A new report released by The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, an independent, non-profit research organization, calls into question the federal government’s efforts to ensure the health and safety of workers under their jurisdiction.

The report, Success is No Accident: Declining Workplace Safety Among Federal Jurisdiction Employers,  which can be found here, was issued after an exhaustive investigation, including interviews with labour affairs officers (LAOs) and federal  health and safety inspectors, and included in-depth analyses of key statistics, such as workplace injuries and fatalities. The report suggests that while the provinces have been quite successful with measures to bring about safer workplaces, the federal sector seems to be lagging, and their workplace injuries seem to be on the rise.  For example, while fatality and injury rates in the provincial sector declined 25% between 2002 and 2007, federal injury rates increased 5% over the same time period.

The report highlights the significant numbers of disabling injuries in the transportation and postal delivery sectors, and attributes these statistics to a failure in federal health and safety enforcement, specifically overburdened LAOs. According to the report, in 2008 only 128 LAOs were responsible for monitoring and inspecting the federal workplaces for more than one million workers. As a result of this chronic understaffing, only 16% of federal workplaces classified as very high risk were subject to two inspections per year and only 10% of those classified as high risk received the one inspection per year mandated by Labour Program guidelines.

The report details important systemic differences in the way federal workplaces are regulated to account for the disparity, and it recommends greater proactive enforcement and harsher penalties for federally regulated employers. The report notes that prosecutions in the federal jurisdiction under the code are relatively rare and occur primarily after very serious, often fatal, workplace accidents.  Not only that, but when they do actually prosecute and convictions are obtained, the penalties imposed are far smaller than those imposed in provincial jurisdictions.  Also, while decisions in provincial cases are prominently published, federal prosecutions are often difficult to find.

A 90-day construction site safety blitz by the Ontario government that was conducted between January and April of this year uncovered a lot of problems, and the Ministry of Labour has promised to respond aggressively to the problems and will implement a host of new measures  to improve safety at construction sites.

The blitz revealed a construction industry rife with safety violations. Inspectors targeted high-risk companies and issued 784 stop work orders for fall-related hazards, 3,421 orders for fall-related hazards, 1,120 fall-related contraventions associated with stop work orders and 121 summonses for fall-related hazards.  More than half of the orders issued were for violations related to missing or improper use or maintenance of guardrails, scaffolds and fall protection systems, and close to 80% of summonses issued were to supervisors for a lack of adequate supervision. The level of non-compliance was so high, ministry officials have called the situation “unacceptable” and “simply inexcusable.”

The problems inspectors found ran the gamut, from worker training and records deficiencies, unsafe ladders, stairs and window cleaning. Most of the fall-related orders issued spanned the entire construction sector, from industrial and commercial to institutional and residential building projects.

Going forward, the province, which has already doubled its number of full-time inspectors to 430 since 2005, will increase enforcement, with inspectors targeting construction sub-sectors that demonstrate a higher rate of non-compliance and going after employers who repeatedly flout the law. In addition, the ministry will launch an awareness campaign urging people to report unsafe practices, and they have added a toll-free hotline for people to call if they spot what might be an unsafe labour practice in any Ontario workplace.

In addition, a panel has been set up to review worker safety in Ontario. Their recommendations are expected this fall.

Two preventable accidents that took the lives of two workers will cost Ford Canada  more than $1 million for violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The first accident occurred January 31, 2008, at the company’s Oakville assembly plant, when a 20-year veteran worker at the plant was crushed between two forklifts, and died as a result of their injuries.  A Ministry of Labour investigation revealed the vehicle operator did not keep a clear view of the forklift’s path of travel.

Just about a year later, on January 14, 2009, another tragic accident occurred when a worker with 12 years experience at Ford’s parts distribution centre in Bramalea drove a lift truck carrying a pallet which wasn’t secured properly.  As the worker drove the truck down a narrow aisle, the pallet struck a storage rack and  the worker was crushed between the pallet and the vehicle. In that incident, Ministry of Labour investigators found that Ford’s material movement policies and procedures were inadequate.

According to company officials, the death at the Oakville plant was the first involving a Ford employee in nearly 30 years, while the fatality at the Bramalea facility was the first in the operation’s history.  As a result of these accidents, Ford no longer uses the multi pallet platform that it used in the second accident.

Ontario Justice of the Peace Jerry Woloschuk levied penalties of $850,000 and imposed the legally required 25% additional victim surcharges of $212,500 against Ford after the company pleaded guilty to two counts of  failing to take all reasonable precautions in the circumstances to protect the safety of the workers.

