There is little doubt that the way workplace safety managers throughout the construction industry do their jobs has been forever altered by technology in recent years. The proliferation of tablets such as the iPad and smartphones such as the iPhone or the wide variety of devices using Google’s Android operating system, combined with major advances in cloud computing, have allowed them to manage workplace safety information in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago.

Construction companies are increasingly turning to cloud-based documentation and away from paper. By keeping documents in the cloud, supervisors in the field can load various types of data, notes and take photos of work using their mobile devices, and instantly send it to the “cloud,” to make it immediately accessible to everyone with an Internet connection.

According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, having ready access to safety records is an important issue, particularly for construction companies who operate a number of different sites. By storing documents and data in the cloud, everyone has access to such information as inspection records whenever they need them.

While there are some advantages to paper systems, such as those times when inspectors request documents with original signatures, such documents can always be scanned and accessed anywhere with a cloud-based service.

But there are many advantages to a cloud-based system. If a worker shows up at a jobsite, supervisors can immediately find out whether or not they have the correct training to operate a particular piece of machinery, by searching the worker’s name. With a paper-based system, they’d have to flip through pages, or rely on someone to fax the information to them. If they wanted to see which workers at a jobsite have taken a particular training course, an electronic system can pull all of the records together into a report.

Another advantage to electronic storage, especially in the construction industry, is that everyone always has access to a pristine copy of everything. There’s no spilling coffee on an original, or watching a thunderstorm wipe out hundreds of pages of paper records. Also, most reputable cloud storage companies provide backups for electronic records, so there’s little fear of loss.

People are constantly moving around to different jobsites. Rather than carrying boxes of documents from site to site, managers can carry a tablet or smartphone and have access to every relevant document in the company, in searchable form. It is this convenience that demonstrates why more and more construction companies are giving up on paper records, and storing everything on the cloud.

Regulators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have proposed $130,200 in penalties to Texas oil and gas drilling company Ringo Drilling in the wake of a June accident in which a worker was electrocuted.

According to OSHA, the 25-year-old worker, Servando Salinas Cervantes, died while performing repair work on an oil drilling rig.  After an investigation, OSHA safety inspectors found that the company failed to train workers on electrical equipment hazards, failed to provide guardrails to keep workers from falling into holes more than four feet deep near a well, and did not ensure stepladders were used properly. In another serious violation, inspectors found that the company did not properly guard electrical junction boxes.

Among other penalties against the company included three repeat violations for failing to provide worker protection from platform falls, not inspecting electrical cords and failing to ensure proper strain relief for electrical cables. The company was cited for similar violations in 2008 and again last year.

Ringo Drilling has 15 days to contest the findings with OSHA.

Ontario Court Clarifies Employers’ Incident Reporting Obligations

Although executives with the Blue Mountain Resort are unhappy and plan to appeal the recent ruling, the Ontario Divisional Court has issued a ruling clarifiying Section 51 of Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, which outlines the duties of an employer in all critical injury and fatality incidents.

According to Section 51, whenever a person is killed or critically injured from any cause at any workplace, the employer must notify an MoL inspector, as well as all other workplace parties. The employer must then secure the scene until an inspector clears the site, and send the ministry a written report on the incident within 48 hours.

But in the incident that led to the ruling, which occurred in December 2007, a resort guest drowned in an unsupervised pool at Blue Mountain, and the incident was never reported to the MoL. They only learned of it when a Ministry inspector conducted a field visit to the resort in March 2008. When the inspector found out, he wrote an order directing the resort to formally notify the MoL.

Justice Wailan Low, writing for the court, followed an earlier ruling from the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB), disregarding the resort’s argument that notification was unnecessary because the pool was not a workplace, per se, at the time of the incident. The resort had argued that the hazard involved in the guest’s drowning while apparently performing exercises underwater wasn’t likely to affect a worker, and they noted that whenever a guest was involved in a serious incident that could also have affected a worker, Blue Mountain had always been quick to notify the MoL.

In dismissing their argument, Justice Low noted that the OLRB “ought to have given recognition to the fact that [their] facilities are dual use premises – they are both recreational premises and a workplace, and the use may change depending on the circumstances.”

