Canadian Safety Reporter

Workplace bullying can be connected to suicidal thoughts: Study BY LIZ BERNIER TARGETS of workplace bullying may be more likely to contemplate suicide, according to a Norwegian study of 1,850 workers conducted over a five-year period. Workers tracked during the study became about twice as likely to report thoughts of suicide after being victims of such behaviour. If you think about it, it's not that surprising workplace bullying can have such a profound impact on an individual's mental health, said Morten Birkeland Nielsen, a professor at the University of NEWS BRIEF Safety Reporter Canadian www.safetyreporter.com November 2015 Employees > pg. 6 DOCTOR'S NOTES If an employer is concerned that an employee's doctor is simply filling out notes to cover for absences, can the employer refuse to accept the note? A legal expert weighs in pg. 5 CANCER CARE pg. 2 When diagnosed with cancer, most employees still want to keep working — 73 per cent would prefer to stay on the job, according to an American survey of patients and survivors WORKERS' COMP LAWSUIT A lawsuit filed against Ontario's Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) is alleging the unlawful dismissal of a doctor is indicative of a pattern of fraud within the system pg. 3 INSIDE Budget cuts undermine safety in federal workplaces, says study CCPA says more inspectors needed BY SABRINA NANJI OTTAWA'S BUDGET cuts are undermining the health and safety of federally regulated workplaces, according to a study. Waiting to Happen from the Canadian Centre for Policy Al- ternatives (CCPA) says a lack of resources, including funding and safety inspection staff, are putting the nearly 1.2 million workers under the federal gov- ernment's employ at risk. In 2005, for instance, there were 151 inspectors overseeing health and safety in federally reg- ulated sectors (such as banking, communications, broadcasting, postal, road, air and rail trans- portation and government). BLADDER CANCER RATES RISING IN JOBS EXPOSED TO CARCINOGENS NEW YORK (Reuters Health) — Bladder cancer rates are rising, es- pecially among women, and occu- pational exposure to carcinogens may be responsible, according to a meta-analysis. In the 1980s, an estimated 10 per cent of bladder cancers arose from occupational exposure. Workplace legislation should have reduced this rate, but whether this is the case remains to be seen, ac- cording to the researchers. A team lead by James Catto, a doctor at the medical school at the University of Sheffield in England, investigated whether social and workplace legislative changes have altered the risk in looking at 263 contemporary reports of occupational exposure and bladder carcinogenesis in 1,254 occupations. Compared with the general pop- ulation, bladder cancer incidence rates were 16.6 times higher for factory workers, 13.4 times higher for hairdressers, and 11.8 times higher for aircraft/ship's officers. Bladder cancer mortality rates were 27.1 times higher for chemi- cal workers and 8.3 times higher for dye workers. Credit: REUTERS/Ben Nelms Report > pg. 4 The Canadian Pacific railyard in Port Coquitlam, B.C. Federally regulated employers such as railways have fewer inspectors available for safety inspections, undermining their health and safety, according to a report.

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