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.
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6 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com UPDATES FROM THE WORLD OF HEALTH & SAFETY SafetyFirst Loblaw keeps business in Bangladesh, signs European safety accord Making safety committees work By Alastair Sharp and Solarina Ho, Reuters L oblaw Companies will continue to produce clothing in Bangladesh fol- lowing a deadly textile factory collapse recently, but promised to improve the facilities it uses there, executive chair Galen Weston said. "I am deeply troubled. I am troubled that despite a clear commitment to the highest standards of ethical sourcing, our company can still be part of such an unspeakable tragedy," Weston told reporters ahead of the annual meeting of Loblaw on May 2. e company is behind the discount clothing brand, Joe Fresh. More than 1,000 factory workers were killed a er an illegally built build- ing, Rana Plaza, which housed several garment factories, collapsed on April 24 in Savar, a commercial suburb of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Some of Loblaw's Joe Fresh apparel was made in Rana Plaza. Ahead of the building's collapse, Walt Disney Company said in March it would no longer allow its branded products to be made in fi ve countries, including Bangladesh, in an eff ort to ensure production in safe conditions. Loblaw said it would remain in Ban- gladesh because well-run factories can help li people out of poverty in devel- oping countries. e company said it currently produces in 47 facilities in Bangladesh. "I believe we can do more good and drive lasting change by staying in Ban- gladesh, and we are committed to doing that," said Joe Mimran, the designer behind the popular Joe Fresh brand. Loblaw has promised to start a relief fund for victims and their families and said it expected other apparel manufac- turers to contribute to the fund. e company also said it will add "building integrity" into its audits of contractor facilities and put Loblaw workers on the ground to ensure local building codes are adhered to, and suit- able conditions are maintained. Brenda Mallouk, a university pro- fessor who owns some Loblaw shares, expressed disappointment at the com- pany's failure to address broader aspects of the outsourced apparel trade. "Notice that they are not even talking about conditions under which they work. It's just the building structure they're talking about, not the fact that they're all piled into one room. ey're not even talking about the hours," she said. " is is the right thing to say, but are they saying and not doing?" Anti-poverty groups urged compa- nies using cheap workers in developing countries to look beyond unsafe buildings. "Canadian companies can start with building codes, but must also look at other human rights issues including wages, health and the exploitation of children," said Dave Toycen, who heads World Vision Canada. On May 14, Loblaw has signed into a European-led Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a legally binding agreement to ensure Bangladesh factories maintain proper working conditions. By Mari-Len De Guzman I f utilized well, safety committees and workplace inspections can serve a bigger purpose for organizations than just for regulatory compliance, according to health and safety experts speaking at the Western Conference on Safety in Vancouver last April. "Worksite inspection isn't simply to walk around the building from month to month," said Isabel Krueger, a 22-year veteran health and safety pro- fessional and owner of Safety Matters, providing training for safety commit- tees and supervisors. Workplace inspections serve as an opportunity to talk to workers and fi nd out if there are any ongoing health and safety issues that may not come to light by any other means, Krueger said. ey allow the safety committee to confi rm whether recommendations from accident investigations are getting implemented. e key for any safety commit- tee doing workplace inspection is to understand the purpose of the safety inspection. " e committee decides the purpose procedures, ergonomics, equipment maintenance procedures. e safety committee's role in work- place investigations is also vital in preventing future negative incidents, said Tom Lauritzen, former regional prevention manager for WorkSafeBC and now a health and safety consultant at 24/7 Safety. "Correcting what's wrong so (these accidents) don't happen again — that's what safety committees are all about," Lauritzen told attendees at the Western Conference on Safety. Under B.C. laws, an employer is required to undertake an investigation into the cause of any incident that is required to be reported to WorkSafeBC or resulted in an injury to a worker requiring medical treatment, said Lau- ritzen. An investigation is also required for any incident that — although it may not have caused injury or caused only a minor injury to a worker — had the potential for causing serious injury to a worker. Workplace investigations should not only be triggered by serious accidents resulting in injury, it is also impor- tant that safety committees investigate near-misses or close-calls, Lauritzen said. "Remember the diff erence between an accident and a near-miss is luck and split-second," he said, adding incident investigations should always be viewed as part of an organization's accident pre- vention program. The safety committee's role in accident investigations is two-fold, Lauritzen said: participation in the actual investigation process and review of completed investigations at the com- mittee's monthly meeting for quality control and follow up, if required. or focus of next month's inspection," she said. "We stay focused by determining in advance what it is that we're going to look for." Safety committees can plan to focus on a diff erent task or hazard every inspection. For example, the committee can focus on recurring fi rst aid inci- dents — where they are happening — watch how people are working, fi nd out what's causing the injuries and make recommendations to mitigate those risks based on the result of the inspection. Designate a committee member who will lead a specifi c inspection, said Krueger. Assign a diff erent leader every inspection because chances are, that leader's job will not end a er the inspection is over. Reports and recom- mendations will have to be created, and follow-ups to ensure completion will have to be done as well. Some of the areas safety commit- tees can focus on every inspection include: physical worksites, including buildings and structures; tools, equip- ment and machinery, such as ladders, scaff oldings; and work methods and practices, which include proper li ing Loblaw Companies Limited executive chair Galen Weston speaks before the annual general meeting of shareholders in Toronto. Photo credit: Reuters