Stay in Touch With the Ministry of Labour
My daughter's friend, John, approached me last week about an incident that occurred at the camp where he works in a management capacity. A staff person had passed out from the extreme heat associated with a heat wave that had passed over the Toronto region for a few days. The staffer was attended to right away, provided with fluids, the opportunity to rest in an air conditioned office for a while and the only lasting effect seemed to be a mild bit of embarrassment at her inability to cope with the heat.
The Insidious Side of Noise
Very often events or incidents involving health and safety related issues capture headlines. The 13-story fall and subsequent death of four workers from a collapsed swing stage this past Christmas Eve, is but one example. However the reality is that most workplace injuries involve incidents that are far more prosaic in their nature. Many workplace conditions are allowed exist because the effects they elicit are so subtle that many workers go about their business blithely unaware of the danger at hand. Noise is precisely one of those hazards that fits this description.
Health & safety - the importance of when to train
I often begin my forklift training classes by asking the participants about their own experiences and specifically whether they learned to drive a forklift - before or after they received their safety theory class instruction. Most participants of a certain age or generation almost inevitably say that they learned to drive a forklift long before they ever had any formal training. I find it interesting, and encouraging, that younger participants answer differently.
Bill 168 - Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Act
"In order to understand the present, one must understand the past."
Workplace Violence - Mayhem in Mississauga Part II
Recent reports of the ongoing hazing of City of Mississauga workers have highlighted the need for employers to address issues of violence and harassment in the workplace. There is also a new legislated requirement, effective as of 15 June 2010, known as Bill 168. The fact that at least one city worker had repeatedly objected to these hazing activities and that his concerns were completely ignored, or more importantly downplayed or dismissed, indicates a serious lack of policy and procedure in the city's management system.
MSDS Sheets - what they are and when they expire
MSDS, the form containing health and safety data
Material Safety Data Sheets are a very important component in safety protocols for all organizations that use any potentially hazardous substances. Employees need to know and have the right to know what chemicals they are working with.
Workplace Violence: Mayhem in Mississauga – Part I
As of 15 June 2010 all Ontario employers must implement policies and procedures aimed at addressing the issue of workplace violence and harassment. As if on cue, early June saw the Toronto news media full of stories detailing tales of City of Mississauga workers enduring hazing activities. A key piece of evidence was a cell phone video clip showing two workers tied together with duct tape, lying on a table. Other stories involved workers duct taped together and being driven through a car wash in the back of a pick up truck.
Who Needs WHMIS Training?
WHMIS is short for Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System. It provides information on the safe use of hazardous materials and is the basis for training programs regarding most jobs. But who really needs WHMIS training? What type of hazardous material does it apply to?
PRESS RELEASE : LADDER SAFETY COURSE NOW AVAILABLE
London, Ontario Canada June 8th, 2010 -- Online Learning Enterprises Inc., is pleased to announce the release of their NEW Online Health & Safety course: Ladder Safety Training, which is available in English and French (Sécurité des echelles).
Provinces across Canada regulate the use of ladders in all workplaces because the improper use of a ladder could cause significant injuries.
Anyone who uses a ladder must comply and obtain the necessary training in order to:
Worker killed in Ladder Safety incident
A recent incident in the US serves to remind us that aluminum ladders and power lines are a disastrous combination under any circumstances.
OSHA is currently investigating an incident in Milford, CT, where a worker was power washing a house when his ladder came into contact with a power line.
Apparently the workers didn't lower the ladders they were using, but simply leaned them back, where they came in contact with the service line from the utility pole to the house, which carries 200 amps of electricity.
