Accident Prevention e-News December 2007	Volume 2/Issue 12/December 2007
In this Issue: Versacold 4 years later Buying safe toys Banning cell phones while driving 15 compliance tips for holiday parties In the News Critical Dates

Versacold 4 years later

In 2003, the collapse of a racking system at a Versacold warehouse and distribution centre in Brampton, Ontario led to the death of a worker and extensive property loss. Damage was so extensive—part of the building’s roof and one exterior wall had collapsed—that responders needed three days to recover the worker’s body from the debris.

Versacold provides refrigerated storage space for food processors, distributors and retailers. The company has 72 temperature-controlled warehouses in North America alone, with a combined storage capacity of close to 290 million cubic feet.

Although the incident served as a wake-up call for the entire storage and warehousing industry, Versacold senior management had already decided that change was necessary. Eight weeks earlier the company had hired a health and safety manager, Brad Novoselac, to introduce health and safety changes in the company’s Eastern Region facilities. “Operations manager Jim Tidy, who was fairly new himself, recognized that there were safety gaps that needed to be addressed,” says Novoselac.

A subsequent Ministry of Labour investigation highlighted what the company had already figured out: while the incident could be attributed to several key shortcomings, the company essentially needed a stronger safety infrastructure.

“The workforce and management were on the same page immediately,” says Novoselac. “Our employees union (Teamsters Local 419) also played a significant role. We had their complete support for any initiative aimed at improving employee welfare in the workplace.”

The company revamped and expanded safety procedures, and initiated rigourous training, including racking safety, lift truck operation, Certification Parts One and Two, and others. “New hire forklift training alone has gone from four hours to two-plus weeks before you’re released onto the floor,” says Novoselac. “It’s intensive.”

These changes reflect a growing and flourishing safety culture. “Management and employees have worked together on the changes,” says Novoselac. “It was driven from both the bottom and the top.”

How does this play out in the warehouse?

“If you were to walk through the facility without safety shoes, you would not get more than 10 feet before you were challenged, I’m not kidding. There would be several people on you right away letting you know that you are placing yourself in jeopardy needlessly, and you’re breaking Ontario law. We have a well-educated and committed workforce. Our employees are our greatest strength in our drive to improve. We provide them the tools, but they’re the ones driving the changes.”

The culture change is also evident in the company’s safety performance. In 2003, for example, the Brampton facility recorded 17 lost-time injury (LTI) claims among 120 employees. Currently, the facility’s 145 employees have achieved over 560 days without any LTIs.

At the core of the culture change is recognition that safety contributes to economic performance, rather than impedes it. “This has had far-reaching effects across the company. It was the genesis for many initiatives, starting with a greater investment in safety personnel.”

“In the long term,” continues Novoselac, “it’s really made us far more organized and profitable.” Because safety changes led to process and procedural changes, he explains, “it’s made us very structured, and along the way our bottom line has improved.”

How IAPA can help

Brad Novoselac considers the facility’s workforce to be among its greatest assets, and IAPA training played a part. Appearing below are sample products and services that can help you improve the safety performance of your storage, warehousing and lift truck operations.

In conjunction with CSA, IAPA offers Inspecting and Maintaining Steel Storage Racks, a one-day CSA/IAPA course on the key elements of inspecting and maintaining steel storage racks as outlined in CSA User Guide A344.1.

IAPA also offers the following opportunities:

• training
  • Lift Truck Operators’ Safety Training (1 day)
  • Pre-Start Health & Safety Reviews (half-day)
    
    
• consulting services
  • Lift Truck Operators' Evaluation On-site
    
    
• products
  • SAFE-Lift on DVD
  • Safety in Mind Posters
  • Prevention Guide: Safety of Pallet Racks
  • PSR Plus: A Pre-Start Health & Safety Review Assessment Tool
    
    
• free downloads
  • Are Your Lifting Devices in Good Condition?
  • Lift Truck
  • Non-motorized Material Handling Equipment
  • Pedestrians & Mobile Equipment Don't Mix!

Buying safe toys

A series of toy recalls this fall reminds us that we can’t rely solely on manufacturers and retailers to ensure toys are safe. Health Canada offers a number of tips to help us choose safe toys, and keep children safe while playing with them. Appearing below is a sampling adapted from Health Canada’s list.

