RED DEER, Alta. – Carbon-monoxide (CO) exposure at a Red Deer beer store sent two construction workers to a local hospital for examination on the morning of Oct. 4. According to a news release from the Alberta RCMP, a group of construction workers became ill from CO while on the job at the Co-op Liquor Store, and emergency responders were called to the building at about 8:45 a.m. Personnel with the RCMP’s Red Deer detachment and the Hazardous Materials Response Unit also attended the scene shortly before 9 a.m. First responders treated several of the workers at the scene before two of them were transported to the hospital; both workers were listed in stable condition later that day, police said. The store remained closed for the day, and the incident did not affect traffic or any other individuals outside of the store. Police determined that there was nothing criminal in nature about the leak and handed the investigation over to the occupational health and safety division of Alberta Labour.
Saskatoon company convicted for lack of protective equipment
SASKATOON, Sask. – A worksite inspection last year has led to a $1,400 fine, including $400 in surcharges, for an employer that was not using proper fall-protection equipment or head gear at the time. The inspection occurred on June 20, 2016, when an occupational health officer with the Saskatchewan government saw employees of Kamineski Deptuck Holdings Ltd. working without the required personal protective equipment at a worksite near Saskatoon, according to a news release from the provincial Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety. No one was injured at the time, the release added. On Sept. 28 of this year, Kamineski Deptuck pleaded guilty in Saskatoon Provincial Court to failing to ensure that workers were wearing approved industrial protective headwear or using a fall-arrest system where they could have fallen at least three metres. “Falls from heights can cause serious injuries and are easy to prevent,” the Ministry stated.
Falling injury nets $50,000 fine for Ontario construction firm
LONDON, Ont. – A construction company based in Watford, Ont. has been convicted of failing to ensure that workers were using fall-protection equipment properly in an incident that left a worker critically injured nearly two years ago. According to a court bulletin from the Ontario Ministry of Labour (MOL), two employees of Thomson Construction Ltd. were strapping roof trusses onto a hog barn under construction in the Township of Middlesex Centre on Nov. 4, 2015, when one employee stepped on a defective strap, which broke. The worker fell approximately 6.7 metres to the ground and sustained injuries. The MOL found that the victim had been wearing a harness with a lanyard at the time of the accident, but the lanyard had not been connected to an anchor point or lifeline, which is required by law where a worker may fall at least three metres and if it is not feasible to install a guardrail. Thomson eventually pleaded guilty in a London provincial court, and Justice of the Peace Robert J. Lewin fined the company $50,000 on Oct. 2 of this year.
Conference confronts high injury rates of B.C. healthcare assistants
VANCOUVER, B.C. – The Hearts and Hands Conference brought together more than 250 healthcare assistants at Vancouver’s Italian Cultural Centre on Oct. 3, to discuss the issue of time-loss injuries among British Columbia’s healthcare assistants. A news release from WorkSafeBC, which co-sponsored the conference, stated that the event would include seminars on the challenges of staying healthy in the profession and coping strategies. WorkSafeBC claimed that it receives more time-loss claims from healthcare assistants than from people in any other occupation, including more than 16,000 claims from 2012 to 2016. The most commonly cited causes of injury are overexertion, violence and slips, trips and falls. “Frontline workers in healthcare face many challenges that can profoundly affect their morale and sense of well-being,” Elizabeth Causton, a former clinical counsellor and the conference’s keynote speaker, said in a press statement. “Maintaining good health and resiliency involves embracing the challenges we can control, celebrating individual and collective strengths to foster a more positive environment and nourishing a joyful life.” Another Hearts and Hands Conference is planned for Oct. 26 in Victoria, the release noted.
Violent offender’s transfer sparks safety concerns at youth correctional facility
Employees of the Nova Scotia Youth Facility in Waterville, N.S. are concerned for their safety following the transfer of a 19-year-old murderer from an adult correctional institution, according to the provincial union representing them.
The provincial Department of Justice transferred the young man, who is serving time for stabbing and killing Daniel Pellerin in 2014, from the Waterville facility to the Northeast Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Pictou County last year, after he participated in a riot that seriously injured four youth workers.
But Justice Anne Derrick recently ruled that the offender should not be housed in an adult facility, according to Jason MacLean, president of the Nova Scotia Government & General Employees Union.
