Canadian Occupational Safety

April 2013 3 Latest COS videos Coming up online More videos at www.cos-mag.com/videos April Young workers Ergonomics Material handling OHS Legal Update May Safety tools Confi ned space Distracted driving Emergency management 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 Culture Shock with Shawn Galloway Safety management tips and best practices from safety excellence expert Shawn Galloway 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 norm Keith training Alan d. Quilley Workers' Compensation david marchione 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. Printed in The publishers accept no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, colour transpar- encies or other materials. Manuscripts or other materials must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Canadian Occupational Safety is published eight times yearly by Thomson Reuters Canada Limited, 2075 Kennedy Road, Toronto, ON • M1T 3V4 Telephone 416-649-9926 Fax 416-609- 5840; www.cos-mag.com Issue dates are February/March, April, May, June/July, August/September, October, November, December/January. Subscription price: Canada: $64 including tax ($59.84 + $4.16 GST); US: $64, International: $96 Canadian Occupational Safety makes every effort to ensure accuracy in all items reported, but cannot accept responsibility for the representations or claims made by sources used. t his is a great step forward. However, it requires that the person is aware of how ill they are. If in the midst of a stress-related breakdown the person (myself for example, when working for the Ontario Minis- try of Health) is not able to assess the situation with perspective, workplaces with skilled folk who can mon- itor and intervene with a gentle, respectful approach would be helpful. We are moving in the right direction. My initial experience was 17 years ago now. Formal diagnosis last year was Bipolar 2. — Glenda Clarke Re: New Canadian standard aims to break down stigma on mental illness D es Plaines, Ill.-based Centre for Safety and Health Sustainability (CSHS) has released some troubling details about a study it conducted on companies listed in the Corporate Knights' 2011 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World. (See "Crucial gaps, lack of transparency in OHS sustainability reporting: Study," page 7.) e CSHS report entitled, Current Practices in Occupational Health and Safety Sustainability Reporting, looked at corporate social responsibility, sustainability and annual reports of orga- nizations considered "sustainable" and found some crucial gaps and inconsistencies in reporting practices among these organizations when it comes to their OHS metrics and performance. e CSHS report found, among other things, "high variability in terms and defi nitions used to report OHS, making it diffi cult to use reports to compare OHS across organizations." What I found troubling in this report, however, is the high amount of workplace fatalities — at least 10 — reported by fi ve of these so-called Global 100 sustainable organizations. One organization reported 49 fatalities in a year and another company had 81 fatalities between 2010 and 2012. In the last decade, corporate social responsibility and global sustainability have become catchphrases in the corporate world signifying an organization's commitment to the social aspects of its operations. e skeptic in me views this simply as one big PR strategy to project a positive image among customers, industry peers and partners. But I'm sure for many organizations, it's much more than that. And some are indeed making a diff erence in the world through their corporate social responsibility investments. at can't be the case, however, for companies that continue to devalue and ignore the occupational health and safety aspect of their global sustainability reporting. A company that causes workers to die on the job does not deserve to be on the list of sustainable companies. In an article published in Forbes, the editor-in-chief at Toronto-based Corporate Knights, Toby Heaps, described sustainability as being achieved "when what is good for a company is also good for the planet, and vice-versa." Workers being injured or killed on the job can't be good for any company nor for the planet. So, why are organiza- tions that have signifi cant fatalities getting on that very narrow list of the 100 most sustainable companies in the world? e inconsistencies in OHS reporting among organizations that report on corporate social responsibility and global sustainability show a clear gap in sustainability analysis. ose folks who analyze and decide on who's sustainable and who's not need to be educated on why it's important for companies to make sure their workers get to go home to their families safe and sound every single day, and why that should be an important consideration in any sustainability framework. e CSHS is right in pushing for OHS metrics to not just be included but, more importantly, be promoted as a vital indicator of an organization's overall sustainability. Mari-Len De Guzman Editor mari-len.deguzman@thomsonreuters.com The missing link in global sustainability

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