The numbers tell the story.

According to a Workers Compensation Board (WCB) report published in 1999, a total of 1,482 work related deaths were reported over a 10 year period. Of those, 519, or 35%, were the result of industrial vehicle accidents. Just as troubling was the WCB calculation that for every work fatality, there were 29 injuries. Statistics also show that every fatality costs an insurance company from $2 to $5 million. Since every extra dollar spent by an insurance company gets passed on as part of a client company’s premiums, fewer fatalities saves everyone money.

It was statistics like those above that motivated Pro-active Safety Systems Technology Inc. (PSST) to develop a truly revolutionary heavy equipment safety system to reverse the numbers and make workers safer.

In 2006, industrial electricians Rick Shervey and John DaSilva heard about a couple of accidents at nearby companies involving loaders within the space of a month, and realized just how ineffective the warning systems were. So, they set about to build a new warning system that would properly alert people when they were in the path of a moving piece of equipment and stop it in the event of an imminent disaster.

The idea they came up with is a system in which every piece of equipment is fitted with a detector, and every worker wears a vest with a RFID (radio frequency identification) tag embedded or attached.  An antenna broadcasts at a 30º angle to the front and back of the machine, and as it moves around, it senses every worker within the critical area, and sends a signal to the unit on the vest. If a worker enters the zone, the machine activates a two-stage warning light system and actually activates the brake.  The range is accurate from 70 cm to 400 m, but the company has targeted the zero to five-meter range as the critical zone for preventing accidents.

This potential benefits from this type of safety system are so great that the National Research Council Canada has provided the company with research-specific grants; and the WorkSafeBC Research Secretariat has provided two Innovation at Work grants; $46,000 in 2007 and $100,000 in 2008. Not only that, but this past January, the device received the Northern British Columbia Business and Technology’s Workplace Health and Safety Award.

And the product has thus far only been used in 22 test cases thus far. The company is preparing to make its first production units available by January 2011. You can read more about this at the PSST website.

After a fire broke out on the roof of a large paper mill in New Brunswick, one worker was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure, but released by about midnight.

The fire, which broke out on the roof of Irving Paper Limited in Saint John at about 5 pm on June 15,  started in the thermal mechanical pulping area of the building, and eventually affected 12 workers, including several who were part of the emergency response team. The hospitalised worker, who had complained of a sore throat was also part of that response team.

Saint John Fire Department officials say that when the fire was first discovered, the affected worker  had used a dry chemical fire extinguisher to try to put out the blaze, but it was windy, so he inhaled some sodium bicarbonate powder. Though basically harmless, the chemical is known to cause coughing and can lead to an irritated throat.

Though the company and WorkSafeNB have opened investigations into the incident, fire officials suggested that the cause of the fire could have been an overheated or malfunctioning electric motor.

Is your workplace prepared for every possible emergency? Hopefully, you have policies, procedures and equipment in place to keep your workers safe from accidents and workplace violence. But what if a worker simply turns blue and collapses from a heart attack? Surely, you have at least a few workers who know CPR, but what if the CPR isn’t enough? Wouldn’t it be great if other employees were able to grab an automated external defibrillator (AED) and could revive that worker within minutes?

An AED is a small, portable device that assesses the heart of a person in cardiac arrest for a “shockable” rhythm. If such a rhythm is detected, a button is pressed to deliver a shock or series of shocks to the victim’s heart, which then allow the heart to return to a normal rhythm.

Several companies are making a push to see to it that such machines are available  everywhere, but at this point, AEDs are still relatively rare in workplaces throughout Canada, in part because Canada doesn’t mandate their use.

According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, more than 40,000 people suffer  cardiac arrests in Canada each year. Fewer than 5% of those who suffer an attack outside a hospital survive — and roughly 70% of cardiac arrests occur outside a hospital. Their studies have shown that workplaces with 2,000 employees and an average age of 40 can expect at least one cardiac arrest incident every year.

Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) has reported that there have been 200 claims for workplace heart attacks over the last three years. Since not all heart attacks that occur in the workplace are job related, the WSIB considers each case on its own merits.

According to studies, keeping an AED onsite can increase the chance of survival from heart attack by 75% or more over CPR on its own. Defibrillation is more successful if performed within five minutes of cardiac arrest and survival chances decrease 10% for every minute that passes after the arrest.

Those who think the devices are just too expensive should know that prices have dropped dramatically in recent years, with units priced well under $2,000 now. Most units can be installed without professional assistance. AEDs are battery powered and the batteries are not rechargeable, so they don’t require a power supply.  For maintenance, they only require daily spot checks to ensure the status indicator light is on, and monthly checks to make sure the unit is in good working order. Batteries, which currently cost about $200-300, last 3-5 years. The pads, which currently run between $70-100 per pair, only have to be replaced when used.

It is necessary to train employees on how to use AEDs, but the training is not difficult or intensive. The Heart and Stroke Foundation suggests that anyone with a Grade 6 education can learn to use an AED in 20 minutes. In order to reduce liability risks, the Heart and Stroke Foundation recommends companies ensure operators have medical oversight, ensure certain members of staff are properly trained and that protocols for continued training, operation and equipment maintenance are in place. The Heart and Stroke Foundation recommends that all employees, if possible, have the skills necessary to perform CPR and the use of an AED.

