Canadian Occupational Safety

6 Canadian Occupational Safety | www.cos-mag.com WORKPLACE NEWS New reproductive cancer supports for Alberta firefighters T he A lber ta government is making sure firefighters who contract ovarian and cervical cancer will receive workers' compensation benefits and supports. The minimum exposure period will be 10 years for these cancers. The provincial government is also reducing the minimum exposure period from 20 years to 10 years for compensation for testicular cancer. "Albertans know that firefighters represent what is best about us: courage, valour and sacrifice. We have their backs and that's why we are making Alberta a leader across the country by improving coverage for those who fight for us," said Chris- tina Gray, minister of labour. "We are ensuring that firefighters, regardless of their gender, get the help and support that they need." More than 14,000 full-time, part-time, casual and volunteer f iref ighters ser ve A lber tans. Approximately eight per cent of Alberta firefight- ers are women and 80 per cent of firefighters are volunteers. "Firefighters are six times more likely to be diag- nosed with cancer, and adding female reproductive cancers not only strengthens the diversity of our profession, it makes Alberta a leader in the fire ser- vice," said Craig Macdonald, president, Alberta Fire Fighters Association. The Firefighters' Primary Site Cancer Regulation came into effect in 2003 and is part of the Workers' Com- pe nsat ion Ac t . Section 24.1 of the act states that if a fire- fighter suffers from a primar y site cancer of a type specified in the regulation that cancer shall be presumed to be an occupational disease, and therefore eli- gible for Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) benefits. 'What you do on your own time is our business': Speaker By Amanda Silliker W hen Dan Demers asked a room full of 125 safety professionals "Who thinks marijuana is a current issue in their workplace?" hands quickly shot up and the room erupted into laughter. The strategic business development man- ager from CannAmm was speaking at the Assembly of Manitoba Safety Professionals on Jan. 23 in Winnipeg, hosted by Safety Services Manitoba. Demers provided insight into the actual effect cannabis has on the body and why this should be keeping health and safety managers up at night, with the federal legalization of recreational cannabis looming. The big problem with cannabis is that it opens a bunch of doors all over the brain, Demers explained. Some are experienced as being high but others are completely unknown to the user. "Cannabis is more than just THC. There's complexity in cannabis in its whole form that makes it really, really challenging to safely and reliably know if you can use cannabis and be 100 per cent safe a few hours later, maybe a day later, maybe 10 days later," Demers said. "Just because you aren't aware of it doesn't mean it isn't going on, doesn't mean the hangover doesn't exist and it is affecting areas of the brain that you have no idea about." After the initial high, the neocortex ends up being disrupted for a long time, far longer than 24 hour after initial ingestion. The neocortex is the grey matter of the brain that is responsible for executive function. It controls the ability to think, interpret what is about to happen and take into account more than one piece of information at a time. "How fast am I going? What's going on around me? What's about to come?... It may not matter for someone at a desk pushing paper, but if you're operating aircraft, for instance, and all of a sudden the conditions change, you have a gust of air coming in to a landing and you need to align your plane appropriately, this matters big time," Demers said. The lingering effects of cannabis impair alertness, complex reasoning and the ability to judge distance, time and speed. "This is the area where most employers are failing to understand that marijuana will have huge impacts on workplace safety," Demers said. Because of the potential for such long-term negative effects, Demers said safety managers have to say to staff: "What you do on your own time is actually our business." Demers also asked the room full of safety professionals "How many of you have heard marijuana is just like alcohol?" There were collective nods and sounds of agree- ment, especially as he continued with statements he often hears from workers. "'I can have glass of wine at the end of the day, a couple beers, whatever, I go to work the next day no problem. Why can't I have a (cannabis) gummy bear? What's the difference?' The difference is it's like comparing an apple to a hubcap. They are just such different substances," Demers said. Demers urged the crowd to forge ahead with their own workplace rules around marijuana. They may want to make it clear that cannabis and certain occupations simply can't co-exist, such as within transportation, aviation, railways and policing or other safety-sensitive positions, he said. "Please don't wait for regulations to support your activities. They don't want to touch it. It's a hot potato," Demers said. "You will have to establish what the safety standards are for your workplace and your industry — what makes sense for you." More Canada-wide OHS harmonization coming E arlier this year, the federal and provincial labour ministers agreed on an approach for occupational health and safety harmonization. With 13 jurisdictions operating under different legislation, regulations and policies, it is often difficult for employers operating across provinces. "Businesses operating in more than one jurisdiction might be required to develop different safety and health programs for workplaces in each jurisdiction and be unable to bulk order equipment, due to varying equipment requirements," said Christopher Simard, media relations spokesperson for Employment and Social Development Canada. "The efforts on harmonization are expected to address these challenges by providing predictability for employers and employees, and helping them to comply with their obligations." Since harmonization was so successful with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS), the govern- ment decided to try it again, starting with personal protective equipment (PPE), such as hearing protection, respiratory protection and personal floatation devices. When looking at hearing protection, for example, the occupational exposure limit for noise is not consistent across jurisdictions. The majority state the maximum permitted exposure level for eight hours is 85 decibles — but not all. To come to an agreement across the country of exactly what the right decibel level is, the occupational safety and health subcommittee of the Canadian Association of Administrators of Labour Legislation is looking at best practices, examining available standards and gaining an understanding of what the different jurisdictions have in place. Once the best course forward has been decided, it must be approved by the labour minsters and the various jurisdictions will need to make any necessary changes — legislative, regulatory or policy — to achieve harmonization. Each jurisdiction will establish its own timelines for making these changes. Simard was not able to speculate on any dates for decision-making or implementation. Once various PPE regulations have been harmonized, first aid kits may be next on the agenda now that the new CSA Z1220-17 standard on workplace first aid kits is available, the federal government said. One benefit of the harmonization efforts is that it eliminates dupli- cation of effort. For example, one jurisdiction may have completed comprehensive research and cost-benefit analysis on personal floatation devices. There's no reason why another province should go through that exact same process, the federal government said. Harmonization can also have a positive impact on workplace health and safety. "As an employee, you might be used to working in one province where you know exactly how to safely use the equipment, and then you move into a work site in another province or territory where the requirements are just a little bit different and unfamiliar," said Simard. "This lack of familiarity can become a workplace hazard — harmonization of regula- tions and standards can help to reduce this."

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