Canadian Occupational Safety

6 www.cos-mag.com Canadian Occupational Safety WORKPLACE NEWS Manitoba to double maximum penalties for safety infractions T he government of Manitoba has introduced legislation that would see the maximum penalties for the most serious workplace infractions doubling to $500,000 for the first offence and $1,000,000 for a subsequent offence. The change was announced by Workplace Safety and Health Act, Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Blaine Pedersen who noted that raising the maximum fines would better align Manitoba's penalties for workplace infractions with those in other jurisdictions, including the Western provinces. Another change proposed in the Workplace Safety and Health Amendment Act is to eliminate the chief prevention officer (CPO) position and shift the position's responsibilities to Safe Work Manitoba, the prevention division of the Workers Compensation Board (WCB). "Over the last five years, as part of the WCB's prevention mandate, we have worked to develop a robust workplace injury and illness prevention system in the province that consults with stakeholders, establishes strategic priorities and measures and reports on progress," said Winston Maharaj, presi- dent and CEO of the WCB. "Safe Work Manitoba is well positioned to accept the responsibilities of the CPO position as part of its ongoing efforts to prevent workplace injury and illness in Manitoba." Aviation incidents down, marine incidents up: TSB T he Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has released its pre- liminary transportation occurrence statistics for 2018. Air transportation data for 2018 shows some encouraging trends. The 201 aviation accidents were reported to the TSB in 2018 is sub- stantially lower than the five-year average of 249. The TSB includes fatalities, serious injuries and aircraft structural failure in its "accidents" data. There were 860 aviation incidents reported to the TSB in 2018. This number represents a substantial decrease compared to the previous year (939) but is still higher than the five-year average of 797. There were 283 marine accidents reported to the TSB in 2018, just above the 2017 total of 279 and below the five-year average of 287. Although the number of fishing vessels involved in accidents was lower than the previous year, 12 of the 15 fatal marine accidents and 17 of the 22 marine fatalities were related to the commercial fishing industry. The TSB said more needs to be done to improve safety in this industry, and commercial fishing safety will remain on the TSB Watchlist. Some 936 marine incidents were reported in 2018. This number represents a six per cent increase from 2017 and a 22 per cent increase from the five-year average of 768. Railway transportation data for 2018 shows mixed results across the mode. Overall, 1,170 railway accidents were reported in 2018, a seven per cent increase over 2017 and a 13 per cent increase from the five-year average of 1,035. Most of the increase relates to non-main-track derailments of five or fewer cars. There were 57 rail-related fatalities reported in 2018, 19 fewer than the previous year and well below the five-year average of 74. Among all railway accidents in 2018, 125 involved dangerous goods. This number was up from 115 in 2017, but down slightly from the five-year aver- age of 126. Six accidents in 2018 resulted in a dangerous goods release. There were 285 railway incidents reported in 2018, a 21 per cent increase from 2017 (235), but a seven per cent decrease from the five-year average (308). The single reported pipeline accident in 2018 was a 36-inch sweet natural gas pipeline rupture and fire about 13 kilometres northeast of Prince George, B.C. on Oct. 9. There were no injuries. AVIATION INCIDENTS MARINE INCIDENTS CSA standard for workplace cannabis impairment coming next year By Alexia Kapralos T he CSA Group is currently working on a new standard to address cannabis impairment in the workplace, which is scheduled to be released spring 2020, attendees heard at the Partners in Prevention conference in Mississauga, Ont. on April 30. Just over six months have passed since cannabis has been legalized in Canada, and there remains lim- ited regulatory guidance or legislative directives for employers to manage the effects of the substance in the workplace, especially in safety sensitive positions. The standard will aim to bridge this knowledge gap. Andrea Holbeche, project manager at the CSA Group, said the new standard is in the development phase and will be informed by a research report the group created called Workplace Policies on Substance Use: Implications for Canada, as well as data collected from a workshop the group held last October. Addi- tionally, once the initial version of the standard is released (likely in fall/winter 2019), stakeholders will be able to provide feedback. The research report revealed that many workplaces lack a standalone cannabis or drug-impairment policy because drug impairment is often lumped in with broader, more general substance use policies. Cannabis needs to be addressed in a policy separate from alcohol due to the way the substance affects the brain, said Dan Demers, senior manager of strategic business development at CannAmm in North Bay, Ont. Unlike alcohol, once the initial feeling of intoxi- cation dissipates, impairment can last up to 28 days, he said. Cannabis has 100 known phytocannabinoids (such as THC and CBD), but around 70 of those are psychoactive, causing the user to feel high. This impairment can include slower reaction times, which is problematic for workers in safety-sensitive positions because they can injure themselves and others. Demers says that the three R's are impacted neg- atively by cannabis use: reasoning, reaction and recall. While cannabis is legal for adults in Canada, some workplace policies might prohibit its use on an employee's personal time — such as for pilots — since impairment lingers. "If you smoke cannabis, it'll affect you very quickly, a few seconds, peak in 10 minutes, last for four to six hours. If you eat the same amount of cannabis, the onset could be upwards of 60 to 90 minutes and then you're going to feel high for about 10 to 12 hours," he said. "But it's not the total time of impairment." The upcoming CSA standard would help guide employers on the best practices of navigating the complex and developing area of legal cannabis and impairment. Violence, harassment top OHS infraction in Ontario F or the second year in a row, violence and harassment tops the list of violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act in Ontario. In 2018, the Ministry of Labour issued 14,400 compliance orders for violence and harassment — something the assistant deputy minister finds troubling. "You would think in this day and age we would have a handle on this," said Peter Augruso, speaking at the Part- ners in Prevention conference, presented by Workplace Safety and Prevention Services, in Mississauga, Ont. on April 30. "Last year it was number 1 as well and I thought it was a blip because the number 1 has always been falls. I thought, 'OK, it's only been a year in the legislation, so poli- cies and programs aren't matured, employers aren't putting those in place, they aren't training their staff — this year we should see a reduction.' Instead we saw an increase." For the 2019-2020 fiscal year, the Ministry of Labour and its system partners are going to make a concerted effort to address violence and harassment in the work- place. Schools and hospitals are going to be the main focus since the majority of complaints come from these sectors, Augruso said. Coming in at number two on the top 10 list was fall protection with 9,500 orders issued. Nearly one-third (31 per cent) of tickets issued in the construction sector were for lack of fall protection. However, Augruso has seen a "huge increase" in indi- viduals working within the act and regulations — such as the workers building a condo tower next to his office in downtown Toronto. "There was a guy working on the 20 th floor, nobody in sight, no one is going to see if this guy is cheating, but I was so happy to see he had a harness on, a fall restraint system. I wanted to go over there and shake his hand and say, 'Great job,'" Augruso said. "No one else was looking because there was no one else on the floor, but for me it was very heartwarming to see the message is getting out — folks are actually listening." Rounding out the top three was lack of personal pro- tective equipment (PPE) with 8,600 orders. As a result, PPE is one of the MOL's initiatives — formerly known as blitzes — across all sectors, taking place now until March 2020.

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