When buying toys

• Look for sturdy, well-made toys.
• Read and follow the age label, warnings, safety messages and assembly instructions for the toy.
• Remember that toys for older children may not be safe for younger children.

Watch out for choking hazards:

• children under three years of age tend to put things in their mouths—small toys, small balls or small loose toy parts are choking hazards for these children.
• know how the child plays. Small toys can be dangerous even for children three and over who still tend to put things in their mouths.
• check squeeze toys for loose or removable squeakers.
• check toy cars and trucks for loose or removable wheels, tires or other small parts.
• check the eyes, nose and other small items on stuffed and plush toys to make sure they cannot be pulled off.
• check that infant toys, such as rattles and teethers, are large enough that they won't get stuck in an infant's throat.

Watch out for other hazards:

• avoid toys with cords that are long enough to wrap around a child's neck, especially stretchy cords. They could strangle a child.
• avoid loud toys. Loud noise can damage a child's sensitive hearing. A toy that is loud for an adult is likely too loud for a child.
• check that the toy does not have sharp points or edges. They could cut a child.

After buying toys

Always supervise children, and teach them how to use toys safely:

• promptly remove and discard all toy packaging such as plastic bags and plastic wrap, foam, staples and ties. They can suffocate or choke a child.
• keep all toys, especially plush and soft toys, away from heat sources like stoves, fireplaces and heaters. The toys could catch fire and burn a child.
• check toys often for such hazards as loose parts, pinch points, broken pieces or sharp edges, and repair or discard any weak or broken toy.

Store toys appropriately:

• store toys and games for older children separately from those for younger children.
• use a toy box without a lid, or one with a lightweight lid that will not fall on a child.
• Not all storage boxes are suitable for toys. If the box has a lid, remove it or check to make sure
• the box has air holes for breathing, in case a child climbs inside.
• the lid has a hinge that will hold it open in any position, and keep it open even if a child pushes down on it.
• there is no latch that could lock the lid and trap a child inside.

Prevent access to airtight storage bins. These could lead to suffocation if a child climbs inside.

Ride-on toys

• Choose a ride-on toy that suits the child's age, size and abilities.
• Check that the ride-on toy will not tip when the child is using it. Make sure it is stable when weight is placed on any riding point.
• Use the ride-on toy far away from stairs, traffic, swimming pools and other dangerous areas.
• Be aware that a child on a wheeled ride-on toy can move very quickly. Look for such hazards as furniture, lamps, cords, decorations or appliances that could be knocked or pulled down onto a child, and remove the hazards before play begins.
• Baby walkers are hazardous. Do not use them.

Toys with batteries

• Only adults should install batteries.
• Install batteries properly. Improper installation, or mixing different battery types, can cause batteries to leak or overheat, which could injure a child.
• Check that young children cannot open a toy's battery compartment.
• Make sure that a child does not take a battery-operated toy to bed. Burns and other injuries could result from batteries leaking or overheating.
• Call a doctor or a poison control centre immediately if a child swallows a battery.

• Never allow a child to suck or chew on metal jewellery. It may contain lead, and ingesting even small amounts of lead can be harmful to a child's health and development.
• Never place a necklace, string, ribbon or chain around the neck of a child under three years of age. The jewellery could strangle a child, and small attachments could be a choking hazard.

More on making play safe

• Keep small household items such as broken crayons, coins, paper clips, pen caps, jewellery, hair clips, screws, buttons, keys, candy, gum, etc. out of the reach of children under three years of age. These items are common causes of choking.
• Decorations and collectibles can have loose small parts that could choke, or sharp parts that could cut. Keep them out of children's reach.
• Check party favours such as whistles and blowers for loose parts like small reeds. These could be inhaled.

Banning cell phones while driving

Two provinces—Quebec and Nova Scotia—are aiming to follow a lead established by Newfoundland and Labrador in 2003, when it banned cell phone use while driving.

On November 14, Quebec Transport Minister Julie Boulet tabled new legislation that would ban people from using hand-held cell phones while behind the wheel. However, the ban would not extend to hands-free devices.

Sophie Gagnon, director of Public and Government Relations for CAA-Quebec, would like the province to ban all driver cell phone use. A joint study conducted with public affairs television program JE and released last month shows that hands-free devices “place just as many constraints on the driver.” Aggressive driving, tailgating, and weaving in and out of traffic lanes are examples of the effects of distraction observed in the study.

