan adds that the branch has done work with more than 60 countries in the past 20 years. “It is a two-way street. It is not just us training them; we can get information and training back from them that helps all of Canada,” he says.

Tips on surviving driving in winter conditions By Jean Lian

t is time to shift gears as we enter into one of the most treacherous times to drive in the year: the deep freeze. In anticipation of the travails of winter driving, a number of safety agencies in British Columbia have come together to provide drivers with hands-on tips on how to drive and stay safe when behind the wheel. Mark Ordeman, manager of industry and labour services at WorkSafeBC in Richmond, British Columbia said in a statement in November that many businesses in the province rely exclusively on vehicles owned by their employees, or use a combination of commercial and worker-owned vehicles. About 60 per cent of small businesses and 47 per cent of medium-sized businesses in the province use worker-owned vehicles. “It is important for this segment of the driving population to maintain their vehicles and exercise safe driving practice regardless if they are driving for work or personal 22

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use,” Ordeman says. “Whether you are driving across town, or across the province, it is important that you and your vehicle are prepared for winter conditions,” transportation and infrastructure minister Mary Polak notes in the statement. “Winter weather is unpredictable, particularly in our mountain passes.” Data from the BCAA Road Safety Foundation notes that the number of calls for roadside assistance typically increases up to 25 per cent during rainy or snowy winter months. Problems with tires are common as motorists drive over more potholes, which can create a bulge in a tire, damage wheels or suspension components and cause a flat tire. In 2010, there were 44 fatalities in which driving too fast for the conditions was a contributing factor, notes data in April, 2012 from ICBC, an automobile insurer headquartered in British Columbia. Speed, impairment, distraction and high-risk driving are also the most commonly cited factors for road collisions. For those who drive for a living, such as truckers, winter can be a testing time not just from being on the road, but also getting up and down the vehicle. Wearing sturdy shoes or boots with good traction can help prevent slips and falls. Maintaining three points of contact when entering or exiting the cab will keep one grounded. Commercial drivers in British Columbia are also required to carry chains when driving between October 1 and April 30, information from ICBC notes. Having access to a winter roadside emergency kit is also important should a car stall. The kit should include a windshield scraper and snow brush, windshield washer fluid, matches or a lighter, tire chains and gloves, a first aid kit, a shovel and a traction mat, sand or cat litter, a flashlight with extra batteries, battery jumper cables, a spare tire, a wheel wrench and jack, and extra clothing and shoes. Installing winter tires, checking local weather and traffic conditions before heading out and observing the posted speed limit are other recommended safety measures.

Connectivity to work cited for burnout, fatigue By Jean Lian

eel a vibration from the smartphone in your back pocket, or see the red light flashing from your BlackBerry on your bedside table? That may be work a-calling. Love it or hate it, the likely truth is you cannot do without it. While mobile technologies have become an indispensable part of our lives both at home and at work, they are also contributing to increased fatigue and burnout by blurring the

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lines between work and personal time. The findings are part of a survey conducted by staffing company Kelly Services, headquartered in Toronto. Almost 170,000 people across 30 countries participated in the survey, which looks at the rise of a highly virtual workforce with widespread access to mobile technologies and the impact on workplace productivity, work-life balance and job security. More than a quarter of employees (27 per cent) globally report that they feel pressured to stay connected to work outside of normal work hours through email, smartphones and other online platforms. Almost one-third say the use of mobile technologies has contributed to fatigue or burnout, while 29 per cent indicate that online technologies have improved their job security, notes a statement from the company. Almost half of the respondents report spending up to five hours each week connected to the workplace, while a quarter spend more than six hours per week checking emails or other work-related duties online. Many respondents indicate that they spend more than 10 hours per week connected to work during their off hours. The blurring of line between work and leisure is most pronounced for Gen Y and Gen X employees, and those with a professional and technical background. These workers feel the greatest pressure to maintain contact with their work — even during their downtime, the survey notes. More than one-third of respondents say the main pressures for staying connected with work is self-inflicted. Other sources of pressure cited include employers (26 per cent), industry culture (15 per cent), customers and clients (14 per cent), and other employees (5 per cent). Employees in Asia Pacific countries feel most pressured to stay connected to their work outside of normal work hours. More than 60 per cent of respondents in Asia Pacific regions report experiencing gains in connectivity with the workplace outside of work hours, compared with 50 per cent in countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas. Connectivity, which keeps information and people within easy access at all times, is proving to be a double-edged sword. A study, Engaged or Just Connected? Smartphones and Employee Engagement, published in a science journal in March of 2012, says extreme levels of engaged behavior can result in negative outcomes for individuals and organizations. Despite the positive values attributed to engagement in the form of persistently high levels of duration, intensity and direction of effort, “extreme levels of engagement can cause, or at least contribute to, professional burnout. Energy turns to exhaustion, involvement turns into cynicism, and efficacy is rendered ineffective,” the study found. As well, constant interruption distracts the brain from tasks that require deep thinking. “Given that most highly engaged employees are motivated by a sense of achievement, it is likely that incessant hyperconnectivity will ultimately become de-motivating,” the study concludes. 24

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Mountain resort workers get slope safety training By Sabrina Nanji

hanks to a new injury prevention program, hitting the slopes will get a lot safer for workers in the ski and snowboarding industry in British Columbia. Training for the WorkSafeBC-funded Fit for Snow program kicked off in snow sport haven Whistler in December and was delivered to more than 300 instructors, lift operators, patrol units and workers in the industry. The program, which had to compete with other contenders for financial backing from the provincial workplace health and safety watchdog, was selected for funding after WorkSafeBC identified workers in winter sport industries as belonging to the high-risk category. Peggy MacDonald, policy analyst with WorkSafeBC’s research services department in Richmond, British Columbia, says the highest injuries in those particular occupations are falls and strains, and being struck by objects. Environmental stresses, poor diet, poor control of joint stability and inattention and fatigue are also of concern. “There is also a lot of mental stress and that could be the repetitive boredom a lift operator experiences that would make them lose attentiveness,” suggests Dr. Delia Roberts, who specializes in sports medicine and injury prevention at Selkirk College in Castlegar, British Columbia. During the research phase of the program, which is the brainchild of Dr. Roberts, she noticed a reduction in injury rates averaging 70 per cent at the five test snow sport resorts. “But there were two resorts that did not experience any incidents for the year, and those were the two where the management were most behind the program,” Dr. Roberts notes. She compares that with the five resorts that were not using the Fit for Snow program, which reported an average increase of injuries of more than 10 per cent. Another pressing concern among snow sport employees is the nature of the industry, which attracts young workers who historically have not shown to keep adequate sleeping and eating patterns. “Physical, mental and environmental stress, and then you add on that they are, for the most part, quite young workers away from home for the first time,” suggests Dr. Roberts, citing contributing factors that make the job more taxing on their bodies. As part of the pilot program, Dr. Roberts and her team look at day-to-day physical exercises that will improve the well-being of snow sport employees. She cited adjusting the spine while shovelling snow as a major precaution against back injuries and strain, and small exercises during the day to keep reflexes alert in frigid temperatures. Dr. Roberts says she hopes to incorporate the program as an integral part of each resort’s health and safety mandate.

Sabrina Nanji is editorial assistant of canadian occupational health and safety news. Follow us on Twitter @OHSCanada

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silence on the Floor By Jean Lian The recent meat recall at XL Foods Inc. in Brooks, Alberta is not wanting in superlatives. It is one of the most massive meat recalls in Canadian history involving one of the country’s largest beef packing plants that processes more than 4,000 head of cattle a day. Meat tainted with E. coli sickened a four-year-old boy and numerous others, resulting in the facility being shut down for a month and thousands of workers laid off. Management of the beleaguered plant, owned by Brian and Lee Nilsson — brothers with a family tradition of ranching — has since been taken over by JBS USA, a leading animal protein processor in the United States and Australia. Media coverage of this incident has focused primarily on public food safety. Justifiably so, considering that the meat processed by XL Foods is shipped to more than a dozen countries. But little has been said or heard about the invisible, voiceless workers — many of whom are temporary and foreign — toiling behind the walls of the plant. What are the occupational health and safety risks they are exposed to when handling pathogen-tainted meat that sickened so many?

not pretty A summary of non-compliances compiled by the Canada Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) at XL Foods noted multiple deficiencies in sanitation and maintenance: grease build-up and blood clots on the evisceration table; broken eye/handwash tap; large amounts of fat and meat build-up throughout; water pooling on the floors; a foul odour from a drain near the rendering room; condensation on the kill floor and in the offal hallway dripping onto boxed products; antimicrobial dripping onto rusty pipe and products; improper airflow at the processing floor; and bung bags in contact with a sink. “This is dirty, dangerous work even in the best of circumstances,” says Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour in Edmonton. “It is clear to us that there are both food safety problems and work safety problems at the Brooks packing plant and in many cases, the two are related.” Bob Jackson, regional executive-vice president for British Columbia with Public Service Alliance of Canada in Vancouver, says work conditions in meatpacking facilities and slaughterhouses are “almost indescribable” at times. “There has always been hazards involved in this line of work, just the environmental conditions that people are put into. You are dealing with heat, humidity, constant alerts around moving equipment and slippery floors,” says Jackson, who was a former meat inspector. Workers face a risk of direct exposure to pathogens by being in contact with contaminants that are aerosolized when handling carcasses stained with blood, feces and bodily fluids in a steamy environment with temperatures routinely reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit with almost 100 per cent humidity, Jackson notes. While workers are provided with personal protective equipment, they may not be utilized to the fullest extent, considering the discomfort of donning additional clothing, hard hats and goggles that can steam up under such conditions. “You can imagine what that might feel like in terms of real world protection,” he adds, noting that it was quite routine to see workers not wearing the necessary protective gear. “It is up to management in these facilities to ensure their employees are taking proper precautions and sometimes, the management is not totally on top of it,” Jackson suggests.

“This is dirty, dangerous work even in the best of circumstances.”

keeping pace One-third of the 2,200 employees at XL Foods comprise temporary foreign workers, although that number fluctuates. Finding workers has been a chronic problem in meatpacking facilities, particularly in isolated communities such as Brooks, a two-hour drive from Calgary. “There are many days when Brooks simply did not have

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enough people on the line to maintain speed,” McGowan notes. “And that has obvious implications for both food safety and workplace safety, because inexperienced workers tend to be more vulnerable to workplace accidents and they are also less likely to be familiar with food safety protocols.” He reports conversations with plant workers who say line speeds are too fast for them to keep up. “On average, they are dealing with about 260 carcasses every hour, which does not give them enough time to follow safety protocols, but also increase[s] the likelihood of injuries when it comes to the use of their knives and also puts what we would describe as undue stress on their bodies.” Through the years, technology and mechanization have shaped how work is being done in meatpacking facilities. When Jackson started working in the industry back in the ’80s, he recalls handling up 40 to 50 carcasses every hour. While there is a lot more mechanization today to perform some of the functions, he says it is “an incredible speed requirement,” citing poultry carcasses going by on an evisceration line at two or three birds a second. “It becomes almost impossible to do a proper job, to do it safely, to make sure that your equipment is properly sanitized in between carcasses, that people are given opportunities to ensure their tools and equipment are in top shape,” Jackson contends. Blunt knives, which require the use of greater force, also increases the likelihood of cuts should the knife slip. “If you are trying to incise lymph nodes with a knife for instance, you have to do it at a speed that will allow you to keep up,” he adds. “Your brain is spinning at that speed trying to concentrate on doing any kind of a real function.” Line specialization also means that workers are performing the same movements hundreds of times for hours each day, putting them at an elevated risk of repetitive strain injuries, notes Dr. Amy Fitzgerald, assistant professor in the department of sociology, anthropology and criminology at the University of Windsor in Ontario. While different estimates have been made on the speed of lines, which varies depending on the slaughterhouse, the most commonly-used estimates are those in larger facilities that process 400 head of cattle an hour. “Based on the estimates I have seen, the line speeds in North America are said to be double of what they are in Europe,” Dr. Fitzgerald says. “Line speeds are based on a very complex arrangement of factors,” Jackson notes, citing considerations that include physical constraints of the plant, workers’ profile and level of training, the type of livestock being processed and the condition of animals when they come into the facility. Doug Powell, professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine’s department of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, concurs that line speed is a factor in safety, “but not a concern if attention is being paid to worker and microbial safety.” Food safety management systems incorporate a series of hurdles in the processing system, which contributes to a cumulative decrease in the possibility and number of pathogens present in the food supply, notes information from the CFIA. Hot water and steam pasteurization, application of organic acids and evaluation of the safety and efficacy of antibacterial agents prior to application are among the measures used.

