TORONTO, Ont. – The corporate safety manager of Ontario’s Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB) is seeking a peace bond in court against a Windsor man who has allegedly been posting harassing and threatening comments about him and the Board on Facebook. A two-day court hearing between Frank Brunato, the WSIB manager, and Mike Spencer began on March 17. The comments reportedly appeared in an anti-WSIB Facebook community called “Wsib [sic] KILLS People”, which charges that the provincial workers’ compensation board treats disabled workers unfairly and is morally responsible for past deaths by stress, suicide and other causes. “The WSIB takes the safety and security of its employees very seriously,” WSIB public-relations specialist Christine Arnott told COHSN. “As this matter is before the courts, we cannot comment further.” On March 22, Spencer posted on the Facebook page that the hearing would continue on April 21.
Category Archives: Compliance & Enforcement
National Energy Board investigating TransCanada over safety violations
Following a series of whistleblower allegations about safety-code violations involving natural-gas pipelines, the National Energy Board (NEB) has begun an investigation into the practices of TransCanada Corp.
NEB spokesperson Darin Barter confirmed that the corporation was being probed, but could not provide specific details, due in part to an obligation to keep the whistleblower anonymous. Reuters reported on March 19 that the allegations included poor repair work, inept welding and failure to report important safety issues, but Barter could not confirm this.
“Both the whistleblower and the NEB, we both agree that there are no public-safety or environmental concerns brought forward, but certainly some allegations that warranted investigation for compliance with regulations,” Barter said. “They’re unproven claims at this point.
“I can’t say much because it is under investigation,” he added.
The NEB notified TransCanada of the allegations on Feb. 27, according to Mark Cooper, a spokesperson for the company.
“None posed either an immediate or long-term threat to the public or our assets,” said Cooper, referring to the allegations. “Nonetheless, each and every allegation we receive is taken seriously.”
Cooper added that while TransCanada didn’t know the identity of the whistleblower, many of these allegations had already been raised and investigated internally. “We are working diligently to gather all of the relevant information to address each of these allegations for the NEB. We share the NEB’s focus on protecting the safety of the public, our workers and the environment, and we are working as quickly as possible on this process to provide information.”
This isn’t the first time that Canada’s national energy regulator has investigated TransCanada over safety concerns. Last year alone, the NEB received eight complaints from individuals across the country. In 2012, a TransCanada engineer named Evan Vokes left the company after raising a series of allegations regarding risk assessment, inspections and management review; these allegations led to a major NEB audit.
“We do encourage people to bring these allegations forward,” said Barter. “We do investigate every one of them, and every one is taken seriously.”
Cooper maintained that TransCanada also took safety concerns seriously and had an industry-leading record to back up the claim. He cited an incident rate of 0.114 per thousand kilometres of pipeline per year, which he said was lower than the average incident rates in Canada and all of Europe.
“TransCanada has spent an average of $900 million per year over the last three years on pipeline integrity and preventative-maintenance programs,” said Cooper. “We invested more than $90 million over the last five years in research and development related to pipeline safety technologies and $38 million in 2014 alone.” The company is planning to perform 150 inline pipeline inspections this year, he added.
If TransCanada fails to comply with safety regulations, it could face one of a wide range of penalties, including monetary fines and/or shutdown of a facility or pipeline, Barter explained.
“There’s varying degrees of enforcement that we can apply, and we will, if it’s warranted,” he said. “It could go up as high as we determine we need to go. It could be something more simple and correctable, such as an action plan.” For example, the NEB could demand that TransCanada correct a series of safety issues within 30 days, Barter noted.
Cooper said that the corporation already dealt with safety concerns on its own. “We encourage employees to feel comfortable reporting any breaches and retain an independent company to log and track incidents,” he said. “Should anyone be uncomfortable speaking to any of these resources or prefer to remain anonymous, the Ethics Help Line is another resource for reporting or seeking guidance.
“We will not tolerate anything that undermines the safety and reliability of our facilities.”
TSB demands better tank cars following derailments
As the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has continued to investigate three recent Canadian National (CN) derailments in Northern Ontario, Board chair Kathy Fox has spoken out, stating that a higher standard of tank cars for carrying dangerous goods is an urgent matter that Transport Canada (TC) needs to address now.
“I am reiterating my concern expressed in letters I sent to both the Minister of Transport and the Acting Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration in the United States in October,” Fox said in a press statement on March 17, “in which I urged TC and its U.S. counterparts to adopt the highest possible standards for tank cars carrying flammable liquids and replace or retrofit existing tank cars as soon as practicable, so that they meet new standards.”
