Canadian Safety Reporter

Border officers need training, protection for detainees Border officers working at airport face risks that aren't covered by regular training and PPE BY JEFFREY R. SMITH A HEALTH and safety tribunal has upheld two orders against the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to implement better train- ing and provide protection against spitting for its border services officers when dealing with detainees in small spaces such as holding cells. Brian Donohue and Robert Burke were border services officers for the CBSA at Toronto Pearson International Airport's Terminal 3. Doctor's notes on the way out in Ontario? Ontario's employment standards changes eliminate the right for employers to request doctor's notes, but it remains to be seen how this will affect accommodation efforts BY PAMELA CHAN EBEJER THE TABLING this year of The Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017 (Bill 148) by the On- tario legislature has been the talk of the town during the summer months for employers of all sizes and industries in Ontario. With the sweeping changes proposed in the legislation, which is an at- tempt to modernize Ontario's Employment Standards Act, 2000 and the Labour Relations Act, 1995, and the accelerated pace to pass the legislation, all provincially regulated employ- ers will be impacted in some manner — and depending on the nature of their business, some more than others. Along with well-publicized changes to the minimum wage and vacation entitlement, among others, Bill 148 also ex- pands entitlement to Personal Emergency Leave (PEL) — cur- rently granted to employees of companies with 50 or more em- ployees — to organizations of all sizes. While the entitlement will remain at 10 days, two of those PEL days must now be paid. The paid days must be applied be- Safety Reporter Canadian www.safety-reporter.com September 2017 OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO URANIUM, EM FIELDS NOT CAUSE OF PROSTATE CANCER Worker was only exposed to low levels over career but had several non-occupational factors known to contribute to prostate cancer pg. 3 NO WORKERS' COMPENSATION FOR RETURN OF WORKER'S OLD INJURY pg. 5 Worker's description of accident didn't fit with his type of knee injury, but MRI showed consistency with previous injury FIRING FOLLOWING WORK REFUSALS UPHELD Attitude and reorganization were reasons for worker's dismissal, not his work refusals and safety complaints pg. 6 INSIDE NEWS BRIEF True value > pg. 4 Credit: Shutterstock/takasu Training > pg. 2 PM #40065782 NFL CONSIDERING MARIJUANA STUDY (The Sports Xchange) - The NFL has reached out to the NFL Players' Association in hopes of joining its study of using marijuana as a po- tential pain management tool for the league's ailing players, accord- ing to The Washington Post. The NFL currently bans all mari- juana use, but wrote a letter to the NFLPA stating it would like to work with the association on its research, The Post reports. "We look forward to working with the Players Association on all issues involving the health and safety of our players," NFL execu- tive vice president of communica- tions Joe Lockhart told The Post. Last January, NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith told The Post the association was crafting a proposal to the league that would soften the harsh punishments for players who use the drug. "I do think that issues of ad- dressing it more in a treatment and less punitive measure is appropri- ate," Smith said. NFL players who test positive for having more than 35 nanograms per milliliter of tetrahydrocan- nabinol (THC) in their system must enter an intervention program and face fines and suspensions.

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