Should a line speed surpass a worker’s capacity to effectively perform the requisite food safety functions, inspectors and veterinarians appointed by the agency have the authority to order an immediate cessation of production. “Federally-registered meatpacking and processing establishments must satisfy all requisite occupational health and safety requirements,” says Ronald Davidson, government and media relations director with the Canadian Meat Council in Ottawa. physical dangers Line speed is intrinsically tied to the stunning of animals, which has a bearing on worker safety. Animals that are improperly stunned thrash about as they are being hoisted, presenting a significant risk to the sticker, who has to cut the throat of the beast weighing hundreds of pounds. “There has been many incidents where animals from a wide variety of species are not stunned adequately,” Jackson points out, adding that this was a frequent occurrence even before high line-speeds came into the picture. He describes scenarios in which animals that escape the stunning process end up on the kill floor alive and running around. In the poultry business where stunning is largely mechanized through electrocution, “there are many incidents of animals not being stunned before going into the scalding process for instance, so there is the inhumane aspect as well as the safety aspect,” Jackson notes. However, that does not mean workers can let their guard down when handling a properly-stunned animal. Chris Fuller, general manager with Alleghany Meats in Monterey, Virginia cautions that even an immobile or unconscious animal is dangerous to approach as its nervous system is still reacting. “There is a lot of thrashing and a lot of movement still,” Fuller describes. “You have to be very diligent in the way you approach them and making sure that you are keeping yourself safe when you do so.” Workers should watch out for signs of improper stunning by looking at the side of the animal to see if there is ribneck breathing. Blinking of the eyes is another indicator. In such cases, the animal needs to be restunned before it is killed. “That is proper procedure through the entire industry.” minding minds There is also the mental health aspect of working in places where animals hang upside down all day long. “These environments are incredibly difficult to work in,” Jackson suggests. But little research has been done in this area to offer insight on the mental repercussions on those who toil in these environments. “We really don’t have systematic information about it,” says Dr. Fitzgerald, who co-authored a study in 2009, examining the relationship between slaughterhouse employment levels and crime rates. Results were compared with other manufacturing industries with similar labour force composition, injury and illness rates, but engage in inanimate materials of production. The study, Slaughterhouses and Increased Crime Rates, hypothesizes that the work of killing animals in an industrial process may have social and psychological consequences for workers over and above other characteristics of the work. It examines slaughterhouse facilities in 581 counties. The data,

accessed through the United States Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns, covers the period from 1994 to 2002. Results indicate that the slaughterhouse employment variable has a significant positive effect on arrests for rape and other sex offences — effects not found in the comparison industries. An average-sized slaughterhouse, which employs 175 people, would be expected to increase the number of arrests by 2.24 and the report rate by 4.69. The expected arrest and report value in counties with 7,500 slaughterhouse employees are more than double the values where there are no slaughterhouse workers. The study argues the results lend support to the argument that the industrial slaughterhouse is different in its effects from other industrial facilities. “Many of these offences are perpetrated against those with less power and we interpret this as evidence that the work done within slaughterhouses might spill over to violence against other less powerful groups, such as women and children.” An earlier study, which looks at 1,404 non-metropolitan counties in the United States from 1990 to 2000, arrived at similar conclusions. Counties with growth in meatpacking employment experienced faster growth in violent crime rates over the decade relative to counties without packing plants. The psychological trauma of slaughterhouse work can be inflicted on workers in several ways: perpetration-induced traumatic stress (PITS), empathy suppression and violating the natural preference against killing, notes a study published in 2008 by Jennifer Dillard of Georgetown Law School in Washington, D.C. While the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is responsible for protecting workers in the United States from workplace hazards, “the lack of psychological regulation is due to the agency’s prioritizing of more traditional, physical health issues and the ‘perceived exigency’ of these problems,” she contends. Perpetration-induced traumatic stress is a form of post-traumatic stress disorder caused by being an active participant in causing trauma. Occupations that can put workers at risk of PITS include soldiers, executioners and police officers, where it is socially acceptable or even expected of them to cause trauma, including death. Symptoms of PITS include substance abuse, depression, increased paranoia and a sense of disintegration. Dillard notes in her study that substance abuse, which is prevalent among slaughterhouse workers, is evidence of the adverse psychological impact associated with the nature of their work. The intensive, production-focused nature of factory farming and meatpacking facilities also requires workers in such workplaces to suppress their spontaneous empathy for animals. “By habitually violating one’s natural preference against killing, the worker very likely is adversely psychologically impacted,” Dillard concludes. now and then As of October 29, XL Foods Inc. resumed operations under enhanced CFIA oversight and increased testing protocols. A statement from the CFIA notes that agency inspectors closely monitored plant operations, including the uploading and screening of animals, pre-operation inspections, slaughter and the cutting and processing of carcasses. It has also rewww.ohscanada.com

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quested the company submit corrective action plans outlining how they will address these issues in the longer term and mitigate future risks. But the situation was rather different back in early September during the onset of the investigation when the CFIA seemed to have difficulty obtaining information from the plant. That prompted federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz’s comments that agency inspectors could have been “more hard-nosed” when dealing with the plant responsible for the country’s largest beef recall. Information from the CFIA indicates that on September 6, the agency requested from XL Foods distribution information and testing results for all products produced on the days when the affected products were made. This was followed by a formal letter on September 7 stating that the company must respond by the following day. The information was provided in a series of submissions over two days on September 10. “If we did not get what we needed or had requested, we would stop the production line,” Jackson says of his time when meat inspectors were given clear direction on where their authorities lie. “What seems to have happened now is inspectors are not being given that direction to the point that they will feel uncomfortable, perhaps stopping the line or taking something out of production,” he suggests. McGowan observes that through the years, the meatpacking industry has been moving towards a policy of self-regulation. The shift started more than a decade ago when the CFIA, created in 1997, came under the responsibility of the agriculture ministry. While federal meat inspections are still being conducted in packing plants, he notes that there is increasing reliance on written reports furnished by quality control officers employed by the plant. “It is very clear that cuts and deregulation have compromised both worker safety and food safety,” McGowan says, stressing the need for more rigorous enforcement. “When it comes to safety, it means more inspectors, more boots on the ground, a greater willingness to shut down plants that are not in compliance. And it also means tougher prosecution.” In a statement issued in October of 2012, the Alberta Federation of Labour and the United Food and Commercial Workers union called for a public inquiry into the tainted meat debacle to address issues, such as the level of authority and mandate of CFIA employees, line speeds and if there is adequate training and whistleblower protection for workers. “The results of Canada’s system of self-regulation have already been criticized by American inspectors,” the statement notes. “Over the last decade, several United States Department of Agriculture inspections have flagged problems with beef processing plants in Alberta.” As a sign of things to come, the federal government will stop inspecting provincially-licensed abattoirs in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba by 2014. Effect from December 31, 2013, British Columbia will take over from the CFIA the responsibility of meat inspection for provincially-licensed Class A and B slaughter facilities. The inspection of federally-licensed abattoirs and other issues of federal jurisdiction will remain under the CFIA. The British Columbia ministries of Agriculture and Health held extensive consultations with the province’s livestock and

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slaughter industries about the new meat inspection system for provincially licensed abattoirs. Inputs from these consultations, collated in the July of 2012 report, Summary of Industry Consultations of the BC Abattoir Inspection System Review, “reflects the observation that the B.C government will face challenges in implementing a meat inspection system that responds to the needs of all parties. This is especially true in an industry as diverse as B.C.’s meat processing industry,” the report states. Jackson concurs that the agriculture ministry’s mandate to act in the interest of the agricultural sector can restrict its regulatory role of ensuring that food products produced by the very industry it is tasked to promote meets federal health standards. “It does raise the spectre of the potential for conflict,” he suggests. “I don’t recall there being such large incidents of E. coli, Listeriosis and these massive numbers of recalls on an annual basis for a whole wide variety of things.” E. coli, a bacteria that exists naturally in the intestines of cattle, poultry and other animals, can be transferred to the outer surface of meat during butchering. Some of the most common ways to be infected with E. coli are improper handling of raw ground meat, consumption of undercooked ground meat and contact with feces of cattle. “The bacteria that contaminates the meat can also infect individual workers who come into contact with it,” Dr. Fitzgerald cautions. on the ground Fuller understands the challenges of ensuring smooth operation in a meatpacking plant and keeping workers safe at the same time. But the newly-constructed facility where he works makes his job a tad easier. “It is a very new plant. Everything from the handling facility down to the cutting and wrapping have kind of been thought through as best as possible.” He reveals that when the plant had just finished construction in February, they did not realize it would be handling bisons. “So when we got a customer who is talking about a consistent volume of bison coming through here, we invest in upgrading our handling facility to handle these bisons, which are different than cattle. They have a lot more energy.” The type of livestock being handled has an influence on

Behind the Walls Meatpacking facilities are not accessible to members of the public, but it does not take much imagination to figure out how the ubiquitous use of sharp knives, handling animals and high line speeds converge to create an environment conducive for accidents and increased repetitive movements. A look at injury statistics can put that in perspective. In 2010, Alberta’s meat, hides and pelt products sub-sector had a disabling injury claim rate of 12.42 per 100 person-years worked — the highest of any manufacturing, processing and packaging sub-sectors, notes information from Occupational Injuries and Diseases in Alberta. Hands and fingers are the most commonly injured body parts (27 per cent), followed by the back (13 per cent) and shoulders (11 per cent), notes information from Workplace Health and Safety Queensland in Australia.

the design of a facility. “The way our facility is set up, we have a way to move the animals without actually getting into the pen with them and I think that is really important,” Fuller says. “Humane animal handing has a lot to do with stress so always keep them calm, not getting the animals riled up. That is very helpful in keeping everybody safe.” Having more than one worker in a handling facility also allows them to watch each other’s backs, he adds. Keeping the environment sanitary is also key, especially on the kill floor where slips and trips are a real hazard. That means exercising diligence in spraying a floor down if blood is present, keeping the floor free from debris and liquids that could cause other hazards and removing remnants of fat or meat particles from the evisceration process. “You try to avoid having the opportunity to have a lot of bacteria build up in various areas where it will affect the workers or food safety,” Fuller cautions. Frequent handwashing and keeping knives clean with sterilizer boxes where knives can be dipped are among the preventive measures, he adds. Verbal communication is also important in alerting workers to hazards. Physical dangers abound in an environment where carcasses are constantly being moved across rail lines. “When you have a 600-pound carcass coming down the line, you got to be careful,” Powell cautions. Workers also need to be adequately trained to safely do their jobs, considering that meatpacking plants often employ a high proportion of migrant workers. “The industry has become quite adept at recruiting the most marginalized population that are quite vulnerable,” Dr. Fitzgerald suggests. McGowan agrees. “A lot of these temporary farm workers are very reluctant to speak out for themselves when it comes to any issue, especially safety issues. They want to stay in Canada and so they keep quiet, keep their heads down and continue working.” In a meatpacking facility in Colorado where Fuller used to work, he recalls working alongside employees from Mexico, some of whom spoke little English. To address the language barrier, he had a bilingual worker translate the standard operational procedure, which was written in English, into Spanish for reading by the Mexican workers as part of their training. A supervisor was then assigned to provide hands-on training. He also made sure that a worker who speaks only Spanish would not be placed to work alongside purely English speakers. “I have somebody who spoke Spanish around so they could communicate effectively with the whole group,” he adds. food for thought The CFIA says the tainted meat incident at XL Foods cannot be attributed to a specific problem. However, there are a number of factors that, when considered collectively, may have contributed to the incident. These preliminary findings are already being considered by both the CFIA and the meat industry. The review has resulted in some modifications to previous practices, the Canadian Meat Council reports. “A good place to start is slowing down line speeds,” Dr. Fitzgerald suggests. “It has been ratcheted up to increase profits, but it really is causing more problems for workers and for meat safety.” She suggests that the industry’s high turnover rate has led to on-the-job training falling by the wayside.

