Canadian Safety Reporter

NEWS BRIEF Safety Reporter Canadian www.safetyreporter.com July 2015 Employers > pg. 8 HEALTHY BRAINS The prevalance rates of mental health disorders are more than 60 per cent higher among workers than the general population, according to a Conference Board of Canada report pg. 2 MENTAL STRESS DAMAGES pg. 3 An employee may be entitled to mental distress damages on top of a suspension revocation and compensation for lost pay after the employer failed to deal properly with a problem co-worker SUPER-SAFETY Starting next year, the Yukon's workers' compensation board is implementing a new policy enabling it to levy super- assessments against large, problematic employers in the territory pg. 8 INSIDE Protocol > pg. 4 Taking workplace safety out of the office What are employer responsibilities for protecting workers outside the 'typical' work environment? BY LIZ BERNIER BY NOW, most people have seen the clip: CityNews reporter Shauna Hunt was filming a rou- tine fan interview after a Toron- to FC soccer game when a man started shouting sexually explic- it, harassing taunts at her. Hunt turned and confronted other men nearby, one of whom supported the taunts, and the video soon went viral. While celebrated by many observers, Hunt's reaction had the potential to escalate the situation, said Alan Quilley, president of Safety Results in Edmonton. "That could have easily turned violent, and those kinds of things do when people get emotional." And whether it's against harassment, physical violence, taunts or bullying, employers have a responsibility to protect employees, according to Adrian Miedema, partner in the employment group and OHS specialist at Dentons in Toronto. "In Ontario, just as an exam- ple, the definition of workplace is any land, premises, location or thing at, upon, in or near which a worker works. So, basically, any place a worker works is a workplace. So your duties as an employer to provide a safe work- place extend to any place that Rapper Snoop Dogg came under fire for comments he made to a CBC reporter and camera operator in Truro, N.S., on a TV set in June. He commented on her figure and said, "I like your camera girl, too. She's thick. Damn." The camera operator said she felt belittled by the comments while the reporter called it "creepy and awkward." The incident highlights the risks — and challenges — employers have when it comes to protecting workers from harassment outside the office. LOOK OUT, DRAKE – PARAMEDICS IN DA HOUSE Toronto Paramedic Services has pro- duced a slick rap video that is not only funny but delivers a serious work- place health and safety message. In the video (go to www.safety-re- porter.com to view the video), para- medic Ammad "King" Rahim shows his skills on the mic while colleagues demonstrate workplace safety. A sampling of the lyrics from "Thinkin' Bout Me": "Yea, I ain't tryna hurt my back. My neck and my back, my back still in - tact. And I thank God, cuz WSIB ain't where it's at. And I ain't tryna walk the line, I'm fly as jet." "Yea! Man this be real. My safety concerns ain't no safety drill. Safety vest on, reflective still. Cuz cars goin' hurt, I ain't no target drill." Reports say ambulance services from as far away as Australia have inquired about using the video for safety training purposes. As of press time, the video had been viewed nearly 15,000 times. B.C. gives more power to OHS inspectors Investigators can close unsafe workplaces with stop-work orders BY SABRINA NANJI HEALTH AND SAFETY inspec- tors in British Columbia are get- ting more power after the pro- vincial government introduced legislation aimed at beefing up workers' compensation laws. Bill 9 was first tabled in Febru- ary by Labour Minister Shirley Bond and came into effect this spring. It amends the Workers Compensation Act to strength- en enforcement policies at WorkSafeBC, the province's workers' compensation board. Credit: Charles Platiau (Reuters)

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