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Make Safety a Habit

North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) week is an annual, continent-wide Occupational Health and Safety event which involves employers, workers, and OHS professionals to prevent work-related injuries and illnesses. The topic of 2014′s NAOSH Week (May 4 to 10) is “Make Safety a Habit“. Safety Solutions at Work would like to dedicate the April newsletter to  creating safe and healthy habits among your workers.

 

The nineteenth century author Thomas Carlyle wrote: “Habit is the deepest law of human nature”. We all have formed habits in our lives, some of which are good while some of which are bad. It is through developing good habits that we accomplish our success. Let’s examine some of the things that we can do in helping forming our “safety habits”.

 

1. Pick the safe behaviour

One example of such positive behaviour would be developing the good habit of wearing personal protection equipment (safety goggles, high-visible vest, respirators, earplugs, etc) when required. Another good example would be tying up a ladder when setting it up to get access to the roof, preventing it from slipping. Making positive behaviour a habit will significantly change the long-term negative outcome.

 

2. Remind yourself until safe behaviour becomes a habit

There are several strategies to remind yourself to keep up safe behaviour until it forms a habit. Regarding the previous example of wearing PPE, my work partner and I always do a mutual check with each other before either of us enter into the high hazardous area. Another strategy I use to remind myself to bring PPE to worksite is to place them close to your lunch box: Eating lunch is the habit I developed and fortified for the past 27 years, so should be wearing PPE. Also, you can use calendars or notes to remind yourself to acquire the new behaviour.

 

3. Set benchmarks

The goal of setting up the benchmark is to measure your progress. You will know when you review your behaviour if it’s working or not. If you’ve been successful, move to the next step; if not, move to the next step!

 

4. Correct or celebrate

Through measurement and reflection we’re going to know by our own evidence what is working and what isn’t. If you’re being successful, then celebrating is a good idea. Congratulate yourself for your accomplishment. Feel empowered by your ability to change your habits into positive actions. If success hasn’t been realized yet, you need to revisit the plan and strategies and figure out what didn’t go well. Was it the plan itself or perhaps the fact that you didn’t execute the plan as you imagined it? There is no substitute for a good plan in achieving success.

 

As we know, the purpose of all safety efforts is to prevent accidents and injuries to human beings. As human beings, we all have the inclination to choose the easy method of doing something, or the fastest way to do it, without regard to safety. By developing safety habits, we gradually form safe work habits that carry through into our daily work, and combat the lazy inertia of bad habits. This discipline is one of the best safety devices available.

 

Posted on: April 1st, 2023 by Phil Comments

Leadership in Supervision Course Need Survey

Hello All,

By popular demand, Safety Solutions at Work is developing a training course regarding leadership in supervision. To make the course more valuable in meeting your needs, please take less than 5 minutes to complete the following survey:

Click here to participate in the survey

Your feedback is important to us!

Leadership in word tag cloud on white

Posted on: February 27th, 2023 by Phil Comments

A respirator is just a mask for a problem!

Safety Solutions at Work would like to address a serious problem that we are witnessing in industries across the province.

Employers are asking their workers to wear respirators as personal protective equipment.  However, the respirators are being assigned without fully understanding the hazards involved.  This newsletter explores the importance of occupational hygiene testing in order to properly manage the risk of workers being over-exposed to dangerous substances.

Here is some background into how companies should control exposure to dangerous substances: The Hierarchy of Hazard Control.

Hierarchy of Hazard Control

The diagram below shows the control hierarchy, with the more preferred measure on top.

Heirarchy_of_hazard_control_diagram_01

  1.  Elimination of Hazard, which is the process of removing the hazard from the workplace. It is the most effective way to control a risk because the hazard is no longer present.

  2. Substitution, which refers to substituting the hazardous chemical/industrial process with a less hazardous one. Replacing currently used chemicals with  less toxic ones is an important part of  industrial evolution.  