In what has become a recurring pattern at high-rise construction sites in downtown Calgary, on May 15th a steelworker on the 45th floor of the Bow Building  failed to tether his two-kilogram spud wrench, and lost his grip on the tool. As a result, it fell with such force that it bounced off the concrete, hit a cement apron in front of Calgary police headquarters across the street and crashed through the station’s front window.  Thankfully, no one was hurt or killed.

For its part, Matthews Development, the steelworker’s employer, acknowledged that the worker had failed to follow strict rules by not securing the wrench to his belt. They filed an incident report immediately, and announced later that the worker had been “professionally disciplined” internally.  The incident has also prompted the company to begin safety re-training of all workers at the site.

OHS is conducting a full investigation, focused on which steps employers can take to make sure such an incident doesn’t happen again. As you can guess based on where the wrench landed, the initial investigation was performed by Calgary police. City of Calgary building inspectors are also looking into the incident, and promising new rules and greater enforcement, as concerns about public safety around high-rise construction sites in the city continue to build.

In August 2009, a three-year-old girl was killed as she walked down the street and was hit by a bundle of steel roofing materials that had been blown from the 22nd storey of a construction site during a wind storm.  Her father and seven-year-old brother were also badly injured in that incident.

Later that month, a large pane of glass fell from a construction site at the Palliser South tower, causing shards of glass to rain on the sidewalk and street below.  A month later, another incident at the Bow Building site saw a small crane nearly fall from the building, with a tether preventing it from falling three stories to the ground below. While the crane didn’t fall, it did drop its load, a large pane of glass, and smashed another window as it angled. Then, within days of that incident, a piece of scaffolding fell from the 19th storey of the Penn West Tower and crashed onto a parkade ramp. Thankfully, no one was injured in any of these incidents, but the potential was there.

Recently, the city, OHS and the Calgary Construction Association formed a task force to study the situation, and make recommendations on improving safety. Their goal is to develop a best practices guide in four areas: 1) materials and equipment on site; 2) hoisting of material; 3) hoarding; and 4)traffic control management.

The Ontario Ministry of Labour has announced the creation of a workplace violence toolbox designed to assist organizations with their compliance with Bill 168, new legislation that amends the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) to add workplace violence-specific requirements to employers’ safety responsibility.

The deadline for compliance is fast approaching, as Bill 168 takes effect June 15, 2010, which is right around the corner. The new law requires that employers assess the risks of violence at their workplace, and take reasonable precautions to protect workers from all possible violence, including domestic violence, in the workplace. Employers will be required to develop workplace violence and harassment policies and programs, and provide information and training to workers on the content of those programs. Under the amendments, workers also have the right to refuse work if they are at risk of physical injury from workplace violence.

The workplace violence toolbox, which can be found here,  includes sample forms for conducting a workplace violence survey, a checklist for policy, program and training review, a general form for conducting a physical environment assessment, and a risk factor selection tool to help employers identify risks specific to their workplace. These forms should help employers get started on their Bill 168 compliance.

If you haven’t started working on compliance with Bill 168 yet, check your calendar and get moving. There is every indication that Ontario provincial government officials intend to enforce this law.

A Quebec window manufacturer and installer Vitrerie Lessard Inc., was fined $65,000 last week for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) after a worker was injured.

The incident that led to the fine happened on December 11, 2007, as workers were installing windows from a suspended platform just below the second floor of an apartment building in Ottawa. One worker had a lifeline attached to a nearby window frame, and was about to step onto the platform from the second floor slab. As soon as he untied the lifeline, it sprang out of his grasp. As he lunged for it, he fell through the space between the building and the suspended platform. As a result of the fall, the worker suffered a broken arm and pelvis.

Vitrerie Lessard Inc. pleaded guilty under the OHSA to failing to provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker on the safe use of a suspended platform.

The fine was imposed by Justice of the Peace Brian Mackey. In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25% victim fine surcharge, which is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime, and is required by the Provincial Offences Act.

That’s a grand total of $81,250, because a worker wasn’t trained properly. One more example of how proper safety training doesn’t cost, it pays.

In the wake of a rash of high-profile incidents involving high-rise construction job sites in recent months, City of Calgary officials are calling for increased safety measures at these sites.

The construction industry has seen increased scrutiny as a result of a number of incidents of falling debris from work sites in recent months. The most tragic incident occurred on Aug. 1, when a bundle of steel fell 40 metres and killed three-year-old Michelle Krsek, and injured several other family members as they strolled along the sidewalk. Since then, there have been at least four other incidents in which debris fell from a high-rise construction site in Calgary.

