Category Archives: Environment/Climate Change

Environment/Climate Change, Health & Safety, Workers Compensation

Effect of summer outdoor temperatures on work-related injuries in Quebec

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Ariane Adam-Poupart, Audrey Smargiassi, Joseph Zayed and France Labrèche, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Université de Montréal; Marc-Antoine Busque and Patrice Duguay, Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et sécurité du travail (IRSST), Montréal; and Michel Fournier, Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de Montréal

The objective of this study was to quantify the associations between occupational injury compensations and exposure to summer outdoor temperatures in Quebec, Canada. The relationship between 374,078 injuries compensated by the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) (between May and September, 2003-2010) and maximum daily outdoor temperatures was modelled using generalized linear models with negative binomial distributions. Pooled effect sizes for all 16 health regions of Quebec were estimated with random-effect models for meta-analyses for all compensations and by sex, age group, mechanism of injury, industrial sector and occupations (manual vs. other) within each sector. Time lags and cumulative effect of temperatures were also explored. The relationship between daily counts of compensations and maximum daily temperatures reached statistical significance for three health regions. The incidence-rate ratio (IRR) of daily compensations per 1°C increase was 1.002 (95 per cent CI 1.002 to 1.003) for all health regions combined. Statistically significant positive associations were observed for men, workers aged less than 45 years, various industrial sectors with both indoor and outdoor activities and for slips/trips/falls, contact with object/equipment and exposure to harmful substances/environment. Manual occupations were not systematically at higher risk than non-manual and mixed ones. This study is the first to quantify the association between work-related injury compensations and exposure to summer temperatures according to physical demands of the occupation and this warrants further investigations. In the context of global warming, results can be used to estimate future impacts of summer outdoor temperatures on workers, as well as to plan preventive interventions.

Occ Environ Med, Volume 72, Issue 5, pages 338-345. Correspondence to: Dr. France Labrèche, Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et sécurité du travail (IRSST), 505 de Maisonneuve Boulevard West, Montreal, Quebec H3A 3C2; email: labreche.france@irsst.qc.ca.

Compliance & Enforcement, Environment/Climate Change, Hazmat, Health & Safety

Road-paving firm fined for illegal waste disposal

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YORKTON, Sask. – Potzus Paving and Road Maintenance Ltd. has been ordered to pay a fine of $18,900 for establishing a waste-disposal ground without a permit, following an incident that occurred in July 2013. According to an April 27 press release from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment, the Yorkton-based company was employing a rock-crushing crew who buried used oil, filters, used batteries, metal cones and other trash fewer than 700 metres from a creek with fish, about 25 kilometres north of Leoville, at some point that month. Following an investigation by conservation officers, Potzus was charged with counts under the Municipal Refuse Management Regulations of the Environmental Management and Protection Act. “Although the overall quality of our environment in Saskatchewan is excellent,” said Kevin Callele, executive director of the Ministry’s Compliance and Field Services Branch, in a press statement, “deliberately polluting it with garbage can affect both our natural resources and human health.” In addition to the fine, the court ordered the company to pay about $65,000 to clean up its garbage and dispose of it appropriately.

Compliance & Enforcement, Environment/Climate Change, Health & Safety

Government of Yukon accepts recommendations on hydraulic fracturing

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WHITEHORSE, Yukon – Less than three months after its Select Committee Regarding the Risks and Benefits of Hydraulic Fracturing released its final report on the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the Yukon legislature has responded by accepting all 21 of the Committee’s recommendations. In an April 9 press release, the territory’s government said that any proposed fracking activity would now require the support of First Nations communities that would be affected. In addition, the government plans to conduct an economic study of fracking, develop an engagement strategy to facilitate public dialogue on the practice and get expert advice to ensure that regulatory processes protect the environment and human health, among other actions. “We have heard from Yukoners, and we understand their concerns,” said Scott Kent, Yukon’s Energy, Mines and Resources Minister, as quoted in the release. “Ultimately, we want to promote economic prosperity and job creation, and… we will move forward in a cautious and responsible way.” The Final Report of the Select Committee Regarding the Risks and Benefits of Hydraulic Fracturing is available online at http://www.legassembly.gov.yk.ca/pdf/rbhf_final_report.pdf.

Environment/Climate Change, Hazmat, Health & Safety, Health and Wellness

Health complaints after a malodorous chemical explosion: a longitudinal study

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G. Tjalvin and M. Bråtveit, Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; S.H.L. Lygre and B.E. Hollund, Department of Occupational Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen; and B.E. Moen, Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, Centre for International Health, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Bergen

Physical and psychological symptoms are prevalent in populations recently affected by industrial accidents. Follow-up studies of human health effects are scarce, and as most of them focus on residents, little is known about the long-term health effects among workers exposed to malodorous emissions following a chemical explosion. This study aimed to assess whether subjective health complaints (SHC) among workers had declined over a four-year period after an oil-tank explosion that had emitted malodorous sulphurous compounds. It used a longitudinal survey from 2008 (18 months after the explosion) to 2012, performed using the SHC inventory. Questionnaire data were analyzed using a linear mixed-effects model. There was a decrease in SHCs among the exposed workers, but they still had significantly more subjective neurological symptoms (P < 0.01) compared with controls, adjusted for gender, age, smoking habits, educational level and proximity to the explosion. Although there was a downward trend in SHCs among exposed workers in the follow-up period, they reported more subjective neurological complaints than controls. Symptoms may be mediated by perceived pollution and health risk perception, and adaptation or anxiety may cause a chronic effect, manifested by a dysfunctional and persistent neuropsychological response.

