CRANBROOK, B.C. — British Columbia’s Ministry of Advanced Education has announced $640,702 in funding for two colleges, to buy new trades training equipment that supports students entering in-demand occupations that are critical to the economy. The College of the Rockies will receive $325,274 to buy equipment such as an air dryer and heat exchangers for industrial mechanic and millwright students, a wheel aligner for heavy mechanical trades and an oxyfuel cutter for welding students. Selkirk College will receive $315,428 to buy equipment such as an industry-standard drill press for millwright students, a renewable energy trainer for electrical students and an air conditioning trainer for heavy mechanic trades students.
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Drywall company fined for fall protection violations
SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. — A drywall company in Medicine Hat, Alta. was fined $16,800 on Feb. 2 after pleading guilty to two oh&s counts. Gyp-Tec Drywall Inc. was fined for failing to notify the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety’s oh&s division, as soon as reasonably possible, of an accident at a workplace and failing to ensure workers used a fall protection system at a work area where they could fall three metres or more, the ministry said in a press release. Charges were laid after an incident in May 2013, in which a worker was texturing the ceiling of a two-story house in Swift Current and fell from the second floor to the first floor, sustaining serious injuries.
Man arrested after assault on bus driver
OSHAWA, Ont. — A 21-year-old man has been arrested after he spit on a bus driver during a fare dispute. At about 11:15 p.m. on Feb. 6, a Durham Regional Transit bus picked up two men from an intercity commuter bus station in Ajax, Ont., the Durham Regional Police Service said in a statement. One man claimed to be transferring from another bus, and the driver allowed him to ride on the bus without proof of payment, the DRPS said in a press release. But when the bus arrived in Oshawa, the man asked for a transfer for another bus and was denied. The man paid for the fare and received a transfer, but then spat on the driver, the release said. Police were called and located the man; the second man managed to escape before police arrived. As the suspect was being arrested, he broke free of the officer and ran. “After a brief foot chase, officers struggled with the suspect as he continued to resist and a [conducted energy weapon] was deployed,” the DRPS said. Felix Ajayi of Toronto has been charged with assault, assault with intent to resist arrest and escaping lawful custody.
Death to worker spurs $100,000 fine
WATFORD, Ont. — A numbered company (1483322 Ontario Inc.) carrying on business as Signature Events Rental Shoppe was fined $100,000 on Feb. 3, in connection with the death of a worker. On Aug. 1, 2013, a crew of six workers — all seasonal workers under 25 years old — was sent to a property near Watford to set up a tent in advance of a wedding, Ontario’s Ministry of Labour (MOL) said in a press release. As one of the ten poles was being placed, it contacted an overhead electrical service line, which sent an electric current down to the ground, the release said, adding that the ground had been saturated by rainfall. Five of the six workers were injured by the initial shock; a second shock was delivered to some of the workers who were lying on the ground. One worker was electrocuted, and the others suffered burns and dislocations (COHSN, Aug. 12, 2013). An MOL investigation found that none of the workers had received any safety training, including training with respect to recognizing and mitigating site hazards such as overhead power lines. Furthermore, the company failed to ensure that materials were lifted or moved in such a way that they did not endanger the safety of a worker. Signature Events pleaded guilty to failing, as a constructor, to ensure that the health and safety of workers was protected. The company also pleaded guilty to failing, as an employer, to provide adequate information, instruction and supervision to workers about the hazards of overhead electrical wires, as required under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Satisfaction with P.E.I. WCB reaches all-time high
CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Satisfaction with the Workers Compensation Board of Prince Edward Island (WCB) reached an all-time high last year, the WCB said in a statement on Feb. 12. The WCB reported that over 500 injured workers had participated in the survey conducted by an independent research company last fall. Similar studies have been conducted every two years since 2002, and the results this time showed that the majority of WCB clients were satisfied with their overall experience with the board. In 2014, the WCB achieved a performance rating of 73 per cent, the statement said. Among the results, there was a notable improvement in satisfaction with workers’ first contact with the board, rising from 63 per cent in 2012 to 78 per cent in 2014. A summary report of the survey is available at http://www.wcb.pe.ca/DocumentManagement/Document/pub_injuredworkersurvey2014.pdf.
