Canadian Occupational Safety

June/July 2015 7 Ontario being pressed to regulate safety training industry after death By Liz Bernier B ecoming a fi refi ghter was something Adam Brunt was passionate about — but it was a dream that was tragically cut short. Brunt, 30, was killed on Feb. 8 during an ice and water rescue training exercise provided through a private training fi rm. Brunt, of Bowmanville, Ont., was enrolled at the fi refi ghting program at Durham College in Oshawa, Ont., and had signed up for the non-mandatory training course with Herschel Rescue Training Systems. The tragedy comes fi ve years after a similar incident in Point Edward, Ont., when volunteer fi refi ghter Gary Kendall, 51, was killed during training — also during an ice and water rescue training provided by Herschel Rescue Training Systems. Because a private fi rm provided the training, it was not subject to government regulation, said Jennifer French, NDP MPP for Oshawa, Ont., who is advocating for more government oversight of these programs. "This is an important issue because what we have is a group of students — in this case, fi refi ghter candidates — who are not protected by the Ministry of Labour or the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. They're in limbo," she said. Becoming a fi refi ghter can be a competitive process, so many fi refi ghting students and candidates take these additional courses to improve their skills and get a leg up on the competition when they're applying for jobs, said French. "So they're very popular, they are optional courses, and they're very technical — they're very specifi c, whether it's high-angle rescue, or in this case, cold water and swift water (training)," she said. Relatives of Brunt and Kendall, along with other advocates, are calling for government regulation of these courses, which would effectively "close the loophole," said French. "The changes that we would like to see are that there are regulations in place, standards in place. We're calling on the government to consult and be informed by experts and stakeholders — the families of the victims, but also those that are in this industry or experts in the fi eld of what those regulations should look like," she said. Al Brunt, Adam's father, said Adam would want to make sure the same tragedy will not happen to anyone else. "He would want to protect the next person… so we're going to take on that battle," he said at a press conference at Queen's Park in Toronto. "We'll get through it and make the right thing happen; make (something) positive come of it." The provincial Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities will be reviewing the Private Career Colleges Act in light of the tragedy, said Minister Reza Moridi. Queen's Park has also announced it will look at regulating companies that provide such safety courses for fi refi ghting trainees and fi rst responders. These companies and trainers are surely well intentioned, but they need to follow basic safety standards and best practices, said French. "I'm sure everyone involved wants to teach safety skills, but as it stands right now there is no regulation, there are no standards, and it shouldn't be 'buyer beware' when we're talking about health and safety." Liz Bernier is a news editor with Canadian HR Reporter, a sister publication of COS. about perhaps another co-worker in the room, whether it's 'Did you see what she's wearing?' or 'Did you hear what that idiot said this time?'" he said. "It could be the sending of pictures of the person, perhaps doctored in a way that makes them look ridiculous. And it could also involve send- ing the victim directly him or herself a text, an email, pictures, links, et cetera that in some way belittle them, make them feel foolish." Cyberbullying can also expand into employees' personal time and social media accounts. "That's certainly one of the challenges of cyberbul- lying is it doesn't necessarily have physical barriers on it, so it could kind of bleed outside of the work- place but still involve co-workers," said Schat. There's also the false sense of anonymity that comes along with cyberbullying, but it can still create reputational risk for an organization. "Anybody who is using these kinds of technolo- gies can easily develop a feeling of this not being public domain — until of course somebody shares it and it becomes public domain," said Schat. The Conference Board report suggests that employers, who could be held legally responsible, need to take greater responsibility to address this detrimental behaviour. Cost associated with bullying can include legal expenses, absenteeism, stress, sickness and psycho- logical problems as well as reduced productivity, work quality, employee job satisfaction and engagement. In the worst case, workplace bullying can lead to increased employee turnover, disability leave and employees suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, said the Conference Board of Canada. While there is no best way to handle all the differ- ent issues that may arise, there are proactive strategies organizations can adopt to deal with workplace bullying, including education, policies and proce- dures, investigation, coaching and, in more serious instances, applying legislation as required. Domestic violence spilling into workplace By Liz Bernier D omestic violence may start at home — but it doesn't necessarily stay there. It often spills over into many different facets of a victim's life, including the workplace, according to a survey by Western University in London, Ont., and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). More than one-half (53.5 per cent) of respon- dents who reported a domestic violence experience said at least one type of abusive act occurred at or near their workplace, according to the survey of 8,429 Canadians. Thirty-eight per cent said it impacted their ability to get to work and 8.5 per cent said they have lost a job because of domestic violence. "Even if it wasn't happening at work, it was on their minds, it was distracting them, they were being prevented from getting to work," said Vicky Smallman, national director of women's and human rights at the CLC in Ottawa. "Also, there was a sense from many of the respondents that it also impacted co-workers." Canadian employers lose $77.9 million every year because of direct and indirect consequences of domestic violence, according to a 2012 Department of Justice study. About one-third (33.6 per cent) of respondents to the Western University and CLC survey said they experienced domestic violence at some point in their lives. Aboriginal respondents, persons with disabili- ties and LGBT individuals were more likely to have experienced domestic violence. Seeing the prevalence of domestic violence can be startling for employers, said Barbara MacQuarrie, one of the study's authors and community director of the Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children at Western University. "In our minds, we've assumed there's a barrier between home and work. And we really haven't understood the extent to which those harassing and violent behaviours actually follow people into the workplace," she said. And the survey results — while disturbing — are a call to action, said Smallman. "For us, it was a little bit of a wake-up call. We found some of the results really disturbing" she said. "(And) it's not just victims that are in the workplace — it's also perpetrators… Sometimes both the victim and the perpetrator are in the workplace." Workplace instances of domestic violence varied widely, from harassing behaviours such as frequent phone calls, emails or text messages to high-risk behaviours, such as the abuser physically coming to the work premises, found the study. Just 10.6 per cent of survey respondents believe employers are aware when domestic violence is affecting an employee. Domestic violence is still stigmatized and victims often don't report it to their employer. People are far more likely to disclose their situation to a co-worker than to a manager, supervisor or union rep, found the survey. But many workers don't understand that in some cases, it may be their duty to report the abuse to their supervisor, said MacQuarrie. "That really points to the need for education across the workplace — all levels," she said. "We really need to be educating everybody about how to recognize warning signs, how to have diffi cult conversations... We've been socialized to turn the other way, to say, 'It's none of my business.' And I think we have to break through that."

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