JUNE 2004 199 NEWS ISSUE

Safety Lock Removal

When your safety lock has been cut off from a lock out point on any piece of machine/equipment make sure you contact your CAW Health & Safety Rep. Call 7012 and report the facts.

The GM policy for safety lock removal is very specific in that, the supervisor must check that the worker is not in the equipment, and two members of management are to verify and document that you have left the plant. There have been cases where hourly employees have signed (as a witness) the lock removal check sheet. Only members of management can sign as the witness on the lock removal form.

To ensure this procedure is properly followed - if your lock is removed - call 7012 your CAW Health & Safety Reps.

Monthly Safety Talks

Back in March your monthly safety video was a CAW production titled “Blowing in the Wind.” It was about guarding on machinery/equipment. In June you will see the second CAW video, “Searching for the Switch.” The content deals with locking out all sources of energy that may be a hazard to you or others.

These two videos were created by the CAW in 1998/1999 due to a number of fatalities which had taken place at General Motors and other companies. The message in the videos is loud and clear. You are provided with safely guarded equipment and lockout capabilities / procedures. Make sure you use them!!

Your spouse, children, family and friends, are counting on you to come home safe.

Summer Safety

Heat stress can be and is a real killer. Whether you are at work or playing your favorite sport/activity, you must make sure that you drink plenty of liquids (water) at least an hour before you start to exert yourself.

By starting to drink (water) early, you minimize the chance that you could become dehydrated and be affected by heat stress.

The first, and best, line of defense against the sun is covering up. Wear a hat with a three-inch brim or a bill facing forward, sunglasses (look for sunglasses that block 99-100% of ultraviolet rays) and cotton clothing with a tight weave. Stay in the shade whenever possible, and avoid sun exposure during the peak intensity hours - between 10 am and 4 pm. Use sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or greater. Be sure to apply enough sunscreen, about one ounce per sitting.

Ontario Work Place Fatalities

The Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act came into effect October 1979. Every year the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) tracks the deaths of workers, relating to occupational deaths. The OFL tracks only the statistics relating to deaths in Ontario, and not all of Canada. The statistics are staggering when you realize that in less than 25 years over 6712 workers have died due to work place fatalities in Ontario. The most stunning statistics of all, in 2002, 351 workers died in Ontario due to work place injuries. Most surprising of all, it looks like the year 2004 the fatality rate will increase to epidemic proportions.

Remember, if it can’t be done safely, it can’t be done!

APRIL 2004 199 NEWS ISSUE

VEHICLE PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENT PREVENTION

When working in or near an aisle, whether you are a tradesperson, service group worker or a production worker operating a walk behind truck or loading parts by hand, you must ensure that you protect yourself from being struck by a moving vehicle. To protect yourself you should use barrier tape and/or safety warning cones to identify a safety zone large enough to maintain distance between you and vehicles. Completely block an aisle off if you have to otherwise, create a barrier that will allow vehicles to pass by at a reduced speed and be kept at a safe distance from you. Call the security department to report that you have completely blocked an aisle off. This will help re-direct emergency vehicles. Always take time to pre-plan your work so you are protected. See your supervisor for a barrier warning markets. Do not work without them!

MATERIAL HANDLING AT TDS PORT COLBORNE

The nature of work at TDS requires a lot of towmotor use. That means that towmotors will be making lifts in close proximity to work stations. No one is to be in the moving or fall envelope of an operating towmotors or load. The Ministry of Labour reports state that vehicle and pedestrian accidents are the most frequent occurrences and the injuries are of the most severe type. All employees are to ensure that no one is put at risk by material handling tasks. The General Motors rules and policies for material handling comply with Ministry of Labour regulations. They are there for your protection, so use them! GM rules for material handling are; only single loads are to be carried, loads such as a 5131 basket that nests together and you can see your path of travel can be moved too high. Stacking of loads have requirement for where workers are located, loads must be kept at the fall envelope distance away from workers. The first row is to be no more than 6 feet high, the second row no more than 10 feet high and the third row no more than 13 feet. The fall envelope distance is the height of loads and a good practice to follow is to allow for parts that may escape a broken or falling container. See your supervisor if you are not sure of what to do and have your union representatives called, if you need them.