    Here is an interesting example: Diacetyl was previously widely used to provide the buttery flavouring to popcorn. Twenty years ago, epidemiology studies and case reports revealed its effect of reducing lung function among popcorn making workers. Nowadays, 2,3-pentanedione is used as a safer substitute for diacetyl to produce butter-flavoured popcorn. However, substitution is not on the top of the hierarchy, because no chemical is absolutely safe. In the example of popcorn flavouring, more recent studies revealed that 2,3-pentanedione will reduce lung function as well.  Ongoing monitoring of all chemicals is essential.

  3. Engineering controls are the methods that are built into the design of a plant, equipment or process to minimize the hazard. Examples would be process control, LEV (local exhaust ventilation) and hazard isolation.

  4. Administrative controls  limit workers’ exposures by scheduling shorter work times in contaminant areas or by implementing rules and company policies to reduce either the time or the number of workers being exposed. The efficacy of administrative controls is subject to a variety of human factors.

  5. PPE is on the bottom of the control hierarchy, which means it is the least preferred method. Personal protective equipment (such as respirators) should never be the only method used to reduce exposure. The reasons this are further explained below.

Limitations of PPE

  • PPE may fail with little or no warning. For example: “breakthrough” can occur with gloves, clothing, and respirator cartridges, and the consequence of relying on it as the sole way of control could be catastrophic. Air-purifying respirators cannot be used for gases and vapours with poor warning properties, especially when end-of-service-life indicator is not available. Air-supplying respirators, on the other hand, although supply clean air from air tank or compressor, have limited mobility and require a larger purchasing/maintenance budget.

  • The absorbing material inside cartridges and filters of air-purifying respirators may not be efficient for certain contaminants. Examples of such contaminants are nitrogen dioxide, nitric oxide and nitrous oxide.

  • There is an assigned protection factor (APF) for each specific respirator.  Air-purifying respirators for example,  have an APF of 10 to 50. An APF of 10 to 50 means that if the respirators were fit tested, being worn properly by the worker and not being broken through, the theoretical exposure level that the worker is expected would be 1/50 to 1/10 of  a worker who is unprotected. However, the actual protection efficiency may not be achievable, due to the various human factors. For example, the APF will be reduced if workers are not clean shaven.  Getting men to shave every morning is no easy task!

Necessity of Exposure Assessment

WorkSafeBC OHS Regulation mandates the following workplace monitoring procedures:

  • When a worker is or may be exposed to a hazardous substance, the employer should ensure that a walkthrough survey is conducted to assess the potential for overexposure taking into account all routes of exposure.

  • If the walkthrough survey reveals that a worker may be at risk of overexposure to an airborne contaminant, the employer must ensure that air sampling is conducted to assess the potential for overexposure. 

  • Additional workplace monitoring to reliably determine worker exposure is required if a worker may be exposed to an air contaminant in excess of 50% of its exposure limit.

Currently, WorkSafeBC regulates the maximum allowable exposure level for around 800 substances. It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that the workers are not exposed to levels higher than indicated by WorkSafeBC Exposure Limit. Only by doing a hygiene testing can you make definitive conclusions. A complete list of these substances and exposure limits can be found in G5.57 of WorkSafeBC OHS Guidelines.

In addition to meeting the WorkSafeBC regulation requirements, conducting air quality testing can also provide you with the following key information:

  • The assigned protection factor (APF) for a disposable facial mask is 5 for single use facial mask, and is 50 for air-purifying half mask. If the workplace is heavily contaminated (i.e. above 5 times of Occupational Exposure Limit), the use of respirators, even under ideal conditions, will fail to provide workers with sufficient protection.

  • Air quality testing should be conducted before and after  installing  engineering controls, to evaluate its efficiency.

  • Each year WorkSafeBC receives claims of occupational disease claims. Conducting  industrial hygiene testing and documenting the report could demonstrate the employer’s due diligence in recognizing and evaluating workplace hazards.

