ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – The workers’ compensation board for Newfoundland and Labrador has declared Sept. 24-30 to be Musculoskeletal Injury Prevention Week, during which it is urging workers to lift, push, pull and handle heavy materials more safely. A news release from WorkplaceNL stated that it had launched an awareness campaign to encourage prevention of these injuries with the slogan, “How would YOU handle it?”, offering practical tips such as getting help with big loads and using mechanical aids if possible. WorkplaceNL safety advisors are working with employers to devise practical ways to prevent injuries. “Musculoskeletal injuries can impact the quality of every aspect of a worker’s daily life,” WorkplaceNL CEO Dennis Hogan said in a press statement. “Our goal this week, and throughout the year, is to help employers and workers recognize how musculoskeletal injuries may happen and to provide them with solutions so people do not get hurt.” Nearly 70 per cent of the province’s lost-time injury claims over the past five years have resulted from musculoskeletal injuries, and about 1,600 N.L. healthcare workers are injured while handling patients every year, according to information from WorkplaceNL.
Category Archives: Health and Wellness
Prison goes into lockdown following possible drug exposure
After a recent incident in which a group of correctional officers might have been exposed to fentanyl, the Joyceville Institution near Kingston, Ont. was locked down for a major search from Sept. 13 to 19.
Rob Finucan, Ontario regional president for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers (UCCO), said that the alleged drug exposure had occurred while the guards had been searching cells in the federal prison. During the search, the officers suddenly felt as if they were intoxicated, he explained.
“We’re not sure if it was fentanyl,” said Finucan. “The one guy had recently had a surgery, so had pain medication, and he said it almost felt the same way as when he had the pain medication.” Doctors have often legally prescribed fentanyl as a pain reliever.
The officers underwent immediate medical examinations, “and I think their heart rates were elevated a bit, but nothing serious,” added Finucan. “So they went home, and they all said they’d slept for 12, 13 hours. And then the next day, they were fine.”
Following the incident, Joyceville’s assessment unit was locked down at 1 p.m. on Sept. 13, to enable staff to conduct an “exceptional search,” according to a news release from Correctional Service Canada (CSC). The release added that CSC was committed to preventing contraband in federal correctional facilities.
CSC did not indicate whether the lockdown was connected to the incident, but Finucan later confirmed that it had been.
“The union executive there said, ‘Okay, let’s search,’” he said. “They didn’t, and then finally, after a day and a half of arguing, they agreed to lock it down and search the entire institution.”
Joyceville’s assistant warden of management services did not respond to COHSN’s request for comment. But a second CSC release on Sept. 19 announced that the lockdown had ended and that normal operations at the prison had resumed.
“Correctional Service Canada… is strengthening measures to prevent the entry of contraband into its institutions in order to ensure a safe and secure environment,” the latter release stated. “CSC also works in partnership with the police to take action against those who attempt to have contraband brought into correctional institutions.”
Finucan noted that contraband is the most common way that drugs like fentanyl enter prisons and that there had been exposure incidents in the federal system. “They’ve had to use the naloxone on several officers in the prairie region,” he said, adding that fentanyl had been discovered at the Warkworth Institution near Campbellford, Ont. and that incidents had occurred at the Pittsburgh and Collins Bay facilities in the Kingston area.
UCCO has been lobbying to improve staff protections against drug contamination in federal correctional facilities. “What we want to do is make sure that we have a solid national protocol,” said Finucan. “We’d like to make sure that at every site, the officers have the equipment necessary if there is searching” for fentanyl or other drugs, he said. “The gloves, the goggles, the long-sleeved shirts and all that to protect them.”
Another protective measure that UCCO has recommended is that employees wear hoods in the mail rooms and other vulnerable areas. “And that’s probably the main thing,” said Finucan.
Built in 1959, the Joyceville Institution is located about 20 kilometres northeast of Kingston. It has a rated capacity of 752 inmates, according to its profile on the CSC website.
