Canadian Occupational Safety

6 Canadian Occupational Safety | www.cos-mag.com WORKPLACE NEWS AI could help reduce injuries in construction A rtificial intelligence (AI) is giving researchers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario new insights to help reduce wear-and-tear injuries and boost the pro- ductivity of skilled construction workers. Studies using motion sensors and AI software have revealed expert bricklayers use previously unidenti- fied techniques to limit the loads on their joints, knowledge that can now be passed on to apprentices in training programs. "The people in skilled trades learn or acquire a kind of physical wisdom that they can't even articulate," said Carl Haas, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the university. "It's pretty amazing and pretty important." Surprisingly, the research shows master masons don't follow the standard ergonomic rules taught to novices. Instead, they develop their own ways of work- ing quickly and safely. Examples include more swinging than lifting of blocks and less bending of their backs. "They're basically doing the work twice as fast with half the effort — and they're doing it with higher quality," said Haas, who leads the research with Eihab Abdel-Rahman, a systems design engineering professor at the university. "It's really intriguing." In their first study, the researchers analyzed data from bricklayers of various experience levels who wore sensor suits while building a wall with concrete blocks. The data showed that experts put less stress on their bodies, but were able to do much more work. A followup study was done to determine how master masons work so effi- ciently. It involved the use of sensors to record their movements and AI computer programs to identify patterns of body positions. The researchers now plan to do a more in-depth study of how the master masons move on the job. "Skilled masons work in ways we can show are safer, but we don't quite under- stand yet how they manage to do that," said Haas, who compares their skill to a professional golf swing. "Now we need to understand the dynamics." Musculoskeletal injuries are a significant problem in bricklaying, causing many apprentices to drop out and many experienced workers to prematurely wear out. As part of their work, the researchers are now developing a system that uses sensor suits to give trainees immediate feedback so they can modify their move- ments to reduce stress on their bodies. "There is an unseen problem with craft workers who are just wearing out their bodies," Haas said. "It's not humane and it's not good for our economy for skilled tradespeople to be done when they're 50." Canadian employers bracing for increase in employee medical leaves C anadian employers are expecting an increase in employee medical leaves as a result of the nation's aging workforce and a greater awareness around mental health. A recent Conference Board of Canada survey finds Canadian employers are already preparing for the increase, with 63 per cent currently offering formal "stay-at-work" program (such as flexible hours, modified duties and telework) to assist employees experiencing mental health challenges or chronic illness. "Preventing illness and injury and promoting employee well-being are of criti- cal importance to employers, but not all illness and injury can be prevented," said Allison Cowan, director of total rewards and workplace health research at the Conference Board of Canada. "A large majority of Canadian employers recognize that absence and disability management programming is part of an effective overall organizational health management strategy." The survey found that 68 per cent of employers have a formal strategy for absence and disability management. The health conditions employers believe are the most likely to cause increases in medical leaves include: a mental health issue or illness (42 per cent), cancer (15 per cent) and a musculoskeletal issue or injury (13 per cent). Employers are looking for ways to accommodate workers with these issues so they can remain in "gainful, productive and rewarding work," the Conference Board said. Staying at work may not always be possible, so return-to-work programs are essential for those employees requiring a medical leave. These programs provide the necessary accommodations to help employees with mental and physical health challenges return to productive and safe employment while they recover, and 87 per cent of Canadian employers already have these programs in place. Overall, disability and absence management appears to be well integrated in Canadian organizations. In fact, 68 per cent of employers surveyed have a formal strategy and 86 per cent have a written policy outlining the steps employees and supervisors should take if an employee requires time off work for a health issue. While employers are clearly dedicated to creating comprehensive disability and absence management programs, there is room for improvement. Currently, less than one-third (31 per cent) of employers surveyed require their disability management staff to have degrees or certification in a related field. There is a growing understanding that having trained practitioners can make significant contributions to success within these programs, according to the Conference Board of Canada. Nova Scotia getting creative with sentencing N ova Scotia is one of the few provinces that allows for creative sentencing for safety violations and it is seeing success with this approach, according to the government's special prosecutor for occupational health and safety, Alex Keaveny. "We have one of the broadest set of powers that judges have to sentence under our OHS act," he said, speaking at the Safety Services Nova Scotia workplace health and safety conference in Halifax on April 9. "Many provinces have no creative sentenc- ing ability or very limited. We have a very broad one and we use that. We try to be as creative as possible. We really want the sentence to have an impact." While the act also allows for fines and jail time, the Public Prosecution Service has been placing a lot of focus on creative sentencing. The most common creative sentence is safety presentations. Offenders conduct presentations at public forums, community centres, industry annual general meetings and colleges on the lessons they have learned. In one case, an offender will be sharing his message at morning meetings on a company's work site. James Murphy is a success story for this type of sentencing. He was a truck driver who ran over and killed a flagger. He gave a series of very effective presentations about what happened: At the end of the day, he was tired, not focused and simply did not follow the safety procedures for the task. While he was only required to give seven presentations, he ended up doing nine and reached more than 400 people in the industry. "He was a really good public speaker and I think he had a real impact," said Keaveny. "To me, I can't imagine watching a presentation like that, being in that industry and not taking something away from it." Another creative example is media ads and billboards to educate the public or an industry on safety. "Obviously there is a cost to printing and erecting and maintaining these billboards, and that's what the sentence would provide for," said Keaveny. Yet another option is scholarships and bursaries. One example of this is a bursary in memory of Alan Fraser for Nova Scotia Community College students. Fraser was 21 when he died after falling from the sixth floor of a construction project in Halifax. Part of the sentence for the company was to set up an annual bursary. "It's another way of keeping the message going," said Keaveny. "A student will know that a bursary he or she got is in memory of Alan Fraser." This penalty was actually a suggestion from the defence. As part of the creative sentencing process, offenders and their team can make suggestions. "If it's a good one, if it's something that's enforceable that furthers the goals of the act and raises awareness on safety issues, we can do that — if it's something we can sell to the judge as a good idea," Keaveny said. Along with working with offenders and their lawyers to come up with a creative sentence, Keaveny also considers the specific industry sector. "Not every industry is exactly the same, not every avenue is going to be as effective," he said. "We want things that work."

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