News briefs: OHS news from across Canada and around the world

Fewer workers in federal jurisdiction suffering disabling injuries: HRSDC

OTTAWA — The number of disabling injuries among workers in the federal jurisdiction is steadily declining, according to Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.

Disabling injuries are defined as occupational injuries that prevent an employee from reporting for work or from effectively performing all of the duties associated with her regular job.

“I am pleased to report that the rate of disabling injuries in federally regulated workplaces has dropped 33 per cent between 2000 and 2010. Preliminary data suggest the downward trend continued in 2011,” said Labour Minister Lisa Raitt.

City found not guilty in deadly public washroom wall collapse

GUELPH, ONT. — The City of Guelph has been found not guilty in the death of 14-year-old Isabel Warren.

Warren was killed when a wall in a public washroom collapsed on her in June 2009.

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the city was originally charged for not ensuring the wall was safe.

A lawsuit filed by the Warren family against the City of Guelph and several others was reportedly settled out of court in 2011.

WorkSafeBC releases 2012 penalty report

VANCOUVER — In 2012, British Columbia’s workers' compensation board, WorkSafeBC, imposed 260 penalties, which totaled $2.9 million ,against employers for violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation and the Workers Compensation Act.

Six incidents in which an employer was penalized involved a fatality.

Employers from the construction sector accounted for almost 85 per cent of penalties. Most of these penalties were related to inadequate use of fall protection (59 per cent) and exposing workers to asbestos (14 per cent).

The highest single penalty in 2012 was imposed against members of the Aquilini family, who own the Golden Eagle blueberry farm — they also own the Vancouver Canucks. The penalty was the result of failing to maintain, in safe operating condition, the farm vehicle the employer used to transport workers at the farm. This was a repeated violation and the company was fined $125,277.

The maximum penalty amount permissible under the Workers Compensation Act is adjusted yearly — in 2012 it was $596,435.35.

Study finds crucial gaps, lack of transparency in OHS sustainability reporting

DES PLAINES, ILL. — A study released by the Center for Safety and Health Sustainability (CSHS) reveals troublesome “gaps” and a lack of “transparency” in occupational health and safety sustainability reporting among organizations rated highly for sustainability performance — some even had work-related fatalities during the reporting period.

After analyzing public data on OHS reporting practices from each organization listed on the Corporate Knights’ 2011 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World, the study reveals the majority of the corporations did not include metrics recommended by the Global Reporting Initiative. Nor did the majority include metrics recognized as important by CSHS and the international OHS professional community.

“Our research showed, for example, that the companies surveyed used six different formulas to calculate injury rate overall and at least 15 different methods were used to define ‘a report-worthy injury or incident,’” says CSHS chair Tom Cecich.

U.S. Supreme Court to hear workers' claims around safety gear

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The United States Supreme Court will consider whether union workers can be compensated for the time it takes for them to change in and out of safety gear.

A group of 800 current and former hourly workers at a U.S. steel plant in Gary, Ind., say they should be compensated for changing clothes because it is a key part of their job as steel workers.

The court will decide what constitutes "changing clothes" under the Fair Labor Standards Act.