WSIB to review previously rejected cancer claims by GE employees
TORONTO, Ont. – Ontario’s workers’ compensation board has announced that it is planning to re-examine more than 250 claims submitted by General Electric (GE) employees in Peterborough since 2004. A Sept. 18 news release from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) stated that a Dedicated Review Team would deal with both cancer- and non-cancer-related claims that had previously been rejected, reviewing them in the contexts of updated scientific research about links between chemical exposure and illness and of technical advances in identifying next of kin. “The Peterborough community has presented information that helps clarify the exposures people had to various chemicals and substances,” Armando Fatigati, the WSIB’s vice president of complex claims, said in a press statement. “We’ll be looking at what they were exposed to, how much of it they were exposed to and how long people were exposed to these chemicals and substances.” Fatigati added that the WSIB had made more than 2,400 decisions on claims from GE Peterborough employees since 1993, approving more than 80 per cent of them. Earlier this year, a report by the Advisory Committee on Retrospective Exposures concluded that workers had been exposed to more than 3,000 toxic chemicals for more than 50 years at the Peterborough facility (COHSN, May 23).
Workers feel ill during reported “incident” at B.C. shipping terminal
An unspecified incident at Fairview Container Terminal in Prince Rupert, B.C. sent 11 workers to the hospital for precautionary treatment on the morning of Sept. 3 – but all of the parties involved have stressed that the employees are fine.
While few specific details have been released, a press statement from DP World Prince Rupert, the company that runs the shipping terminal, said that employees in a certain area of the container yard had developed symptoms of respiratory and eye irritation. The workers received medical treatment at a local hospital at about 5 a.m. that morning.
“Two [of the employees] were initially kept for observation, and thankfully, all were discharged within hours of their arrival,” DP World said. “We continue to check on their well-being.”
The company added that the worksite had been evacuated and shut down temporarily after the workers had been treated. “Our incident command management team also brought an external industrial hygienist to conduct onsite assessments and air-quality monitoring,” the statement read.
DP World declared the worksite to be safe at 4:30 a.m. on Sept. 4, and normal work operations resumed on the following day.
“Our first priority is the safety and well-being of our employees, the local community and any others who may have been affected,” the company said.
A news release from the Port of Prince Rupert stated that DP World had based its response to the incident on proper emergency procedures.
“There is no inhalation hazard to the community of Prince Rupert, nor [a] hazard to the marine environment, as related to this incident,” the release stated, adding that the Port of Prince Rupert, other port partners and responding agencies were “fully aware of the situation” and supported DP World’s response.
Rob Ashton, president of International Longshore & Warehouse Union Canada, told COHSN that the safety committees with DP World and the union’s Local 505 are investigating the incident. “I believe they’d be looking at it and figuring out ways to prevent anything like this from ever happening again,” he explained, adding that he did not know whether WorkSafeBC is also investigating.
He said that all of the workers affected by the incident were fine as far as he was aware. “If there are any longstanding issues, I don’t know,” said Ashton.
DP World recently completed an expansion project, dubbed “Phase 2 North”, to increase Fairview Container Terminal’s handling capacity from 750,000 to 1.35 million 20-foot equivalent units, or TEU. The terminal upgrade was marked in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Aug. 30, according to a media release from the company.
The Fairview Container Terminal was upgraded from a general cargo facility to a container-handling terminal in 2007, according to information from DP World’s website. The terminal is currently North America’s closest major port to Asia.
A leader in global trade specializing in container handling, DP World employs more than 36,500 people in 103 countries.
McDonald’s location issues apology for English-requirement notice to workers
YELLOWKNIFE, N.W.T. – After a McDonald’s restaurant posted a notice requiring its employees to speak only English, the owner and operator of the business has issued an apology letter to workers. The letter, which was posted online in a CBC News story on Sept. 6, was Al Nielsen’s response to the Yellowknife restaurant’s crew and managers regarding the “Language in Workplace” notice posted on Aug. 25. “While the intent of the notice was to address customer feedback, it’s clear the notice was inappropriate,” wrote Nielsen in the letter, which he reportedly issued over Labour Day weekend. “McDonald’s is a place that welcomes and respects EVERYONE… my organization values diversity in all its forms – including language.” He also called the notice “insensitive” and apologized to employees whom it had offended. The original notice had reportedly ordered staff to speak English on the job “99 per cent of the time,” with exceptions in “a few cercumstances [sic].”
Association raises funds for paramedic nearly killed by drug exposure
Following a near-fatal drug exposure that a Calgary paramedic recently experienced while on the job, the Alberta Paramedic Association (APA) activated its own provincial fund to raise money to support the worker.
The paramedic, identified only as Ryan B, has been recovering from the exposure at home under medical oversight, with support from his partner, Stacey, and two daughters, according to an APA Facebook post dated Sept. 3.