ENSURING JOBS ARE SAFE

The Ministry of Labour Act for the duties of a worker state that a worker must report any hazard to their supervisor. We are asking you to do just that! Then if the supervisor disagrees with you, there are options you can pursue. They are: have the supervisor fill out the health & safety economic concern form (Doc. 74 IX,D) of the Master contract, request your supervisor contact your CAW Health & Safety representative to investigate.

If you feel the work is that dangerous or if your supervisor has a reputation of ignoring your concerns, you have the right to refuse work that is not safe. Tell your supervisor the work is not safe and you are refusing to do the work. You are to remain in a safe place until your CAW Health & Safety rep. arrives to investigate.

2004 ELECTION RESULTS

Congratulations and thank you to all candidates who ran for the positions of chairperson, zone representative and ergonomic placement representative. Our best wishes for success to all those who were elected. We look forward to working with all of you, especially all the zone representatives who do their 8 hours of health & safety inspections each week.

Remember, if it can’t be done safely, it can’t be done!

DECEMBER 2003 199 NEWS ISSUE

STUDY FINDS CANADIAN WORKERS’ HEALTH AND LIVES AT RISK

This article appeared in the Worker’s Health and Safety Centre “At The Source” publication Fall 2003.

Feel safe at work? You shouldn’t. Canadian workers are at greater risk of being killed on the job than those in many industrialized countries according to a recent study.

Using International Labour Organization (ILO) statistics, researchers at the Center for the Study of Living Standards found that Canada and Italy had workplace fatality incidence rates of seven for every 100,000 workers in 2001. The fourteen other member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) included in this study have significantly lower rates beginning with New Zealand next at 5.3 per 100,000 workers and ranging to a low of 0.9 for the United Kingdom (UK).

Canada also has the dubious distinction of being the only country in the study to have made limited strides in reducing its annual fatality incidence over the period 1980 to 2001. As outlined in the final report, An Index of Labour Market Well-Being for OECD Countries, Canada’s rate has dropped only slightly from 7.6 to 7 per 100,000 workers. New Zealand saw the most significant drop from 16.6 to 5.3 per 100,000 workers. Italy’s rate dropped from 17 to 7, France from 10 to 5 and the United States from 5 to 4 (The US data was for the period 1992 to 2001).

The study also looked at workplace injury incidence with Canada having the fourth highest rate among the 16 countries studied.

The latest report however exposes only the tip of the iceberg. Tens of thousand of Canadians die each year of occupational cancers and other work-related diseases but most go unrecognized by compensation systems. Similarly, injuries and illnesses often go unreported or unrecognized by workers themselves. A recent Canadian study (Shannon and Lowe, August 2002) found 40 percent of respondents who had suffered an eligible injury had not filed a compensation claim.

As you can see from the above article Canada’s 7.0 has a long way to go to match the United Kingdom’s 0.9 fatality incidence rate.

WORK REFUSALS

When you exercise your right to refuse work that is not safe, make sure to tell your supervisor that the reason you are refusing is that the work is not safe.

CONFINED SPACE: WHAT IS IT?

Any space you may be working in whether it be, for example, inside a machine, tank, bin, crawl space, pit etc. or just inside any size room where, the environment can become explosive, have the air poisoned or have a lack of oxygen will be a confined space. The nature of the work you or someone else may be doing could turn a normally safe space into a confined space.

If you suspect a space is or may become a confined space have an assessment done to determine this. Confined spaces can be anywhere, not just in areas where a sign indicates, it is a confined space.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Remember, if it can’t be done safely, it can’t be done!