For Powell, enforcement certainly has a part to play, but so does company culture. “What they need is a culture that values food safety and worker safety as much as it values profit.” Jackson is of the mind that an emphasis on controlling the environment as much as possible is needed. Sufficient resources should be made available to ensure that workers have proper breaks away from the lines and their mental capabilities are looked after. “I don’t know if there have been studies done on the long-term effects of being exposed to these environments over a person’s career. I’m sure it can’t be healthy.” For that to take place, a fundamental change to the legal and regulatory frameworks needs to be effected. Although Dillard’s study is framed within an American context, her recommendations on ways to improve the mental health of meatpacking plant workers nevertheless have resonance for Canada, which shipped $24 billion worth of meat products worldwide in 2010. She recommends that a regulatory framework for psychological safety in slaughterhouses be developed under the mandate of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. “Just as OSHA inspectors can pinpoint workplaces that are hazardous to an employee’s physical safety, OSHA inspectors could use their inspections to pinpoint workplaces that are hazardous to psychological safety,” Dillard writes. Workers’ compensation can also serve as a legal scheme to redress the psychological harm associated with slaughterhouse work. Dillard argues that such a system would encourage employers to maintain psychologically healthy work environments and provide monetary relief to employees who suffer from ongoing, pervasive psychological trauma due to the violence of their workplace. “A typical slaughterhouse should be considered an ultrahazardous activity for psychological well-being, and employers should be liable for psychological damage caused by the work,” Dillard contends. In 1906, Upton Sinclair’s novel, The Jungle, caused a public furor with its descriptions of morbid conditions in meatpacking houses in the Chicago stockyards during the early 20th century. The Federal Meat Inspection Act was created in the same year the novel was published. “I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach,” wrote Sinclair in reference to the unintended consequences of sparking an outcry against the sector. Hopefully, the XL Foods incident — which has hit many Canadians in the stomach — will also accidentally touch our hearts.

Animals that escape the stunning process end up on the kill floor alive and running around.

Jean Lian is editor of

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

certificate of recognition

work in

s s e r g o r p By Danny Kucharsky

It is all with the aim of improving workplace safety. The Certificate of Recognition (COR) program, which began in Alberta more than 20 years ago, has been accepted as the standard of health and safety measurement in the province. Employers who have developed safety programs that meet established standards are awarded the certificate, which is required for bidding jobs and earning a financial incentive on workers’ compensation premiums. However, not everyone is happy with the program. Critics from various quarters — from the province’s auditor general to labour unions — say the program has loopholes and needs to be overhauled if it is to achieve its objective. The July, 2012 Report of the Auditor General of Alberta gave a less-than-stellar assessment of the COR system. While the report notes that progress has been made — with Alberta Human Services pursuing administrative penalties, implementing a new inspection reporting system and a process for reviewing COR employers — there are areas where improvements are still wanting.

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REPORT CARD Alberta auditor-general Merwan Saher noted in his report that while the COR system offers employees incentives to improve workplace safety, it does not have in place the necessary processes to adequately identify high-risk employers and workers, or apply enforcement actions to deter them from breaking the law. But the man in charge of the program says it is on the right track and that improvements are continually being made. “Having the system in place means your company meets Alberta health and safety management systems standards,” notes Rob Feagan, director of Partnerships in Injury Reduction at Alberta Human Services in Edmonton. “We see the COR as a beginning point, not the end.” Obtaining the COR means an employer’s workplace safety system has all the pieces in place for it to function well, but it is up to employers to make sure that happens. “We have had several cases where large employers have told us, ‘we never dreamed how this would pull management and the employees together around health and safety,’” Feagan says. Jason Norcutt, corporate health, safety and environment manager at Focus Corporation in Edmonton, which provides engineering and transport services to the oil and gas industry, agrees. “It definitely helps you put in place programs that ultimately lead to a safer workplace

How it Works Companies can qualify for a certificate of recognition (COR), which is valid for three years, after establishing a health and safety system and passing an external audit conducted by an approved auditor. The program is administered by 13 certifying partners from the industry, of which seven are safety associations funded by the Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board, while the remaining six are funded by members. External audits are done every three years, but employers can conduct annual internal maintenance audits in the years between external audits. Companies that have been awarded a COR will get a 10 per cent rebate on their workers’ comp premiums. In subsequent years, they can receive annual rebates ranging between 5 per cent and 20 per cent for performance improvements or for outperforming their respective industries. The certificate is also a requirement for bidding on contracts. Carol Eamer, president of OH&S Consulting Services in Calgary, says such incentives encourage companies, which would otherwise not pay attention to this aspect, to develop health and safety programs in their respective workplaces.

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for all of your employees.” But Feagan acknowledges that having a COR does not guarantee workplace safety. Some employers do not understand that the work may not stop when the COR is obtained and that they need to maintain a long-term commitment to promoting workplace safety. The COR was designed as a basic audit tool to ensure that employers have the necessary health and safety programs in place, “not a gold star safety program,” says auditor Carol Eamer, president of OH&S Consulting Services in Calgary. “Something basic that any company in the province, even a smaller size employer, would be able to put into place without too much trouble.” But that is also its major flaw, argues Nancy Furlong, secretary treasurer with the Alberta Federation of Labour in Edmonton. “I don’t think it is beneficial to workers in its current form,” Furlong contends, noting that companies often use their certificate “as something to hold up to say they are a safe place” — even if that is not the case. She cites examples of employers with questionable safety records, who still retain their certificate, and continue to get a rebate. “The CORs don’t get withdrawn. They can flout oh&s orders. They can have unsafe workplaces with high levels of disabilities and injuries,” she suggests. The last auditor-general review indicated that there were 20 employers with open orders, 18 with suspended orders “and half of those still have their certificates of recognition,” Furlong adds. While the COR is considered as a measure of safety and injury reduction at the workplace, she claims that there is no concrete way to assess the real safety practices of companies holding these certificates. “It is kind of misleading at the least and really quite dangerous otherwise.” Furlong is of the mind that employers should lose their COR as soon as they are cited for non-compliance, and that audits should be overseen by the provincial government — not by certifying partners who represent industry. “There needs to be real collaboration between the industry and workers and the government to make sure that a culture of safety is maintained. That is the only way that people will be safe at work,” she opines.

CARROT, NOT STICK Feagan says the fact that the program is not legislated makes it challenging to enforce. As well, the audits conducted are systems audits, not compliance audits. “The audit is to see that you have a system in place that would allow the company to ensure that they are meeting that legislation requirement. You would ask questions like, ‘are you aware of the Occupational Health and Safety Act and regulations of the province and what do you do to ensure that you are in compliance with it,’” Eamer explains. “It is not our role to go and do a total compliance audit to ensure they are totally in compliance with the legislation.” Feagan acknowledges that employers who have had previous worksite injuries can pass an audit. This can give rise to the perception that, if half of the province’s list of 500 employers with the highest rates of disabling injuries (which include COR and non-COR holders) can be awarded a certificate, the program is not working as it should. “If you analyze that list, almost all of the COR-holders there have had their COR for a very short period of time and to me, that is a good thing,” Feagan argues, adding that the COR program helps these employers improve their safety system. “A program that voluntarily puts health and safety management systems in place can be more effective than coming along with a hammer after the fact,” he adds. The program helps employers develop good safety management systems in a cost effective manner that would otherwise be out of reach for many small employers, offers Carol Ross, executive director of the Alberta Association of Safety Partnerships in Taber, Alberta and one of the program’s certifying partners. About 9,500 companies, which account for about half of the province’s payroll, are certified. Feagan says there is still a lot of growth that can be achieved on the small employer side, such as in retail and restaurants.

have COR programs in place; British Columbia has a program that mirrors Alberta’s. Originally driven by the forestry and oil and gas sectors, British Columbia’s COR program is administered by nine certifying partners. The program offers employers a 10 per cent rebate if they hold an oh&s certificate and an additional five per cent incentive payment if they hold an injury management certificate. About 3,700 companies in the province have CORs and that number has increased 38 per cent from 2008 to 2011, says Glen McIntosh, manager of the certificate of recognition program at WorkSafeBC in Richmond, British Columbia. The program has now reached approximately two per cent of employers and seven per cent of workers. Municipalities such as Vancouver, which have a workforce of 10,000, will likely join the program in the next few years, he adds. Since the program started in 2006, McIntosh reports that health and management safety systems have moved up employers’ priority list and are regarded as important as productivity and profitability. To ensure that the program maintains its standards, certified employers who have a combination of high-risk orders and health safety program-related orders are required to undergo verification audits to determine if their certificate is still valid. More than 100 verification audits will be conducted by April of 2013. To date, one certificate has been revoked for “not meeting appropriate standards,” McIntosh adds. The program in Alberta has similar checks and balances. Certificates are not issued automatically and employers with open orders will not receive their CORs until those orders are resolved, Feagan notes. Quality assurance audits are conducted on certifying partners to ensure that they comply with program standards. An employer review process has also been added that makes it possible to examine the various contributing factors if a certified employer has had fatalities, serious incidents,

A workplace fatality does not mean the certificate will be automatically rescinded.

BEYOND BORDERS The COR system has expanded outside of Alberta. Construction sectors in most provinces

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injuries or multiple stop-work orders at the workplace. “If the evidence we have looked at indicates there are systemic issues, the employer must do an action plan with us to improve their system if they want to keep their COR,” Feagan explains. “There are repercussions for fatalities and for serious incidents,” Eamer says, noting that an investigation will be conducted if a serious workplace injury or fatality is involved. In such a case, another audit will be required and there is a possibility that the certificate will be revoked if the employer does not comply with requirements as a result of the investigation. But a workplace fatality does not mean the certificate will be automatically rescinded. “We have to look at the circumstances around the fatality. We sit down with the employer to look at what happened,” Feagan says. “We don’t want to have another fatality and that is why we would not automatically revoke that COR. We want to help them improve their system.” The program is currently undergoing a review, which could point out some “flaws, warts and blemishes,” McIntosh notes. “No program is perfect and a review can certainly point out where changes need to be made,” he says. AUDITING AUDITORS One area where improvement is wanting is consistency in auditing standards. Norcutt notes that the importance of a standardized system is growing as companies are increasingly being asked to provide executive summaries of their COR audits online to be used as evaluation tools. “I could lose out on a job because I got a lesser score for a rigorous audit, whereas somebody else gets a good score on an audit that is less demanding,” Norcutt says. His company obtained its certificate from Enform, the certifying partner overseeing the COR for the petroleum industry, “which is by far the most rigorous audit standard that is out there.” As companies cannot bid for jobs unless they have a COR, some companies may choose to take the path of least resistance as the rigour of certifying standards can vary, depending on

the certifying partner. “Some organizations shop around for the easiest place to get it,” Norcutt suggests. “Any time there is such financial benefit in obtaining your COR, there has been a little bit of shadiness.” Part of that problem can be attributed to each certifying partner training auditors to their individual standards, which are monitored by the provincial government. “The weakest link is the training and integrity of the auditors,” says Eamer, noting that problems may arise if auditors are not well-trained do not behave ethically. She thinks that the program can be improved if it incorporates a standardized training program for auditors, overseen by the provincial government. That is why Eamer is pleased with the recent implementation of the On-Site Audit Review (OSAR), a quality assurance program that verifies the accuracy of auditors’ work. About 20 veteran auditors with a record of competence, trustworthiness and ethical standards have been recognized by the government and certified partners as OSAR auditors. “Somebody actually goes out to the site after the audit to see if they actually did do the audit the way they should have, and that the program is actually in place the way the auditor said it was,” Eamer says. OSAR reports indicate that the majority (95 per cent) of audits are conducted in a professional manner. In the minority of cases where issues have been found, they usually involve auditors not conducting as many interviews or visiting as many worksites as claimed. “Sometimes, they will say they went to three worksites and they only went to one,” Eamer notes. In such cases, the certifying partner will call the auditor in for an interview and the auditor can be reprimanded — even suspended. “We rely on (auditors) to do honest work,” Ross says. “Unfortunately, human nature gets in the way sometimes and human greed and shortcuts are taken. But I think we have been really honing in on that type of behaviour and trying to put a stop to it,” she says, citing the OSAR as a good check and balance. Feagan notes that the implementation of OSAR addresses some of the issues highlight-

“The weakest link is the training and integrity of the auditors.”