Posted on: February 26th, 2023 by Phil Comments

Occupational Health among Mill Workers: Risk, Exposure and Prevention

Did you know that mill workers are exposed to life threatening hazards which are invisible killers?

Did you know that most of the catastrophic accidents that we have seen in mills are actually preventable?

These are the questions I came up with while reading WorkSafeBC’s incident investigation report regarding the Burn Lake’s Babine sawmill explosion, which killed 2 workers and injured another 20. Wood dust (accumulated into high levels and dispersed into a “cloud” suspended in the air), ignition sources, and oxygen in the air constituted the necessary components of the fire triangle, which directly lead to the catastrophe.

If we take a step back and think of any workplace, how confident are we in saying that “our company is a pretty safe place to work”?

Have we eliminated all of the potential hazards such as fire triangles, explosions and chemical exposure?

Sawmill Workers’ Exposures to Occupational Hazards

  • Wood dust:  Short-term exposure to wood dust could be irritating to the skin, respiratory tract and eyes. Wood dust is also proven to be associated with decreased lung function and asthma.
  • Spores, fungi, microbes and endotoxin: These microorganisms and bio-chemicals are irritants to the nose, throat and eyes. They might lead to COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) and aggravation of pre-existing conditions such as asthma.
  • Wood preservatives: Certain chemicals used for wood preserving are classified as carcinogens by IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) and ACGIH (American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienist), which means that they have the potential to cause cancer. Examples of such chemicals are pentachlorophenol (a.k.a. PCP), creosotes. Some of the chemicals are corrosive to skin, eyes and respiratory tract, such as phenol.
  • Heavy metals: Sawmill workers in the maintenance department can be exposed to heavy metal from their welding, grinding and knife-sharpening activities. Some sorts of heavy metal can decrease lung function, while others may cause cancer.
  • Evaporated chemicals in pulp cooking: Examples of such chemicals are ammonia, hydrogen sulphide, sulphur dioxide and methyl mercaptan. Health concerns over such chemicals are short-term acute toxicity (i.e. IDLH, Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health).

An Example of Elevated Risk

Safety Solutions at Work’s occupational hygienist,  Phillip Chen, completed a detailed epidemiology study which associated COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) with endotoxin exposure among sawmill workers. Endotoxin is produced by bacteria grown on wood.  

In the wood processing industry, endotoxin is released along with wood dust when certain tasks are performed, such as cutting, sawing and trimming, and then can be inhaled by sawmill workers. After adjusting for confounder such as age, race, smoking and lagging time (20 years), based on the Poisson regression model, the risk of COPD among highest exposed group doubled that of the reference group (Relative Risk 2.09, 95% CI 0.9 – 4.83).

Currently ACGIH, U.S. OSHA and WorkSafeBC is not regulating endotoxin. Phil is hoping that the disease model he built can serve as a piece of evidence in setting up exposure limits for endotoxin to protect the respiratory health of sawmill workers.

Seeking a Solution from Safety Solutions at Work’s

Based on WorkSafeBC’s incident investigation report, the tragic accident of the Babine sawmill in Burns Lake was preventable by eliminating any element of the fire triangle. If the wood dust is not accumulated into high concentration, or if the wood dust is not dispersed in a way to be explosive, then we won’t have to pay the lesson at the cost of two workers’ lives. Similarly, for the chemical and biological exposures which could lead to occupational diseases, as an employer, you can demonstrate your due diligence by starting an occupational hygiene survey to evaluate the potential hazard level. Here is  Safety Solutions at Work can help you:

  • As an OHS consulting company, Safety Solution at Work aims at promoting overall health and safety in different industries. We believe that risk assessment should be the foundation of risk management.
  • The MSc. thesis research project of our occupational hygienist Phillip Chen was focused on the respiratory health among sawmill workers in BC, as part of the UBC Sawmill Study. He is passionate about protecting workers from the negative heath effects of heavy metal and endotoxin exposure. He is dedicated to conducting occupational hygiene risk assessments in mills across this province.
  • If a company is not sure of the chemical hazards your workers encounter, we can work with you on a hazardous material inventory for your plant.  Air testing is the very first step in creating a safe and healthy work environment, and we can work with you to achieve it!
  • We can also assess other risks in the mills, such as noise, vibration and explosive dust.