“I am touched,” Ryan B said about the support from the paramedic community, as quoted in the post.
Most information about the incident has been unavailable to the public, including the drug involved and the date when it occurred. APA executive director Marc Moebis said that the organization would provide no further detail “to respect Ryan’s family.”
Local media reports have stated that Ryan B required mechanical ventilation and medications to support his vital signs in an intensive-care unit after the exposure. He reportedly remained critically ill afterwards because of ongoing organ dysfunction.
“Right now, the paramedic community is just pulling together to provide some relief and support for Ryan and his family,” the APA said in a press statement.
The APA activated fundraising efforts from Sept. 1 to 7 via the Alberta HELP Fund, a nonprofit society that the association founded, initially to raise money for the families of victims of line-of-duty deaths. The HELP Fund had previously raised more than $18,000 in donations for a victim’s surviving family in 2015 and supported the construction of a registry of psychologists specializing in paramedic treatment last year, according to information from the APA website.
A Sept. 2 Facebook post from the APA called the continuing public support for Ryan B “overwhelming and very appreciated.”
An e-mailed response from Alberta Health Services (AHS), Ryan B’s employer, stated that it was reviewing the incident. “We take the safety of our employees very seriously and investigate any concerns brought to our attention,” added AHS.
Health Sciences Association of Alberta vice president Trudy Thomson told COHSN that her union was working with AHS and Ryan B regarding the incident. “I know the employer is doing their own internal investigation, and as an organization, we have requested that it have a full oh&s investigation,” she said, adding that Alberta Labour’s occupational health and safety division had agreed to look into the incident on Sept. 1.
Thomson could not provide any specific details about the exposure itself. “I know there’s lots of speculation out there,” she said. “We have not entered into any of that.”
She added that the risk of toxic exposure has become “more of a reality” for first responders today. “Their likelihood of being exposed is much greater than the public.”
The APA acknowledged that its members face many other risks as well.
“Due to the nature of paramedics’ unpredictable profession, oftentimes, we find ourselves exposed to hazards,” the APA statement read. “Whether that hazard is a sharp piece of glass, liquids at an accident scene, a street drug or a violent patient, facing these hazards is an accepted part of the job and requires a certain level of grit.”
The APA was founded in 2015 as a nonprofit, voluntary membership organization aiming to enhance skills, education, health and wellness among Alberta paramedics.
Public-safety personnel screen higher for symptoms of mental disorders: survey
A recent online survey has found that public-safety personnel (PSP) in Canada report symptoms of potential mental disorders at higher levels than those in other professions do, according to a new report from the Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment.
Published on the website of the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry on Aug. 28, “Mental Disorder Symptoms among Public Safety Personnel in Canada” examined the responses of 5,813 PSP who had responded to the survey between Sept. 2016 and Jan. 2017. About 44 per cent of the respondents screened positive for symptom clusters consistent with at least one mental-health disorder – a rate considerably higher than the ten per cent for the general population previously reported by Statistics Canada.
“We expected that it would be high, but I think 44 per cent was higher than I expected,” said Dr. Nick Carleton, a psychology professor at the University of Regina and the study’s lead author, regarding the results.
Respondents consisted largely of correctional workers, dispatchers, firefighters, paramedics and police officers, with a few Coast Guard workers and border-services personnel in the mix. Among the disorders of which respondents reported symptoms were anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Dr. Carleton stressed that the study was based not on diagnostic interviews, but on a self-reporting questionnaire.
“So if you scored high enough relative to other published cut-off scores on these validated measures, then we would say you had screened positive for that cluster,” he explained, “such that it’s consistent with reports we hear from people who have been diagnosed with those kinds of mental-health disorders.”
The study was financed in part by the federal government, according to information from the University of Regina’s website.
“While the results of this research are troubling, the increased reporting among public-safety officers is a sign of progress in reducing the stigma associated with post-traumatic stress injuries,” Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said in a press statement about the study on Aug. 28. “This research will help inform our next steps in developing a coordinated action plan to address this issue.
“The Government of Canada is pleased to continue to support the research of the University of Regina and its research partners on this issue, and I look forward to working with all levels of government and leaders in the public-safety community to advance this important work.”