Fox’s statement came as the TSB released an update on its ongoing investigation into the derailment near Gogama, Ontario on March 7. The braking of an eastbound CN train, hauling 94 Class 111 tank cars full of petroleum crude, caused 39 of the cars to derail and catch fire. There were no injuries, fatalities or evacuations, but it took nearly three days to extinguish all of the fires (COHSN, March 17).
According to the TSB update, all but three of the derailed cars sustained significant damage that released enough crude to erupt into a pool fire. “Initial impressions are that these Class 111 tank cars performed similarly to those involved in the Lac-Mégantic accident,” the TSB wrote, referring to the disaster that killed 47 people in Quebec in July 2013.
“The TSB has been pointing out the vulnerability of Class 111 tank cars for many years, and the Board has called for tougher standards for all Class 111 tank cars,” the TSB added in the update. “In Lac-Mégantic, investigators found that even at lower speeds, the unprotected Class 111 tank cars ruptured.”
The update acknowledged that TC had announced a new tank-car standard, TC-117, which is expected to use thicker, stronger steel, jacketed thermal protection, full-height head shields, top fittings protection and improved bottom outlet valves. But the TSB expressed concern about the implementation timeline for the new cars.
“If older tank cars… are not phased out sooner, then the regulator and industry need to take more steps to reduce the risk of derailments or consequences following a derailment carrying flammable liquids,” the TSB wrote.
Provincial politicians have also spoken out about the risks. On March 14, Ontario Transport Minister Steven Del Duca and Quebec Transport Minister Robert Poeti sent a joint letter to federal Transport Minister Lisa Raitt, urging her to take immediate action.
“There have been a number of very serious train derailments,” the ministers’ letter read. “We urge the federal government to further strengthen safety practices on rail lines, particularly for the transportation of hazardous and flammable goods, especially crude oil and ethanol.”
In addition to their vulnerability to punctures and ruptures, the Class 111 cars involved in both the March 7 incident and the nearby Feb. 14 derailment lacked a thermal-protection system, the TSB noted. “Until a more robust tank car standard with enhanced protection for all tank cars transporting flammable liquids is implemented for North America, the risk will remain,” the Board wrote.
“Canadians expect their government to ensure that the risks posed by the transportation of flammable liquids are minimized to the greatest extent possible,” said Fox.
Man faces charges for several B.C. bank robberies
RIDGE MEADOWS, B.C. – A 36-year-old man, who was arrested for robbing a Bank of Montreal branch in Maple Ridge on March 4, has now been charged with six previous robberies in the province’s Lower Mainland as well, according to a press release from the Lower Mainland District RCMP. Identified as Thomas Dennis Prosser, the suspect also robbed three banks in Surrey and two in Langley, in a series of incidents that began on Jan. 26; he also attempted to rob the Westminster Savings Credit Union in Langley on Feb. 17, but did not succeed in obtaining any money from the bank. The Ridge Meadows RCMP’s Street Enforcement Unit investigators had already viewed photographs of a suspect in the series of robberies before Prosser’s arrest. “It was only a matter of time before the Lower Mainland collective policing community would catch this man,” said Supt. Murray Power, Officer in Charge of the Langley RCMP, as quoted in the release, dated March 13. “I am pleased that charges have been laid and the suspect is in custody.” Prosser remains in custody, with a pending court appearance.
Recycling company fined $225,000 for worker’s death
WOODSTOCK, Ont. – A Burlington-based recycling company has been ordered to pay a $225,000 fine, plus a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge, for its involvement in the death of a worker on May 1, 2013. That day, a temporary worker from an employment agency was picking up recyclable materials with a side-loading waste-collection truck in rural Oxford County, for Halton Recycling Ltd., which operates as Emterra Environmental. The employee was driving the truck with controls on the right side while standing, when he lost control of the vehicle while rounding a curve; he fell from the truck and received head injuries upon striking the pavement, succumbing to the injuries later in the day. Although Halton Recycling has a safety policy stating that trucks cannot be driven at speeds higher than 30 kilometres per hour when an operator drives from the right-side, stand-up position, other employees said they were unaware of the rule. The company pleaded guilty to failing to take all reasonable precautions to protect a worker and was fined by Judge Michael A. Cuthbertson on March 13.
Report: maximum-security prison poses safety risks
A new report from the Auditor General of Canada, Michael Ferguson, has charged that Nunavut’s only maximum-security facility houses poor conditions that pose major safety risks to both staff and inmates.
