Canadian Safety Reporter

2 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2015 CSR | March 2015 | News An apple a day keeps accidents away Proper nutrition among remote workers linked to improved safety performance, increased productivity BY AMANDA SILLIKER WHEN BETH CASTLE goes onto a work site in northern Alberta, the big burly men wel- come her with open arms — fruit basket and all. Castle is a nutritionist who strives to help remote workers make healthier food choices. "A lot of the guys come up to me and say, 'You know what, I wish I had this information long ago because now I'm a Type 2 diabetic and have heart disease or have had a stroke," says Castle, owner of Redneck Nutrition in Calgary. Remote workers from all in- dustries, such as construction, utilities and electrical, municipal governments, mining and oil and gas, face a particular challenge with proper nutrition. " ey have issues with long hours and intense work, and sometimes it's extreme hard work… and at that point they don't have any concern about nu- trition and making good choices," says Castle. A 2013 report by Target Logis- tics in e Woodlands, Texas, ex- amined factors that aff ect worker health, safety and productivity in remote work sites, and found bet- ter nutrition programs can lower accident rates. "Food and rest are, in essence, protective equipment and they serve to lower the risk of serious workplace accidents," says the report. "As such, food and rest should be viewed as essential to worker safety and health as goggles, ear protection." The number one cause of worker-initiated accidents was fatigue in its various forms, such as exhaustion, weakness or sleep- iness, found the report. Proper nutrition can have a big impact on ensuring workers stay alert on the job and have suf- fi cient energy to perform physi- cally demanding tasks, says Ken MacLean, director of marketing for Algeco Scotsman, the parent company of Target Logistics, in Edmonton. If workers are not receiving the proper nutrition and have not eaten for a long period of time, they can experience low blood sugar (or hypoglycemia) which comes with a slew of safety concerns. They may experience head- aches, dizziness, sweating, trem- bling, tremors, clumsiness and diffi culty paying attention. Work- ers might also experience anxiety, confusion and changes in behav- iour and mood. "Can you imagine working sensitive, sensitive equipment when that is going on?" asks Cas- tle. "And what if it is low blood sugar and lack of sleep? e com- bination can be deadly." Fair fare at camps? e fare at camps seen in indus- tries such as oil and gas and min- ing can vary widely. For example, the options at camps in western Canada are often high quality be- cause there is a very tight labour market and having excellent food helps employers attract the best talent, says MacLean. But at the other end of the spectrum, there are caterers that cut corners and serve food that is lower in nutritional value, such as frozen, fried foods and powdered concentrates. e cooks at some camps may benefi t from a dietician coming in to educate them on healthy cooking techniques. For employers with a large number of Aboriginal workers at remote sites, cooks should prepare special meals of whole foods — such as whole grains, vegetables and wild game — for a workforce that suff ers a high rate of diabetes. ere is also a special food guide from Health Canada specifi cally for First Na- tions, Inuit and Métis. But cooks may need support from the company to ride out the culture shift. "Sometimes the cooks will say, ' e guys only want fries and gra- vy,' so it can be diffi cult for them because if they end up having fruit and vegetables and things go to waste, you know what, they will say 'Why am I buying that when no one is going to eat it?'" says Castle. To encourage workers to make healthier choices, food in the caf- eteria can be labelled to indicate the diff erent levels of nutrition. " ey could label them worst, better, best or however they want," says Castle. Nutritional information for menu items can also be available online through the food service provider. ESS North America, a food services provider for oil and gas, mining and infrastructure com- panies, has "portion plates" avail- able in the cafeteria. ese plates encourage workers to fi ll one-half of the plate with vegetables, one- quarter with a starch and one- quarter with a protein. So far, about 30 per cent of workers using the program have traded their white plate for a plate with printed portion sizes on it, says Erin Meehan, president of ESS North America in Toronto. Grab-and-go common off site e type of food available to re- mote workers not at a camp is a big problem, says Castle. "I've seen guys grab bags of junk food from convenience stores because they don't have the time, patience, energy. ey're grab-and-go and they are paying $30 or $40 for bags of garbage and taking that to the site and re- lying on that," she says. "Some guys are drinking fi ve to six energy drinks per day, and they give you a synthetic high — our brains need good food." ere are better decisions to be made at a convenience store, such as prepackaged oatmeal, breakfast bars, nuts, dried fruit and bottled fruit smoothies. Some convenience stores also have sandwiches, fresh fruit cups and salads. Many of these workers have to live out of hotel rooms so they need to be educated on how to make the most out of not having a kitchen, such as using a micro- wave to cook chicken, baked po- tatoes and omelets, says Castle. Improving nutrition When it comes to what can be Programs < pg. 7 Credit: Valery121283

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