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) has created a new guide designed to introduce Canadians to the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS), to help prepare workplaces for anticipated changes, as the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) looks forward to adopting the GHS standards.

The purpose of GHS is create a universal set of rules for classifying hazards and the same format and content for labels and safety data sheets (SDS) to be adopted and used around the world. The new guide, entitled “WHMIS After GHS: Preparing for Change” will help organizations negotiate the anticipated changes, understand the new requirements and facilitate a successful transition to the global standard.

While the exact details of the changes won’t be known until the legislation is published in the Canada Gazette II, there is sufficient information available to encourage workplaces to begin preparation. The guide will:

• Provide an overview of the new Globally Harmonized System (GHS)
• Describe the changes to WHMIS that should be expected when GHS rules for classification, labelling, symbols/pictograms, and safety data sheets (SDSs) are adopted.
• Provide advice on steps that employers can take in order to transition successfully to WHMIS After adoption of GHS

A copy of  WHMIS After GHS: Preparing for Change can be purchased by clicking on the title.

Vancouver officials are investigating a building demolition in which two walls and a lamp collapsed onto the street, barely missing a flagperson and several cars.

Unfortunately, the incident, which occurred at 5:30 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon during a demolition being conducted by Global Excavation and Demolition, was caught on video, and several of the videos have gone viral on YouTube, raising questions about the company’s safety procedures.  The company, however, claims the situation was “under control” and suggested that in any demolition, “sometimes things happen that are out of your control.” Karmjeet Singh Panesar, one of the owners of Global Excavation and Demolition,  was apparently operating the crane at the time.

One video (see below), taken from a high angle, shows one wall of 1102 Hornby St. collapsing onto Helmcken Street.  Seemingly undeterred, the operator continued to work, and proceeded to follow that up by knocking down an adjacent wall, part of which fell onto Hornby Street and took out a lamp post.

This is not their first incident. The company has received six compliance orders in the last three years, including one for an excavation. They currently have one other demolition permit for Vancouver, but that has been put on hold while city officials and WorkSafeBC review the company’s safety practices.  The YouTube videos will be used as evidence in the investigation.

The company has promised to pay for replacement of the $4,000 lamp post.

Here is the video of the first collapse:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKIZk4qAqKU

And here is the video of the second:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvWRKojULbo

In yet another accident demonstrating the danger of working near overhead power lines, workers at a construction site in Dieppe, New Brunswick had a close call when their dump truck struck some lines. Thankfully, this time no one was hurt.

The accident occurred as two dump trucks were being used as part of a road construction project. The operator of one dump truck situated his truck underneath the power line, and when a hydro line lifted the box of his vehicle, it contacted and snapped the line, and the snapped line  landed on a smaller dump truck, which caught fire.

WorkSafeNB is conducting an investigation into the incident to determine if there were any infractions under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The workers were employees of Cherryfield Contracting Ltd, which was contracted by the City of Dieppe for the construction work.

Despite the fact that there were no injuries, every precaution was taken to put out the fire, so that all workers remained safe. In fact, firefighters refused to put out the fire for about an hour because the power line was still live.

This incident happened less than two weeks after an employee of Ken Miller Excavating in Brockville, Ontario was electrocuted when his boom truck struck the power line at a construction site, as he delivered concrete sections for storm sewers.

Two Ontario companies, Ken Miller Excavating and Anchor Concrete Products Ltd, were issued a series of orders following an accident in which the boom of one of their trucks came into contact with overhead power lines and a worker was electrocuted and killed.  The worker was assisting boom trucks delivering concrete sections for storm sewers, but the exact circumstances surrounding the accident are currently under investigation by the Ministry of Labour.

Almost as soon as the worker was taken to Kingston General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Ken Miller Excavating was issued a series of orders requiring the company to provide documents related to: its health and safety policy and program; procedures regarding work done in close proximity to electrical conductors; its emergency plan; and of course, its safety training and workplace safety procedures. A stop work order was also issued on a 10-tonne off-loader, which was to undergo inspection to determine whether it can handle its rated capacity. The Ministry of Labor also issued three orders to Kingston-based Anchor Concrete Products Ltd, requiring documents related to its training and health and safety policy and program. Both companies were also ordered to provide a written report of the circumstances of the occurrence to the ministry and any applicable union.

According to an alert issued last May by the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA), fatal accidents involving equipment contacting overhead power lines is not uncommon in Ontario, and in fact have accounted for half of all electrocutions in the province over the last eight years.  The ESA recommends that workers follow a few safety precautions when working near overhead power lines:

• Always conduct a hazard assessment and know where a power line is before you start work.
• If it’s at all possible, once you locate a power line, try to work away from it. If this is not possible, stay as far away as possible, and remember; the higher the voltage, the farther away you need to be.
• If possible, call the local electric company and have them cut the power while work is ongoing.
• Mark the areas around the power lines with cones and/or signs to warn other workers of the danger.
• If a vehicle or other piece of equipment contacts a power line, stay in the vehicle and radio for help.

