Dismissal without
'further infraction'
a reprisal: Labour Board
BY JEFFREY R. SMITH
A LABOUR BOARD has reinstated an Ontario worker whose dis-
missal following a final warning for a rumoured staged workplace
accident was found to be a reprisal for the worker's safety complaint.
Kim Le was hired as a general labourer by Safecross First Aid, a
safety and first aid products supplier based in Toronto, in October
2014. His job involved the handling of safety supplies in the produc-
tion area of Safecross' facility, including moving boxes of materials
between areas at the facility.
NEWS BRIEF
Safety Reporter
Canadian
www.safetyreporter.com
January 2016
No misconduct > pg. 2
RISING BLADDER CANCER RATES BLAMED
ON OCCUPATIONAL CARCINOGENS
Occupational workplace dangers of bladder
cancer continue to swell despite improvements
in risk knowledge and materials pg. 3
WORKER LIVES TOO CLOSE
TO THE EDGE pg. 5
Worker denied he went too close
to the edge of roof without a tether,
but evidence pointed to violation
of zero tolerance safety rule
PREPARING FOR THE WORST AND
THE STRESS THAT COMES WITH IT
High-profile attacks put psychological
safety back in the spotlight
pg. 6
INSIDE
Blowing the whistle on your boss
Ensuring employees feel safe reporting inappropriate behaviour in the workplace
BY ANASTASIYA JOGAL
WHISTLEBLOWERS certainly
get the short end of the stick
when it comes to workplace
protection. Edward Snowden
is a sparkling example of that
— the ex-National Security
Agency contractor has been ex-
iled from his home for a number
of years for leaking documents
about top secret mass surveil-
lance programs, despite offering
"many times" to go to prison in
the United States, according to a
BBC interview.
While Snowden's tale is ever
evolving with the final verdict
yet to come, a little closer to
home here in Canada, cases of
whistleblowers being unfairly
punished by employers or co-
workers continue to pepper na-
tional and local news outlets.
The government of Prince Ed-
ward Island has recently released
SAFETY CULTURE KEY TO
SURGICAL RESULTS: STUDY
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) — The
"safety culture" of a hospital may
be just as important in delivering
high-quality surgical patient
care as issues like surgeon skill
and operating room equipment,
according to a new study.
The study points to three
characteristics of good safety
culture that make a difference: an
ability and willingness to learn from
past mistakes; a high degree of
interest in adopting best practices;
and an ability to collaborate to
benchmark performance.
The researchers measured 12
different safety culture factors that
could influence rates of surgical
site infection after colon surgery
at seven Minnesota community
hospitals and found that 10 of the
12 made a difference including
overall perceptions of patient
safety; teamwork across units;
organizational learning; feedback
and communication about error;
management support for patient
safety; supervisor expectations
of actions promoting safety; and
non-punitive response to error.
Credit:
Shutterstock
Anonymity > pg. 4