“This young person attacked our members,” said MacLean, noting that the offender “is not a small person and has vowed to do it again.”
The offender, who cannot be named publicly under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, has been back at Waterville since Sept. 28. The facility has been keeping him segregated in a cottage on the prison grounds, MacLean explained.
The union’s concern is that the Waterville staff are not properly equipped to handle the risk that this offender poses. The Department of Labour ordered a risk assessment regarding the young man, but “there’s a plethora of things that haven’t been implemented yet,” said MacLean.
For example, the staff were supposed to receive training on the use of pepper spray, but this is yet to happen. In addition, when staff members escort residents outside the facility on temporary leaves, there should be other workers available to take over for them. The assessment also recommended replacing the facility’s large wooden doors with something stronger.
In an e-mailed response to COHSN, the Department of Justice stated that it had a plan in place to maintain everyone’s safety at Waterville, as guided by the courts.
“Every decision the Department makes is based on keeping offenders and staff safe,” the Department wrote. “Staff have up-to-date intervention strategies, including use-of-force training, and we have adopted a new staffing model to ensure the safety and security of staff and young people at all times.”
But MacLean said he believed that the Department did not want to spend the money to protect staff sufficiently. “The cost of things trumps safety and justice in Nova Scotia,” he said.
“You want offender safety, staff safety, and still be able to give offender programming and provide everything that a person would need to be treated humanely, and that costs a fair amount of money, and it doesn’t seem like the Department’s willing to do that. They skimp on staff, and they skimp on the training.”
The Department also tends to take a reactive, rather than proactive, approach to safety issues, MacLean added. “They deal with the situations as they come up,” he said. “And in this case, they’re not even dealing with it as it comes up. They’re making recommendations and are not even fulfilling them.
“It’s just indicative of the McNeil government on how they’ve been operating the whole last four years.”
MacLean wrote a letter to Justice Minister Mark Furey on Sept. 25, urging the Department to remedy all health and safety issues before the offender’s arrival at Waterville. But MacLean had received no response from Furey as of Oct. 2.
“He is somebody that shouldn’t be in a youth facility,” said MacLean about the offender. “My members are telling me that they’re not equipped to deal with him.”
“We recognize the excellent work our youth workers do in Waterville,” the Department wrote in its response. “Correctional Services will continue to ensure supports are in place for our staff to perform to the best of their ability.”
Skid-steer accident claims construction worker, 38
A construction accident with a skid-steer machine claimed the life of a 38-year-old male worker in Stony Plain, Alta. on the afternoon of Sept. 25.
The fatality happened at a housing development, according to Trent Bancarz, a spokesperson with Alberta Labour. The worker was killed by unexplained crush injuries while operating the skid steer, a type of small utility tractor.
“We really don’t know exactly what happened, because there were no actual eyewitnesses to it. Somehow, whatever he was doing, he suffered crush injuries, which were fatal,” explained Bancarz. “It’s the condition he was found in.”
He added that the victim had been an employee of Sparling Concrete, a construction and design company based in Stony Plain. “I’m not even sure exactly his relationship to the project, whether he was a contractor or a sub,” said Bancarz. “That’s another thing we’re sort of looking into right now.”
The incident occurred at about 1:15 p.m. that day, said Corporal Ron Bumbry, a media-relations officer with the Alberta RCMP. Cpl. Bumbry confirmed the victim’s age and said that he had been a resident of Stony Plain, but could not provide much more information.
“There was nothing suspicious or criminal in nature for us to report,” said Cpl. Bumbry, noting that the occupational health and safety division of Alberta Labour had taken over the investigation.
Sparling Concrete did not respond to COHSN’s request for comment.
“Our investigation continues,” said Bancarz.
Founded in 2007, Sparling Concrete provides concrete-based construction and furniture-design services for private and commercial clients in Edmonton, Stony Plain and Spruce Grove, according to information from the company’s website.