Recently, the Canadian Home Builders’ Association weighed in, and insisted that companies must be more diligent about understanding the risks. They suggest that company officials and workers can become lax over time and not pay proper attention to what should be relatively simple matters, like securing building materials.

The city and Alberta officials are conducting several investigations and looking at ways to increase awareness among stakeholders of their responsibility to make job sites safe. Construction sites have safety representatives whose job is to ensure proper protocols are followed, but sometimes it’s necessary to look beyond the rules and regulations.

The stated goal of the province is to “raise the profile” of workplace safety. Overall workplace injuries in Calgary have decreased in recent years, but workplace health and safety means a lot more than the raw numbers. They stress that workplace safety must become a culture; and not just something to consider when Occupational Health and Safety Inspectors show up or when tragedy happens.

There is a new law in Saskatchewan designed to help keep snowplow operators safe while working on the highway, and all operators should be aware of it.

Saskatchewan motorists will now be required by law to slow to 60 kmh when passing snowplows and other highway vehicles whenever warning lights are flashing, whether such vehicles are moving along the road or stopped on the side.

The new law comes in the wake of the death of a 25-year veteran snowplow driver, who was killed this past January, as he assisted a stranded motorist on the highway near Belle Plaine.

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The Highways Ministry has 300 snowplows stationed at 85 locations across the province, and they are on the road before, during and after storms and are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The new law took effect on July 1, and is in line with existing law requiring motorists to slow to 60 kmh for emergency vehicles and tow trucks stopped on the highway, or when passing highway workers in the orange zone. Fines for all of these offences start at $140.

During their 29th annual health and safety conference, WorkSafeNB recognized two New Brunswick companies for making vast improvements in their workplace health and safety records.

Foyer Ste. Elizabeth, a nursing home located at Baker Brook, near Edmundston, was lauded for making a leap from having a high accident frequency within its industry to becoming one of the safest nursing homes in the province within a few short years. But the commendation wasn’t the only reward the company saw; as a result of its improved safety record, its insurance premium has been reduced by $50,000 a year since introducing a safety program in 2004. The company has also reduced its injury frequency rate to a level 35 per cent below the provincial industry rate.

Irving Personal Care Limited, Canada’s only manufacturer of baby diapers and training pants, was touted by Worksafe NB as “an ideal example” of a company that puts safety first through on-the-job training and financial incentives. The plant operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week and employs 140 full-time workers. But while the company has doubled its workforce since it opened in 2004, it has also decreased its lost-time claims by about 53 %, and is now 33% below the industry average.

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WorkSafeNB is highlighting these companies to show that safety pays. Putting safety first is not only good for the health of the workers, but also for the bottom line.

Sudbury building supplies company Evans Home Building Centre has been hit with five compliance orders from the Ontario Ministry of Labour, after an employee was electrocuted while delivering a load of roofing shingles to a customer’s home.

The incident occurred on September 30 at about 10:20 AM, when 51-year-old worker Daniel St Jacques was making the delivery to a home on the north end of Sudbury, and his boom truck made contact with an overhead power line and caught fire. It is unknown whether St Jacques was inside or outside the truck when it made contact, but some police on the scene speculate that he was electrocuted when he attempted to reenter the vehicle.

Of the five compliance orders issued by the MOL, four of them related to the boom truck’s future repair and inspection, while the fifth concerns documents that Evans Home Building Centre will be required to provide to the labour ministry, including; training records for employees who operate delivery equipment; the boom truck’s inspection records; St Jacques’ time sheets for the days leading up to the incident; and any relevant company safety policies.

According to the MOL’s own statistics, there have been more than 70 electricity-related deaths on the job in Ontario within the last decade, and that “metal ladders, raised dump-truck bodies and crane booms have been implicated in a number of electricity-related injuries at construction sites.” While the ministry does not keep specific statistics on incidents involving boom trucks coming into contact with power lines, a similar incident did occur in August, 2007, when two employees of Rockway Building Supplies were delivering shingles to a home in Guelph. One worker who was standing outside the delivery truck touched the vehicle and was thrown to the ground almost a metre away, when a conveyer used to move the shingles off the truck touched an 8,000-volt power line.

That worker survived, but Rockway Building Supplies subsequently pleaded guilty in September of 2008 for failing, as an employer, to ensure that no object was brought closer than three metres to an overhead electrical conductor with a rating of between 750 and 150,000 volts, contrary to Section 188(2) of the Construction Projects Regulation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. As a result, that company was fined $45,000, in addition to the 25% victim fine surcharge.