Features

Shifting Winds

In an energy-hungry world, power derived from a renewable resource is a good thing. But a recent study by researchers from Quebec has highlighted a gap in both safety practices and awareness of the occupational risks associated with working at wind turbines, which is growing in Canada. How can we harness wind power without throwing caution to the wind?

Active on Wheels

The adverse health effects stemming from sedentary work are well documented. For some workplaces, equipping an office with standing desks or treadmill workstations may not be practical or feasible — not to mention the prohibitive costs of replacing conventional workstations…

Ties that Bind

Your workplace has a health and safety program in place; the employees are well trained and aware of the hazards in the workplace. With an impressive safety record, employees can be proud of your commitment to safety. But what about the contractors that a company engages?

The Weakest Links

On June 16, Ontario’s Ministry of Labour (MOL) started public consultations on how the Labour Relations Act, 1995 and the Employment Standards Act, 2000 could be amended to keep pace with the changing needs of workers and employers in the…

Back to the Future

Technology moves so fast that it can sometimes be hard to keep up with it. In the world of safety training, digital shifts mean that courses are being offered in new ways. One such development that has the potential to…

Spiralling Down

New research suggests that seriously injured workers tend to have shorter lifespans and that those who are permanently impaired following workplace incidents in their younger years have the highest risk of dying early.

Digging in Foreign Lands

Canada’s mining industry accounts for nearly half of the
world’s mining and mineral-exploration activity. But who holds Canadian operations abroad accountable when workplace-safety violations occur, and what standards are they required to live up to?
Claims of Canadian companies disregarding the rights of foreign workers and changes to Canada’s corporate social responsibility strategy are throwing a spotlight on the way our extractive sector does business abroad.

Putting Stress on Stress

Many Canadians feel stressed out at work, according to a preliminary report from the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC). In April, the Commission will publish its full report on mental-health indicators, which classifies workplace stress as an area of…

Impairment Versus Intrusion: Drugs and Alcohol in Safety-Sensitive Positions

Nearly two years have passed since the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, Local 30 v. Irving Pulp & Paper Ltd. that the mandatory, random alcohol testing of unionized employees in safety-sensitive positions at…

Safety Goes Wireless

Today, there is an app for everything. Apps with workplace safety functions are no exception — they are becoming must-have tools for safety professionals and workers alike. “Apps are definitely a big part of today’s safety environment,” says Jonathan Brun,…

Blood on Scrubs

A recent spate of violence against healthcare workers in Ontario and British Columbia has revived the debate on whether healthcare institutions are doing enough to protect employees on the job. On December 29, a registered nurse was beaten and critically…

Raising the Bar

Construction sites are dangerous workplaces with some of the highest on-the-job injuries and fatalities. The National Construction Safety Officer program, administered by provincial construction-safety associations, certifies individuals who have practical knowledge in various construction-related health- and safety-management skills.

But some are questioning the credibility of this entry-level certification and whether it undermines the overall standard of the safety profession.

Express Route to Safety

A bill proposing to amend the Criminal Code of Canada to take violence against transit operators into consideration may result in stiffer penalties against those who assault bus and taxi drivers.

Toxic Fissures

What goes down must come up. Flowback fluids — returning high-pressure fluids injected into the ground to fracture the rock formation and release natural gas or oil — have been linked to the deaths of four workers who appear to have suffered from acute chemical exposures during flowback operations at well sites in Williston Basin in North Dakota and Montana since 2010. As Canada’s oil-and-gas boom continues to fuel projects that involve hydraulic fracturing, just how much — or how little — do we know about what goes on underground?

Growing Pains

Often, the final punctuation in a life story is not a period, but a question mark. After 15-year-old Christopher Lawrence was entangled in a conveyor belt at a gravel-crushing site outside Drumheller, Alberta in July, safety inspectors fanned out across the province in early commencement of a planned inspection blitz on gravel-crushing sites. The death of the teenage worker has raised a larger question: should Lawrence have been permitted to work in that position at all?

Safety Rules Revised

National Safety Council Congress and Expo 2014 in San Diego

On the Frontlines

Back in journalism’s heyday, it was common for newspapers and television and radio stations to have foreign bureaus and correspondents stationed around the world. Slashed budgets and an increasingly competitive media landscape have led to many news outlets shuttering those offices and relying on contract staff, stringers, freelancers and, in some cases, even citizens’ eyewitness reports. As the news industry continues to struggle, the safety of frontline reporters may be at risk.

Human Factor

In June, the Ontario Human Rights Commission released a new policy that provides guidelines on how to define, assess, handle and resolve human-rights issues related to mental-health problems and addiction disabilities.
Guidance is certainly needed, as employers in Ontario have legal obligations to accommodate employees with mental-health issues and addictions — both of which are protected grounds under the Human Rights Code.

Big Brother’s Watching

Ontario’s workers’ compensation board is increasingly using covert surveillance to target injured workers with costly claims, legal experts say.

Solvent Syndrome

For nearly 28 years, Patrick (who has requested that his last name be withheld for privacy reasons) serviced typewriters, printers, coin counters and other business machines for a succession of different employers across southern British…