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February
Driving safety
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March
Mental health
Forklift safety
Industrial hygiene
Award
season
Do you work for
one of the safest
companies in
the country?
We are now
accepting
nominations for the fth
annual Canada's Safest
Employers Awards, with new
awards for Young Worker
Safety and Canada's Best
Health + Safety Culture.
www.safestemployers.com
On now
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Safety Tip: Forklift education
Properly train your employees to
avoid forklift accidents, either as
operators or pedestrians
Substance abuse
How to determine if an employee
has an alcohol or drug problem
and offer solutions
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FROM THE EDITOR
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Canadian Occupational Safety's Editorial Advisory Board
Dave Gouthro, CRSP, CHSC, CHSO
Occupational Health & Safety Consulting
David Johnston, CRSP
Director, EHS, Toronto Hydro-Electric System Ltd.
Eldeen Pozniak
Director, Pozniak Safety Associates Inc.
Guy Chenard
Retired, Senior H&S Advisor, Ontario Power Generation
Maureen Shaw
President, Act Three Consulting
Dr. Ron Saunders
Director of Knowledge Transfer & Exchange
Institute for Work and Health
Everything in moderation
O
ne Saturday evening I was baking chocolate chip cookies (my favourite treat!) with a close friend and I was
reminded of this month's cover subject. As I poured two cups of fl our into a mixing bowl and stirred in all
the ingredients, I was thinking of Shirley Labelle and if she is able to enjoy moments like this: whipping
up a batch of cookies with a friend, baking a cake for her grandchild's birthday or even using fl our as a thickening
agent in a sauce.
Labelle has baker's asthma from working for 17 years in a commercial baking plant, and she is still plagued by it to
this day. As it turns out, she can occasionally do small-scale home baking, but she would never work in a commercial
bakery again with massive amounts of fl our in the air and on every surface. Everything in moderation, right?
We usually hear this saying in reference to indulgent foods, but it can extend to many other areas as well, including
the workplace. In essence, an occupational exposure limit (OEL) is the same as "everything in moderation" — it
is permitting a certain amount of a substance that a worker can be exposed to every day and, in theory, not suffer
consequences from this exposure. The problem is OELs don't work for everyone. For example, if someone has baker's
asthma, even being exposed to low amounts of fl our dust at work can set off an attack. (Read cover story on page 14.)
I guess this just solidifi es the fact that health and safety professionals need to know their individual employees.
We can't just assume the industry standard will be good enough for all workers, or what works for Joe will work for
Sue. Get to know your workers and their individual health profi les.
On that note, the "health" component of occupational health and safety can often be overlooked, but it is an
integral component of an organization's OHS success. A recent study claims proper nutrition is as important as
personal protective equipment. I spoke with nutrition and safety experts from across the country to fi nd out exactly
how safety is linked to the food your workers are putting into their bodies — the results might surprise you. In this
case, "everything in moderation" applies in the manner we most often come across it. Too many carbs and your
workers will feel weak after only a few hours on the job, too many energy drinks and they will crash after a high.
(Read article on page 20.)
Getting to know your workers on an individual basis can be benefi cial in other ways too, such as with safety
training. This month, our training columnist, Glyn Jones, wrote one of my favourite articles on how to motivate
your workers when it comes to health and safety training. After reading it you will certainly want to get to know your
employees' motivation styles and determine who are your "prisoners" and "tourists."
We have offi cially launched our fi fth annual Canada's Safest Employers Awards and we are looking for deserving
companies from coast to coast. Visit www.safestemployers.com for the nomination form and put your hat in the
ring for this prestigious award. We have launched a Young Worker Safety Award this year to recognize companies
that have specifi c programs in place for this vulnerable faction of the workforce. We are also launching a top award
called Canada's Best Health + Safety Culture Award. This will be awarded to a company that not only has the best of
the best workplace health and safety culture, but that also extends this passion into the community to make OHS
a priority for all.
Amanda Silliker, Editor
amanda.silliker@thomsonreuters.com
nominations for the fth