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ed in the auditor-general’s report. The employer review process has also been strengthened in response to the report, which criticized that employers who have had workplace incidents are being dealt with inconsistently. “We have laid out very clearly the process they go through with an employer. We are very confident that when the auditor-general comes back to meet with us and looks at [the employer review process], we will have it running as it should,” Feagan says. IN THE PIPELINE One change on the horizon is the introduction of ticketing and administrative penalties on April 1, 2013, which could see CORs being revoked. Administrative penalties will be issued for serious violations, such as disturbing the scene of an incident, failure to report an incident or not complying with orders. “Those are pretty serious things,” Feagan cautions. “If a company does those things, there is really no commitment to the process. That could be a situation where you see someone lose their COR.” Bill 6, The Protections and Compliance Statutes Amendment Act, introduces new administrative penalties and increases existing fines. It affects three pieces of legislation, namely, the Safety Codes Act, the Fair Trading Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Act. “This is about protecting Albertans and ensuring those who place the public in danger are held accountable,” municipal affairs minister Doug Griffiths said in a statement in October. “Stiffer penalties for those who violate the Safety Codes Act will be a deterrent, and will enable the courts to assess penalties that are appropriately severe in the most serious cases.” Among the proposed changes are increased maximum fines through the courts for Safety Codes Act violations from $15,000 to $100,000 for a first offence and from $30,000 to $500,000 for subsequent offences. New administrative penalties of up to $10,000 will also be imposed for Occupational Health and Safety

Act violations. These administrative penalties fill an enforcement gap that exists between two extremes: orders or warnings and court prosecutions. Another addition, which will allow workplace safety investigators to issue tickets for on-the-spot violations, will come through regulation in 2013. “Together these changes will help protect the public, the consumer and the workplace,” Minister of Human Services Dave Hancock says in the statement. Perception surveys on how employees feel about their workplace health and safety systems and the management’s commitment to oh&s, “gives a great window into the culture of the organization,” Feagan suggests. If employee surveys indicate major differences in perceptions of safety between employers and workers, “you likely have a problem.” Feagan, who is a proponent of perception surveys, says making them mandatory for large, certified employers is being looked at as part of the discussion on strengthening management commitment. As for the three-year period between external audits, there are no plans for changes. Feagan maintains that most employers take the two-year period of internal audits seriously. Eamer thinks that the three-year period is adequate and making it any more frequent will strain the available pool of auditors. “We are barely keeping up as it is. If we had to do audits every two years, we could never keep up with that number,” she contends. While many employers continue to use external auditors during the two-year internal maintenance audit period, Feagan recommends employers to train their own employees on how to conduct audits, as internal auditors are often more critical of their employers than external ones. Norcutt, who conducts internal audits in his company, agrees. He reports that his company often gets a lower score when audited internally. “The mentality is, you are always your own worst critic,” he says. Unlike an external auditor who only spends three days at each company, “you know where the holes are.” Follow us on Twitter @OHSCanada

Danny Kucharsky is a writer in Montreal.

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

fatigue

Sweet Repose By Ann Ruppenstein

On January 14, 2011, the first officer aboard Zurich-bound Air Canada flight 878 from Toronto awoke from a nap at 1:55 am while the plane was crossing the Atlantic at an altitude of 35,000 feet. Minutes later, the groggy pilot, who perceived the Boeing 767 to be on an imminent collision course with an oncoming aircraft, forced the plane into a sudden and hazardous descent, injuring 14 passengers and two flight attendants on board. A report released by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada on April 16, 2012 noted that the first officer, who was in a state of significant sleep inertia magnified by prior fatigue and napping longer than the company’s controlled rest procedure, was responsible for the 46–second pitch excursion. While lead investigator Jon Lee acknowledged in the report that “this occurrence underscores the challenge of managing fatigue on the flight deck,” it also highlights the larger consequences of fatigue and its impact on workplace safety across all industries.

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BY THE NUMBERS A study conducted by researchers at Quebec’s Laval University in September of 2011, which surveyed a sample of 2,000 people across the country, found that sleep disorders affect 40 per cent of Canadian adults. Sleep disorders are chronic medical conditions, the onset of which can last for at least several months and have a significant impact on one’s health and function, notes Dr. Adam Moscovitch, director of sleep-fatigue services at the AIM Health Group in Toronto and an associate clinical professor at the University of Calgary. “There are 85 different disorders that we can effectively recognize and treat and most people don’t necessarily have only one,” Dr. Moscovitch says. However, he points out that there is a difference between a sleep disorder and a sleep disturbance. “Everyone has [an] occasional sleep disturbance. You can worry about a piece that you have to write, occasional problems with your sleep where you worry about your kids or your finances, et cetera. That is not what we are talking about here.” One of the most common disorders is sleep apnea, a disorder in which pauses in breathing occur while someone is asleep. On average, these pauses last for 10 to 30 seconds until the brain reacts to overcome the problem by jolting the person out of deep sleep. In some cases, this cycle repeats itself 600 to 800 times a night. Results from a 2009 Canadian Community Health Survey showed that an estimated 858,900 adults reported being diagnosed with sleep apnea. “We are not dealing with a rare condition,” says Dr. Moscovitch, who estimates that nine per cent of men and four per cent of women in North America suffer from this sleep disorder. “You will find some other figures which are a little bit low, because when we call it sleep apnea syndrome, then by definition it has to have enough number of events of no breathing per hour plus daytime sleepiness,” he adds. In this case, those statistics drop to five per cent of men and three per cent of women. “But you are still talking of a huge percentage, much more common than a lot of medical conditions out there.” Dr. Meir Kryger, a sleep expert with Yale Medical Group in New Haven, Connecticut and former professor of medicine at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, is regarded as the first researcher to diagnose and report obstructive sleep apnea in North America. Kryger knows firsthand how common the sleep disorder has become. “It has been estimated that somewhere between five and ten per cent of adults have sleep apnea, so it is very, very common,” he notes. Left untreated or partially treated, the health risks associated with obstructed sleep apnea include hypertension, angina (pain or pressure localized in the chest caused by an insufficient supply of blood to the heart muscle), stroke, nocturnal cardiac arrhythmias, chronic headaches, decreased cognitive functioning, erectile dysfunction and premature mortality. “Someone with sleep apnea is five times as likely to suffer from high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat at night, potentially nighttime heart attack and stroke,” Dr. Moscovitch notes. “So the message is really that people should want to have these conditions recognized and treated.” 40

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Another concern is that 95 per cent of individuals with sleep apnea are often left undiagnosed and untreated, resulting in the condition having a significant impact on their health and functioning. Mismanagement of a sleep disorder has also been known to affect the immune system, leading to increased recovery time from injury, pain sensitivities and has been linked to weight gain and cardiovascular complications, he adds. RISKY BUSINESS Although the consequences associated with impairment due to fatigue and mismanagement of a sleep disorder are often influenced by a person’s occupation, Catherine Benesch, a spokesperson for Canada Safety Council in Ottawa, says the repercussions can range from a lack of productivity to placing workers in a potentially life-threatening situation. “Whenever a person is impaired, especially in a job such as the trades where heavy equipment is being used, it presents a significant risk if people can be physically injured,” Benesch reports, citing air traffic controllers as an example. “If they happen to fall asleep — and there have been cases of that — then not necessarily that person’s life is at risk, but also the people that they are responsible for.” Another group of employees with safety-sensitive jobs are those who work in the oil and gas sector in Alberta. “I know a lot of guys out there work 12 shifts at a time 10 days on, 10 days off,” Benesch adds. When it comes to sleep deprivation, Dr. Kryger says two factors are at play: people not getting enough sleep and those

A Vicious Cycle Sleep apnea is commonly associated with obesity or people with a large neck, such as size 17 or above, says Mike Harnett, director of operations at WorkSMART Ergonomics Ltd. in Vancouver and a specialist in fatigue management. When these individuals go through the various stages of sleep, their muscles begin to relax, causing the weight of the tissues and muscles to collapse on the top of the throat, blocking the airway. “They will start off with very, very soft snoring, and then as the weight continues to crush the airway, their snores become louder,” until snoring stops because it has completely imploded the airway, Harnett says. The lack of oxygen causes the brain to send a signal to the muscles, which forces the body to effect a big snort to get oxygen back into the system. And as air comes rushing back, the airway is open again. The process repeats itself hundreds of times over. “What that means is out of the sleep cycle — there are four different stages of sleep — they never get past stage one, because the snort keeps kicking them out,” Harnett adds. “So they never get to the delta-quality sleep and they never get to the rapid eye movement cycle that repairs mental functioning.”

with a disorder causing sleepiness. “The outcome of being sleepy and having sleep disorders is your cognitive abilities actually start to deteriorate,” Dr. Kryger says. For people who have been up for a few consecutive nights and who suffer from significant sleep apnea, “it is not really that different from being drunk.” In a study published in 1997, Australian researchers Drew Dawson and Kathryn Reid compared impairment levels due to sleepiness with those arising from alcohol consumption. Findings indicate that the blood alcohol content increases correspondingly with the number of hours awake: 17 hours of wakefulness translates to a blood alcohol content of 0.05; 21 hours of staying awake works out to a blood alcohol content of 0.08; and 24 to 25 hours without sleep equals to having a blood alcohol level of 0.10. The legal limit for blood alcohol concentration in most provinces is 0.08. Mike Harnett, director of operations at WorkSMART Ergonomics Ltd. in Vancouver and a specialist in fatigue management, says this is of particular concern to employees working the graveyard shift. “What that means is after 17 hours, if you have to operate machinery or equipment or drive your vehicle, you are basically at the same level of impairment as somebody who is legally impaired with that blood alcohol,” Harnett suggests. That has ramifications for shift workers, who often stay up more than 24 prior to their night shift. “They just don’t bother sleeping the day before, so they have already set themselves up for a significant impairment on that first night,” she contends. Dr. Moscovitch observes that while most people will avoid getting behind the wheel if their blood alcohol content exceeds the legal limit, many will not demonstrate similar hesitation when they have not slept for the past 24 hours. He cites statistics put out by the National Sleep Foundation in Arlington, Virginia, which indicate that over 200,000 car accidents in any given year in North America are believed to be related to the consequences of sleepiness and fatigue. Chronic fatigue and sleepiness have also been linked to catastrophes and workplace accidents, including the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Three Mile Island accident and the Colgan Air plane crash near Buffalo, which killed 50 people. Another dangerous consequence of sleep deprivation and fatigue is that it can result in a microsleep episode, which is a brief and unintended period of sleep lasting up to a few seconds. While it may not be alarming for an employee sitting in front of a computer to briefly nod off, it can jeopardize lives if it happens on the highway. “If you have a microsleep for five seconds and you are driving 100 kilometres per hour down the highway, you have basically gone the length of two football fields,” Harnett says. Unlike those driving under the influence of alcohol, a sleepy driver who dozed off will not be able to make last minute manoeuvres, exacerbating the potential for a fatal collision.

