Canadian Occupational Safety (COS) magazine is the premier workplace health and safety publication in Canada. We cover a wide range of topics ranging from office to heavy industry, and from general safety management to specific workplace hazards.
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12 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com GROUND GROUND CONTROL CONTROL From high-voltage to irate customers, airport workers many hazards outside and the terminal the terminal O n Oct. 27, 2011, a North- ern Thunderbird Air Beechcraft departed from Vancouver International Airport destined for Kelowna, B.C. About 15 minutes after takeoff, the plane diverted back to Vancouver because of an oil leak. But when the aircraft was about 300 feet above ground level, it suddenly banked left and pitched nose-down just outside the airport fence. The plane crashed and caught fi re, kill- ing the two pilots and seriously injuring the seven passengers on board. At the time of the incident, members of the Vancouver Airport Authority's emergency services team — who are trained as aircraft rescue fi refi ghters and fi rst responders — rushed to the scene. "Their training kicked in and they got to the location and delivered their payload of foam to minimize any fi res, and they pro- ceeded with Richmond Fire-Rescue to extract the passengers," says Dan Strand, manager of health and safety at the Vancouver Airport Authority (VAA) in Richmond, B.C., adding the emergency responders also worked closely with the BC Ambulance Service and the RCMP. In addition to providing emergency services, airport authority workers are responsible for customer service, mainte- nance, engineering and operations at airports across the country. With Canadian airports getting busier every year — 12 of the 16 busi- est airports reported an increase in passenger traffi c in 2013 — authorities need to make sure they are protecting their workers from the variety of hazards they face. But doing so is becoming an increasingly solitary task. Previously, all airports in Canada were reg- ulated under Transport Canada. In 1992 the airport authorities model was born. One of the issues that arose from this change is that airport authorities can operate in silos and there is a lack of information-sharing, says Dave Clark, regional vice-president, Pacifi c, of the Union of Canadian Transportation Employees (UCTE) in Vancouver. "If there was an injury at one airport, we could see the trend across Canada through our health and safety meetings with Trans- port Canada," he says. "Even though it is the same equipment, same issues, (now) infor- mation is not fl owing across all airports." NOISE EXPOSURE Airport authorities need to ensure they have programs in place to protect their workers from high levels of noise. Under the Canada Labour Code (CLC) — which regulates airport authorities — employers are required to do a noise hazard assessment of the workplace. The maximum permitted steady noise level for a full eight-hour shift is 87 decibels (dBA), according to the CLC. Because a worker's exposure to noise levels may vary throughout the day, this is the permissible time-weighted average noise exposure. A variety of airside vehicle traffi c, often- times pulling equipment, is a common source of noise. For example, the noise level of a tug pulling baggage carts can be mea- sured up to 97 dBA from the edge of apron roadways. Aircrafts maneuvering in the air- fi eld can also generate signifi cant noise of more than 90 dBA when taxiing or during engine run-ups. Fortunately, much of the noise exposure is transient, it moves from location to location, and it is not continuous over long durations. "(And) proximity is protective. You're not right beside a fully operational aircraft. They taxi and there's some noise there but your distance is what's protective," says Strand. High levels of noise exposure is an issue for anyone working in the airside envi- ronment. VAA has a hearing conservation program in place for affected workers, such as maintenance employees, airfi eld emer- gency services and airside safety offi cers. They are provided with custom-fi t hearing protection and dosimeters to measure noise exposure. These employees are also required to undergo annual audiometric testing. Of the airport authority's 400 employees, about By Amanda