According to legal experts, the court ruling may impact a large number of Ontario workplaces, because it requires all employers to report all fatal and critical injuries that occur at a workplace, even if worker health and safety is in no way involved. The MoL is likely to see a much greater number of notifications from employers from industries such as health care, municipal, retail and other service sectors in which workers interact with the public.

The MoL considers the court’s decision to be consistent with their policy on enforcement of these requirements. They consider the requirement to be a reasonable expectation and in no way burdensome for employers.

The Ontario Ministry of Labour (MoL) issued nine work orders, including two work-stoppage orders, after two miners died underground at Vale’s Stobie mine in Sudbury, Ontario. According to the MoL, the work orders were issued to secure the mine and to make sure workers aren’t exposed to any immediate danger.

Some of the orders dealt with excessive water around ore passes, although the MoL was hesitant to cite that as the actual cause of the accident. Inspectors are investigating the incident to determine if health and safety regulations were followed, and to make sure the workplace is safe.

The two workers, Jason Chenier, 35, and Jordan Fram, 26, both of Sudbury, were working 900 metres underground in an ore pass, a vertical opening where ore is dropped to a lower level for handling, when they were suddenly overtaken by loose rock known as ”muck.”

Coincidentally, just a few days before the accident, Vale was awarded the John T. Ryan Trophy for the sixth time in seven years. The award, given to Canada’s safest metal mine, was presented to them because two of the company’s mines in Thompson, Manitoba, T1 and Birchtree, were tied for the lowest reportable injury frequency per 200,000 work hours. The award is given by the Canadian Institute of Mining every year.

Vale hasn’t set a date for resuming full production at the mine, but they have told workers they can stay home if they want until then, and they’re making counseling available to those who request it. Those who report for work will be provided with other jobs in the meantime.

Nova Scotia government officials are trying to send a message to employers that young people who are entering the workforce for the first time can feel uneasy or intimidated, and are unwilling or unable to speak up about any concerns they have, and often don’t ask questions about their jobs. But that doesn’t absolve employers of responsibility for keeping such workers healthy and safe.

Overall, 3,665 young workers under the age of 25 reported claims to Nova Scotia’s Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) last year, and WCB officials want to see those numbers fall. To do that, they want all employers to know they must make all employees aware of their right to refuse unsafe work, their right to be informed about any dangers on the job and their right to the proper knowledge and equipment to perform their work safely.

They also note the importance of parents and guardians in keeping young workers safe, and they encourage all to talk to them about approaching their work safely. Parents or guardians should not assume their child’s workplace is safe. They should also not assume that they receive proper training, or that they will speak up when they think something is unsafe. After they’re hired, investigate the workplace and find out as much as possible about the job. Research shows that young workers are five times more likely to be hurt in the first month than those who have been in their current jobs for more than a year.

Irving Shipbuilding Inc. is scheduled to stand trial in March 2012 on Occupational Health and Safety Act charges stemming from an industrial accident that injured a worker at the Halifax Shipyard three years ago.

The accident that led to the charges occurred on March 4, 2008, when a 50-year-old worker who was performing maintenance on the dry dock fell about six metres. Emergency personnel were called, and the worker was taken to hospital with unspecified injuries. The Nova Scotia Labour Department immediately launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the fall.

The result of that investigation led to the Labour department charging Irving Shipbuilding with four offences under the Occupational Health and Safety Act: failing to protect employees from a hazard of falling, failing to ensure there were adequate guardrails, failing to make sure workers entering a confined space wore full body harnesses; and failing to ensure the worker who fell had been provided with confined-space training.

The company had originally scheduled to go to trial in Halifax provincial court this coming September, but lawyers appeared before Judge Anne Derrick last week to ask for postponement, and she rescheduled the trial for 10 days, beginning March 5.

Halifax Shipyard is one of four yards, along with Seaspan Marine Inc. in Vancouver, Seaway Marine and Industrial in Ontario, and the Davie Yards in Quebec, who are bidding on Ottawa’s $35-billion national shipbuilding program. Irving Shipbuilding Inc. hopes to land the bulk of the contract, about $25 billion worth of work building 20 navy vessels.

According to an economic impact study done by the Conference Board of Canada, if they win the combat vessel contract, it could mean more than 11,000 new jobs in Nova Scotia by 2020, the height of construction. The deadline for bids is July 21, with a decision expected in September.

