Canadian Occupational Safety

February/March 2013 3 Latest COS videos Coming up online More videos at www.cos-mag.com/videos February Ergonomics Chemical safety Workplace violence OHS Legal Update March Health and wellness Respiratory protection Safety leadership OHS Legal Update Do you work for one of Canada's Safest Employers? Nominations are now open for Canada's Safest Employers 2013. If you work for a company that values and promotes the safety of the employees in meaningful ways, we would like to hear from you. Visit www.safestemployers.com for details visit us online cos-mag.com On now FROM THE EDITOR @ twitter.com/cosmagazine Join Canadian Occupational Safety on Follow us on Safety Tips Safety best practices to keep your workers and your workplaces safe Profi ling the 2012 Safety Leader of the Year Meet Jim Duthie, the 2012 Safety Leader of the Year, and fi nd out what sets him apart. Saving lives with social media READER COMMENTS PUBLISHER John Hobel john.hobel@thomsonreuters.com 416-298-5197 MANAGING EDITOR Todd Humber todd.humber@thomsonreuters.com 416-298-5196 EDITOR Mari-Len De Guzman mari-len.deguzman@thomsonreuters.com 416-649-9502 PRODUCTION CO-ORDINATOR Pamela Menezes pamela.menezes@thomsonreuters.com 416-649-9298 ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Kathy Liotta kathy.liotta@thomsonreuters.com 416-649-9920 Stephen Hill stephen.hill@thomsonreuters.com 416-298-5090 MANAGER, MEDIA PRODUCTION Lisa Drummond lisa.drummond@thomsonreuters.com 416-649-9415 MARKETING MANAGER Mohammad Ali mm.ali@thomsonreuters.com 416-609-5866 ART DIRECTOR Robert Russell CIRCULATION CO-ORDINATOR Ellen Alstein ellen.alstein@thomsonreuters.com 416-649-9926 COLUMNISTS Legal Cheryl Edwards Training Alan D. Quilley Workers' Compensation David Marchione Goldie Bassi CUSTOMER SERVICE Tel. 416-609-3800 (Toronto)/1-800-387-5164 (outside Toronto) Fax 416-298-5082 (Toronto)/1-877-750-9041 (outside Toronto) carswell.customerrelations@thomsonreuters.com RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 2075 KENNEDY RD., TORONTO, ONT. M1T 3V4 Contents of Canadian Occupational Safety are copyright © 2013 Thomson Reuters Canada Limited and may not be reproduced in whole or part without written consent. Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon information in this publication. HST/ GST # 89717 6350 RT0002 QST # 1019064405 TQ0005 Canada Post – Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement 40065782 International Standard Serial Number 0008-4611. 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I recently witnessed the great power of social media to change, even save, lives when my three-month-old niece in the Philippines was diagnosed with a heart con- dition that required her to undergo a blood transfusion. e problem was my niece's blood type is AB negative, a rare blood type, which only about one per cent of the world's population has. A er calling dozens of blood banks and hospitals, and testing friends and family for a potential match, we were unsuccessful in securing the needed blood for my niece. And so our entire family did what any regular 21st century family would do: We went on Facebook. Less than 24 hours later, we had a blood donor. My niece is now well on her way to full recovery. It was an amazing showcase of unity, of people coming together for a great cause and achieving success. What struck me as more impressive, however, is the swi ness in which success was achieved. Within min- utes, my cousin — the mother of my sick niece — was able to reach all our relatives across the world to ask for help in fi nding a suitable donor. Within hours, thou- sands were sharing our appeal for help on Facebook. And in less than a day, we found that one person with that rare blood type who was willing to be a donor. In the business world, we are now starting to grasp the potential power of social media to infl uence the way we do our jobs. e resources available to workers and managers to become more productive and increase their knowledge are limitless in the world of online net- working and social sharing. e ability to infl uence and be infl uenced is literally in your hands — one mouse- click away. In safety, where external knowledge sharing is essen- tial for business — and a life or death necessity — the Internet can be a vital tool in a safety professional's ever expanding toolbox. It's a phenomenon I believe more safety professionals are now starting to embrace. Take Canadian Occupational Safety magazine's LinkedIn group as an example. Over the last three years, the group's membership has grown to more than 2,500 health and safety, environment, human resources and other relevant professionals. ere are new discussions being posted and commented on everyday, on topics that are timely and relevant to these professionals. e Internet, through various social media tools, has become a marketplace for knowledge, available and accessible to anyone who is willing to learn. Law enforcers and regulators have learned to use it against employers that don't operate in compliance with OHS laws. Of course, the Internet can never be a substitute for formal training and education, such as those that can be gained from learning institutions and profes- sional development conferences. But, used wisely and responsibly, social media and the Internet can be a great source of real-life lessons and best practices. ****** e search for Canada's Safest Employers Award 2013 is on. See page 23 for details. Mari-Len De Guzman Editor mari-len.deguzman@thomsonreuters.com T hank you very much to an already insuffi cient gov- ernment for creating another nightmare for small business owners to, yet again, have to endure. I have been talking with government people to fi nd out how I am supposed to go about this and, guess what, WSIB doesn't even know what to do. is has obviously been pushed through quickly while a window of opportunity was open with no thought as to what would happen by offi cials who are seriously out of touch with working in the real world. I challenge any person involved with these changes to try and run a legitimate small busi- ness. You have eff ectively chased the best tradesmen underground and out of reach of good contractors. Maybe one day our government will take the best inter- est of our province into consideration, but then again maybe not. — Leigh A. Re: WSIB coverage now mandatory for most of Ontario's construction industry

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