According to the study, the extent of driver distraction varied with the device. Answering a phone call using a handset resulted in an average attention loss of over nine seconds; answering with a hands-free device, 52 seconds (for more on the effect of distractions, see the table below).

Quebec’s coroner's office attributes 20 fatal crashes between 2000 and 2005 to mobile phone use.

Nova Scotia introduced its proposed ban on November 23. "We've seen too many tragedies, too many deaths, too many accidents involving serious injury," says Transportation Minister Murray Scott. Like Quebec, Nova Scotia would ban hand-held cell phones but not hands-free devices.

In Ontario, meanwhile, Premier Dalton McGuinty told reporters that he has no plans to ban cell phones. He acknowledged that driving and talking is dangerous, but said that’s not the only dangerous behaviour drivers indulge in. He cited drinking coffee, eating and applying makeup while driving.

Taking precautions

Many workplaces, including IAPA, have already implemented safe driving policies that ban employees from using cell phones while driving. For drivers in workplaces without a policy, Transport Canada offers these suggestions.

• Turn your phone off before you start driving. Let callers leave a message.
• If there are passengers in the vehicle, let one of them take or make the call. If you're expecting an important call, let someone else drive.
• If you have to make or receive a call, look for a safe opportunity to pull over and park.

If you can't avoid using a cell phone, then Transport Canada advises the following.

• Use only a speakerphone or a hands-free phone. Make sure you put on the hands-free accessories before you start driving. But remember: hands-free isn't risk-free.
• If you must use a hand-held phone, place it where it will be readily accessible. Trying to retrieve a phone from a briefcase, handbag or pocket can be especially dangerous.
• Don’t answer the phone until you have checked that it is safe to do so.
• Use speed dial options. If you know you'll need to call an unprogrammed number, dial the number before starting off and send the call at your convenience.
• Driving and talking on a phone at the same time is difficult. Don't make it worse by trying to read or take notes. Pull over and stop.
• Keep calls short and factual. Emotional or thought-provoking conversations are distracting.
• It’s good etiquette to ask a caller to hold until you can park, or to say you'll return the call as soon as it's safe to do so.
• Stay in the right-hand lane, where driving may be less demanding.
• When reporting an emergency situation from a cell phone, pull over and ensure you are not in the flow of traffic. If you must keep driving, remember your primary concern is to avoid causing another emergency.

Impact of Driving Distractions

Source: Driver Distraction and its Impacts on Operating a Vehicle: Summary of conclusions of a joint investigation conducted by CAA-Quebec and the team of the TVA Network program JE.

15 compliance tips for holiday parties

By Ryan J. Conlin

It’s the time of year again for holiday parties, and organizations are rightly concerned about the safety of employees and potential liability arising out of alcohol consumption at company-sponsored events.

The safest course is simply not to serve alcohol at company-sponsored parties. Many organizations have concluded that the risk is simply not worth it, and have discontinued the practice of making alcohol a part of company holiday gatherings.

However, for those organizations that continue to serve alcohol, I’ve listed below a number of tips to protect the safety of employees and minimize the risk of legal liability.

1. Send a company-wide memo reminding employees to drink responsibly if they choose to drink, never drink and drive, and not drink if they are on medication of any kind.
2. If the event is at a hotel or other outside venue, ensure that the contract clearly states that any liability shifts to the event venue.
3. Ensure that the event venue is free of potential hazards. For example, prevent access to a pool, and place visible markers on large expanses of glass.
4. Do NOT use self-service bars. Use trained bartenders who can recognize intoxicated guests.
5. Appoint member(s) of the company social committee who are to abstain during the event to monitor behaviour and to act as contacts for guests and bartenders.
6. Tell the bartender to stop serving alcohol to guests who are visibly intoxicated, and to advise a member of the social committee if a guest has been refused service.
7. Limit alcohol consumption by providing drink tickets or a cash bar. Close the bar at a specific time.
8. Do NOT announce last call.
9. Stop serving alcohol at least one hour before the end of the party.
10. De-emphasize the social event as an opportunity to drink to excess.
11. Offer plenty of food and non-alcoholic beverages.
12. Ensure that the social committee sets a good example.
13. Deal with intoxicated guests long before they are about to leave for home, not when they are leaving.
14. Distribute free taxi passes or provide alternative transportation so that guests can get a safe ride home after the event.
15. Promote the use of designated drivers.

