Accident Prevention e-News
June 2007
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Volume 2/Issue 6/June 2007
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In this Issue:
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Preparing for new noise exposure limits
 As of July 1, your workplace must meet the Ontario Ministry of Labour’s new noise exposure limit of 85 decibels over an eight-hour period. The changes also introduce a new time-weighted averaging method that will more accurately determine the actual amount of noise to which workers are exposed. Failure to comply could lead to fines and, in extreme cases, jail terms.
What the ministry expects
If the Industrial Establishments Regulation applies to your workplace, then the ministry expects you
- to take all measures reasonably necessary in the circumstances to protect workers from exposure to sound levels exceeding 85 dBA (8-hour time-weighted average exposure).
- when the exposure limit is exceeded, to put in place protective measures that reduce worker exposure, such as engineering controls, work practices such as equipment maintenance or scheduling that limits worker exposure time, and personal protective equipment.
- to post clearly visible warning signs at the approaches to areas where the sound level regularly exceeds 85 dBA.
Is your workplace too loud?
A good rule of thumb, says IAPA senior technical consultant Ilma Bhunnoo, is that if you have to shout at someone who is standing at arm's length, the noise levels are probably greater than 85 dB. “Most people know they have a noisy workplace but they don’t actually know what the noise level is,” says Bhunnoo. Consequently, they don’t know how to correct it, or even where to start.
According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, if you answer yes to any of the following questions, your workplace may have a noise problem.
- Do people have to raise their voices?
- Do people who work in noisy environments have ringing in their ears at the end of a shift?
- Do they find when returning home from work that they have to increase the volume on their car radio higher than they did when going to work?
- Does a person who has worked in a noisy workplace for years have problems understanding conversations at parties or restaurants, or in crowds where there are many voices and "competing" noises?
How to comply with the new limit
First identify areas with high noise levels, then assess what levels workers are exposed to, and develop a noise control/hearing conservation program.
Engineering controls that reduce noise at the source are often the most efficient and productive way to protect workers. They eliminate potential risks further down the prevention ladder, such as inadequate or improper use of PPE, and may eliminate the need for hearing protection.
Engineering control methods include substitution, modification, isolation, and maintenance. However, these controls are just one component of a hearing conservation program. Other components include
- administrative controls or procedures for performing specific jobs or tasks
- personal protective equipment
- training in the following areas:
- health effects of noise
- use, care and fit of personal protective equipment
- job procedures
- other program components as required, such as periodic exposure monitoring and audiometric testing
Your workplace may contain multiple noise sources, any of which could affect workers’ hearing.
These sources may produce continuous, variable, intermittent or impulsive noise. Most noise in manufacturing workplaces is variable or intermittent. A punch press, for example, emits intermittent noise.
How IAPA can help
Selling workplace health programs
Bad news for proponents of workplace health programs: a recent study found “little or limited society-wide expectation in Canada for the existence of health promotion programs in the workplace,” despite their documented contributions to reducing health care costs, improving productivity, and helping to retain aging but highly skilled workers.
Translation: you have to do a better job of selling your health promotion programming. Two free features of IAPA’s website can show you how. But first, more on the study.
Conducted by Angela M. Downey (Faculty of Management, The University of Lethbridge, Alberta) and David J. Sharp (Richard Ivey School of Business, The University of Western Ontario), the study explored attitudes of senior general managers (GMs) and human resource (HR) managers towards the consequences of increasing discretionary spending on health programs. Among the findings:
- both management groups place heavy emphasis on program outcomes, but differ on how much perceived control they have over discretionary spending, and their moral responsibility toward employees. These differences, say the authors, suggest that you may require a different approach when educating each group on the impact of health promotion programs.
- senior HR managers perceive themselves as powerless to impact spending on health promotion. This may have “important negative implications for the successful implementation of health promotion programs at many firms,” note the authors.
- senior GMs place more weight than HR managers on moral responsibility as a factor in increasing spending on programs.
In a separate paper based on the same study, the authors report that corporate controllers also place more weight than HR managers on moral responsibility. “We find that the intentions of controllers to increase discretionary spending on employee health promotion programs is driven by two factors. The first is their belief that ‘this is the right thing to do’ … The second factor influencing controllers’ intentions is their recognition that they have some control over the decision to allocate resources to workplace health programs. This confirms that controllers with spending authority are key players for promoting workplace health programs.”
To better understand the lower value HR managers placed on moral responsibility, the authors consulted with organizational behaviour experts. These experts suggest that “in today’s business environment the role of HR managers is very outcome-oriented. HR managers are increasingly concerned with the ‘bottom line’ of their function and are, therefore, likely to be motivated not by moral responsibility, but by outcomes linked to cost savings.”