“Your eyes could be open and you are operating that vehicle, but your brain has completely shut down.” CAUSE AND EFFECT From lifestyle changes to job stresses and increasing obesity rates, Dr. Moscovitch cites many factors that can disrupt and impair restful sleep. “People are ignorant about the importance of sleep and the fact that people are looking at sleep as a waste of time instead of recognizing how crucial it is for health in general,” he argues. Canadians are racking up a significant sleep debt, defined as the difference between the amount of sleep someone should be getting and the amount they actually get. At least 10 per cent of the population is affected by the resulting chronic sleep deprivation. “We sleep now about 20 per cent less than what our ancestors slept around the beginning of the century,” Dr. Moscovitch adds. Over the last 100 years, the average amount of sleep dipped from nine hours per night to barely over six hours. “The reason we don’t get enough sleep is because Thomas Edison created the light bulb and he manufactured daylight,” Harnett opines. “For it used to be when the sun got up, we got up and when the sun went down, we went down.” As society shifted into a 24-hour cycle, people began cramming more into each day at the expense of shuteye. Research, however, shows that human beings do not function the same throughout a 24-hour period. Decreased cognitive functioning — also known as circadian lows — typically occur between 1 pm and 4 pm, and between 3 am and 6 am. “Our body basically begins to shut down a bit and repair itself from the demands of the day or the demands of the day before,” Harnett explains. “So during that time, it is the worst time to be making critical decisions. It is the worst time to have the most physically demanding challenges placed in front of us.” Dr. Moscovitch points out that there is a correlation between circadian lows and the most common window during which accidents and mistakes occur in the workplace. Most single motor vehicle accidents happen during the slump in the middle of the night. “The second spike for accidents and mistakes is in the early afternoon [when] most people might be in a semi-twilight state even if they are sitting [in] their office, driving or they might be in a meeting where they don’t remember what was discussed,” he offers.

Sleep disorders are chronic medical conditions.

EYES WIDE SHUT Another condition associated with fatigue and sleep disorders is called presenteeism. Although employees physically show up for work, they may not be productive and working to the best of their abilities. In an office environment, Dr. Kryger says sleep deprivation results in lower productivity, has a negative impact on cognitive functioning, slows down one’s reaction, significantly reduces the ability to respond appropriately to stressful sit-

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uations and makes it difficult to concentrate, reason, make decisions and be analytical. Those who are sleep-deprived are also irritable, touchy and have a tendency to hyper-respond. “You can always recognize someone who is sleep deprived because their mood is just — you don’t want to be around them,” he notes. Although the amount of sleep a person requires for optimal functioning ranges from six to eight hours a night, the quality of sleep is equally important. For example, someone who suffers from sleep apnea and repeatedly wakes up during the night may never pass from the lighter stages of sleep into the deep quality, rapid-eye movement stage. This can affect the production of the human growth hormone, which is only released when a person goes into a state of deep, long sleep, called the delta sleep wave. “That is what we call the quality of sleep,” Harnett explains. Lacking in restful sleep or adequate amounts of it can also depress the immune system, as the growth hormone is responsible for repairing body tissues and the stresses which the organs have been put under during the course of the day. Specific occupations and work schedules also come into play. An average shift worker sleeps one hour less in a 24hour period than a non-shift worker, Dr. Kryger notes. Research has also shown that 60 to 80 per cent of shift workers, which include those in professions like nursing, trucking, aviation and policing, suffer from sleep problems. A study, released in July of 2012 by researchers at the University of Iowa found that police officers who slept fewer than six hours per night were more susceptible to chronic fatigue and health problems, such as being overweight or obese and contracting diabetes or heart disease. Officers on the evening or night shifts were also 14 times more likely to get less restful sleep than their day-shift colleagues and worked more backto-back shifts, which exacerbated their sleep deficit. “It has an impact on our quality of life, health in general,” Dr. Moscovitch says, pointing to an increase in disability, absenteeism, presenteeism and accidents at home and at work.

shut-eye should not exceed 30 to 40 minutes to avoid falling into a deep sleep. Exceeding that threshold means moving from the light stages of sleep — which are relatively easy to wake up from and resume the routine — into deep sleep that can affect immediate post-nap performance, such as the Air Canada pilot, who rested for 75 minutes instead of the regulated 40 minutes as stipulated in the company policy, Harnett cautions. If a longer nap is required, she suggests that it should last at least two hours so that a person can obtain one complete sleep cycle and return to a lighter stage for easy wakening. How to nap appropriately, including taking measures to ensure that a colleague is covering the required job responsibilities during the interim, are among the key elements that Dr. Moscovitch covers when implementing a fatigue management program or introducing sanctioned naps in a new workplace. Regardless of whether it is a sleep-deprived nurse or an operator in the oil industry, he says the reality is employees — especially shiftworkers — will nap, intentional or not. “It is much better to do it in a sanctioned way with somebody covering you appropriately and then you come back having a second wind, functioning much better than to say no napping in the work place,” he advises.

Canadians are racking up a significant sleep debt.

endorsed shut-eye One question that Harnett says she has often been asked when speaking to organizations about fatigue management is whether employees should be allowed to nap at work. Her response is usually negative, unless structured routines are implemented to avoid messing up workers’ circadian rhythms. “If you are going to allow workers to sleep during night shift, they should be regulated naps of a certain length and they should be restricted to the workers taking the nap at the same time all the time,” she advises. “In other words, you don’t have Bob taking a nap at 1 am one night and 3 am the next night and 2 am the next night.” While no nap is too short, afternoon 42

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KEEP ON TRUCKING Demographics and the long hours spent on the road are among a host of factors that make sleep apnea a significant health and safety risk in the commercial trucking sector. An aging workforce, the sedentary nature of the job (which contributes to a high body mass index common to many truckers) and the high proportion of males in the sector — sleep apnea being more common in men — are among the reasons why sleep apnea rates in the commercial trucking industry exceed the North American average. A 2002 study on the prevalence of sleep apnea among commercial truck drivers by the American Transportation Research Institute in Arlington, Virginia found that 28 per cent of commercial truckers have mild to severe sleep apnea — a significant increase from an estimated five to 10 per cent in North America. In May, the Canadian Trucking Alliance partnered with OSA Canada Inc. — a company that provides a therapy program for drivers with obstructive sleep apnea — to launch a full-service sleep apnea program for commercial truck drivers. The initiative screens, tests, equips and trains commercial drivers who have been diagnosed with sleep apnea on how to use continuous positive airway pressure machines and masks to treat sleep disorders. Toronto-based Stephen Laskowski, senior vice-president of the Ontario Trucking Association and the Canadian Trucking Alliance, says the driving force behind the pilot was the proposed legislation down south that would subject all drivers with a body mass index of 35 or higher to mandatory sleep apnea screening. This would mean Canadian drivers operating in the United States with a commercial driver’s

Final Rule Down south, changes are looming on the horizon with respect to medical evaluations required for many commercial driver’s license holders, including truckers and bus drivers. The United States Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. has announced a new safety rule that would require healthcare professionals performing medical examinations for interstate truck and bus drivers to be trained, tested and certified on the specific physical qualifications that affect a driver’s ability to safely operate the vehicle. The final rule will also see the creation of a national online database of medical examiners who have completed the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s certification process. By May 21, 2014, all certified medical examiners must be on the national registry database and drivers must obtain a medical examination from a certified examiner. Medical examiners that fail to maintain federal standards will be removed from the registry, a statement from the agency notes. By holding medical examiners accountable to higher standards of practice, the new rule seeks to raise the safety bar and ensure that healthcare professionals conducting exams keep in mind all the demands required to operate large trucks and passenger buses safely, the statement adds. While eyestrain and chronic stress are two health issues commercial drivers face, job-related and performance-affecting medical problems can include sleep apnea, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, painful, chronic hemorrhoids and muscular and skeletal strain, a statement from Mayo Clinic noted in September, 2011.

license are required to comply with the regulations. “If carriers are going to continue to do business in the United States and they obviously are — it is our biggest trading partner — we are going to have to develop a solution for this,” Laskowski says. “So we began to explore what options were out there for carriers to comply with possible future legislation or amended regulations.” Mark Sylvia, president of OSA Canada Inc. in Burlington, Ontario, says the focus to date has been on education and explaining how the program works, including providing carriers with financial options for the services. “We are still introducing the concept to trucking firms,” he says. As part of the initiative, Sylvia is working alongside Dr. Mark Berger, president and chief medical officer of Precision Pulmonary Diagnostics in Houston, Texas, which developed a similar program in the United States. Although the pilot was designed for regulatory compliance, Laskowski reports that the program down south has reaped benefits like enhanced performance on the road and better driver retention. Drivers in the program have also indicated that not only has their workplace safety improved, but their lifestyle and family situation too, since they are getting more restful sleep. However, Dr. Moscovitch, who was involved in the development the North American Fatigue Management program for CMV Transportation, says there is a long way to go from launching an initiative and making it happen in a practical way. The pilot program, set to launch in 2013, aims to manage fatigue in a motor-carrier operating environment. The challenge is convincing companies to make the short-term

investment for long-term gain. “Until it becomes a mandatory component of being screened for these conditions as part of having your driver physical, really we are unlikely to see a huge change,” he says. ACTION PLAN Although employees have a responsibility to show up to work fit for duty, Dr. Moscovitch is of the mind that corporate, industry and government representatives are responsible for ensuring that fatigue management programs are in place. Creating awareness and providing education at all levels is the first step to implementing fatigue management programs, which provide appropriate and relevant resources for affected individuals, he notes. Dr. Kryger points out that employees across all industries need to make sleep a priority again by ensuring that they are receiving the appropriate quality and quantity of shut-eye. “They need to do whatever they need to do to get up to seven to nine hours and that is critically important,” he stresses. If an individual is exhibiting symptoms of a sleep disorder, Dr. Kryger recommends that a clinical evaluation be conducted as soon as possible. While most sleep conditions are treatable, putting off treatment can result in grave consequences. He cites a patient who held off from receiving sleep apnea treatment and suffered a stroke in the process. Employees can also take simple measures to ensure a better night’s sleep. Harnett suggests keeping a pre-sleep routine, such as reading or having a glass of warm milk before bed. Making bedrooms as dark as possible with curtains that block out light and covering all sources of artificial light, including turning digital alarm clocks to face another direction, helps. She also recommends turning off all sounds and vibrations from devices like cell phones, as even a small distraction can bump someone out of a deep-sleep cycle. In August of 2012, researchers at the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York found that a two-hour exposure to electronic devices with self-luminous backlight displays resulted in melatonin suppression. Melatonin, the body’s natural sleep hormone, is only produced in the absence of light. As such, reduced melatonin makes it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. Some companies in the financial sector have already acknowledged the effects of fatigue and sleep deprivation by prohibiting employees from signing any documents within 48 hours of landing in a country with a different time zone. This is to avoid a situation in which an impaired state caused by sleep deprivation result in a multi-million-dollar mistake. “It’s interesting how financial companies pay attention to these kinds of things,” Harnett observes. Moscovitch points to the emerging concept of chain responsibility that is starting to drive corporate policies. “It means that anyone who has a say in a particular operation while benefiting from the consequences also shares some of the liability.” Follow us on Twitter @OHSCanada

Ann Ruppenstein is a writer in Toronto.