While about 32.5 per cent of the respondents were female, one of the study’s curious findings was that women were far more likely to screen positive for symptoms of mental-health disorders – to an extent that was “statistically significant,” according to Dr. Carleton.
“We don’t have enough information to explain why that is,” he said about the gender variance. “Part of the challenge might be that women experience those careers differently than men do.” It does not necessarily mean that men experience these symptoms at lower levels, he added, but just that women report them differently.
Dr. Carleton suggested providing evidence-based education and treatment options on mental-health disorders for PSP, as a way to help mitigate the effects and reduce stigma.
“The more we educate our organizational leaders and the more we educate our organizational members, I think the better off we’re going to be,” he said. “I still see lots of evidence of confusion with what a mental-health disorder is.” Proper education can lead to earlier intervention, he added.
The research team is planning to release an online tool with which PSP can anonymously assess themselves for these symptoms and compare the results to the general population. “Hopefully then, that allows them to make a decision about whether they should go and seek help earlier.”
“Mental Disorder Symptoms among Public Safety Personnel in Canada” is viewable online at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0706743717723825.
Province to observe annual Respectful Workplace Week
FREDERICTON, N.B. – The Government of New Brunswick has declared Sept. 4 to 8 to be this year’s Respectful Workplace Week, an annual event in which the province promotes gender equality while recognizing the issues of workplace bullying and discrimination. The N.B. Ministry of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour announced in a Sept. 1 news release that the week would include a series of free joint educational lectures by the Workplace Violence and Abuse Research Team of the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research and the Women’s Equality Branch, at the Fredericton Public Library on Sept. 8. “All workers deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. Respectful and positive behaviour in the workplace contributes to individual, organizational and societal well-being and prevents unnecessary suffering,” said Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Minister Donald Arseneault in a press statement. “It is the employer’s responsibility to prevent and eliminate harassment.” Arseneault added that his government was committed to ensuring healthy workplaces that value all employees.
Pilot associations, unions demand stronger regulations on fatigue
Transport Canada (TC) has proposed updates to its fatigue-management regulations for flight crews, but stakeholder unions are saying that the changes are not enough – that they do not comply with established science on pilot fatigue.
Safer Skies, a coalition that includes the Air Canada Pilots Association (ACPA), Unifor, Teamsters Canada and other groups, ran an online petition to Transport Minister Marc Garneau from April to August. Sponsored by John Brassard, the Conservative MP for Barrie-Innisfil, Ont., the petition demanded the following:
- the same protective fatigue limits for pilots of all sizes of aircraft;
- a limitation of ten hours, or 8.5 hours of flight time, on pilot duty periods that begin after 5 p.m.; and
- reliance of fatigue-risk management systems on science-based prescriptive limits.
The petition had collected 9,104 signatures nationwide at the time of its close on Aug. 26.
The ACPA did not respond to COHSN’s request for comment, but an Aug. 22 media release quoted CEO Milt Isaacs as saying that Canada’s aviation regulations were “out of step” with what scientific research recommends.
“Canada has an opportunity to ensure safer skies – but risks squandering it by disregarding sleep science and international standards,” said Isaacs. “Canadian pilots are asking for help – on behalf of their passengers and crew – to ensure that Canada is a leader and not a laggard in aviation-fatigue science.”
Captain Dan Adamus, the president of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l Canada, said in a press statement that Canadian pilots get less time to recover from long hours of flight time than pilots have in any other country.
“Even the updated regulations do not go far enough,” said Captain Adamus.
In an e-mailed response, TC media-relations representative Pierre Manoni told COHSN that the regulation amendments, first proposed in July, include the following: prohibition of flight-crew members from working within 12 hours of drinking alcohol, an increase from eight hours; new, science-based rules on fatigue management regarding flight-time and work-hour limitations; flight-duty period limitations based on time of day, rest duration and time off; and requirements for a fatigue risk-management system.
“The new rules aim to reduce flight-crew member fatigue and align with today’s scientific data, international standards and best practices,” wrote Manoni. “[TC] is always looking for ways to increase aviation safety and harmonize its regulations with other countries.”
He added that the regulation changes were based on three years of consultations with stakeholders, including industry associations and labour organizations. “Unions and the National Airlines Council of Canada were generally supportive,” said Manoni.