While the causes of the fatality are still to be determined, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety in Hamilton, Ont. offers the following tips on operating loaders, including skid steers, on its website:
- Read and follow all safety instructions in the loader’s operating manual;
- Stay alert at all times during operation;
- Keep the bucket and attachments as close to the ground as possible, to keep the vehicle stable and the view clear;
- Always load the bucket evenly and under its maximum capacity;
- Avoid holes, rocks and other obstructions;
- Never operate a loader when ill, tired or on medication that causes drowsiness;
- Avoid using any loader with a cab that does not have rollover and falling-object protection;
- Always remain inside the cab while operating steering levers and hydraulic controls;
- Never leave the loader with the engine running or with the lift arms raised; and
- Always keep the heavy end of the vehicle pointing towards the higher end when operating on a slope.
Labour federation demands more application of Westray Law in N.S.
HALIFAX, N.S. – The president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour (NSFL) is speaking out about the lack of criminal investigations of workplace fatalities in the province. According to a Sept. 29 press release from the Federation, recent occupational deaths have failed to spur application of the Westray Law, a provision in the federal Criminal Code that imposes an obligation pursue criminal charges against employers in such incidents. “In the past 13 years, only four employers have been prosecuted under the Westray Law,” NSFL president Danny Cavanagh said in a media statement. “We believe that this lack of enforcement is costing lives, and too many workplace fatalities are never properly investigated, and only a handful have resulted in criminal charges.” Cavanagh urged employer organizations in Nova Scotia to work with the NSFL to ensure that police investigation workplace fatalities and lay criminal charges when warranted. “When criminal negligence results in a worker’s death, it is a crime and should be treated that way.”
Maple Leaf Foods gets $110,000 fine after lift-moving injury
WOODSTOCK, Ont. – Maple Leaf Foods Inc. has been convicted for violating occupational health and safety law following an employee accident at its Thamesford facility two years ago. According to a court bulletin from the Ontario Ministry of Labour (MOL), a worker was using an electric fork truck to load a one-person lift onto another truck on Sept. 4, 2015. But the truck moved away from the power loading dock and travelled down the concrete ramp outside of the dock, then struck a concrete wall. The fork truck and lift fell from the power loading dock, injuring the employee. The MOL’s investigation found that no one had blocked the wheels of the truck to prevent unexpected movement. In the Ontario Court of Justice in Woodstock, Maple Leaf later pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that workers were transporting materials in a way that the items would not tip and fall. Justice of the Peace Michael A. Cuthbertson sentenced the corporation to pay a fine of $110,000, plus a victim fine surcharge, on Sept. 29 of this year.
Transport firm fined $84,000 for fatal truck accident in 2015
MONTREAL LAKE, Sask. – An occupational accident that resulted in a worker’s death two years ago has led to an $84,000 fine, including a $24,000 surcharge, for a transport company involved in the incident. A news release from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety stated that the accident had occurred near Waskesiu on July 27, 2015. An employee of Cowan Bros. Transport Ltd. was run over by a flatbed truck that a bulldozer was pushing that day, resulting in fatal injuries, the Ministry said. The employer later pleaded guilty in Montreal Lake Provincial Court to failing to ensure that workers’ activities did not negatively affect the health and safety of other workers. Cowan Bros. was sentenced to pay the fine on Sept. 21 of this year. “While everyone is responsible to create and maintain a safe and healthy workplace, employers carry the greatest responsibility because of their authority and control over the worksite,” the release stated.
Police officer among wounded in Edmonton terrorist attacks
EDMONTON, Alta. – Five people, including an officer with the Edmonton Police Service (EPS), were injured in two related incidents that police are deeming acts of terrorism on the evening of Sept. 30. At about 8:15 p.m. that day, a man drove a white Chevrolet Malibou through traffic barricades near Commonwealth Stadium, according to an EPS media release. The vehicle struck a uniformed officer, and the driver then exited the vehicle and stabbed the wounded officer numerous times before fleeing on foot, police said. The officer was sent to a hospital with various injuries. The suspect went on to hit four civilian pedestrians with a U Haul truck later that night, police said. EPS officers have arrested a 30-year-old Edmonton resident in connection with the attacks. “Currently, we believe this is an individual who acted alone, although the investigation is in its early stages,” EPS chief Rod Knecht said in a press statement. “We are urging all Edmontonians to be vigilant and aware of their surroundings.” Alberta Premier Rachel Notley called the province’s first responders “incredible people” in an Oct. 1 statement responding to the attack. “Thank you to each and every one of our police officers, paramedics and firefighters who put their lives on the line to keep us safe,” she said.