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

LAW FILE

COMPENSATION

Above and Beyond By Samuel Dunsiger

he massive $1.46 million in compensation awarded last October to a former WalMart employee in Windsor, Ontario has cast a spotlight on bullying and harassment in the workplace. In September, Meredith Boucher from Chatham, Ontario, filed a lawsuit against WalMart Canada Corp. and Jason Pinnock, her former manager. Boucher alleged that she was forced to leave her position in November of 2009 after suffering mental abuse from Pinnock, who belittled and demeaned her job performance in front of employees she supervised and regularly spoke to her in a coarse and profane manner, notes the statement of claim. Sheri-Lynn Medaglia, a lawyer with Windsor-based Shulgan Martini Marusic LLP who served as Boucher’s counsel, calls the case “some“Punitive thing out of the ordinary” of most wrongful dismissal claims. “The compensation damages was awarded due to the level of abuse that Ms. Boucher endured,” she says. must focus Apart from the intentional infliction of mental suffering, she also sought on the compensation for damages that includdefendant’s ed sexual harassment, discrimination and assault by an assistant manager, who punched her in the arm on more than misconduct.” one occasion. The statement of claim adds that Pinnock’s conduct constitutes constructive dismissal by creating a “work environment in which no reasonable person would be expected to continue.” The jury of six unanimously ruled that Boucher was constructively dismissed, which is a form of wrongful dismissal, notes Michele Hollins, a lawyer with Dunphy Best Blocksom LLP in Edmonton. “One in which the employer does not expressly terminate the employment contract but effectively changes the job description or the work environment of the employee so fundamentally that the employee’s job can be said to no longer exist,” Hollins explains. She was awarded $1.21 million against the corporation — $20,000 for breach of contract, $200,000 in aggravated damages, $1 million in punitive damages and $10,000 for assault. She was also compensated $100,000 in damages against Pinnock for inflicting mental suffering and $150,000 in punitive damages.

DESIGNING DETERRENCE “An award of punitive damages is always based on the facts of each case,” Medaglia points out, noting that the purpose of the award is to punish or deter the party from undertaking similar wrongdoings in the future. If the general damages award is not deemed sufficient to serve that purpose, punitive damages can apply. “In this 44

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case, the award reflects the jury’s view of the severity of the conduct and the need to deter,” she suggests, noting that the seriousness of the offence — not the size of the company — influences the amount of punitive damages awarded. “Punitive damages are intended for conduct that is so malicious and outrageous that it is deserving of punishment on its own and only in exceptional cases,” says Carolyn Johnston, a lawyer with Torkin Manes LLP in Toronto. “Punitive damages must focus on the defendant’s misconduct, not on the plaintiff ’s loss.” Hollins suggests that “it would make sense that a large company might be the subject of a larger punitive damage award to accomplish that level of deterrence.” Alex Roberton, a spokesperson for WalMart Canada Corp. in Mississauga, Ontario, says the company is disappointed with the decision and surprised by the exceptional damages awarded. “We are reviewing the decision in detail and will consider all options, including the possibility of an appeal. WalMart is built on a culture that insists on respect for the individual at all times, without exception, and we will continue to promote respect in every area of our operation.” Jacqueline Power, assistant professor at the Odette School of Business at the University of Windsor, says even if an appeal is launched, the damage is already done as “these large settlements are publicized and that negative information has hit the market. It motivates [the company] to make a change.” Boucher’s lawsuit was one of four against WalMart Canada Corp. Three female assistant managers from the east Windsor store, each alleging in separate statements of claim that they suffered similar mistreatment from Pinnock and another manager in 2009 and 2010, are seeking at least $50,000 in damages. WIDER MESSAGE Power says this case may influence how workplace bullying is approached. To her knowledge, this is the largest settlement of its kind in Canadian history. “This is something employers will notice,” she suggests. Power compares the potential impact of this case to sexual harassment, which was an issue that organizations did not take seriously years ago, until heavy-handed settlements changed the public’s attitude. Johnston says the ruling serves as a good reminder for employers to ensure that they not only have sound harassment policies in place, but that these policies are followed. For Medaglia, the case “sends a message to employers that workers will not tolerate workplace harassment and that it is imperative for employers to intervene.” She suggests that jurors were displeased with the corporation’s failure to respond to the identified concerns and wanted to ensure that similar events would not be repeated in the future. “I hope the WalMart case will bring players to understand that [workplace bullying] isn’t a joke,” says Jim Wright, na-

tional health and safety specialist with the United Food and Commercial Workers’ Canada union in Toronto. “It is very, very serious.” Power notes that workplace bullying can lead to higher turnover and lower productivity for the company. The physical and mental effects on employees who are bullied at work range from chronic stress and depression to heart disease. According to the statement of claim, Boucher’s mistreatment “caused her to suffer stress and anxiety to the extent that she was required to seek medical treatment and to receive prescription medication.” Boucher’s shift duties require her to be responsible for the operations in various store departments, including maintaining records to ensure that store procedures adhere to company requirements and health regulations. Pinnock began a pattern of conduct to punish Boucher after she refused to falsify maintenance and temperature logs when it came to light that a staff member did not complete the logs for the bakery and dairy departments over the Victoria Day weekend. Boucher was terminated without notice or cause, notes the statement of claim. Medaglia adds that constructive dismissal may be established where the employer makes a substantial change to a fundamental term of the employee’s contract without the employee’s consent, or where working conditions have become so intolerable that the employee has no alternative but to resign. This can include changes in salary or responsibilities. “True workplace bullying creates a hostile and unten-

able environment in which no employee should be without redress,” Hollins says, adding that the threshold for proving constructive dismissal is always a matter of degree. “How different is the current situation from the initial employment contract or, in the case of workplace harassment, from a reasonable or tolerable workplace?” A FINE LINE Boucher’s refusal to falsify maintenance records also brings to light the issue of workplace insubordination. “If I ask you as an employer to rob a bank, it is not insubordination since it is against the law,” Wright cites by way of example. “If I ask you to go help load the truck and if you say, ‘No, that is not part of my job,’ then that is insubordination.” Wright notes that mitigating circumstances need to be considered when dealing with insubordinate employees. They include the employee’s work history, the situation at hand and how long the employee has been with the company. Power says “the discipline should be task or behaviouroriented” when addressing insubordination in the workplace. The high damages awarded in this case underscores the importance of not taking workplace harassment lightly. “There has been a movement towards stopping bullying both at the workplace and elsewhere,” Wright says. “The WalMart decision brings to light these things.” Follow us on Twitter @OHSCanada

Samuel Dunsiger is a writer in Toronto.

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE

Ultraviolet Radiation

Shades of Beauty By Sabrina Nanji

anned skin may be in, but Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty’s recent announcement banning youth under 18 from using indoor tanning equipment highlights the dangers of exposing the skin to ultraviolet (UV) radiation in an artificial setting. Studies have shown that the younger the tanner, the higher the risk of damage to the skin. Nova Scotia and British Columbia have already introduced protection for teenaged tan-seekers. Ontario followed suit in September of 2012, with the Town of Oakville becoming the first municipality in the province to ban teens from indoor tanning. While protecting youth from the dangers of tanning beds is a step in the right direction, it raises the question of potential exposure to those who operate these beds for a living. Tanning beds and sunlamps use fluorescent bulbs that emit high levels of UV rays. Tanned Prolonged exposure to these rays can cause skin cancer, as tanned skin is essentially skin is damaged skin. “When your skin changes colour after being exposed to UV rays, it is essentially because your skin is producing melanin to try to protect itself,” notes information from damaged the Canadian Cancer Society. In 2009, the World Health Organization skin. in Washington, D.C. upgraded the classification of UV-emitting devices to the highest form of known carcinogen, putting tanning beds on par with asbestos and tobacco. The International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France notes that exposure to UV radiation from indoor tanning equipment before the age of 35 increases the risk of melanoma — the deadliest form of skin cancer.

HARMFUL ELEMENTS The hazards inherent in a tanning salon are by no means unique, as they share many of the same elements as traditional beauty salons — one of them being electrical hazards,

suggests Bob Whiting, senior project manager with the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) in Hamilton, Ontario. “The amount of electricity in a single tanning booth is more than you would have in a typical house,” Whiting says. “A typical tanning booth might use 50 to 100 fluorescent bulbs in one booth. Each bulb is running [at] 100, 150 watts,” he adds, noting that the consequences of any kind of electrical exposure could be “very severe.” Steve Gilroy, executive director of the Joint Canadian Tanning Association, says from Vancouver that most of the workers hired in tanning salons are between 18 and 30 years old. He assures that no real risk is involved unless tanning beds are switched on, such as during relamping, which is usually performed by a manager or a maintenance worker. “When you do a relamp, it is pretty quick. You pull the lamps, put the new lamps in, you fire up the bed and make sure it is running correctly, and that is about two to three minutes. That’s like a starting session on an exposure level for a tanning bed.” Susan Chartier, president of SilveryBlue Butterfly Day Spa, Salon and Boutique in Oakville, Ontario, says tanning beds are switched on and off using a remote control and most beds are equipped with time delays. Her salon got rid of tanning beds a few years ago and now offers only air-brush spray tanning service. “I saw it was a business without a future and that our focus should be on improving the skin,” Chartier says. While UV exposure affects the user more than the employee operating a tanning bed, there is nevertheless a risk involved when maintaining and cleaning such equipment. It is a good practice to have the tanning lights come on only when the worker is out of the room, notes information from the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers. During routine maintenance and cleaning, workers may often find themselves in the beds. Geoffrey Clark, senior occupational hygienist in prevention and occupational disease initiatives at WorkSafeBC in Richmond, British Columbia, believes that personal protective equipment is a worker’s first line of defence. Guidelines also recommend employees per-

Beyond Skin-Deep Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer, but it is also one of the most preventable, notes information from the Canadian Cancer Society. Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, whether from the sun’s rays or tanning equipment, puts one at an elevated risk of non-melanoma or melanoma skin cancers. The former refers to a group of cancers that develop in the upper layers of the skin and can be treated if diagnosed early, while the latter is a rarer but deadlier form of skin cancer. Increased UV exposure is the most common risk factor for melanoma. To offer better protection from the harm of indoor tanning,

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the Canadian Cancer Society lists the following as among the preventive measures that should be taken: • Federal, provincial or territorial governments should regulate the indoor tanning industry by requiring UV-emitting devices to be registered, staff to be licensed, and equipment and premises to be inspected regularly; • Ultraviolet-emitting devices should be labeled in a way that clearly explains the health risks; and, • The indoor tanning industry should avoid using misleading phrases, such as “safe,” “no harmful rays,” “no adverse effects” or similar wording.

forming maintenance checks to use a UV meter. In cases where a lamp needs to be replaced, donning UVresistant clothing, including covering the hands with gloves, will help protect the skin from pigment damage, Gilroy says. Whiting suggests wearing protective eye goggles that also block harmful UV light on both the front and sides of the face, similar to those worn by outdoor workers or welders. Protective eyewear used with sunlamps or tanning beds must meet criteria stipulated in Health Canada’s Guidelines for Tanning Salon Owners, Operators and Users. The guide also recommends a buffer to guard employees working on bulbs. “A physical barrier, like a clear UV-transmitting Plexiglass cover, should always be in place between the lamps and the person being exposed to UV radiation, covering the top and bottom sections of a two-part, hinged tanning bed,” the guide notes. This barrier will prevent injury to the user in case of accidental lamp breakage and guard against thermal burns from close contact with the bulbs. SETTING STANDARDS The federal Radiation Emitting Devices Act sets out the standards regulating the design, construction or functioning of radiation-emitting devices. It includes the provision of protective mechanisms, such as an emergency switch that, when activated, de-energizes the radiation source and a device, like a timer, to control the duration of UV emissions. The hazards involved in operating radiation-emitting machinery require most tanning salons to undergo a certification process that ensures each worker knows how to safely

operate the beds. For example, Smart Tan certification is a mandatory online test for salon workers, who must achieve at least 80 per cent before they can become operators. Avoiding the hazards associated with operating tanning beds is one thing; resisting the pressure from employers on salon workers to adopt a tanned look is another. “It mainly struck me that the people who worked there would be under tremendous psychological pressure to do a lot of tanning themselves,” Whiting suggests. Kate Neale, a 22-year-old from Belleville, Ontario says she used to tan up to 16 times a month when she worked at a salon. The blue-eyed blonde, who contracted melanoma, felt obligated to undergo frequent tanning as her complexion is fairer than her co-workers’. Neale was offered 12 free tans a month. “Three or four times a year, they would do surprise evaluations,” she recalls. “One of the criteria on their checklist is how you look on that day, how tanned you were. At the end, it did change the score of how you were evaluated.” Gilroy contends that those who seek employment at a tanning salon should be aware that looking tan is part of the job. However, moderation is essential for tanning salon employees, who may feel pressured to spot a golden hue. Employers also have a part to play, Gilroy adds. “Sometimes as owners, we need to step back and say look, you have got to maintain a tan and you don’t have to go that far.” Follow us on Twitter @OHSCanada

Sabrina Nanji is editorial assistant of health and safety news.