But the ACPA release maintained that Canada needs to make further changes urgently, before a tragedy occurs. The association cited the Colgan Air accident in Buffalo in 2009, after which the United States Federal Aviation Administration revised its regulations; as a result, pilot augmentation is now mandatory after eight hours of flight time for departures after 8 p.m. in the U.S.
“Unlike a tired driver, a pilot can’t pull over to the side of the road,” the release stated. “NASA research recommends a maximum flight time at night of 8.5 hours, as alertness, response time and cognitive performance is degraded.
“Fatigue is especially prevalent on long-haul overnight flights, but it can be mitigated with… adequate rest, sufficient recovery time after crossing time zones and ensuring additional pilots are on board to take over the controls.”
Manoni said that once the proposed changes go into effect, airline operators will have a year to comply with them, while air-taxi and commuter operators will have four years.
“Transport Canada recognizes that fatigue management is a complex issue,” he wrote. “Canadians and industry members are encouraged to provide feedback on the draft regulations.”
Mixed reaction greets report on service dogs for veterans, first responders with PTSD
A research team working on behalf of Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) recently released the early results of an ongoing pilot study on psychiatric service dogs for military veterans and first responders – but the report has disappointed a few service-dog advocates.
Published in the International Journal of Neurorehabilitation in June, the article was part of a project conducted by Laval University in Quebec City, to inform VAC on the effectiveness of mental-health service dogs for vets and first responders with operational stress injuries like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The article identified nine positive effects of psychiatric service dogs, including detection, prevention and control of crises and nightmares, improved sleep and moods, better concentration and improved self-confidence. The report also pointed out two “undesirable events” that result from using service dogs: difficulty accessing public places and stigmatization.
“This became an issue for us a few years ago, when it became clear – really, from veterans themselves – that mental-health service dogs became an emerging area of interest,” said Dr. David Pedlar, VAC’s director of research. “It’s a broad area that had had limited attention.”
The first step, Dr. Pedlar explained, was to initiate an evidence review, which was conducted by James Gillette, a researcher at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont. “It concluded that there was very limited evidence to provide guidance to the department or organizations, like Veterans Affairs, that would be interested in exploring policy development in this area.”
He added that the June report was just the first part of the study, of which the full first phase should be completed this fall and the final conclusions are expected next year.
“The focus of that work was to help build a logic model, so that we could better understand the contexts of psychiatric service dogs,” said Dr. Pedlar. “That was based on interviews with stakeholders, and that included veterans themselves who are dog owners, service-dog trainers, veteran advocates.” The team also consulted medical doctors and members of the Canadian General Standards Board.
One stakeholder who was dissatisfied with the preliminary results was Medric Cousineau, a co-founder of Paws Fur Thought, a Nova Scotia volunteer organization that pairs mental-health service dogs with veterans and first responders suffering from PTSD. Cousineau lamented the inclusion of the “undesirable events,” which he considers “societal issues,” rather than indicators of the effectiveness of service dogs.
“If people didn’t ask inappropriate questions, then there’d probably be less stigmatization and anxiety. If public access was not a problem, there’d be less stigmatization and anxiety,” Cousineau told COHSN.
He added that VAC already knows that psychiatric service dogs work well, but is avoiding the real issues, such as an enormous supply-demand gap. “We already have two-year wait lists,” he said. “They won’t even talk about it.”
Cousineau even speculated that VAC was trying to discourage the use of mental-health service dogs due to pressure from the pharmaceutical industry. “One of the things that they report as one of the nine benefits is the reduction in the use of medications,” he said. “Interesting, eh?”
Another reported naysayer was Nova Scotia MP Peter Stoffer, another veterans’ advocate. An Aug. 22 CBC News story quoted Stoffer as saying that VAC really needed to educate the general public on the difference between psychiatric service dogs and other kinds of service dogs.
“I would assume that the people who made those assessments don’t have a service dog themselves,” he reportedly said. “They’re not therapy dogs.”
But Dr. Pedlar stressed that the “undesirable events” had been included only to suggest the obstacles and issues that may affect veterans in public spaces.
“Issues like stigmatization, those are also objectives that things like the Canadian Mental Health Commission focus on reducing,” he said. “The stigmatization is more broad. It’s about how the public reacts and perceives mental-health, versus physical-health, conditions as a whole.
“From my perspective, this first piece of evidence is highly encouraging around the efficacy of service dogs.”
More information on the study is available on the VAC website at http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/help/faq/service-dog-pilot-study.