Web-Exclusive News

As part of our efforts to provide loyal visitors to www.ohcanada.com with news and views they can use, OHS CANADA offers web-exclusive news. These articles are posted eight times a year to coincide with the release of each print edition of the magazine. As is the case with OHS CANADA, web-exclusive items reflect recent oh&s happenings throughout the country. The articles below, from January through March, are current as of the time of writing and many are based on stories that first appeared in our sister publication, CANADIAN OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY NEWS.

Mounties shot at residence
FEDERAL — Two RCMP officers were “recovering satisfactorily” in early February after being shot and wounded at a rural residence near Hardisty, Alberta.

Cash injection to enhance fire protection
FEDERAL — Ottawa has announced plans to invest $4 million to improve fire protection on Manitoba reserves.

Officer involved in three-vehicle collision
BAMBERTON — A 40-year-old member of the West Shore RCMP in British Columbia sustained injuries during an early-morning incident involving his cruiser, a car and a tractor-trailer unit.

Mass cull of dogs spurs regulations
VICTORIA — New British Columbia regulations have been introduced to protect sled dogs almost two years after a brutal cull.

Forestry fatalities prompt alert
NANAIMO — The BC Forest Safety Council in Nanaimo, British Columbia released a safety alert after the province witnessed the fourth forestry-related fatality of 2012.

Death leads to $275,000 penalty
FORT MCMURRAY — Finning International Inc. was fined $275,000 in mid-February following the death of a worker more than three years ago.

Worker struck by ruptured pipe
FORT MCMURRAY — A worker was fatally injured while working at an oil sands project, about 60 kilometres south of Fort McMurray, Alberta.

Loader, truck collision proves fatal
ELK POINT — A loader operator sustained fatal injuries on March 9 during a collision on Highway 41, about 20 kilometres south of the Alberta community of Elk Point.

Supervision not competent, sufficient
SASKATOON — A Saskatoon business owner received a $7,700 penalty in mid-January after pleading guilty to failing to provide competent and sufficient supervision to workers, as required by Saskatchewan's Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Online youth campaign launched
REGINA — WorkSafe Saskatchewan was looking to get the word out to young workers with the launch of a nine-week contest on February 1.

Funding for agriculture safety education
REGINA — The Saskatchewan government has committed $105,000 in new funding for the Saskatchewan Association of Agricultural Societies and Exhibitions (SAASE) to administer agriculture safety and education programs.

Orders follow asbestos discovery
WINDSOR — A stop-work order remained in effect more than a week after tests confirmed the presence of asbestos at a former hospital in Windsor, Ontario.

Rescue equipment not readily available
SARNIA — The Corporation of the Village of Point Edward has pleaded guilty to failing to ensure adequate rescue equipment was available for an ice water rescue training exercise that ended in the death of a paid volunteer firefighter two years ago.

Potato farm fined in worker death
CALEDON — A $90,000 penalty was levied against Tupling Farms Ltd. in mid-February for its failure to take the reasonable precaution of developing and implementing written procedures for how to safely clear debris from a harvester.

Transit worker shot in collector booth
TORONTO — A ticket collector for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) was taken to hospital after being shot while on duty February 26.

Restraints should be last resort
TORONTO — The Toronto-based Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) released a best-practice guideline in March designed to help nurses and health care workers lessen reliance on restraints — both physical and chemical — as part of their daily routine.

Three officers assaulted at airport
TORONTO — Three police officers sustained injuries while responding to a security breach at Canada's largest airport.

Woman charged in string of taxi thefts
MONCTON — A 20-year-old woman faces two charges of robbery and two charges of failing to comply with a probation order in connection with the robbery of two taxi drivers.

Thieves hit gas station twice
DARTMOUTH — The Halifax Regional Police was investigating two robberies within a nine-hour period at the same gas station in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

Advisory committee members named
CHARLOTTETOWN — An advisory committee has been established for the 2012 review of Prince Edward Island's Workers Compensation Act, a review that is carried out every five years.

Merge WCB, oh&s functions: council
MT. PEARL — The Newfoundland and Labrador Employers' Council (NLEC) argues that efficiency can be increased and costs decreased by amalgamating the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission (WHSCC) and the occupational health and safety branch of Service NL.

Fire departments to receive funds
ST. JOHN'S — Newfoundland and Labrador's Department of Municipal Affairs in St. John's has announced it will be providing more than $119,000 in funding to 15 fire departments throughout the province.