Ryan J. Conlin, a regular contributor to Accident Prevention magazine, is a senior associate practicing in the Occupational Health and Safety Practice Group at Stringer Brisbin Humphrey Management Lawyers. He can be reached at 416.862.1616, ext. 370 or rconlin@sbhlawyers.com.

In the News

IAPA receives ISO certification

IAPA has received an ISO 9001:2000 certificate for its quality management system. The certificate applies to the design, production, and delivery of the organization’s health and safety-related information, training, products, and services.

Racking course earns training award

On December 3, IAPA received a 2007 Gold Canadian Award for Training Excellence for the Inspecting and Maintaining Steel Storage Racks course. Presented by the Canadian Society for Training and Development (CSTD), the award falls under the society’s external learning category.

IAPA’s one-day racking course was developed in partnership with the Canadian Standards Association. The course is a hit with participants. Sessions have consistently sold out quickly since IAPA began offering it earlier this year.

“Inspecting and Maintaining Steel Storage Racks” was originally conceived as a half-day course, but strong encouragement from participants has led to the current award-winning full-day format. The training course offers participants

• high interaction through the use of rich media and practical exercises that engage all the senses
• a team-oriented learning approach via manipulation of scale model racks and simulated visual racking inspections
• a set of tools and methods to help develop and implement a company rack inspection plan, and
• an understanding of and specific applications using the CSA A334.1/A344.2 standard and user guide for steel storage racks.

In 2006, IAPA earned a Canadian Award for Training Excellence for Confined Space Entry, a course developed by IAPA in collaboration with the Municipal Health & Safety Association (MHSA). In the same year IAPA earned an honourable mention in the external e-learning training category for the First 4 Weeks orientation package.

CSTD is a not-for-profit association dedicated to the training profession, workplace learning and human resources development, CSTD is also Canada’s largest association for workplace learning and performance practitioners.

Learn more about:

• Inspecting and Maintaining Steel Storage Racks
• Confined Space Entry
• First 4 Weeks

IAPA document seeds international guide

Creating Healthy Workplaces, written by Joan Burton, IAPA’s senior strategy advisor, healthy workplaces, will provide the basis for a World Health Organization (WHO) guide aimed at an international audience.

First published in 2004, Creating Healthy Workplaces identifies legal and economic reasons for healthy workplaces, and presents an overview on how to create one. The document draws on a model devised by Health Canada. The model advocates a comprehensive approach that addresses the physical and psychosocial environment, as well as workers’ personal health practices.

“The Canadian approach in developing healthy workplace programs,” says the WHO, “provides practical experience that can be extended to the global level taking into consideration the social, cultural and economic constraints and the needs of the different work settings worldwide.”

IAPA and the WHO plan to seek input from global experts who have been invited to attend an April 2008 forum at IAPA’s new home, the Centre for Health & Safety Innovation. The WHO hopes to publish its global guide for developing healthy workplaces, including practical implementation tools, in 2010.

• Creating Healthy Workplaces is available as a free download.

Critical Dates

IAPA 2008 Safety Group

Only days remain before the December 31 deadline to apply for IAPA’s 2008 Safety Group.

Last month, members of the 2006 Safety Group received a $3 million rebate from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. The 2006 Safety Group members had reduced their lost-time injury (LTI) rate by 33% and their overall injury severity rate by 28%.

IAPA anticipates forming 46 chapters across the province next year, a 27% increase over 2007.

• Learn more about IAPA’s Safety Group, and how membership can help your workplace boost its OHS performance, earn a WSIB rebate, and entitle you to special IAPA discounts.

Call for Posters: IAPA’s Health & Safety Canada 2008

IAPA has extended the deadline for submitting abstracts on industry innovation, research, or collaborative research posters at the Health and Safety Canada 2008 IAPA Conference and Trade Show, taking place April 21-23, 2008 in Toronto. Revised deadline: January 31, 2008.

The “Industry Innovation” poster stream will focus on new and innovative workplace practices that have been implemented and evaluated within an organization to enhance employee health and safety.

Subject areas for the industry innovation poster display include:

• healthy workplaces
• health and safety core practices
• OHS leadership and management
• occupational hygiene
• occupational disease
• process safety
• ergonomics, and
• young/new worker issues.
  
  
• Find out more, including topics for the other poster streams.