Canadian Safety Reporter

December 2014

Focuses on occupational health and safety issues at a strategic level. Designed for employers, HR managers and OHS professionals, it features news, case studies on best practices and practical tips to ensure the safest possible working environment.

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Safety Reporter Canadian www.safetyreporter.com December 2014 Are workers wary of providing first aid? BY SARAH DOBSON WHILE MOST CANADIANS believe passersby have a duty to help others who show signs of not breathing or are uncon- scious, many fear harming someone or legal ramifications from performing CPR, accord- ing to a 2014 survey released by the Canadian Red Cross. "Most people are concerned about doing more harm than good when it comes to adminis- tering CPR on someone in need," says Don Marentette, national manager of first aid programs at the Canadian Red Cross in Win- nipeg. One-half (51 per cent) of re- spondents would not be confi- dent to attempt CPR if they saw someone who was not breath- ing and unconscious, and only NEWS BRIEF Good Samaritan > pg. 8 FINAL REPORT ON FATAL ELLIOT LAKE MALL COLLAPSE RELEASED Public inquiry makes 71 recommendations pg. 3 SERIOUS SAFETY BREACH NOT SERIOUS ENOUGH FOR DISMISSAL pg. 2 Worker's long-term employment, acknowledgement of mistake mitigating factors STEELWORKERS WANTS SAFETY CHANGES AT B.C. MINES Union wants province to separate promotion, oversight agencies pg. 5 INSIDE UNSAFE COMPANIES GET MILLIONS IN WSIB REBATES "The WSIB is re-victimizing work- ers and their families by handing offending corporations millions of dollars in premium rebates," said Sid Ryan, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour. The pattern is documented in Re- warding Offenders: Report on How Ontario's Workplace Safety System Rewards Employers Despite Work- place Deaths and Injuries, by labour lawyer Joel Schwartz. During 2011-13, 135 employ- ers convicted of offences under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) were granted rebates on their premiums. Almost 58 per cent received nearly $15 million the same year as their offences. The rebates were made through the WSIB's controversial "experi- ence rating" programs, intended to provide fi nancial incentive for im- proving worker's health and safety. Instead, the program provides in- centives for companies to suppress claims, said the OFL. "The WSIB should scrap its expe- rience rating system in all its forms and the resulting savings should be reinvested into workplace health and safety, as well as compensation for injured workers and their fami- lies," added Ryan. Credit: Jim Young (Reuters) Political decision > pg. 6 A man stops to look at a memorial set up to remember the 26 miners who were killed in the Westray disaster in Ottawa, May 9, 2002. Ten years ago, a mixture of methane gas and coal dust ignited, causing an explosion and trapping the miners underground. BY LIZ BERNIER IT WAS ABOUT 3:30 in the morning on June 8, 2011, when Wendy Fram received the visit that is every parent's worst night- mare. There had been a mining acci- dent at Vale's Stobie Mine in Sud- bury, Ont., and her son Jordan had been killed instantly. The accident was very similar to one that had occurred a few years be- fore at the same mine, said Briana Fram, Jordan's sister. "Those issues had never been rectified," she said. "If companies were held criminally accountable for their actions, this incident would never have happened. People would've taken more responsibility to make those changes if they knew that their lives were on the line as well — if they knew that they could go to jail, as opposed to their company, with these deep pockets, simply paying a fine. That means noth- ing to them." Briana spoke those words in a United Steelworkers' "Stop the Killing. Enforce the Law" campaign video. The campaign, which began in 2012, is advocat- ing for better enforcement of the Westray law, which allows orga- nizations or individuals to face criminal charges for workplace fatalities and serious injuries. The law, or Bill C-45, is named for the 1992 Westray mine ex- 'We've been fighting ever since' Campaign to enforce Westray law gaining momentum: Union

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