The Federal Government has made a major investment in a literacy and essential skills development project designed to help Canadian manufacturing workers and businesses make their workers more productive and keep them safer.  The program hopes to identify best practices and create tools to help businesses incorporate critical skills in their training programs.

As the Government sees things, Improving adult Canadians’ literacy and essential skills is a key part of the its commitment to creating the best educated, most skilled and most flexible workforce in the world. The Office of Literacy and Essential Skills was created in order to help increase the literacy and essential skills of adult Canadians.

Skills shortages remain a significant challenge for the Canadian economy, but beginning with an initial investment of over $38 million in 2010–2011, it is hoped that the Office can create an environment in which Canadians have the literacy and essential skills they need to participate fully in the labour market and in their communities.

In addition to providing funding and conducting research, the Government’s Office of Literacy and Essential Skills works with provincial and territorial governments, as well as non-profit organizations across Canada, to help employers, practitioners and trainers incorporate literacy and essential skills into their training programs.

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.

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.

The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Tribunal of British Columbia (WCAT) has granted an unnamed commercial construction company a stay of a decision that imposed an administrative penalty of nearly $40,000 on the company.

WCAT vice-chair Heather McDonald allowed the stay of a WorkSafeBC administrative penalty of $38,569.34 – which was upheld by a WorkSafeBC review officer – after ruling that paying the fine would likely cause serious financial harm to the company.

In the decision to stay the fine, McDonald wrote, “A stay is an extraordinary remedy. … The employer’s financial situation is very poor and the prospect of paying a significant penalty of over $30,000.00 will likely place the employer into bankruptcy. In all, I find that the circumstances of this case illustrate exceptional circumstances that justify granting the extraordinary remedy of a stay to the employer.”

The ruling granting the stay comes after a March 30, 2010 decision against the employer, which was the prime contractor on a multi-employer construction site in October, 2008, when a WorkSafeBC safety officer visited the work site and issued a series of orders relating to the company’s failure to: remedy workplace conditions that are hazardous to the health and safety of workers; establish a safety system; and, as prime contractor, ensure that the occupational health and safety activities of everyone at the workplace were coordinated. In addition, other orders were issued, involving specific violations, such as the presence of a number of damaged electrical cords; walkways obstructed by debris; and fall hazards.

The decision notes that, when determining whether or not to issue a stay, WCAT typically considers, among other factors: whether the appeal, on its face, appears to have merit; whether the applicant would likely suffer serious harm if the stay were not granted (for example, loss of a business); and, whether granting a stay would likely endanger worker safety. In its view, the employer provided convincing evidence that it is in an extremely difficult financial position currently, noting that the company’s year end June 30, 2009 net loss exceeded $350,000.00, and that paying the penalty at the current time would likely force the company to cease operations.  “This prospect of likely bankruptcy proceedings and closure of the business brings into the picture the factor of irreparable harm, not just serious harm,” the decision reads.

If your overall goal is to provide your company with the strongest possible bottom line through efficient use of resources and predictable costs, then you have to understand that there is a direct relationship between a strong, effective safety training program and your company’s growth, competitiveness, and financial success.

Don’t think of a safety training program as a cost to your company; it’s an investment. And it’s an investment that returns huge dividends in many ways.

A good, solid safety training program will:

• Help with compliance with government and industry standards, and reduce the chance that your company will be cited for health and safety violations. A knowledgeable work force is less likely to break the rules.
• Reduce accidents, and protect workers from illness and injury, thus saving your company the costs of lost time and reduced productivity, not to mention reduced insurance premiums. In addition, solid safety training helps to manage risks such as sexual harassment and workplace violence.
• Increases overall worker motivation and morale, leading to job satisfaction. Workers who believe their company cares for their health and safety are more productive. They are also likely to stick around longer, leading to reduced turnover, which leaves you with a pool of highly skilled and knowledgeable employees, including many who can move up and fill critical positions within the organization.
• Make sure your company is better able to adapt to new systems, technological change and innovation, and provide your company with the human resources to expand into new markets and grab hold of new economic opportunities.
• Contribute to the development of a positive culture in which confident, knowledgeable, creative employees are able to provide customers with superior products and services to customers.

A good safety training program pays for itself many times over, by creating a safe, happy and healthy workforce that is enormously productive. But to maximize the payback for your training dollars, keep a few things in mind:

• Training must be ongoing, and must be constantly reassessed to make sure you’re keeping up with your company’s current needs.
• Make sure the training is comprehensive and interesting, and offers workers a chance to practice new skills in a safe setting. Also, be sure to provide workers with opportunities to use any newly learned skills on the job. After training, send them back to work with learning aids such as checklists, step-by-step instructions, and safety reminders that help them safely and effectively transfer newly learned skills to their job.
• Encourage workers to discuss their training needs and to even request additional training they might think necessary.

It’s easy to look at the cost of safety training to the company, but a good manager understands that a strong safety training program makes them a lot more money than it costs. Safety training is one of the best investments you can make in your employees and your company.

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 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.