Canadian Occupational Safety

February/March 2015 7 • ladder safety • basic introduction to PPE theory. The practical module contains more advanced information and includes practical demonstrations of the proper use of fall protection equipment. The module also covers: • barriers and other fi xed equipment • fall PPE (travel restraint, fall restricting, fall arrest systems) • anchor points • work access equipment and platforms • rescue planning. Workers must receive a 75 per cent passing grade on a written test and complete a hands-on test as well. After completing the modules, the employer must supplement the training with additional information, including workplace-specifi c policies, procedures and hazards related to working at heights. Workers trained under the current fall protection training requirements in the Regulations for Con- struction Projects before April 1 will have until April 1, 2017, to be trained under the new requirements. The training will be valid for three years. A Working at Heights Training Provider Standard has also been developed to set out requirements for prospective training providers. The training program must meet the following criteria: compliance with adult learning principles; language and literacy level appropriate for the learners; accurate content that is current and with all legal and technical information referenced and verifi ed; use of a variety of teaching aides such as audio-visual, equipment, safety devices and measuring/monitoring equipment; learner materials that follow principles of instructional writ- ing and good graphic design; compliance with the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act and its regulations. The chief prevention offi cer will have the fi nal sign-off on which training providers are formally approved to administer the training. "Working at heights is one of the most dangerous types of work at construction projects. By making these standards mandatory, we are ensuring those workers receive consistent, high-quality training," said George Gritziotis, chief prevention offi cer. "Our shared goal is to improve health and safety and prevent injuries and deaths of construction workers." Task force calls for health, safety improvements in schools A provincial task force involving labour and school boards has tabled 22 recommendations to make Ontario public elementary schools healthier and safer places to work. The recommendations were developed by the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and the Ontario Public Supervisory Offi cers' Association (OPSOA), with technical support from the ministries of education and labour. "This is the fi rst time that a labour union, schools boards and government have sat down together to identify how we can create safer and healthier schools," said ETFO president Sam Hammond. "It's a unique and important step forward to improving working conditions for our members and learning conditions for all students." The task force examined six health and safety issues: environmental concerns; train- ing; workplace violence and serious student incidents; lockdown procedures; joint health and safety committee effectiveness; and a provincial-level structure for support- ing the internal responsibility system. One of the 22 recommendations is for the creation of a guidance document for indoor air quality in schools. The heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system (if present) in a school building may not be in optimal operating condition due to factors such as age, poor maintenance or limited fresh air exchange. On the environmental front, the report calls for all stakeholders and the government to work together to develop a provincial asbestos guidance document specifi cally for school boards to manage and mitigate the risks of airborne asbestos exposure. The report calls for more health and safety education, awareness and training in elementary schools. This would be achieved through offering consistent standardized training, allowing a system-wide professional activity day for health and safety and building occupational health and safety knowledge into regularly scheduled meetings and leadership development. The report also calls on the ministries of education and labour to explore opportunities for making basic OHS awareness a component of professional development in post-secondary programs. When it comes to workplace violence, the task force recommends provincial guidance and resource materi- als specifi c to the school be developed, followed by a professional development opportunity that incorporates delivery of these materials. When a lockdown occurs in response to a major incident or threat of violence, it is to protect the students and the staff that may be in danger. One way to offer further protection is by ensuring all staff — including occasional, itinerant and part time — have a means to lock and unlock classroom doors independently. This means they have their own key for their own classroom, rather than having to go to the offi ce for the key or seek assistance from another staff person. New safety standards for Atlantic offshore workers By Mallory Hendry N ew occupational health and safety provisions for Atlantic Canada's offshore oil and gas indus- try came into force on Dec. 31. The new provisions regard worker safety, environmental protection and management of petroleum resources — and have been more than one decade in the making. "The (federal) Offshore Health and Safety Act enshrines in law the highest standards of safety for Canadians working in the offshore oil and gas industries," said Greg Rickford, Canada's minister of natural resources. The enactment of the federal act amends the accor d acts in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia to increase the level of safety and trans- parency of offshore petroleum activities. The accord acts clarify the roles and responsibilities of operators, governments, employers, employees and regulators. They also provide clear and specifi c enforcement powers for occupational health and safety, and allow for new inspection and investigation provi- sions. Now, OHS offi cers, conservation offi cers and operational safety offi cers have the same powers for the administration and enforcement of the accord acts — as well as "special offi cers." "If there's an issue in the offshore that the pro- vincial government feels isn't being dealt with as it should be by the regulator, they can step it up and put in place a special safety offi cer to deal with the issue," said Lana Payne, Atlantic regional director at Unifor. "It gives us an extra layer of oversight, which is critical." The amendments will ensure the occupational health and safety regime applies to workers in transit to, from or between offshore platforms. "Typically a health and safety act applies to the workplace — here it's been expanded to apply to helicopter and supply boats that could ferry workers to and from the workplace; an important addition," said Stewart Pinks, CEO of the Canada-Nova Scotia Petroleum Board. The importance of this provision was exemplifi ed in the Mach 2009 incident when a helicopter went down in the Newfoundland and Labrador offshore, killing 17 workers. After the helicopter crash, there was a "real inter- est by governments to get this on the front burner instead of the back burner," said Payne. In his recommendations in the Offshore Helicop- ter Safety Inquiry, launched in response to the 2009 crash, former Supreme Court justice Robert Wells said the offshore is "perhaps one of the harshest operating environments in the world." Payne — who represents more than 750 work- ers on two offshore installations — couldn't agree more. She calls the offshore a "hyper dangerous workplace." "These workers deserve to have the best legisla- tion, the best safety culture we can deliver." safety improvements in schools A provincial task force involving labour and school boards has tabled 22 recommendations to make Ontario public elementary schools healthier and safer places to work. The recommendations were developed by the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and the Ontario Public Supervisory Offi cers' Association (OPSOA), with technical support from the ministries of education and labour. "This is the fi rst time that a labour union, schools boards and government have sat down together to identify how we can create safer and healthier schools," said ETFO president Sam Hammond. "It's a unique and important step forward to improving working conditions for our members and learning conditions for all students." The task force examined six health and safety issues: environmental concerns; train- ing; workplace violence and serious student incidents; lockdown procedures; joint health and safety committee effectiveness; and a provincial-level structure for support- ing the internal responsibility system. One of the 22 recommendations is for the creation of a guidance document for indoor air quality in schools. The heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system (if present) in a school building may not be in optimal operating condition due to factors such as age, poor maintenance or limited fresh air exchange. new working at heights standard

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