In Corrections in Nunavut – Department of Justice, published on March 10, Ferguson accused the federal Department of Justice of having failed to address serious issues with the Baffin Correctional Centre (BCC) in Iqaluit, problems that “have been known for decades,” the report read. Established in 1986, the BCC holds male inmates of varying levels of security, from maximum to minimum.
Among the concerns highlighted by Ferguson:
- The BCC held an average of 82 prisoners at a time during the 2013-14 fiscal year, despite having a capacity for only 68;
- Inmates of different security levels often haven’t been separated from each other;
- Inmates have been housed in the gym;
- The building itself is substandard, with holes in walls, mould and poor air quality;
- Cells, toilets and showers are not cleaned or disinfected sufficiently;
- Basic security requirements for more dangerous inmates are insufficient; and
- The prison fails to comply with the National Fire Code.
“The Department of Justice has been aware of critical deficiencies at its core correctional facility, the Baffin Correctional Centre, for many years,” Ferguson wrote. “Despite this, the Department invested funds to construct the Rankin Inlet Healing Facility and Makigiarvik [two additional prisons in Nunavut], which will provide some relief of overcrowding, but which does not address the territory’s most critical facility needs… We were not provided with a documented rationale supporting the approach the Department took.”
Ferguson also claimed that inmates of both the BCC and the Rankin Inlet Healing Facility had had limited access to rehabilitative programs, reintegration plans and mental-health services.
“The Department did not replace the Baffin Correctional Centre, as set out in its 2006–07 fiscal-year capital-planning document,” the report read. “The proposal for a $300,000 study to look at modernizing, expanding and possibly replacing the Baffin Correctional Centre was removed from the Department’s 2010-11 fiscal-year capital estimates by the Legislative Assembly.”
Ferguson’s report isn’t the first one to criticize the prison’s conditions. Most notably, in 2013, the Office of the Correctional Investigator authored a report that cited similar problems at the BCC, as well as lack of heat, insufficient running water and dust-obstructed air vents.
“The facility has been grossly overcrowded for many years, and it is now well past its life expectancy,” the earlier report stated. “The current state of disrepair and crowding are nothing short of appalling and negatively impacts on both inmates and staff.”
The Auditor General presented the new report to Nunavut’s Legislative Assembly on the day of its release. The report did not deal solely with the BCC, but also examined other facilities in Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet and Kugluktuk, as well as outpost camps throughout the territory.
“The Department of Justice has not met its key responsibilities for inmates within the correctional system,” Ferguson concluded in the report. “The Department of Justice did not adequately plan for and operate facilities to house inmates and did not adequately manage inmates in compliance with key rehabilitation and reintegration requirements.”
Corrections in Nunavut is available to read online at http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/nun_201503_e_40255.html.
Labour ministry, union investigate asbestos complaint
Alarm bells have been raised about the presence of asbestos and lack of sprinklers at a federal building in Ottawa, following two recent CBC media reports. But health and safety concerns at 875 Heron Road may have been resolved years ago, according to a union representative in Ottawa.
“Yes, there were certainly issues, but they were dealt with, as far as I can see,” said Marc Briere, the first national vice-president of the Union of Taxation Employees, the union representing employees at the Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC)-owned building. “And corrective measures have been taken.”
Briere noted that asbestos had been there from the start, but believed that workers had been aware of it for a while, although he could not say for how long. Since Briere was alerted to the CBC investigation, he has been talking with the local health and safety committee and going through years of reports.
The CBC report detailed the story of a former electrician, Denis Lapointe, who had worked for the Canada Revenue Agency from 1992 to 2008 at the Heron Rd. building and suffered negative health effects, which he now believes asbestos exposure caused. Lapointe claimed that his employer had deliberately withheld information that he had the right to know, such as potential hazardous exposure and his own medical records. The claims were the subject of a 2012 complaint to the Public Service Labour Relations Board. Lapointe uncovered, through Access to Information requests, documents that he believed showed evidence of asbestos exposure to workers during his employment.
The Ontario Ministry of Labour has confirmed that a health and safety officer is investigating a complaint related to the possible exposure of employees to asbestos at the building. “The Government of Canada is committed to preventing accidents and injury to [sic] health of employees in workplaces under federal jurisdiction,” said Andrew McGrath, director of communications for the Office of the Minister of Labour, in an email.
Most federally owned buildings in Ottawa contain asbestos because they were built before the dangers of asbestos were known, said Briere. Based on reports and conversations with local health and safety committee members, he believes some of the asbestos at 875 Heron Rd. has been treated and removed and some of it encapsulated to protect workers. “I don’t have the details, but I see multiple reports on actions that have been taken by the employer CRA and Public Works.”