Website helps transition to WHMIS 2015
A new website is available to help Canadians transition from the old Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) to WHMIS 2015, which implements the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). The site, www.whmis.net, provides Canadians with a single point of access to the most current information about the new system from every jurisdiction in Canada. The website also contains helpful tools and resources for workers, employers, suppliers and trainers, noted a press release from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, which developed the resource. The release noted that the website would be kept up-to-date with current information regarding the status of new and existing WHMIS laws and requirements in each jurisdiction.
Webinar explores latest management trends
On March 5 at 2 p.m., The Conference Board of Canada (CBC) will host a 60-minute webinar to explore the latest management trends and how to implement these changes in the workplace. The webinar will examine how a changing workforce significantly challenges traditional approaches to careers, career paths and talent management and provide specific actions to take, the CBC said in a release. The webinar will also provide focused career and performance management advice to an aging workforce and provide examples of new approaches to talent management from leading organizations. For more information on “What every manager needs to know: 3 macro trends challenging the careers of your people,” visit http://goo.gl/WjyBFW.
Firefighter dies during training exercise
A firefighter-in-training has died after he was submerged under ice during a training exercise on the Saugeen River in Hanover, Ont.
Ministry of Labour (MOL) spokesperson William Lin told COHSN that Herschel Rescue Training Systems was conducting a cold water rescue training exercise on Feb. 8 when the student of Oshawa, Ont.-based Durham College became trapped under ice. The Hanover Fire and Emergency Services Department as 30-year-old Adam Brunt.
The MOL has dispatched an inspector to the scene of the accident, and the investigation is currently ongoing. Hanover Police Services (HPS) is also investigating, Lin said, adding that the labour ministry had not issued any compliance orders as of the morning of Feb. 10.
HPS could not be reached by COHSN press time, but the police department said in media reports that Brunt was training with 11 other students and one instructor. One by one, each of the 13 people floated down a channel of fast-flowing water on the partially frozen river in quick succession. Once the final person came through, they realized that one person was missing, according to the reports.
Brunt had been enrolled in Durham College’s one-year “Firefighter – Pre-service, education and training” course. The curriculum, based on current Ontario firefighter standards, was developed in conjunction with the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs and the provincial Office of the Fire Marshal to provide knowledge and practical skills, the college said on its website.
The fatality came a little over five years after a similar incident on the St. Clair River near Sarnia, Ont. On the morning of Jan. 30, 2010, Gary Kendall, 51, was participating in an ice water rescue training exercise conducted by Point Edward Fire & Rescue when he became trapped under ice (COHSN, Feb. 8, 2010). The volunteer firefighter, a 16-year veteran of the Point Edward fire department, was trapped underwater by a large ice floe. He died the morning after the incident.
Sex worker groups question constitutionality of new legislation
Two sex worker groups in Toronto have asked Ontario’s Attorney General to stop the enforcement of new sex work legislation.
In an open letter to Madeleine Meilleur on Feb. 9, STRUT and Maggie’s: The Toronto Sex Workers Action Project asked the Attorney General to: advise Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne that the laws are likely unconstitutional; advise Crown attorneys against prosecuting charges laid under the new legislation as generally not being in the public interest; and hold a meeting with the two organizations.
Bill C-36, the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA), came into effect on Dec. 6 and amended the Criminal Code to make “purchasing sexual services or communicating in any place for that purpose” a criminal offence. Other amendments prohibit receiving a material benefit from sex work, advertising prostitution and communication in a public place for the purposes of selling sex services and equating prostitution offences with human trafficking ones (COHSN, Dec. 15). The bill was in response to a Supreme Court of Canada decision, which struck down a series of laws regarding prostitution.
“PCEPA is a set of laws that force people in the sex trade — whether they are there by choice, coercion or economic circumstance — into harm’s way,” the open letter said. “In substance, these laws reproduce most of the provisions that were struck down and go even a step further by adding new harmful provisions. These laws violate the constitutional rights of people in the sex trade,” the letter charged.