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SAFETY GEAR

EYE PROTECTION

All Eyes on Eyes By Greg Burchell

ast June, forestry workers in British Columbia came across rudimentary signs warning them that steel nails of various sizes had been driven into many of the trees in the block they were preparing to harvest. While the nails were likely an act of reprisal by environmentalists aimed at the lumber company working in the area, it nevertheless presented a hazardous — even potentially deadly — situation for loggers. The thick steel nails in the trees can shatter the massive saw blades used in lumber processing mills, sending shards of hot metal zipping through the air and towards workers, putting them in danger of serious wounds, such as lacerations and eye damage. This scenario is just one of many situations presented across all industries, where a worker’s eyesight could be jeopardized by the work performed. It also highlights the importance of protecting the eyes at all times. The risk of ocular injury is inherent in “anything where there might be a case of metal in the eye, a projectile, welding, blunt-force trauma,” says Dr. Cheryl Zimmer, interim director of occupational vision plans with the Canadian Association of Optometrists in Ottawa. The same applies to professional athletes and hockey players. “A puck comes at you or a stick end comes at you, any one of those things can cause a serious eye injury,” Dr. Zimmer adds. “Even a landscaper who is using a blower or a weed whacker should be wearing safety glasses.” She points out that the worst eye injuries are often those related to organic matter, such as a sliver of tree branch, a piece of dirt or a leaf in the eye, especially if the contact occurs at the speed and force of a weed whacker. “If you get a piece of wood splinter in the eye, they harbour a lot of bacteria. Something that is wood-based can lead to significant corneal infections and ulcerations,” Dr. Zimmer says, adding that a severe bacterial injury could lead to sight loss.

ERR ON CAUTION The best prevention is to avoid getting anything in the eyes in the first place. The most effective way to achieve that is to have a layer of protection over the eyes. Eye protectors are designed to protect against three types of hazards, namely impact, splash and radiation, which includes both visible and invisible light rays. Eye protectors are grouped into six classifications based on Canadian Standards Association’s (CSA) Z94.3-07 Industrial Eye and Face Protectors standard. The six classes, with the protective function increasing in ascending order, are spectacles (which incorporate side protection), goggles, welding helmets, welding hand shields, hoods and face shields. Prior to purchasing safety glasses, employers should conduct a hazard assessment as safety glasses and goggles are hardly one-size-fits-all. 48

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The most common danger to a worker’s eyes is the threat of an object ricocheting at a high speed and lodging itself in the eyeball, potentially causing permanent damage, says Claudio Dente, president of Dentec Safety Specialists Inc. in Newmarket, Ontario. This risk is present in a variety of tasks that include grinding metal, cutting wood, hammering or pounding on hard materials like concrete or metal, and working around lathes and equipment that cut hard material. “The CSA certification impact and testing process states that if you are selling a safety glass or goggle, it has got to meet that impact test so you know you are being protected,” Dente says. In the event that a small foreign body embeds itself in the eyeball, it should be removed as quickly as possible, Dr. Zimmer advises. The longer the foreign object remains lodged, the harder it is to remove as the eye will heal over the object instead of releasing it. A piece of metal that gets into the centre of the eye can cause permanent damage, create scarring and lead to vision loss almost immediately. “Auto mechanics constantly have pieces of metal in their eyes and the longer you wait to get it out, the worse it is,” Dr. Zimmer cautions, noting that it is likely not a cause for Vision Planning For workers who operate in environments that generate dust or caustic materials, such as factories, contact lenses may not be an option due to the risk of particles getting lodged beneath the lens. For these workers, prescription safety glasses become a necessity. Every province in Canada has a safety eyewear plan, in which the Canadian Association of Optometrists (CAO) acts as a liaison between client companies, optometry offices, employees and a laboratory to create custom eyewear for employees of a specific group, explains Dr. Cheryl Zimmer, interim director of the occupational vision plan with the CAO in Ottawa. The Occupational Vision Plan — a comprehensive industrial protective eyewear program administered by the CAO — ensures that employees receive protective eyewear that meets or exceeds existing workplace safety standards, including the Canadian Standards Association’s Z94.3 standard. The CAO receives about 25 custom lens requests a day, with the cost of both frames and lenses hovering between $60 and $180. “There are some companies that require polycarbonate lenses, which are more impact-resistant, but can be very weak in terms of scratching. And they are very weak to solvents,” Dr. Zimmer notes. As a result, some client companies do not allow their employees to use polycarbonate lenses.

photos: clockwise from top left - honeywell safety products, encon safety products

concern if the eye is flushed and feels better within half an hour. Otherwise, a visit to an optometrist is in order. “Very often, we can have something embedded in the cornea and not really know. It feels a little aggravating but not bad, but the sooner you are looked at, the easier it is to remove it.” In addition to impact hazards, there is also the threat of chemical splashes, which may require CSA class two protection. This means donning a pair of eye goggles that cover a larger area of the face and fit snugly to the skin through suction to keep unwanted liquids from dripping down into the eyes. Dust and other airborne contaminants can be neutralized with the use of foam-lined glasses — a hybrid between glasses and goggles. SIDE MATTERS Dr. Zimmer says she recommends workers wear glasses with side shields to prevent objects from entering the eye from the side. “It is amazing what will get around the glasses without the shields,” she notes, highlighting the importance of good fit. “You don’t want the glasses to be digging into your cheeks or the side of your head, but you definitely want to make sure there are as Goggles, which can few gaps as possible,” she adds. Ensuring a snug seal around the protect against face are the newer foam-lined glasses, liquids, come such as those offered by Guard Dogs with baffle line of products by Encon Safety Prod- vents that let air ucts in Houston, Texas. The foam liner in but keep liquids around the lens of these otherwise out at the expense of normal-looking glasses provides a seal comfort. against the skin when worn properly. “A lot just depends on what you are doing and the environment you find yourself in,” says Hardy Sides, business unit manager of personal protective equipment with Encon Safety Products, who reports that foam-lined glasses are marketed towards the industrial sector. “They are meant for high debris areas, if you have got a lot of particulate in the air and you really need to seal off the eye portion of your face.” Erica Osley-Brown, group product line leader for eye, head and face protection at Honeywell Safety Products in Smithfield, Rhode Island, which also owns the Uvex and North Safety brands, says foam-lined eyewear is becoming very popular in foundries and the oil and gas industries — any sector where dust and fine particles are generated. Foam-lined glasses offer a good medium for industries that require more protection than those offered by conventional safety glasses, but do not want to go to the extent of having their workers don eye goggles. “They want sealed eyewear, so they use the foam eyewear with either a temple or headband and that provides that additional coverage to minimize the amount of eye injuries they experience,” she says. “Many of the styles have straps, so they act like goggles but look like safety glasses,” adds Dente, noting that the sales of foam-lined glasses have risen over the past couple of years. That said, there are work environments in which goggles do not provide adequate protection. They include workplaces that involve handling acid and alkali, degreasing, plating op-

erations, glass breakage, chemical spray, liquid bitumen, sand blasting and shot blasting. For these jobs, two styles of goggles are available: indirect vent goggles with perforations on the side to protect against impact and dust, and chemical-splash goggles with baffled vents to prevent liquid from seeping into the eye. In the event of a chemical splash, the goggles serve as a temporary barrier while the worker runs to an eyewash facility. “The goggle provides you that short-term protection while you get over to first-aid care,” says Dente, who reports that his company sells more safety glasses than goggles by far. “Goggles are big, they can be hot and uncomfortable — you have got a big piece of rubber or vinyl that is sitting against the face.” FIT AND FINISH A proper seal is imperative, as a pair of ill-fitted safety glasses cannot perform its protective function. Osley-Brown says Honeywell’s eye protective equipment is tested to ensure proper fit on different head forms and shapes, and solicits feedback from an end-user panel who participates in the designing stage. “We design to make sure that it meets the requirements of the Alderson head form, and we hit all the touch points we need to for coverage,” OsleyBrown reports. The Alderson head form is a generic head mould with facial features used for eyewear testing. “Style is important, but we have to make sure we launch a product that has a good fit for as many faces as we can.” Dente notes that universal fitting glasses will fit about 95 per cent of the population. For wearers who may require more extensive custom-fitting, glasses with telescopic or ratcheting temple arms and nose bridge adjustments that allow for more microscopic adjustments are also available. Many companies are beginning to offer glasses, which feature a lower nose profile than traditional glasses, to better conform to Asian bone structures. “It could be Asian populations, Polish people, Italians with different facial features — we have to ensure the glasses fit properly. We may have to offer two or three styles to accommodate everybody,” Dente says. Dr. Zimmer recommends getting a pair of prescription safety glasses from an optometrist, who is trained to ensure proper fit. She points out that some safety glasses sold in big box stores “fit so poorly that you just end up taking them off and then you are not being protected at all.” Visibility is also an important factor. For employees who toil in work environments with high heat or humidity, safety glasses that offer anti-fog or scratch-resistant coatings may be required, as protective eyewear that fogs up and scratches easily are the most common problems cited. To address this need, Osley-Brown reports that Honeywell offers frames that allow users to replace the lenses, thereby reducing the cost associated with replacing the entire protective eyewear. “In our construction category, lens tints are very popular because people are outside and they require sunglass lens tints in their safety eyewear,” she adds. www.ohscanada.com

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

photos: clockwise from bottom left: honeywell safety products; encon safety products.

LOOK & FEEL GOOD Once the type of eye protective equipment has been identified, the wearer’s preference needs to be considered to ensure compliance. “They have a say in many cases of what they’d like to wear,” Dente adds. The verdict from workers seems to indicate that if glasses do not look good or fit comfortably, it does not matter how good their protective function is — they will simply not be worn. As a result, manufacturers have responded to that need by expanding the style and options of safety glasses available. “The evolution of products has been more style-focused,” Osley-Brown notes, citing the Astrospec safety glasses launched by Uvex back in 1990 as an example. “It was a brow and temples and a big lens, and you could go into every factory and every person had an Astrospec on,” she recalls. “Now, you see people wearing the style that fits them, frames that are designed specifically for women or for Asian fits. There is a lot more to choose from,” Osley-Brown says. “Our standard is, if it looks good enough that you wear it home or you forget you have your eyewear on, then we have achieved success.” The number of variables to consider when choosing a protective eyewear can prove daunting for some employers. Fortunately, lens material is often not one of those issues, as all CSA-approved lenses use a polycarbonate lens. “It is impactresistant, unlike glass or even plastic. If it is hit by a projectile, it should not shatter,” Dr. Zimmer says. While the lenses are almost always made of polycarbonate, the frame material — which the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety in Hamilton, Ontario says is often heat-resistant — can also be made of metal if the Glasses range from just demands of the work permits. the basics (right) to topDente suggests that price is of-the-line, with features not a priority when purchas- such as anti-fog coatings, ing a pair of safety glasses, not- scratch-resistance, and ing that a pair of glasses that even Bluetooth speakers is comfortable and looks good built at the frames (below). should not cost more than $5 to $10. “Cosmetically, they look great now. Safety glass sunglasses look like sunglasses you would buy in a high-end sunglass shop.” And for workers who need to constantly communicate through cell phones, Honeywell recently unveiled an interchangeable-lens frame system that adds a healthy dose of technology to traditional safety glasses. The Uvex AcoustiMaxx stereo Bluetooth eyewear features an integrated Bluetooth headset and microphone that offers hands-free communication on the jobsite. The wrap-around lens is designed for maximum versatility and meets the American National Standards Institute’s (ANSI) Z87.1-2010 standard for impact protection. The dual-purpose eyewear, which comes with anti-fog lens coating, offers a lens replacement system. “Uvex AcoustiMaxx is ideal for safety managers faced with protecting workers in environments where communication is challenging, yet essential,” David Iannelli, senior product manager for Honeywell Safety Products, says in a statement. 50

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Bridging Standards Come 2013, Encon Safety Products in Houston, Texas will move into Canadian markets. With that move, the company will need to factor in the “slight, marginal differences” between the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) certification standards, says Hardy Sides, Encon’s business unit manager of personal protective equipment. “There are some specifications that Canada requires in their certification that is not required in the ANSI, and it makes just enough difference where you really have to get certification in both,” Sides says. While the company’s line of safety eyewear is certified to both standards, the CSA standard requires lenses to have a larger area of coverage than their American counterparts, which will have an impact on the lens offerings they can source from vendors, Sides notes. “That is a difference we have to be cognizant of when we are assessing a new product coming in, making sure we have got that 17-millimetre coverage requirement.”