Briere related that the co-chair of the committee had no concerns with air quality in the building and that a management plan ensured the safety of employees. But he admitted it was not an ideal situation. “Removal of asbestos is always the best solution because it eliminates the hazard completely,” he said.
The PWGCSC said that due to the age of the building, it was not uncommon for asbestos to be present. “That is why PWGSC commissions third-party reports on a yearly basis. These reports help identify new areas where asbestos may pose a risk,” said Annie Trepanier, media and public-relations manager for PWGSC.
“When new issues are raised, PWGSC informs the tenants as well as the Occupational Health and Safety Committee,” she added. “The PWGSC asbestos-management plan is also updated to ensure all contractors, maintenance staff or other workers are aware of the location of the asbestos, so it is not disturbed.”
Based on reports and inspections, PWGSC said, it follows an asbestos-abatement and -encapsulation program, which includes securing access to areas containing asbestos that may pose a risk, indicating its presence through signage and undertaking repairs or the removal of asbestos.
Committee not concerned about lack of sprinklers
Updates to the sprinkler system to install sprinklers throughout all floors of the high-rise building have not been made due to asbestos contamination, according to a subsequent CBC report. While not having sprinklers throughout all floors of a high-rise building contravenes current fire-code regulations, if the building was in compliance with the code when it was constructed, modifications are not necessary until major renovations take place, said a PWGSC spokesperson.
“When the building was constructed, it was compliant with the applicable code,” said Trepanier. “There is no requirement to retroactively address code changes until such time as major renovations are undertaken.”
Briere said the building did have sprinklers and that the local health and safety committee was not concerned because the building had a first-rate emergency plan. “When it comes down to it, they [the sprinklers] are not there to save lives. It’s there to protect the building,” he said, stressing that sprinklers cannot force workers to evacuate the building more quickly.
The CRA would not comment on the specific complaints, but a spokesperson said that the joint health and safety committee addresses health and safety hazards and shares information with employees.
“Our management and organizational culture ensures health and safety are fundamental considerations in every aspect of CRA business,” said Philippe Brideau, assistant director of media relations. The CRA’s occupational health and safety program not only meets, but exceeds legislative requirements, according to Brideau.
The union would be meeting with the CRA and the investigating safety officer soon to find out more, said Briere. “We are looking into it very seriously, and we are trying to make sure that we get all the answers to reassure our people. The employer is fully aware of the importance of the situation.”
Transport Canada responds to multiple CN derailments
Following the derailment of a Canadian National (CN) freight train near Gogoma, Ont. on March 7 – the second CN derailment in the region, and the third in Northern Ontario, in less than a month – Transport Canada (TC) has spoken out about its controversial safety standards, both on Parliament Hill and to the media.
The train, which consisted of 94 tank cars carrying crude oil eastbound from Alberta, was roughly halfway between Sudbury and Timmins when 30 cars derailed. There were no reported injuries or fatalities in the disaster, but some of the cars caught on fire and some of the oil fell into the Mattagami River System.
A media contact with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) confirmed to COHSN that as of March 10, the fire had been extinguished and a TSB crew had taken over the site to investigate. No other specific information was available at the time, she added.
During Question Period at the House of Commons on March 9, federal Transportation Minister Lisa Raitt defended TC’s recent efforts in safety regarding the transportation of dangerous goods by rail. “We are working with the United States on what a new system will be in terms of a new tank-car standard,” she reportedly said.
In a statement sent to COHSN, TC said that the new standard would call for tank cars more robust than the typical CPC-1232 cars to carry flammable liquids. Adoption of the new car, DOT-117 (TC-140), has been in consultations since July 18, TC added.
“The new proposed tank car would include thicker steel,” TC explained, “and require the tank cars to be manufactured as a jacketed, thermally insulated tank car with a full head shield, top-fitting protection and new bottom outlet valve.”
TC said that it had been conducting technical discussions with its U.S. counterparts to harmonize North American the tank-car standards. “This work is being conducted in an expedited manner,” TC said. “Consultations on the proposed tank car continue.”
CN did not respond to COHSN’s request for an interview by press time.
Since the tragedy in Lac-Mégantic, Que. less than two years ago (COHSN, July 15, 2013), the government has responded to safety concerns with increased rail regulations and directions. In the statement, TC claimed to have hired more safety inspectors, trained them to do audits and ordered them to carry out the audits more frequently. Last April, TC issued a protective direction to phase out insufficient tank cars, particularly CTC-111A (known as DOT-111 in the U.S.) cars, and order shippers to develop Emergency Response Assistance Plans for tank cars carrying dangerous goods (COHSN, April 28).
