Thirteen Canadian employers – including three manufacturing companies – have been honoured as Canada’s Safest Employers in 2012.

The awards, sponsored by Canadian Occupational Safety magazine, were handed out to those employers for outstanding achievements in promoting health and safety in the workplace. The awards covered five different categories, including building and construction, manufacturing, mining and natural resources, services and transportation and utilities.

In the manufacturing category, Concord, Ont.-based Fileco took top honours for its health and safety initiatives that include an extensive machine guarding program, comprehensive health and safety training and a culture that supports those initiatives.

Medicine Hat, Alta., manufacturer Canadian Fertilizers Ltd. and Mississauga, Ont.-based Kennametal limited were handed silver awards for their work promoting health and safety in the workplace.

The awards were handed out at a gala event on Thursday evening at Toronto’s Liberty Grand Entertainment Complex.

PEM and Electrical Business will be co-hosting its inaugural Partners in Training event — the Electrical Maintenance & Reliability Conference & Tradeshow — a one-day training program with a strict focus on the needs of those involved with a facility’s electrical system’s maintenance and reliability. Get full details and sign up through online registration at www.partnersintraining.ca.

Electrical Maintenance & Reliability will be held Oct. 23, 2012, at Gambrel Barn, Country Heritage Park in Milton, Ont.

Speakers and Topics
Daniel B. Langlois, B.Sc., CET - Daniel is the senior manager of CSA Group’s Global Mark Integrity Team. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Technology and an Honors diploma in Fire Protection Engineering. In his 20-year role at CSA, Daniel has conducted numerous investigations into product failures and fires, performed root cause analysis, as well as investigated counterfeit products bearing the CSA Mark.

“Despite your best efforts, sh*t happens... now what?” David Moncur
David Moncur, P.Eng. - David is fully licensed by Professional Engineers Ontario to provide professional engineering services to the public. He has been retained as a private consultant to Ministry of Labour inspectors, and has written reports and appeared in court to give testimony as an expert witness. His firm has been involved in over 700 fire loss investigations, including origin and cause evaluation.

Who Should Attend
This event is tailored specifically for electrical contractors; service contractors; industrial engineers; maintenance professionals; plant operators; industrial engineers; and anyone associated with maximizing a facility’s uptime.

This event will feature industry leaders speaking on topics of greatest importance to you, such as:
• lockout/tagout (LOTO);
• breaker maintenance;
• hazard versus risk assessment;
• motor predictive maintenance;
• the dangers of counterfeit and unapproved product;
• and more.

Those interested in sponsoring or exhibiting should contact:
Leesa Nacht – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it – (905) 713-4372
John MacPherson - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it - (905) 713-4335

* Information subject to change without notice   

An important step in creating a safe and healthy workplace is educating people about, and raising awareness of, the issues and hazards. With chemical entry points and basic worker rights as the topics, the two newest posters from CCOHS do just that, as said in CCOHS's Health and Safety Report.

The Three Basic Rights poster describes the three rights of workers in Canada that help them work safely: the right to know; the right to participate; and the right to refuse dangerous work.

How Chemicals Enter the Body is a visual reminder of how hazardous chemicals can get into your body through eye contact, inhalation, skin contact, ingestion, and injection. It equips the reader with information to help them take precautions to protect themself.

CCOHS has more than twenty posters to help you spread the word to your employees or students on a variety of topics including: workplace anti-bullying and violence, scent-free workplaces, tips for safe lifting, WHMIS hazard symbols, and more.

Available in glossy print (English on one side, French on the other) or as a free PDF download, these brightly coloured, plainly worded posters keep the message clear and will get the attention of your staff or students.

See the full collection of posters from CCOHS: www.ccohs.ca/products/posters.

Ontario’s new Prevention Council will help protect workers and improve workplace health and safety across the province.