Occ Med, Volume 65, Issue 3, pages 202-209. Correspondence to: G. Tjalvin, Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Bergen, P.O. Box 7804, 5020 Bergen, Norway; tel: +47 55 58 61 16; fax: +47 55 58 85 61; email: gro.tjalvin@igs.uib.no.

Compliance & Enforcement, Environment/Climate Change, Hazmat, Health & Safety, Transportation

Government slashing funding to all Transport Canada safety programs

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FEDERAL – The Harper government is cutting funding to all of the safety programs with Transport Canada, particularly to safety-oversight initiatives, according to planning documents tabled at the House of Commons on March 31. Global News has reported that the budget for the transportation of dangerous goods will be reduced by 32 per cent, with a 9.2 per cent decrease in funding for aviation safety. In addition, funds for marine, rail and motor-vehicle safety are being cut by 23, 4.3 and 8.8 per cent respectively, as per calculations using the forecast transportation spending for the 2014-15 fiscal year and planned transportation spending for 2015-16. There will also be a two per cent decrease in funding to rail safety programs between the 2015-16 and 2017-18 periods. The departmental planning documents attributed the cuts to funding transfers, internal reallocation and severance payoffs, as well as spikes in activity regarding marine safety and transportation of dangerous goods, according to the Global report. The news follows several high-profile transportation safety incidents earlier this year, including the Air Canada Flight 624 crash in Halifax (COHSN, March 31) and three Canadian National train derailments in Northern Ontario (COHSN, March 17).

Compliance & Enforcement, Environment/Climate Change, Health & Safety

Forest company fined for failing to remove trash

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PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – A northern Saskatchewan forestry company has been fined $4,900 for littering. The province’s Ministry of Environment charged Meadow Lake OSB Limited Partnership in Dec. 2013, for failing to clean up garbage that its contractors had left in a forest camp worksite during the previous year’s operating season, including a crushed culvert and material for stabilizing stream crossings. The fines amounted to $3,500 (including a $1,000 surcharge) for failing to contain waste as per the company’s own approved operating plan and $1,400 (including a $400 surcharge) for abandoning waste. The two charges fell under the Forest Resources Management Act and the Litter Control Act respectively. The ministry had also charged Meadow Lake for littering two other sites, but the court later dismissed these counts. “The public expects companies harvesting in publicly owned forests to follow their plans and clean up after themselves,” said David Stevenson, Forest Service Acting Executive Director for the ministry, in a press release dated April 2. “The public also trusts the ministry to hold companies accountable, and we take this trust very seriously.” The company has cleaned up all three worksites since the court case began.

Environment/Climate Change, Hazmat, Health & Safety, productivity, Transportation

Subway line shuts down due to “environmental spill”

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TORONTO, Ont. – A downtown portion of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) subway’s Line 1 was temporarily shut down on the late evening of March 23 and the morning of the following day, due to the leak of an unknown substance near College Station. The shutdown began at about 11:30 p.m., after the detection of an unidentified liquid – which smelled like gasoline – streaming through an expansion joint just north of the station. TTC press statements referred to the incident as an “environmental spill.” Toronto Water and Enbridge worked with the TTC overnight to detect whether the liquid was flammable. The next morning, 70 shuttle buses operated between nine subway stations as crews from the TTC, Toronto Fire Services and the municipality sought the source of the spill. The workers caulked the station’s expansion joints to stop further leaks and applied an absorbent to the train tracks to solidify the liquid before cleaning and power-washing the area. After sending test trains through the station to ensure that signals and switches were still operational, the TTC reopened the line section at about 1:35 p.m.

Compliance & Enforcement, Environment/Climate Change, Health & Safety, Health and Wellness

New Brunswick government appoints commission to study fracking

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FREDERICTON, N.B. – The government of New Brunswick announced on March 24 that it had created a commission to research hydraulic fracturing, a controversial well-stimulation technique informally known as “fracking”, and determine whether it would be possible for the oil and gas sector to meet government-imposed conditions on the practice. The new commission, which will report its findings to the government within a year, will be led by Guy A. Richard, former chief justice of the New Brunswick Court of Queen’s Bench, and will also include former University of New Brunswick president John McLaughlin and former New Brunswick Community College board chair Cheryl Robertson. “I am confident in the ability of the members of this commission to lead this important work,” said provincial Energy and Mines Minister Donald Arseneault in a press release. “I thank them for taking on this task that will give us more information about this industry and its impact on people’s health, water and the environment through evidenced-based research.” N.B. became the third province in Canada to ban fracking on Dec. 18; the moratorium is in effect until certain conditions are met, including a social licence in place and the availability of more information on the practice.

Environment/Climate Change, Hazmat, Health & Safety, Health and Wellness

Chemical leak at pigment factory sparks evacuations

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VARENNES, Que. – Several homes in the Montreal area were temporarily evacuated on the morning of March 21, after a leak of titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) occurred in the chloride process unit of a Kronos Canada pigment-manufacturing plant in Varennes. The company, which creates a whitening agent called titanium dioxide, estimated in a press release that about three cubic metres of TiCl4 had spilled in the production unit at approximately 10:00 a.m. that day. The release added that the leak had resulted in no injuries or contamination to any Kronos employees and that the situation was under control. “Kronos Canada has implemented all usual environmental emergency and safety rules and procedures,” the company said, adding that it was “working in cooperation with the environmental and municipal authorities to take all appropriate measures to protect the population and the environment.” Three plant workers and two local residents received medical treatment following the leak, according to media reports.

Compliance & Enforcement, Environment/Climate Change, Hazmat, Health & Safety

National Energy Board investigating TransCanada over safety violations

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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.”