But others have been expressing alarm about the series of derailments, particularly regarding environmental damage.
Steven Del Duca, Ontario’s Minister of Transportation, called the most recent incident “very concerning” in a March 9 press statement, adding that he intended to confront Raitt about the issue. Mattagami First Nation chief Walter Naveau told the Canadian Press on the same day that his community was concerned about smoke inhalation, river contamination and other environmental threats.
“The safety and security of the transportation system are Transport Canada’s top priorities,” TC said. “Transport Canada takes all incidents involving dangerous goods seriously.”
Media union working with reality-TV reps to improve health and safety
NATIONAL – In reaction to the tragedy in Argentina on March 9, when a helicopter crash killed 10 cast and crew members of the French reality-TV series Dropped, the Canadian Media Guild (CMG) has announced that it will organize with reality-TV employees across Canada to improve the latter group’s working conditions and occupational health and safety standards. “The Canadian Media Guild is sickened by the news,” the union stated in a press release on March 10, referring to the tragedy. CMG noted that 54 per cent of reality-TV employees in the country claimed to work in dangerous conditions, according to a poll that the union conducted in 2013. The Guild intends to publish a guidebook by the end of March, about how to keep safe on the job in reality TV; it also plans to negotiate with production companies about oh&s standards. More than 100 people had already joined CMG’s campaign, the release added.
Patient attacks nurse in B.C. hospital emergency room
Since the B.C. Nurses’ Union (BCNU) announced that it would be lobbying for criminal charges in cases of violence against healthcare professionals (COHSN, March 3), more attacks against nurses have occurred in the province – including an especially brutal one at Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre in Abbotsford, just outside Greater Vancouver.
“It’s just been a really unfortunate week,” BCNU vice president Christine Sorensen said. “We’ve had a number of significant violent events across the province.”
The Abbotsford incident occurred on March 1, according to information from Fraser Health (FH), which runs the hospital. A male patient arrived in the emergency room and became agitated while a male nurse was assessing him. He beat the nurse severely around the head and face, resulting in eye surgery and stitches to his eye, face and forehead.
“He just kind of came at the nurse,” explained Ken Donohue, FH’s director of public affairs. “Security was there very quickly.” He characterized the attack as “an isolated incident” that “was out of the blue and unprovoked.”
The event was highly traumatic for the nurse, who will be off work for a while to undergo both physical and psychological recovery, Sorensen explained. The nurse “is, at this point, unsure of whether or not he will be able to return to nursing and certainly unsure whether to return to that unit.”
BCNU, which is pursuing criminal charges in the Abbotsford incident, responded as soon as it had been informed of it. “Our local representatives were onsite, making sure that the nurse was taken care of,” Sorensen said. “We notified WorkSafeBC, and they immediately dispatched an investigator to the site.” The police would be laying charges on the patient upon his release from the hospital, she added.
In a March 2 press release, the union accused the Abbotsford facility of having ignored BCNU’s requests for increased security since 2011. But Donohue maintained that the hospital was doing what it could to protect its workers.
“Anytime an incident like this happens, it gives us pause to look at our processes,” he said. “But the challenge in nursing and healthcare is that the staff are dealing with a very unpredictable environment. The behaviour of patients can be very unpredictable, and so while you think that you have all the security and safety processes in place, there are times, unfortunately, where these types of incidences will happen.”
Sorensen said that healthcare authorities needed to start being more proactive in dealing with violence in emergency rooms. “We’re also hoping that they will recognize that violent events occur in other parts of the healthcare system, whether they’re being in other inpatient units or residential care in the community,” she said. “We definitely need public awareness that this is inappropriate.”
Among the possible solutions Sorensen suggested were additional Code White training and security. “We’re also right now demanding that health authorities take a serious look at their environments that nurses practise in and provide security personnel or safety officers,” she noted, “who are trained to physically restrain patients.”
Donohue said that FH was already acting in response to the Abbotsford incident. “We’ve increased security,” he said. “We will be adding additional security to the Emergency and to the hospital. And we encourage staff to partake in the training and education sessions that are available to them, violence-prevention training, and that’s really important for people, to understand how they can deescalate certain situations.”
Before the incident occurred, the hospital had recently made changes to the infrastructure of its triage area in order to provide additional security, Donohue added.
The Abbotsford hospital was fined $75,000 for inaction on a violence issue last May, according to information from BCNU.