The 11-member council will provide support for the province’s chief prevention officer and advise the Ontario Minister of Labour on:

• prevention of workplace injuries and illnesses;
• development of a provincial occupational health and safety strategy; and
• proposed changes to funding and delivery of services for the prevention of workplace injuries and occupational diseases.

The newly formed council includes four labour representatives, a non-union labour representative, four employer representatives, an occupational health and safety expert and a representative from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). Nine members of the Prevention Council are being announced at this time; one employer representative and a representative from the WSIB are currently being finalized and will be announced in the near future.

“This accomplished, dynamic group — selected from labour, employer and academic backgrounds — will work with the chief prevention officer to help improve workplace health and safety throughout Ontario,” said Linda Jeffrey, Ontario’s labout minister. “Our ultimate and shared goal is to eliminate work-related injury and illness.”
www.labour.gov.on.ca

The Government of Canada released today its draft model for improving food inspection in Canada. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is proposing a single approach to food inspection that will provide consistent and appropriate oversight across all regulated food commodities — either imported or produced domestically.

“We have a world-class food safety system in Canada but we want it to be the best,” said Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. “A single inspection approach will make an even stronger system that will benefit all Canadians.”

The draft food inspection model is based on feedback from discussions with inspectors and industry stakeholders as well as feedback on a recent discussion document called The Case for Change that outlined the rationale for modernizing inspection.

This initiative is part of the commitment made by the Government of Canada in Budget 2011, which provided the CFIA with $100 million over five years to modernize food safety inspection in Canada. In addition to building a consistent inspection model, this investment is being used to provide better training and more modern tools to front line food inspectors as well as building additional capacity in CFIA laboratories.

The CFIA is seeking comments from consumers and industry stakeholders until October 31, 2012 on the following aspects of the proposed draft model:

• a single licensing and registration requirement for those manufacturing, importing and/or exporting food for trade outside provincial borders,
• more consistent oversight and inspection across all regulated food commodities,
• a scaled approach that adapts to the size and complexity of businesses, and
• the distribution of more information to consumers about compliance and enforcement activities.

The CFIA is planning extensive outreach activities on this proposed model with its inspectors, consumer associations, industry, and federal, provincial and territorial government counterparts in the fall. The model will continue to be developed based on feedback that the Agency receives.

The CFIA is carrying out a number of complementary initiatives including a review of the CFIA’s regulatory frameworks and the Safe Food for Canadians Act, tabled in June, which aims to modernize and strengthen food legislation. Together, these initiatives are part of a comprehensive effort to better manage food safety challenges and make food as safe as possible for Canadian families.

For more information on the CFIA’s proposed approach to strengthening food inspection or to provide your comments, visit the CFIA website at www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/accountability/inspection-modernization/proposed-draft/eng/1342549427433/1342549854104.

The supervisor-worker relationship is the most important link in the organizational structure to ensure safety is being addressed in the workplace. A weak relationship at this level can make safety issues more difficult to be resolved due to workers having inadequate direction or expectations.

Problems or issues that are not properly addressed can lead to disgruntled employees. This could result in workers initiating work refusals.

Understanding the internal responsibility system (IRS) is one thing; however, applying this system in your day-to-day work activities presents many challenges.

IRS is a system, based on values and principles, which enables everyone in an organization to be directly responsible for health and safety, regardless of their position within their company. Simply put, it is the “people” component of your health & safety managed system. The IRS can be used to assist the supervisor-worker interface when it comes to identifying and resolving safety issues.

The following four step process can be utilized by the supervisor and workers as a method of addressing safety issues.


STEP 1: PREVENTION
Good line organization interactions are the building blocks for the prevention of accidents. The manager must have safety programs in place to assist the line organization in achieving their safety goals. Authority must be given to supervisors in order for them to exercise their legal and corporate duties. The manager must communicate safety expectations to the supervisor on a regular basis.

The supervisor, in turn, must ensure that the safety expectations are clearly understood by the workers and that achieving them is possible through proper job safety planning. The supervisor can accomplish this by assigning the tasks to competent workers and to advise them when issues arise during work execution.