Overall, the authors were unable to find “any social expectation that organizations should provide WHP programs… This has important implications in the Canadian environment, where the adoption of workplace health programs is very limited and cost containment within the healthcare system is paramount.”
How IAPA can help
The results of the two studies conducted by professors Downey and Sharp highlight the need to make a solid business case for any workplace health, safety or wellness initiative. IAPA offers website visitors two useful tools:
- Business Case for Health & Safety.
This online document walks you step by step through the organizational benefits of OHS programming. When making your case, supplement these benefits with illustrations from your own workplace or industry sector.
- New! Small Business Safety Calculator.
Now you can calculate real, out-of-pocket expenses for injuries typical of IAPA’s industry sectors, based on sample injury scenarios that have values you can modify to reflect your workplace environment. The results you generate will make an irrefutable addition to any business case.
Summer jobs: creating a safe environment
 Just as West Nile season is about to begin, an Ontario Court of Appeal decision has given a worker paralyzed by West Nile virus the go-ahead to seek $130,000 in benefits from his insurer.
In 2002, plasterer Ryszard Kolbuc was bitten by a mosquito carrying the virus. The virus left him a paraplegic, but his insurance firm refused to pay any benefits. In an earlier Superior Court decision, the judge had dismissed Kolbuc’s claim on the basis that the injury was not an accident. The appeal court decision, issued on May 14, means the insurer must pay up.
The decision states that Kolbuc’s paraplegia was “an unforeseen, unexpected event that was caused by an external source—a mosquito—and falls within the ordinary definition of an accident… The plasterer had no reasonable expectation that he would get West Nile virus from the activity in which he was engaged” (Kolbuc v. ACE INA Insurance, 2007 ONCA 364).
The decision further notes that “an injury may be regarded as accidental where an insured engages in a voluntary act without intending to cause himself harm and the consequent harm could not reasonably have been foreseen or expected. We are of the opinion that the appellant’s case is similar to the Voison decision… (Voison v. Royal Insurance Co. of Canada (1988), 66 O.R. (2d) 45 (C.A.)).“ In this case, the plaintiff injured himself while remodeling his house. The injury resulted from a trauma sustained when he assumed an awkward position and extended his neck.
The appeal court also rejected the insurer’s view that a disease is not an accident. Using an analogy of a shipwrecked sailor, the decision stated that if the sailor develops an illness from exposure to the elements, “his injury is caused by an accident. A shipwreck is a foreseeable but unexpected event and an external source that can trigger an illness.”
The West Nile hazard
The risk of infection is greatest between the end of July and end of September. However, the overall risk of infection from a mosquito bite is very low. Other possible sources of infection—also posing very low risk—include blood transfusions, organ/tissue transplants, needle punctures or cuts, and even breast milk.
People at greatest risk of developing severe symptoms appear to be between 40 and 50 years of age, and have weak immune systems or chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease.
Ryszard Kolbuc’s disability is an extreme result of exposure to the virus. Many people bitten by an infected mosquito will develop only mild, temporary symptoms, or none at all.
Compensating workers
Compensation law specialist Philip Bender, in a May/June 2005 article for Accident Prevention magazine, notes that identifying the time and place of an individual’s exposure to West Nile virus is challenging. Entitlement will be decided on a case-by-case, balance of probabilities basis. “An employer’s strongest course of action,” says Bender, “is to identify potential exposure risks and take preventive measures.”
Since 2002, Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board has accepted three lost time claims involving West Nile virus.
Protecting workers
Anyone working outdoors when mosquitoes are actively biting is at risk. To minimize or eliminate this risk, employers are responsible for conducting a risk assessment, and developing standards, policies and procedures.
How IAPA can help
Combatting workaholism
 Almost one in three working Canadians aged 19 to 64 (31%) consider themselves workaholics, says a Statscan study published in the May issue of Canadian Social Trends. Study author Leslie-Anne Keown drew her findings from 2005 General Social Survey data.
Self-identified workaholics were twice as likely to report they usually worked 50 or more hours per week, at 39% of respondents compared with 20% for non-workaholics. The article loosely defines workaholics as people over-dedicated and perhaps overwhelmed by their jobs.
So who are these people? Not the “high octane overachievers” we might assume them to be, says the article. “Only two broad occupational categories showed a higher percentage of self-reported workaholics than the average—management and trades.”