You are the voice of safety in your workplace.  If you have concerns about hazards, it is your responsibility to speak up.  Let your supervisors, safety committee members, management representatives and shop stewards know about your concerns.  Speaking up is the first step to take action.

Posted on: January 23rd, 2023 by Phil Comments

Protecting Your Most Precious Cargo: Work Related Road Safety

A large number of workers drive to and from their job everyday. Also, thousands of workers in British Columbia drive while they are on their job – these workers include not only courier and truck drivers but also construction workers, sales people, and OHS consultants like the Safety Solutions at Work team. We dedicate this December newsletter to promote road safety, just because the cargo is too precious to be damaged!

Statistics

Numerous unexpected factors on the road make driving a potential risk. According to WorkSafeBC statistics, 24 workers were killed each year by occupational motor vehicle crashes on average. For the five years between 2006 and 2010, the cost of claims to WorkSafeBC stemming from car crashes involving workers was almost $42 million.

Safety Solution at Work’s Effort

As a safety consulting company, we believe that managing risks to employees who drive at work requires more than just compliance with traffic rules, which is why Safety Solutions at Work developed and implemented a complete Road Safety Plan. The elements of our Road Safety Plan include:

  • Ergonomic scanning of employee’s vehicles, to make sure that the driver’s position is adjusted to the most comfortable level to avoid distraction.
  • Dealing with fatigue in driving: employees are encouraged to stop at a safe place (such as parking lot or rest area), set the alarm and nap for 10 to 15 minutes. Most importantly, employees are encouraged to get plenty of sleep before commencing to work.
  • Pre-planned journey: setting up appropriate routes, incorporating realistic work schedules, taking  into consideration the road and weather conditions.
  • Controlling the risk factors from vehicles: Winterization of the vehicle, winter tire change and safety kit inside the car.
  • Administrative measures: obtaining of driver’s abstract as part of recruitment process, reviewing of driver’s performance on a regular basis.

Winter Driving Training

On December 23, Safety Solutions at Work did a special training session regarding Winter Driving Technique. The training route is Apex Mountain Road, which is well known as a winter driving challenge with icy and slippery conditions, dense fog and sharp turns.

Screen Shot 2013-12-23 at 10.53.12 AM

  • Trainer: We were pleased to invite Jacob Larson to introduce the physics of driving and conduct a road test to Safety Solutions at Work employees.
  • Trainees: Victoria Baschozk, Phillip Chen, Shannon Haladay
  • Training checklist:
    1. Maintain a safer (i.e. longer) following distance, as it takes longer to stop on a slippery road.
    2. Hazard perception.
    3. Speed control. In winter, it is safer to drive slower than the posted speed limits.
    4. Avoid sudden moves. Break and accelerate slowly. Expect and respond to turns and lane changes well in advance. Avoid sudden steers to prevent spinning.
    5. Cope with skid. In case of skid, remove foot from accelerator, DO NOT use the brake, and turn steer to the direction of where the rear wheel is sliding to.

Useful links

  • RoadSafetyatWork.ca – an online safety driving tool kit developed by WorkSafeBC.
  • CCOHS winter driving tips
  • ICBC safe driving tips

Employers have the responsibility to take all reasonable measures to manage and control the risks associated with driving, and ensure that practical steps have been taken to protect workers from harm in the same way as they would for other hazards in the workplace.

Season’s greetings from Safety Solutions at Work!

SSAW Christmas Photo

Posted on: December 30th, 2022 by Phil Comments

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