The workers should be trained in identifying safety issues through the use of hazard awareness techniques like energy analysis and job safety analysis.
Energy analysis consists of assessing the different energy sources and the inherent hazards associated with each job. Here are some examples:

• electrical energy  >>  electrocution
• mechanical energy  >>   pinch point, crushing
• thermal energy  >>  burns

Job safety analysis consists of breaking the job steps in sequence, identifying the hazards and addressing the hazards with effective controls or barriers. Here are some examples of barriers:

• isolation (lock out/tag out)
• procedures/work instructions
• personal protective equipment

Using these types of techniques will enable the workers to plan each of their jobs safely by helping them identify and control the hazards associated with the work.

The workers are then able to assess the work on a daily basis and correct any deficiencies that are within their immediate control without the need for supervisory intervention.


STEP 2: REPORTING
Reporting must occur when the workers determine they cannot address the workplace safety issue by themselves. This could include observing contraventions or conflicts in other work groups.

There are legal requirements, in Canada, to report to the employer or supervisor any contraventions of safety regulations or the existence of any hazard known by the worker.

Many employers also have corporate requirements obligating workers to report any hazards, unsafe activities and unsafe acts to their supervisor. The reporting of safety issues can be made formally through a written report but could also be done during the job planning process, at tailboard conferences or at group safety meetings.


STEP 3: PROBLEM SOLVING
Once an issue has been reported by the worker to his/her immediate supervisor, there is a need to address and correct the problem collectively.

The following method is one example of a problem solving process:

Identify the Issue
• Accumulate all of the facts and information related to the issue. Be sure to provide as much detail as possible to clearly reflect the problem.
• Include any actions taken to mitigate the hazards.
• Document the situation in writing for future reference.

Determine the Causes
• Determine the contributing factors that are creating the issue.
• Perform an analysis of these contributing factors.
• Determine the root causes.

Suggest Improvements
• Together, the workers with the supervisor develop ideas to improve the situation.
• You may want to get help from your company’s internal resources such as the site health and safety advisor, the local joint health and safety committee or the corporate safety/wellness group.
• Suggestions must be practical to effectively address the situation.

Take Action
• Develop a corrective action plan to deal with the issue’s resolution.
• Review all actions required by the line organization and the specific work group to ensure that the work has been properly planned for execution.
• Initiate the corrective action plan.
• Upon completion, perform a corrective action follow-up to determine if the plan was successful in addressing the issue.


STEP 4: INTERVENTION
The last step is really only required if the supervisor and workers are not able to deal with the problem. This is often the case when the issue is caused by factors that are not in the work group’s control such as engineering design issues.

The supervisor will require assistance from his/her line organization in order to resolve the issue. This could include the need for an engineering review, a cost analysis (budgeting) and a formal planning and scheduling process.

There are also other groups that can assist the supervisor and workers in resolving safety issues. They are:

• the company health and safety professional;
• the joint health and safety committee;
• external safety consultants; and
• safety associations.

Each of these groups can help identify and promote safe work practices as well as determine any legal requirements involved.

Intervention may require your company’s head office or corporate group for longer term, corporate, industry wide and legal issues. The bigger the issue, the more intervention will be required from the line organization.

The need for intervention can really be summed up in the definition of IRS: “Everyone in an organization is directly responsible for health and safety, regardless of their position within their company.”

It is important that the supervisor maintain an effective relationship with their workers to help promote the IRS. This will go a long way towards preventing potential problems from becoming bigger ones. It will also help create a working environment that is both respectful and engaging to the employees.

---

Guy Chenard is a safety professional with Ontario Power Generation. Reprinted with permission from The Ontario Technologist.

Results from a new public opinion poll by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) show that a majority of Canadian drivers can benefit from more knowledge about the many vehicle safety features rapidly becoming standard on new vehicles across the automotive industry. The poll, conducted over the course of November 2011 to January 2012, explored a range of issues including familiarity with different safety features, perceptions about their use, and the effects of these features on driving.