Despite their extra hours, workaholics reported no more pleasure or satisfaction with their jobs than other workers. This finding contradicts results of previous research. Among other findings, workaholics
- worried that they do not spend enough time with friends and family, and feel under stress to accomplish more than they can handle
- were more likely to say that their work and home lives were out of kilter
- were dissatisfied with their work-life balance (one-third, compared to one-fifth of non-workaholics)
- were more likely to report fair or poor health than non-workaholics, and trouble going to or staying asleep, perhaps because they are more likely to cut back on sleep when they do not have enough time to finish their other goals during the day.
What employers can do
Corporate cultures can inadvertently convert isolated cases of workaholism into a company-wide infection. A free download from IAPA’s website, Work-Life Balance: A Strategic Business Issue, offers these suggestions to employers:
- officially proclaim that the organization supports work-life balance
- encourage supervisors to show flexibility in how and where work gets done
- train supervisors in people skills, such as active listening, emotional intelligence and coaching
- address ongoing work overload issues
- give employees as much control over how they do their jobs as possible
- focus on output, not hours
- provide supervisors with the time, training and incentives to manage people effectively
- ensure that the organization’s leadership provides a positive role model
- encourage every supervisor to initiate a conversation with each employee about what work-life balance means to him or her. It isn’t the same for everyone.
What you can do for yourself
In a Selfhelp Magazine article, “Avoiding Workaholism,” author and researcher Dr. Marlene Maheu offers readers these tips on how to better balance personal and career demands:
- Schedule time for your primary relationship. Most relationships require at least 20-30 minutes of "connect time" every day, not including time to discuss bills, children, phone calls, etc., writes Maheu.
- Make time for your friendships. For instance, says Maheu, in your daytimer "red line" time for nurturing relationships.
- Take care of your body. Get a physical exam, and take care of the three basics: eating, sleeping, and exercising.
- Re-examine your long-term goals. From a future vantage point, what do you want to be able to say about how you spent these years?
- Re-examine your short-term goals.
- If you just can't do it on your own, get counselling. Working with someone else can keep you focused and on track.
How IAPA can help
- Free downloads on work-life balance, healthy workplaces, and psychosocial risks:
- Work-Life Balance: A Strategic Business Issue (also offered as a 3-hour workshop or a one-hour presentation, and is available on-site, on request)
- Creating Healthy Workplaces, a comprehensive rationale for creating a physically and psychologically healthy work environment
- Psychosocial Risk Management: What Every Business Manager Should Know
- Free downloads on workplace stress
- Healthy workplace training, consultation and programming. IAPA consultants can help your firm generate safety and performance advantages that result from achieving nationally recognized healthy workplace criteria.
In the News
IAPA sponsors CME innovation award
In 2007 IAPA is again sponsoring Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters’ Canadian Innovation Award for the Promotion of Health and Safety Practices in the Workplace.
This award is one of several under Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME)’s Canadian Innovation Awards Program, which honours Canadian companies whose innovative ideas have made a difference in today’s competitive marketplace.
The program’s first health and safety-related award sponsored by IAPA was bestowed in 2006 to Imperial Oil Limited. The company earned the award for having achieved the lowest lost-time rates on record, and for having reduced the cost of on-the-job incidents by more than $3 million. Furthermore, the lost-time records for both employees and contract workers were the best in the Canadian petroleum products and the (upstream) oil and gas industry.
Deadline for applications: August 3, 2007.
New chair for IAPA Board of Directors
Jeffrey Mitchell, a partner at the firm of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, has succeeded David Johnston as chair of IAPA’s Board of Directors. The change took effect at IAPA’s Annual General Meeting on May 17.
“I worked part-time in a number of jobs throughout school and saw many different approaches to health and safety in the workplace,” said Mitchell. “As a lawyer, I am often involved in cases where the adequacy of safety procedures are an issue and also cases where proper precautions were taken and accidents still happened. Having seen the devastating consequences of these accidents, I wanted to become more involved in workplace safety and accident prevention. IAPA is the ideal organization to be involved in to make that contribution.”
Outgoing chair David Johnston, Director of Safety and Health/Canada for ADM Agri-Industries Co., continues to serve on the board as past chair.
WSIB initiates young entrepreneurs awards
In 2008, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board will honour two member firms of the Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) with WSIB Chair’s Awards recognizing their commitment to workplace safety. One new and one existing business will each receive an award. Total awards value: $10,000.
Only firms taking part of the foundation’s program will be eligible. New firms must also include a meaningful health and safety strategy in their business plan. Existing firms must have already implemented a detailed workplace health and safety plan as part of its ongoing business growth strategy.
The foundation is a national charity that provides start-up mentoring, financing and business resources for Canadians, from ages 18 to 34.
“This partnership with CYBF helps us send a significant message to Ontario’s young entrepreneurs,” says board chair Steven Mahoney. “An investment in workplace safety is an investment in the success of your business.”
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