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.

Since it’s that time of year again, perhaps it’s time to review some basic tips and techniques that all snowplow operators should remember from year to year, but which they sometimes forget over the long spring and summer seasons. Remember these, and you’ll have a great season.

• Make sure you and all operators are trained and up-to-date with regard to standard operating procedures where you work. All operators should know their assigned equipment inside and out, and they should be familiar with their assigned routes before the first snow falls.
• Before the first snow falls, operators should become familiar with the possible hazards on their route, including such things as raised manhole covers, curb drains, road surface defects and soft or narrow shoulders.
• Some operators report difficulty in turning left while pushing snow. If you turn your reversible plow in the direction the truck is turning, it is much easier to turn the vehicle, even while pushing a heavy accumulation of snow. When the turn is completed, return the plow to the proper angle.
• Be sure trucks and equipment are well-maintained and able to meet winter maintenance needs. Make sure equipment is regularly inspected and maintained between storms, in order to minimize the number of breakdowns. Operators should also perform an inspection before taking the equipment out on the road, before they get into the driver’s seat, and do so every time.
• Snowplow operators should always be properly rested before going out on the road. A tired driver combined with poor weather conditions is a recipe for disaster.
• Keep the inside of the truck in good order. Secure all items, such as pens, pads, tools and lunch boxes, and rid yourself of anything you don’t need, especially things like drink cans and food containers. These can all be dangerous flying objects in an accident.
• Use the 3-point contact method when climbing in and out of the cab, especially when the steps into the cab are coated with snow and ice.
• Wear a seat belt. Just as a drink can may become a deadly flying object in an accident, you could become the same.
• Operators should always practice defensive driving while operating the snowplow. That means keeping two hands on the wheel at all times; looking far enough down the road to see potential hazards beforehand; scanning the entire road and not looking at the same thing for too long; working to leave yourself an out on the road, and not boxing yourself into a poor situation; keeping drivers out of your blind spots as much as possible; and making sure they see you by keeping your lights and beacon on at all times.
• Keep in mind that there is a dead space distance of 20-30 metres behind the vehicle, where you cannot see when using your mirrors, so avoid backing maneuvers whenever possible.

This is, of course, not a comprehensive list of tips; these just scratch the surface. All in all, when operating a snowplow under what will undoubtedly be difficult conditions, safety must come first, for your sake and the sakes of those sharing the road with you.

Have a safe season.

According to a new report from the Massachusetts Toxic Use Reduction Institute (TURI), entitled “Asthma-Related Chemicals in Massachusetts,” more than 300 substances are known or suspected to cause or exacerbate asthma, and that “[m]uch of the evidence (for identifying these substances) comes from workers exposed in the workplace.”

Asthma is an increasingly common chronic lung disease that kills more than 500 Canadians annually. The most common symptoms include shortness of breath, chest pain or tightness, coughing and wheezing.

Based on the report’s findings, workers in a range of occupations may be exposed to ammonia, chlorine, formaldehyde, diesel exhaust or any of the other 300-plus chemicals identified in this report as causing asthma symptoms. Lab workers, woodworkers, construction workers, plumbers, farmers, painters, and those in industries that produce metals, plastics, electronics, rubber and textiles are just a few examples of workers who are at risk. Asthma-causing substances are also commonly found in most cleaning products, including those found in most workplaces and homes.

The Canadian Lung Association reports that three million Canadians are suffering from asthma, and 25% of them have symptoms that are triggered or made worse by exposure in the work environment. That means hundreds of thousands of workers are affected. In addition, they report that up to 15% of new asthma cases are caused by workplace exposures.

There needs to be greater effort on the part of workplaces to either eliminate these substances or minimize worker exposure to them. The TURI report identifies more than 300 different chemicals, and that information should be used to develop strategies for replacing substances with those less harmful, and to isolate those that can’t be replaced, in order to reduce exposure.

In Ontario, occupational health and safety law requires that employers take steps to protect workers from harmful substances, and it gives workers the right to know about hazardous substances through the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS). The province’s new Toxics Reduction Act (TRA) may also prove useful in safeguarding workers and the public from harmful substances including those linked with asthma.

The Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE) is currently working to develop regulations that effectively implement of the Toxics Reduction Act, and those regulations should be completed this fall. In the meantime, it would be a good idea for supervisors to read . Slated for completion in the fall of 2009, the content and enforcement of these regulations will help determine how effective the legislation will be.

For our part, the Workers Health & Safety Centre has developed information resources and training programs to help workers, joint committee members and others better understand how to identify and eliminate exposure to harmful chemicals including asthma-causing substances.

Supervisors should read the Massachusetts report, as well as the Toxics Reduction Act, and the WHSC asthma fact sheet, in order to prepare for the new regulations coming down the pike. TURI also a database of potential cleaning solution alternatives that could be helpful.

Asthma is an increasingly common disease, and workplaces will have to prepare to stem the tide very soon. It’d be best to prepare now for the changes that are coming.