As you well know, I try very hard to keep up on all the latest in occupational health and safety in North America, as I need to in order to do what I do so well. And yes, I have made a commitment lately to share with you, my loyal readers, at least some of this information because it can be beneficial for you to do your job better and to help your company remain successful in staying compliant with all the latest regulatory updates and maintain a positive safety culture at the same time.

And every once in a while, I get a collection of little safety briefs that come across my desk in some recnt trade publication, and I will often dedicate some blog space to sharing these briefs because I think they are of a germane nature for informational or educational purposes. So without further ado, here are some briefs straight from my home country of Canada.

[Image courtesy of Flickr user Chad Elliott via a Creative Commons license]

[Image courtesy of Flickr user Chad Elliott via a Creative Commons license]

No Child Labor Registry

ALBERTA – There was some consternation about Alberta’s Bill 6, which moved the agricultural sector under similar occupational health guidelines as other industries. Namely, provincial leader Rachel Notley noted in a Facebook post that children and neighbors of family farms will still be able to work and do chores on those family farms like before, and there will be no registry system for family farmers to register children and volunteer workers with the province’s worker compensation board.

Hope You Liked the Beer!

MANITOBA – The Safe Roads Act took effect in December, and that means harsher penalties for drivers who commit serious offenses including driving while impaired. The changes are designed to be a further deterrent for drivers, even those who aren’t the legal definition of drunk (.08 blood-alcohol). For example, those who are slightly impaired (at least .05) now will get an immediate license suspension of three days (up from one) for a first-time offense, and the three-day suspension jumps to seven days if a child under age 16 is in the vehicle at the time of the offense.

‘Shocking’ Changes

ONTARIO – Starting May 5, electrical work will need to be in compliance with the new Ontario Electrical Safety Code. The code has undergone some safety changes, including updated guidelines for installation of solar panels, installation of LEDs, locations of electric hook-ups for RVs and clearances between fixtures and any combustible materials.

Man Up!

QUEBEC – There was a recent report on “presenteeism” submitted by Concordia University in Montreal and the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England. The concept of “presenteeism” has to do with people who work despite being sick. The report looked into some possible reasons/causes for presenteeism in workplaces, and it found that the three most prominent reasons that people work while sick are job insecurity, high demands of time and effort at work and workplace stress. For more, you can check out the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, where this report was published.

Retaliate This!

NOVA SCOTIA – Some changes to the province’s Labour Standards Code address whistleblowers and adds protections for those who ask questions or report delinquent behavior to officials. The changes will help cover employees who may be subject to retaliation by employers for initiating investigations, asking questions about employee rights or standing in defense of another employee who expresses concern about rights.

Numbers to Chew On

33 percent: According to a recent international survey of 14,000 employees across 67 countries, one-third of people are at risk of work related depression. … 3: Construction workers in British Columbia are three times more likely to die from a job-related injury than in all other parts of Canada … 63: A series of surprise inspections of 53 residential and commercial construction sites in Nova Scotia yielded 63 fall-protection violations.