Canadian Occupational Safety

6 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com WORKPLACE NEWS Ontario implementing mandatory training for drill rig operators O ntario has passed amendments under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) to ensure workers operating rotary foundation drill rigs are properly trained and licensed. Rotary foundation drill rigs are used for boring holes in soil to install foundations or earth retention structures. The amendments include new technical and operational safety measures and procedures as well as mandatory drill rig operator training and cer- tifi cation. The new drill rig requirements will come into effect on July 1. "Mandatory training of rotary drill rig operators will provide better protection for both the operators of the equipment and also for the workers on con- struction sites," said Mike Gallagher, business manager of Local 793 of the International Union of Operating Engineers. "These drill rigs are massive pieces of heavy equipment and the changes will ensure that work- ers must have adequate knowledge, profi ciency and proper training when operating such a rig." The union has been fi ghting for mandatory training and licens- ing since Local 793 apprentice Kyle Knox lost his life when a drill rig collapsed at a subway construction site at York University in Toronto on Oct. 11, 2011. Twenty-four- year-old Knox was killed when the drill rig toppled onto the backhoe he was operating. An investigation determined that major factors in the tipping of the drill rig were: inadequate site prep- aration; a soil base unable to withstand the weight and pressure created by the drill rig combined with a procedure of digging dispersal holes fi lled with wet material; and the fact the drill rig was operating on a slope greater than allowed within safe parameters. "After the fatality involving Kyle Knox, I was deter- mined that the standards for drill rig operators be raised," said Gallagher. "The government has done the right thing by introducing these regulations. These measures will undoubtedly pre- vent future fatalities." Ontario now leads the country in this regard, as no other juris- diction in Canada has explicit training requirements for drill rig operators in its health and safety legislation. These changes build on actions the province is taking to improve safety for construction workers, including the working at heights training requirements and the development of Ontario's Construction Health and Safety Action Plan. Ontario's construction industry has tradition- ally experienced higher rates of workplace injuries and fatalities compared to other sectors. In 2014, there were 200 critical injuries in construction and 21 fatalities. "To break the cycle of fatalities in our construction sector, we need higher health and safety standards," said Minister of Labour Kevin Flynn. Ontario has also approved amendments to protect workers from overexposure to hazardous chemical and biological substances, including carbon monox- ide released by internal combustion engines. Manitoba introducing culturally appropriate training for Aboriginal workers T he province of Manitoba has launched the Manitoba Aboriginal Health and Safety Initiative (MAHSI) to provide cul- turally appropriate workplace health and safety training for Aboriginal workers. "As a province, we are proud to... recognize the value of MAHSI as a way to provide customized training to Aboriginal workers that refl ects Aborigi- nal practices, history and traditions," said Minister of Labour and Immigration Erna Braun. The success of the province depends on Aboriginal workers to help meet labour market needs, said Minister of Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Eric Robinson. "As a government, we recognize that workplace injuries and illnesses carry a signifi cant impact for Manitoba's Aboriginal and northern communities, and we are committed to ensuring our Aboriginal workers have the informa- tion they need to help keep them safe and healthy at work," said Robinson. MAHSI represents a partnership between the Centre for Aboriginal Human Resources Development, the University of Winnipeg and the Northern Manitoba Sector Council and was developed through the Work- ers Compensation Board of Manitoba's Research and Workplace Innovation Program. The primary goal of the two-year program is to help prevent work- place-related injury and illness for Aboriginal workers. This initiative was undertaken to address a lack of culturally appropriate health and safety training for a growing Aboriginal population and work- force that is at an increased risk of injuries, said the government. MAHSI will also help increase Aboriginal workers' awareness of their rights as employees, which include the right to know about workplace haz- ards, the right to participate in health safety committees in the workplace and the right to refuse unsafe work. "With the launch of MAHSI, Manitoba is emerging as a leader in Canada in recognizing and addressing, from a cultural perspective, the health and safety training needs of Manitoba's Aboriginal workers," said Richard Nor- drum, MAHSI project manager. A key component of MAHSI is the online learning centre that provides culturally appropriate health and safety training resources for Aboriginal workers, employers, unions, Aboriginal organizations and employment preparation programs. The centre will house Essentials of Health and Safety, an online health and safety course for Aboriginal workers, as well as other health and safety resources, cultural awareness resources, trainer materials, and employment information. Ontario implementing mandatory training and licens- ing since Local 793 apprentice Kyle Knox lost his life when a drill rig collapsed at a subway construction site at York University in Toronto on Oct. 11, 2011. Twenty-four- year-old Knox was killed when the These measures will undoubtedly pre- vent future fatalities." Ontario now leads the country in this regard, as no other juris- diction in Canada has explicit training requirements for drill rig operators in its health and safety legislation. These changes build on actions the province is taking to improve safety for construction workers, including the working at heights training requirements and the development of Ontario's Health and Safety Action Plan. WORKPLACE NEWS Stock market performance linked to health, safety: Study A study using investment simula- tions for multinational companies with strong employee health or safety programs suggests employers that invest signifi cantly in health and safety programming can outperform other companies in the marketplace. Lead author Raymond Fabius, co- founder of HealthNEXT, and colleagues studied the stock market performance of companies that had applied for or received the American College of Occu- pational and Environmental Medicine's Corporate Health Achievement Award (CHAA), which recognizes the healthiest and safest companies in North America. The authors tracked the stock market performance of 17 CHAA applicants or recipients with proven health and/or safety programs using six investment modelling scenarios. The companies had achieved high CHAA scores in either health or safety or both. Investment sce- narios were created and analyzed for the period spanning 2001-14, using a hypo- thetical initial investment of US$10,000. Over this 13-year period, the hypo- thetical investment returns for CHAA companies were signifi cantly higher than average S&P 500 returns. In the best-performing scenario, CHAA com- panies achieved a 333 per cent return, compared to an S&P return of 105 per cent during the same period. In the lowest-performing scenario, CHAA com- panies achieved a 204 per cent return, compared to an S&P return of 105 per cent during the same period. "The results provide evidence that the stock appreciation of companies that are recognized for excellence in health and wellness, safety or both, out-performs that of other companies that have not been so recognized," the authors of Tracking the Market Performance of Compa- nies That Integrate a Culture of Health and Safety: An Assessment of Corporate Health Achievement Award Applicants wrote. The authors acknowledged the study presents correlation but does not imply causation. They also stressed the evi- dence linking business value with health and safety programming continues to grow and is useful to investors. "This information should become increasingly important to corporate lead- ership and the investment community," they wrote. "While there is ample evi- dence that a healthy and safe workforce can tangibly contribute to the bottom line of most self-insured mid-sized and large employers, demonstrated cau- sality may not be necessary to inform investors." The authors also noted that the study's results provide support for the establish- ment of a uniform health and safety index for investors. The so-called Inte- grated Health and Safety Index would be modelled on the well-known Dow Jones Sustainability Index and would give inves- tors a consistent set of health and safety metrics to use when assessing the com- prehensive value of companies.

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