Canadian Occupational Safety

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018 3 Contents of Canadian Occupational Safety are copyright © 2018 Thomson Reuters Canada Limited and may not be reproduced in whole or part without written consent. Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon information in this publication. HST/GST # 89717 6350 RT0002 QST # 1019064405 TQ0005 Canada Post – Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement 40065782 International Standard Serial Number 0008-4611. The publishers accept no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, colour transparencies or other materials. Manuscripts or other materials must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Canadian Occupational Safety is published six times yearly by Thomson Reuters Canada Limited, 2075 Kennedy Road, Toronto, ON M1T 3V4 Telephone 416-649-9926 Fax 416-609-5840; www.cos-mag.com Issue dates are February/March, April/May, June/July, August/September, October/November, December/January. Subscription price: Canada: $69 plus tax; US: $69,International: $96 Canadian Occupational Safety makes every effort to ensure accuracy in all items reported, but cannot accept responsibility for the representations or claims made by sources used. EpiPens at work Guest blogger Dianne Rende, executive director of St. John Ambulance, Peel Dufferin Branch in Ontario, explains why you might want to think about having EpiPens available at all your work sites. www.cos-mag.com/epipens Webinars The COS webinar library is filled with on-demand topics, such as mental health, safety culture, fall protection and ISO 45001. The one-hour sessions are delivered by health and safety experts from across Canada. Keep watching for new topics added regularly. www.cpdcentre.ca/cos YouTube channel Have you subscribed to the new Canadian Occupational Safety YouTube channel yet? Here you will find all the latest health and safety videos, including interviews with OHS experts from across Canada, the Safety Tips videos series that helps engage workers in safety and our Health&Safety Q&A series where your burning questions are answered. www.youtube.com/Canadian OccupationalSafety Follow us: @cosmagazine Join our group: Canadian Occupational Safety Subscribe: Canadian Occupational Safety Desk ergonomics Office workers spend long periods of time sitting at a desk. It's crucial the work space is set up properly, otherwise musculoskeletal disorders and repetitive strain injuries can occur. This Safety Tips video shows workers how they can make adjustments to ensure comfort. www.cos-mag.com/STergonomics Health&Safety Q&A We recently launched a video series where experts answer your most pressing questions. In the fourth video of the series, an OHS specialist from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety answers the question: How should we handle scents in the workplace? www.cos-mag.com/ HSQAscents DIRECTOR, MEDIA SOLUTIONS, CANADA Karen Lorimer karen.lorimer@thomsonreuters.com 416-649-9411 PUBLISHER Todd Humber todd.humber@thomsonreuters.com 416-298-5196 EDITOR Amanda Silliker amanda.silliker@thomsonreuters.com 416-649-9502 ASSISTANT EDITOR - VIDEOGRAPHER Alexia Kapralos ART DIRECTOR Steve Maver PRODUCTION CO-ORDINATOR Pamela Menezes pamela.menezes@thomsonreuters.com 416-649-9298 ADVERTISING: SALES MANAGER Paul Burton paul.burton@thomsonreuters.com 416-649-9928 MANAGER, MEDIA PRODUCTION Lisa Drummond lisa.drummond@thomsonreuters.com MARKETING MANAGER Robert Symes rob.symes@thomsonreuters.com CIRCULATION CO-ORDINATOR Keith Fulford keith.fulford@thomsonreuters.com 416-649-9585 COLUMNISTS Legal Cheryl Edwards, Norm Keith and Jeremy Warning Professional Development Glyn Jones Safety Culture Dave Fennell CUSTOMER SERVICE Tel. 416-609-3800 (Toronto)/ 1-800-387-5164 (outside Toronto) Fax 416-298-5082 (Toronto)/ 1-877-750-9041 (outside Toronto) customersupport.legaltaxcanada@tr.com CANADIAN OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY'S EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Guy Chenard, CRSP, C.E.T. Safety Consultant Dave Gouthro, CRSP, CHSC, CHSO Occupational Health & Safety Consulting David Johnston, CRSP Director, EHS, Toronto Hydro-Electric System Ltd. Eldeen Pozniak, CHSC, CHSMSA, CRSP, Director, Pozniak Safety Associates Inc. Laura Rourke, EHSS manager, Tigercat Industries Dan Strand, CRSP, CIH, ROH Director, Prevention Field Services, WorkSafeBC AMANDA SILLIKER FROM THE EDITOR visit us online cos-mag.com THOMSON REUTERS CANADIAN OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY ON NOW ONLINE EXCLUSIVES LATEST VIDEOS Printed in WEBINAR SERIES A joint effort I t's blatantly clear that safety professionals from coast to coast are worried about the legalization of marijuana, slated for Oct. 17. Every article we post online on the subject gets a ton of clicks and shares on social media. Every conference I have attended this year — from Safety Services Manitoba's in Winnipeg to Safety Services Nova Scotia's in Halifax — has discussed the topic, and sessions about workplace impairment ended up being standing room only. Safety professionals are clamouring for guidance on how to address this subject in their workplaces, especially if they have safety-sensitive roles. Just as this issue was going to press, Energy Safety Canada and the Construction Owners Association of Alberta jointly released an updated alcohol and drug policy model to support companies in updating their workplace impair- ment policies. I would encourage any concerned safety professionals to check out the guideline, titled Canadian Model for Providing a Safe Workplace, available for free at EnergySafetyCanada.com. Hopefully this resource will help some of you sleep a bit better at night knowing you are well-prepared for legalization. For this month's cover story, we decided to look at another side of the cannabis industry: growing and manufactur- ing. (See page 18). The health and safety considerations for the workers in this part of the industry have been largely overlooked. It's important to put OHS in the spotlight when any industry is about to experience rapid growth, as this is often a recipe for injuries and serious incidents on the job. Another topic that is generating buzz across the OHS industry is total worker health, or some version of the notion that safety and human resources need to work closer together to make positive changes for worker well-being. It's really easy to get comfortable in the safety silo where you analyze injury statistics, put a program in place to prevent dropped objects at heights and select the best glove for the job — all important tasks — but it's time to stretch yourself, step out of that comfort zone and dive into the "health" side of occupational health and safety. Taking ownership for wellness initiatives and not dismissing them as human resources projects can have a truly positive impact on safety in your organization. In fact, making sure your workers are healthy and fit can even save their lives. (See page 15.) In his column, Dave Fennell broaches the topic of employee safety perception surveys. It can be a very humbling experience to get a true read of how your workers view safety in your organization, but this is a crucial step if you are looking to improve. Not only does it give you a baseline, it also shows workers you care about their health and safety and value their input. As part of the Canada's Safest Employers awards nomination process, companies are required to administer a survey to their workforce (provided by us) so that our judges can determine how safe work- ers really feel on the job. With questions like: "Do your corporate leaders practise what they preach when it comes to safety?" and "Do workers overlook health and safety hazards in order to get work done?" the answers can give many safety managers pause. If you have not yet conducted a safety perception survey in your organization, now is the time to do it. As Fennell points out in his column on page 12, the truth might be harsh, but you can handle it. Amanda Silliker, Editor amanda.silliker@thomsonreuters.com

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