TIME’S UP Letting go of something that has outlived its usefulness can be a hard thing to do. But when it comes to safety glasses, it is advisable to have them replaced sooner rather than later. Dr. Zimmer recommends that prescription safety glasses should be given a good inspection every year and replaced as soon as soon as they are scratched. For safety glasses bought offthe-shelf, they may need to be replaced more frequently. “The little shields that you buy that are nonprescription don’t last very long, because they are not optical quality,” Dr. Zimmer cautions. Those who work with solvents will also need to be cognizant of the impact that fumes and liquids have on lenses. “I knew of a company where they dealt with a lot of paints and solvents and eventually, the glasses would start to deteriorate from the solvent use,” she notes. Sides says most users should expect to get at least two weeks out of their non-prescription, polycarbonate glasses. However, that also depends on the level and manner of use, as some users “are a little rougher with their equipment than others.” Ultimately, the job of safety glasses is to guard against hazards from coming into contact with the windows to our soul. “If a pair of safety glasses breaks while you are doing a job and you are safe but the glasses are broken, then they have done their job properly. They have protected you,” Dr. Zimmer says. Follow us on Twitter @OHSCanada

Greg Burchell is assistant editor of

health and safety news.

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ACCIDENT PREVENTION

Electrical Hazards

Under Current NO CHILD’S PLAY: As children, most of us can recall shuffling our socked feet across a fuzzy carpet and getting a jolt of electricity when reaching out to touch someone nearby. Such novice science experiments attest to the human body’s ability to serve as a conductor of electricity. They are also a reminder of the dangers associated with working around electrical currents that can make a routine task, such as changing a light bulb, a potentially deadly endeavour. A voltage applied to a human body causes an electric current through the tissues. If the current is sufficiently high, it will cause muscle contraction, fibrillation of the heart and tissue burns.

DEADLY CONTACT: Statistics from the 2011 Ontario Electrical Safety Report by the Electrical Safety Authority offer a sobering reminder of the hazards associated with electrical currents. From 2002 to 2011, there were 144 electrical-related fatalities: 74 people died from electrocution or from burn effects, and 70 died from fires — the ignition source of which was determined to be electrical. Although Ontario has seen a decrease in the number of deaths caused by electricity in the last decade, occupational electrocutions continue to outnumber non-occupational deaths by a ratio of two-to-one.

A PRIMER: All electrical systems have the potential to cause harm. Electricity can be either static or dynamic: the former is the result of contact and friction with another surface, while the latter arises from the movement of electrons through a conductor and poses a more common risk to electrical workers, notes information from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) in Hamilton, Ontario. Electrical shock, burns, falls and electrocution are the four main types of injuries associated with electrical contact. These injuries can occur through direct contact with electrical energy or when the electricity arcs through a gas, such as air, to a person who is grounded. A startled reaction can also cause a person to fall from a ladder or an aerial bucket.

BIG FOUR: While operating power tools, printers and even kettles can pose an electrical risk in a regular office setting, the Electrical Safety Authority in Mississauga, Ontario attributes 70 per cent of injuries and fatalities associated with electrical contact to the following: • Power line contact accounted for almost half of all electrical-related fatalities in the past decade. High-risk groups include the construction, public works, farming, roofing and outdoor painting sectors; • Electrical workers bear the brunt of occupational deaths with at least two critical injuries sustained by electricians each year, often as a result of unsafe work practices; • Misuse of products or counterfeit equipment account for a high number of such incidents, as more than 1,000 fires and an average of five fatalities each year are caused by unapproved material; and, • Aging buildings and infrastructure induce approximately 1,000 fires associated with electricity and an average of four fatalities annually.

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CARE AND CAUTION: Regardless of whether or not a worker is operating power tools or repairing downed power lines, caution must be exercised to ensure that safe work procedures are followed at all times. The CCOHS cites the following safety precautions when working with or near electricity: • Inspect tools, power cords and electrical fittings for damage or wear prior to each use and repair or replace damaged equipment immediately; • Tape cords to walls or floors as nails and staples can damage them, creating fire and shock hazards; • Use cords or equipment rated for the level of amperage or wattage; • Be aware that unusually warm outlets may be a sign that unsafe wiring conditions exists. Unplug any cords to these outlets and do not use until a qualified electrician has checked the wiring; • Always use ladders made of wood or other non-conductive materials when working with or near electricity or power lines; • Place halogen lights away from combustible materials, as halogen bulbs can become very hot and may pose a fire hazard; • Install ground fault circuit interrupters to break the electrical circuit before a current sufficient to cause death or serious injury occurs, especially in wet or damp areas; and, • Know where the breakers and boxes are located in case of an emergency.

MEASURED DISTANCE: A utility worker killed in November while repairing a power line damaged by superstorm Sandy exemplifies the dangers faced by workers who operate near overhead power lines. Guelph Hydro Electric Systems Inc. in Guelph, Ontario, offers the following advice when working near highly-charged electrical wires: • Stay at least three metres away from power lines to avoid the risk of an arc flash. Serious burns are not uncommon even three metres from an electric arc; • Know the size of your equipment and ensure that you are positioned well away from power lines. Depending on the location, power lines can be as low as 3.7 metres from the ground; and, • When piling dirt, gravel and construction or renovation materials, ensure that the piles are located away from power lines to prevent children from climbing too close to overhead lines.

WHEN IT STRIKES: In the event of an electrical contact, staying calm and knowing what to do can make a difference between life and death. Manitoba Hydro recommends the following steps be taken: • Stay on the equipment: It is generally safe to stay on equipment that has made contact with a power line as long as the operator does not touch the equipment and ground at the same time, which can prove fatal. The driver should remain in the vehicle or on the equipment. If possible, try to move the equipment away from the wires. If forced to leave the equipment, as in the case of fire, be sure to jump clear so that no part of the body touches the vehicle and the ground at the same time; • Maintain a distance: Keep everyone away from the equipment, its load or fallen wires. Touching a winch line or the load on the equipment can be fatal. This also applies to broken underground cables; and, • Request for assistance: Rescue can only be attempted safely by a qualified person trained in using special live-line tools. In cases involving high voltage lines, attempting to move a stranded worker using a wooden tool, a dry rope, hose, wood pole or board is dangerous.

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C A N A D A

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So, what’s on your mind? January/February 2013

December 2012

Do you think Canada’s oil and gas sector has a good safety record?

Does multitasking give rise to more mistakes that can put worker safety at risk?

Yes 47%

Yes 88%

No 53%

No 12%

Total Votes

157

Go on — have your say. Check out www.ohscanada.com to vote in our latest poll.

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

TIME OUT

WILD RIDE: This is not for the faint of heart. A female employee at Zellers in Calgary did not let her skirt get in the way when she single-handedly took on an alleged shoplifter. The Calgary Sun reported in November that the employee chased the man out of the store and into the parking lot before getting into a car to try to stop him from leaving. He pulled a knife on her, which she promptly wrestled away. During the struggle, the car started and was driving towards oncoming traffic when it hit three vehicles. Police managed to stop the vehicle and the employee was fortunately unhurt. While the employee’s bravery is commendable, police say people should not put themselves in harm’s way. down time: There is a time and place for everything, but common sense seems to be lacking in this airport employee, who was caught looking at pornography at Toronto Pearson International Airport. A video taken by an airport visitor shows a male worker viewing salacious content on a laptop at an unnamed location in Terminal Three. The offending images have been blurred out in broadcasts of the video, Toronto Star reported on December 11. The airport’s operations centre was notified of the incident and the employee has been disciplined accordingly, says a spokesperson from the Greater Toronto Airports Authority. LIKELY HERO: You can take a paramedic out of work, but you cannot take work out of a paramedic. That could not be more true for this off-duty paramedic in Toronto, who was driving in the city’s east end when a minivan slammed into his vehicle. The impact of the collision sent the paramedic’s vehicle flying in the air while the minivan burst into flames, trapping the impaired driver inside. As soon as he realized that he was not badly hurt, the paramedic went into rescue mode. He sprinted toward the burning van and dragged the driver across three lanes of traffic, fearful that the van would explode. The paramedic, who was hailed a hero by his peers, reportedly said he was happy to be alive. YOU’VE GOT (NO) MAIL: Going postal was exactly

what a mailman in Surrey, British Columbia did when he was attacked and had his truck stolen in broad daylight. The letter carrier was delivering a parcel at a residential street when he was pulled out of his truck. The suspect tried to drive away, but the feisty postman went along on the wild ride by clinging onto the side mirror of the truck, eventually letting go only when the suspect pulled out a can of pepper spray. Another letter carrier working in the same neighbourhood was robbed in the same fashion. Police chalked it up to the holiday season, which sees unusually high volumes of Christmas packages and letters bound for Santa.

PLAY TIME: This Grinch almost managed to steal Christ-

mas. The executive director of the Salvation Army in Toronto was fired after officials foiled his alleged plans to turn a profit on $2 million worth of toys and food donated to the charitable organization. The Toronto Star reported in late November that police uncovered more than 150 skids of porcelain dolls,

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body spray, fruit cups and two high-end bicycles donated by Premier Dalton McGuinty’s office to children at the Salvation Army camp. The executive director, who turned himself in, was fired following an internal investigation and faces 40 charges. He is scheduled to appear in court in January. The toys that were siphoned off from Santa’s sleigh made it just in time to go under the Christmas tree.

NO GLOVE, NO LOVE: It is a move driven by good intentions to protect those who work in the porn industry, but Measure B — a new law in Los Angeles county mandating the use of condoms in adult films, has some performers up in arms. The Daily Beast reported in November that porn stars are far from pleased with the law, fearing they may lose out to business rivals in Europe who don’t use rubber. Some argue that the industry already regulates the health and safety of its performers through regular checkups and documentation. However, those who approve of the Safer Sex in the Film Industry Act believe that it will enhance the well-being of performers and safeguard against testing errors. A classic case of same lens, different view. WALK OVER: Call it a case of mistaken identity, but the

United States Postal Service is defending its mail carrier accused of ignoring a man who collapsed and died near his front door in Denver, Colorado. The dead man, an employee of the Regional Transportation District, was dropped off at home after working the night shift but never made it inside. Family members said the carrier walked by the body to deliver mail but did nothing to help, the Associated Press reported in November. The carrier, who has been temporarily taken off the route, claims he thought the body was a mannequin, a decoration left over from Halloween. A spokesperson of the postal service called it an unfortunate situation that probably would not have happened any other time of the year.

FORBIDDEN KISS: A dentist in Florida was arrested not

only for practising dental hygiene without an active license. His lack of moral hygiene was as much a factor when the poser dentist kissed his female patient on the butt after administering a shot for her toothache, NBCnews.com reported in November. Police said the woman was receiving dental treatment in the apartment of the accused when the harassment took place. The patient was told to pull down her pants for an injection to quell her toothache when he kissed her on her behind. The 47-year-old from Hollywood faces one count of performing illegal dental work.

FRIENDLY SKIES: Flying high may get a new meaning following results of a survey which indicate that employees of Alaska Airlines were named as the happiest in the sky, the Huffington Post reported in November. The rankings — based on employee happiness, job satisfaction, work stress levels and pay — found that the airline came out on top in almost every category, despite reports that their uniforms made workers sick and caused irritation. Follow us on Twitter @OHSCanada

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