Canadian Occupational Safety

7 2019 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER WorkSafeBC warns about risk of hearing loss in service industry W orkSafeBC recently raised awareness about the risk of hearing loss in the service industry, and it has alerted employers and workers with a new safety bulletin. Regular exposure to noise levels above 85 decibels (dBA) can cause permanent hearing loss in unprotected workers, yet studies have found pubs and nightclubs in Vancouver and Victoria regularly exceed that during a regular shift, according to WorkSafeBC. "Noise is a serious and widespread problem in many workplaces, and this includes the service industry," said Dan Strand, director of prevention services at WorkSafeBC. "Our research has found that most service-sector workers and employers are not aware of the risk of hearing loss in their industry." In addition to the safety bulletin, WorkSafeBC has several new online resources to raise awareness and understanding about noise-induced hearing loss, including three new videos: What Noise Does to Your Ears, Intensity and Duration of Noise, and How to Use Earplugs; and the recently published publication: Preventing Noise-Induced Hearing Loss at Work, said the provincial government safety agency. Occupational hearing loss can be prevented if employers, supervisors and employees work together to control noise exposure, said WorkSafeBC. While hearing protection is key in the service industry, WorkSafeBC cautioned that bartenders, servers, and other workers are often reluctant to use hearing protection because they believe it will make it difficult to communicate with customers. In fact, this is not the case, according to WorkSafeBC. Hearing protection devices protect workers, while still allowing them to hear clearly, usually even better than without them. WorkSafeBC said bartenders and servers should pick a style of hearing protection they like and that is most comfortable. "Studies show that when noise levels reach 90 decibels or higher, hearing protection actually improves your ability to hear speech," said Strand. "We need to change how we think about hearing protection in the service industry." Some key facts were produced by the agency to support their claim: If noise levels exceed 85 decibels over an eight-hour shift, employers are required by regulation to have a noise control and hearing conservation program. Key elements of such a program include noise measurement, hearing protection and annual hearing tests for workers, said WorkSafeBC. Between 2008 and 2017, WorkSafeBC accepted 3,343 disability claims for noise-induced hearing loss in B.C. Finally, each year in B.C., there are more than 2,000 hearing-loss claims where health care benefits are paid in the form of hearing aids and accessories. Ontario appoints special advisors to review WSIB T he Ontario government is launching a review of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). The review will provide the government with new information regarding the board's operations and how it compares to industry best practices. The review will be focusing on the sustainability of the insurance fund, the effectiveness of the current governance and management structure and cost-efficiency and effectiveness of operations. "Ensuring the long-term sustainability of the WSIB will pro- vide workers and their families with peace of mind, knowing if they are injured on the job or have a work-related illness, they will receive the benefits and services they are entitled to," said Minister of Labour Laurie Scott. The review will be conducted by Linda Regner Dykeman and Sean Speer, who have been appointed based on their respect- ive areas of expertise in insurance and public policy. Regner Dykeman has more than 25 years of commercial insurance and leadership experience, and she currently is the head of MidCorp Canada. Speer is a senior fellow in public policy at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. He previously served as senior economic advisor to former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. In November, the Minister of Finance's Fall Economic State- ment 2018 noted the government's intent to review the WSIB to assess whether risks are being appropriately considered while ensuring rate predictability and to confirm whether the board is operating efficiently. Wayne Gates, Ontario NDP critic for the WSIB, said the review will not lead to improvements for injured workers, stating the Ford government has admitted that it could open the door to privatization and cuts. "Injured workers have suffered for decades under a WSIB that failed to properly compensate workers who were injured on the job," he said. "Ontario workers deserve a government that protects their benefits and supports their rights, not one intent on clawing back the compensation they are rightfully owed." The review will commence immediately and a report to the minister is expected by the end of the year. and were identified as approved providers on its website. Aside from having their employees trained, construction employers took action as a result of the new training requirement: • 40 per cent purchased new equipment (such as harnesses and guardrails) • 37 per cent modified or created a fall rescue plan • 33 per cent inspected their equipment more often • 28 per cent reported their employees tie off more often • 27 per cent said their supervisors are taking action to prevent falls more often. IWH also surveyed the knowledge that workers gained from the training. More than one-half (52 per cent) said they learned a lot of new information, with 34 per cent saying they learned some new information. More than 80 per cent of respondents said they were more confident in picking the right lanyard and setting up a travel restraint after completing the Work at Heights training. More than 70 per cent said they were more confident in knowing when to tie off, finding a good place to tie off and making safety suggestions to their supervisor. The IWH looked at the average safety practice scores before and after training and found a mean- ingful and statistically significant change for 10 out of the 12 elements, which included checking the site for hazards, maintaining 100-per-cent tie-off and not taking shortcuts that would risk a fall. "We've seen a large impact on knowledge and what we would classify as a medium-sized, moderate impact on practices, and that's what we expect from training," said Robson. "That's what the research literature tells us about the effectiveness of health and safety training." The majority of individuals who took the training were from the construction sector (78 per cent), but there were also some from other industries, including utilities, manufacturing and transportation/ warehousing. Interestingly, there was also a decline in lost-time claims for falls at height from the manufacturing and retail/wholesale trade sectors. This "spillover effect" from the construction sector to other sectors provided an additional benefit of the regulation, Robson said. "They didn't have to [complete the training] in many cases, but they did anyway because it was being promoted, because they thought it was coming to the industrial sector anyway, because they wanted to use the gold standard that was out there, because they wanted their employees to be flex- ible to work on both manufacturing tasks and constitution tasks." Easiest traction aid ... … for indoor/outdoor use Simply rotate to top of foot when not in use. 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