Canadian Occupational Safety

October 2014 7 Report identifi es top 10 cancer risks for workers S olar radiation, night work and rotating shifts are the top carcinogenic risks faced by workers, according to a report by the Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST) in Montreal. Substances or conditions to which the greatest number of workers are exposed to are as follows: • solar radiation (6.6 per cent) • night work or rotating shifts that include night work (six per cent) • diesel exhaust (4.4 per cent) • wood dust (2.9 per cent) • polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, excluding diesel exhaust (two per cent) • benzene (1.7 per cent) • silica (1.5 per cent) • lead (1.3 per cent) • artifi cial ultraviolet rays (1.1 per cent) • mineral oils (one per cent). The number of workers potentially exposed to each carcinogen was obtained by applying the percent- ages of exposed workers in a given industry, calculated from various data sources, to the number of people working in that industry in Quebec. The information on exposure was based on laboratory tests performed by the IRSST and a variety of other sources, including Health Canada. In several industries, more than 20 different carcinogens are present. These industries include manufacturing, construction, utilities, administrative support, waste management and remediation services and professional, scientifi c and technical services. The manufacturing industries with exposure to multiple carcinogens include non-metallic mineral products, transportation equipment, primary metals, chemicals and paper. Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), diesel exhaust, benzene and solar radiation affects most industries with a young labour force, including arts, entertainment and recreation, retail and accommodation and food services. A breakdown of the data according to sex shows more women are exposed to carcinogens in health care and social assistance (ionizing radiation, night work, artifi cial UV rays and solar radiation). Men are present in greater proportions in agriculture, for- estry, hunting and fi shing, mineral extraction, oil and gas, construction, transportation and warehous- ing, utilities and manufacturing. These industries are characterized by exposure to solar radiation, wood dust, night work, silica, diesel exhaust, min- eral oils and lead. Because cancers take several years to develop and it can be diffi cult to establish a link between a cancer and occupational exposure, the best strategy is prevention. The preventive approach for exposure to carcinogens is the same as for any occupational hazard: anticipation, identifi cation, assessment and control (through elimination, substitution and reduc- tion), as well as informing and educating employers and workers about carcinogenic substances. musculoskeletal injuries. This includes workers such as nurses, housekeeping staff, X-ray technicians, nursing home staff, para- medics and continuing care workers. "Wouldn't you think that an industry sector that really aims to help people would have a better safety record than that?" said Mike Carter, manager of occupational safety, health and wellness at the Annapolis Valley District Health Authority, which is participating in the project. "It's quite startling." Carter is also the lead of the Soteria Strains work- ing group and co-presented with Williams at the conference. There are nine district health regions and the IWK Health Centre currently involved in the project, rep- resenting a total of 25,000 employees. The Soteria Strains program is divided into three streams: patient handling, material handling and offi ce ergonomics. The program will kick off with safe patient han- dling. About 14,000 employees in the participating organizations are involved directly with lifting, trans- ferring and repositioning patients. More than 50 per cent of the MSIs claimed by health-care workers in 2011 in the province were linked to some sort of patient handling activity. Safe patient handling is also specifi cally men- tioned in the Nova Scotia government's Workplace Safety Strategy. Currently, the Soteria Strains team is complet- ing the program and implementation guides and developing the educational and training materials. Early implementation is expected to begin this fall in acute care facilities throughout the province. Going forward, the program will be implemented in the continuing care and home care sectors. The material handling and offi ce ergonomics programs will be rolled out at a later date. A long-term goal of the program is to help improve effi ciency in the province. "Reduced overtime, lost time due to illness and an integrated provincial approach to better care may contribute to savings or, at the least, prevent increased costs," says the Soteria website. "Work- ing safer, using tools for effi ciency and keeping our employees healthy at work can prevent reductions to essential programs and services." New training for JHSCs in Ontario By Sabrina Nanji J oint health and safety committee (JHSC) training in Ontario is getting a long-awaited update. The Ministry of Labour (MOL) is fi nalizing its mandatory certifi cation training for health and safety committees, to come into effect in early 2015. The last update was in 1996. "We see joint health and safety committees as the corner- stone of safety in the Occupational Health and Safety Act. They support a strong health and safety culture, and for us, it's a good refl ection of the internal responsibility system," said Cordelia Clarke Julien, the labour ministry's director of training and safety programs. As part of the updated training module, JHSC members will undergo training for at least six standardized hazards specifi c to their industry. The labour ministry will determine those hazards through consultations held between now and next year. "It's a way of standardizing the approach across the province. This way we have consistency," said Julien. "What the hazards are for the construction sector are obviously very different from what they are in, say, retail." Another major change is all JHSC members will undergo mandatory refresher training every three years. The new training standard only recently came under the jurisdiction of the MOL and the Occupational Health and Safety Act — previously the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board administered it. The timing for the update couldn't be better, according to Gerry Culina, manager of general health and safety services at the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, who pointed to a new demographic. "More and more young people are becoming more and more aware about health and safety and asking questions about it. We have a more informed audience," he said. Blended learning — a new trend for JHSCs — uses electronic learning modules for the fi rst time, which provides training for those who didn't have access to it before. "It has been so necessary for those remote areas and those with restricted dollars. We can train so many more people that would have never have received training at all. Because it wasn't the course that was expensive but the travel and accommodation, the time away," said Culina. "Now, employers are saying, 'For a small fee, I could get an employee trained.'" But when management and workers come together, there may be apprehensions and a butting of heads, said Julien. For workers, it is common to be concerned about any possible repercussions or reprisals from management for speaking up about potential hazards. Similarly, management-side representatives could worry about liabilities if they miss a hazard or if an injury occurs on the job. But by bringing both sides together in a committee, these gaps may be bridged, said Julien. "Committees are key in that they help build the culture, they help get people in a room together from the various sides and say, 'Listen, we're in it together, we're going to look at this together because all of us want people to go home safe at night.'" Sabrina Nanji writes for Canadian Safety Reporter, a sister publication of COS.

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