Last week, the Ontario Ministry of Labour (MoL) issued eight orders to construction company Teranorth Construction & Engineering Limited, based in Sudbury, after a worker was fatally injured in an accident that occurred on June 24.

At the time of the accident, the worker was operating an elevating work platform, or “scissor lift,” below a bridge structure that was under construction as part of a highway expansion project. For some reason, the platform “flipped over,” causing injuries that led to his death. Some witnesses suggested that the platform may have done so because it had been placed on “very uneven ground,” but investigations are ongoing.

The MoL issued a total of eight orders under the provincial Occupational Health & Safety Act to Teranorth, including:
o An order that Teranorth “ensure that the health and safety of workers on a project is protected;”
o An order that no further work was to be conducted with the two Genie lifts presently on the MacKenzie Bridge site until further notice from the MoL;
o An order that the owner of one Genie lift shall provide copies of maintenance records to the ministry;
o An order that Teranorth provide training records related to the elevating work platform that was being used at the time of the accident;
o An order that Teranorth provide training records related to the worker’s fall protection system.
o An order to ensure that the area beneath the bridge structure is undisturbed until advised by the ministry;
o An order that Teranorth take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker when working on the underside of the bridge structure while using an elevated work platform on sloped terrain, and:
o An order requiring Teranorth to provide a plan detailing how observations and sealing work will be carried out to the underside of the structure during ductal placement.

Three workers at the Royal Canadian Mint in Ottawa are reportedly okay after inhaling chemical fumes at the facility on the morning of May 27.

According to the mint, chemical vapours were apparently released from the waste water treatment system at the refinery. A spokesman for the mint said the workers, aged 51, 58 and 35 were immediately taken to hospital to be checked out and were released hours later. Two of the men were exposed when they rescued their co-worker by pulling him away from the fumes.

A hazardous materials team determined there was no need to evacuate the entire building, and the area where the fumes were released was isolated and ventilated. An Ottawa fire department spokesman later said there was no danger to the public because the fumes were contained. Normal production continued at the mint in all non-affected areas, including public tours.

Meanwhile, the cause of the incident is under investigation.

Young people aged 14 and 15 in Saskatchewan who are looking for a summer job should be aware that they must complete the Young Worker Readiness Certificate Course (YWRCC) and print out a certificate before taking any job.

Such young workers can apply for and interview for jobs before completing the certificate, but the certificate must be presented to their boss by their first day of work. Employers are required to keep a copy of the certificate in their files for every one of their employees in that age group.

Young workers under 16 must also have the consent of their parent or guardian, are not allowed to work after 10 p.m. on a school night, and cannot work more than 16 hours during a school week.

The YWRCC, which was launched in February 2010, has been completed by more than 5,600 young people to date. A number of schools throughout the province have incorporated the YWRCC materials into their curriculum. The purpose of the YWRCC course materials is to make young workers aware of their rights and responsibilities in the workplace.

The YWRCC course materials are available in French and English at www.lrws.gov.sk.ca/ywrcc. The English version of the test can be completed and submitted online. The French version, however, can be requested from Labour Standards to be completed on paper.

Canada is on the verge of becoming the first country in the world to develop a national set of standards designed to protect workers from what they consider to be mental health injury in the workplace.

Mental health issues have been cited as the leading cause of short and long-term disability, affecting one in five workers. Nearly a quarter of Canadian workplaces have been deemed “psychologically perilous,” and a number of federal and corporate officials have provided up to $470,000 in funding to the Mental Health Commission to establish a voluntary set of best practices that could lead to improvements in workplace mental health.

The loss of work days and other disruptions to workplaces caused by mental health issues are estimated to cost the Canadian economy more than $50 billion a year. In the last five years alone, there has been a 700% increase in court-ordered damages awarded for workplace mental health injury. The recognition by the courts of a serious problem coincides with studies characterizing between 10 to 25% of workplaces as “mentally injurious.”

The National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety will be voluntary for employers to adopt, and will provide them with tools to help with implementation.
The federal funds are being provided by Human Resources, Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada. Beginning this fall, there will be a 60-day public consultation and it is hoped that standards will be ready for employers sometime next year.