The letter added that sex trade workers themselves had expressed “serious concerns” that this legislation would not help sex trade workers who need assistance and that it would actually endanger those who are most vulnerable.
Françoise Boivin, an NDP MP for Gatineau, Que. who has been a lawyer for nearly 30 years, said that the issue was one of health and safety. She said that she believed the new law was likely not completely constitutional or unconstitutional, noting that the NDP had proposed an amendment that would prevent sex workers from having a criminal record.
“Attorney General Meilleur’s decision is life or death for sex workers, and we’re not at a critical juncture where we could avoid more harm,” said Jean McDonald, director of Maggie’s, in a press release. “We cannot wait through years of legal wrangling as people in our communities experience more and more violence.”
The Ministry of the Attorney General could not be reached for comment by COHSN press time.
To view the open letter, visit http://wearestrut.org/our-work/lobbying/open-letter-to-ontario-attorney-general/.
Live-in caregivers unsung contributors to oilsands economy, report says
Live-in caregivers in northern Alberta’s oilsands region help ease work-life stresses for families in the intensive environment, but do so at great personal and financial costs, a new study has suggested.
Led by University of Alberta sociologist Sara Dorow, the study, Live-in Caregivers in Fort McMurray: a Socioeconomic Footprint, found that live-in caregivers — foreign nationals living in Canadian homes and employed to provide child or adult care — faced many challenges, including unpaid overtime, underpayment and illegal or poor working conditions. The online survey involved interviews with 56 temporary foreign workers living and working in dwelling units in and around Fort McMurray under the federal Live-in Caregiver Program, as well as qualitative information from individual interviews and focus groups with caregivers conducted between 2008 and 2014. The study was estimated to have captured approximately 10 per cent of the local live-in caregiver program.
In particular, 20 per cent of the surveyed caregivers reported that they were not paid or only occasionally paid for overtime hours and worked an average of 10.4 overtime hours a week. Eighteen per cent reported receiving less than the Alberta prevailing gross hourly wage, and illegal or poor working conditions was the second most important reason cited for changing employers while working in Fort McMurray.
“Residents of Fort McMurray work the longest hours in the country, often on rotational shifts,” said Dorow, the report’s lead author and an associate professor of sociology at the University of Alberta. “Live-in caregivers help to make the oilsands work regime sustainable by absorbing some of its stresses. At the same time, they experience stresses of their own, including the uncertainties of both the oilsands economy and the foreign worker policies coming out of Ottawa.”
The study noted that residents of Fort McMurray work the longest hours in the country, with residents who work 50 hours or more a week accounting for 32 per cent of the population, compared to only 17 per cent at the national level. On a weekly basis, live-in caregivers work 53.7 hours on average and tend to work even longer when one or both of their employers works at the site.
“Long and variable working hours combine with high mobility and turnover to contribute to both social opportunities and social stresses, including shortages of time for volunteering, leisure, family and daily care activities,” the study said. “Live-in caregivers in Fort McMurray have sacrificed substantial financial savings and long years without their own spouses and children to work for families in the oilsands region. The opportunity to immigrate is what keeps them going.”
Other findings include:
- The majority of live-in caregivers (88 per cent) were female and from the Philippines;
- Eighty-two per cent were between 25 and 44 years of age;
- Seventy per cent of the sample surveyed each invested between $4,000 and $8,999 overall to move to work in Canada, while each of their employers likely spent about $3,000 (for Labour Market Impact Assessment processing fee and airfare); and
- Live-in caregivers found cold weather, limited social activities, homesickness and cultural adjustment to be key challenges.
The summary of the survey is available online at http://www.onthemovepartnership.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Live-in-Caregivers-in-Fort-McMurray-Report-Overview-Dorow-et-al-Jan-2015.pdf. The full report is available at http://www.onthemovepartnership.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Live-in-Caregivers-in-Fort-McMurray-Dorow-et-al.-January-2015.pdf.