Cell Phone Radiation
The other day our logistics manager asked for feedback, from employees, regarding company- supplied data phones. The responses received, varied from “adamantly against” to “in favour of”; with some employees taking the middle road and saying “they had some reservations”.
Ergonomics and the Older Worker
Earlier this summer, while picking up my sister-in-law at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, I rounded a corner and saw one worker pushing an impossibly long line of luggage carts. I expected to see a young, physically fit worker piloting such a large load and was surprised to see that in reality it was an older worker. Based on grey hair and other physical characteristics, I would guess his age to be approximately in the early 60’s. It was then that it struck me that this was a vision of the future of our society.
Due Diligence and the Tired Chef
Last week I had the pleasure of presenting a class to a group of participants that were all employees of a large, well known, national chain of restaurants. These classes are usually characterized by lively interactions with participants who are genuinely interested in the subject (a presenter’s dream), which as far as I know is indicative of the “corporate culture” of safety that seems to flourish in this organization. However I was surprised by one of the participants, who appeared to be very listless in his demeanour.
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.