When asked about the types of vehicle safety features currently available on the market including electronic stability control (ESC), traction control (TC), electronic brake-force distribution (EBFD), anti-lock brake systems (ABS), brake assist (BA), brake override, and adaptive headlights, on average, less than one-third of Canadians said that they were aware of these features. A majority of drivers (80.4%) were familiar with ABS; traction control was second with 53.5 per cent of Canadians saying they know of this technology.

“To some extent, it is not unusual that Canadians have much greater familiarity with ABS as it has been widely available for almost 30 years, unlike newer technologies such as lane departure warning systems which have only become available in the last ten years”, explains Robyn Robertson, TIRF President and CEO. “It is important that we continue to increase awareness of the availability and use of these features among drivers as they enter the market, to help keep drivers safe on our roads.”

The good news is that, although knowledge of these safety features seems to be relatively low among Canadians, more than half of those polled agreed that these safety features would be easy to use and that they would use them if their vehicle had them. This is encouraging as studies have shown that safety features prevent crashes and injuries when used alongside safe driving practices.

“Given that many drivers view themselves as a safer driver than the average Canadian, efforts to address this knowledge gap are important. Increased awareness of these features and how they work can also reinforce the message that safety features do not discount the need for drivers to continue to rely on those safe driving behaviours that many first learned well before these safety features became available,” Robertson notes.

The poll is the first step in the development of a research-based national education program on vehicle safety features. The program, sponsored by The Toyota Canada Foundation, will use results from the poll along with input from road users to create a program aimed at informing the public of important vehicle safety features, their respective benefits, and ways in which the features work in conjunction with safe driving practices in the variable road conditions that Canadian drivers can experience seasonally across Canada.

“With a combined goal to reduce deaths and injuries, we are confident that Canadian drivers will marry an increased understanding of safety technologies with smarter driving habits,” said Stephen Beatty, Managing Director, Toyota Canada Inc. “Together we’re using sound research to build a campaign to encourage smarter driving habits across the country.”

These results are based on a public opinion poll developed and conducted by TIRF. A total of 2,506 Canadians completed the poll between November 2011 and January of 2012. Results can be considered accurate within plus or minus 2.0%, 19 times out of 20.
www.tirf.ca

Summertime is upon us once again, and if your job requires you to be working outside in the hot sun, here are five tips to make sure you get through the day healthy and safe.

WorkSafe Saskatchewan wants to remind young and first-time workers — and those that manage and supervise them, too — that learning to work safely is an important part of summer jobs. Most injuries occur in July and August, and more than half occur in service, department stores, construction and manufacturing industries. The most common injuries are to hands, backs, legs and eyes.

The Government of Saskatchewan has passed amendments to its Occupational Health and Safety Act (1993), which will see enhanced occupational health and safety duties for employers, supervisors, contractors and suppliers.

These amendments are the result of a comprehensive review by the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety's Occupational Health and Safety Council and consultations with stakeholders.

"Saskatchewan has the second highest injury rate in the country," Labour Relations and Workplace Safety Minister Don Morgan said. "This is unacceptable. This legislation contains provisions that are directed at helping eliminate injuries, illnesses and fatalities. It will also help lower health care and workers' compensation costs, and improve business opportunities."

The legislative highlights include:
The maximum penalty arising out of the serious injury or death of a worker will increase from $300,000 to $1.5 million, the highest in the country;
Clarification of the requirement for employers and other parties to provide training and supervision of employees, as well as maintenance of equipment to ensure the safety of all workers; and
Increased investigative authority of occupational health officers in the course of their duties.

The amendments will take effect following proclamation this fall. For more information about the amendments to the OHS Act visit www.lrws.gov.sk.ca/consultations-ohs-legislative-amendments.

The government is also undertaking a comprehensive review of all employment and labour relations legislation. To view the discussion paper, visit www.lrws.gov.sk.ca/modernizing-legislation.