Canadian Occupational Safety (COS) magazine is the premier workplace health and safety publication in Canada. We cover a wide range of topics ranging from office to heavy industry, and from general safety management to specific workplace hazards.
Issue link: https://digital.thesafetymag.com/i/358607
June/July 2013 3 Latest COS videos Coming up online More videos at www.cos-mag.com/videos June Fire prevention Electrical safety Emergency management OHS Legal Update July Summer safety Lock-out/tag-out Gas detection Safety 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 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 Steve Maver 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. W hen I heard about the fi ring of 15 Australian miners a er they made a video of their version of the Harlem Shake — shot in the mine where they worked, it appears — my initial thought was that the employer could have been more lenient. A er all, the workers were just having a little fun, right? ( e Harlem Shake was a recent YouTube fad showing people randomly dancing to the Harlem Shake tune) Returning from a recent assignment that took me to Snow Lake, Man., and more than 900 metres down an underground mine, I now have a slightly diff erent opinion on the issue — and new respect for mine workers. What was I doing up north, deep underground, hundreds of kilometres away from the comforts of my offi ce cubicle — one may wonder. I was interviewing Roberta Spicer, health and safety superintendent for North Bay, Ont.-based Redpath Mining Contractors and Engineers (see story on page 18). e assignment was for a new series of features in COS dubbed, A Day in the Life, which goes in-depth into the intricacies of a typical workday for a safety professional. What better way to kick off this new series than to feature a safety professional in one of the most hazardous indus- tries in Canada: Mining. And who better to provide unbiased reporting than someone who has never set foot on a mine site before: Me. For the most part, it was a very interesting — albeit a little unnerving — experience. But it was also eye opening. Unlike many workers who turn into mechanical, routine-driven beings when they go to work everyday, mine workers have to be a little more engaged and a lot more attentive to their workplace every single day. e price of not paying serious attention to their work is just too high to pay. e signifi cance of wearing personal protective equipment, for example, is more evident for someone who works at a mine site. e physical work environment makes it easy for one to imagine the consequences of not wearing a PPE. I seldom have any reason to wear safety glasses, but in that mine hundreds of metres below the surface, I was wearing all my PPE like my life depended on it — and it did. e mining industry has come a long way in keeping mines safer for workers. Some would even argue the mining industry is, in fact, one of the safest because of the extraordinary eff orts the industry has done to prevent injuries and illnesses. Hazard control, however, can only do so much. In a high-hazard job site, such as mines, hazard control works alongside worker training and awareness. A company can put in place the best hazard control mechanisms and the best PPE money can buy, but those will mean nothing if the worker lacks the knowledge and understanding of what those hazards mean and their potential consequences. It's easy to get complacent with our day-to-day routines on the job. Come in for work, turn on the computer, type some words on a screen, read some paperwork, make coff ee, type some more, have lunch, type some more, read some more and go home. "Uneventful" is what many of us would probably describe a typical day at work. Not so much for a mine worker, I would imagine. Maybe they don't go to work everyday thinking, "this might be the day I would get hurt on the job" — but that thought would most certainly have crossed every miner's mind at one point in their working lives. It certainly crossed my mind, and I was only inside the mine for a few hours. I have new respect for mine workers. Not every one can do the job of a miner. It's a hard job, but someone's got to do it. Mining is a tough industry to work in, and many employers do what they can to ensure they protect those few who are willing to take the challenge of working underground, exposed to so many potential risks, day in, day out. I now understand why those 15 Australian miners would lose their job over a prank video. e incident was more than just a case of a few workers joking around. What the public saw from that Harlem Shake video were some people having a little fun at work. What the employer saw, however, was something more dangerous, it's not really funny: a potential serious injury. Mari-Len De Guzman Editor mari-len.deguzman@thomsonreuters.com A day in the mine