Large wildfires in western Canada and the western United States have burned hundreds of thousands of acres over the past week, forcing thousands of people to evacuate, sending thick plumes of smoke southeastward and compromising air quality. Many of the fires have erupted from pinpoint lightning strikes amid record-breaking heat and expanding drought. Several massive blazes covering at least 100,000 acres are burning in Oregon and western Canada. With the smoke from the fires infiltrating the Rockies, air quality alerts were in effect Wednesday morning in most of eastern Colorado, including Denver; northern Wyoming, including Yellowstone National Park; and eastern Oregon. Much of western Canada is also under air quality alerts. Some smoke has even spread into the Midwest. Both Denver and Chicago have ranked among the top 10 most polluted large cities in the world since Tuesday, according to IQAir.com. [to access the full story a Washington Post subscription is required]
On January 1, 2024, Canada’s Parliament passed the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act. This important piece of legislation is a vital response to global concerns about the prevalence of forced and child labour worldwide and helps Canada – and Canadian businesses – meet international treaty obligations, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. As part of the Act, all Canadian businesses over a certain size must submit a report to the federal Minister of Public Safety by May 31 each year, detailing the steps taken to ensure that their business supply chains are free of forced labour or child labour. As part of the Paper Excellence Group, Domtar Corporation and its subsidiaries, which includes Resolute Forest Products, and Paper Excellence Canada Investments Corporation recently submitted their first 
According to the National Integrated Heat Health Information System, more than 76.7 million Americans are facing heat-related warnings on Tuesday. In its Tuesday morning update, the National Weather Service said the heat wave is expected to persist across “the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and the Northeast through the next few days,” with temperatures hitting the upper-to-mid 90s across most of the region. The actual impact of the heatwave could be even more severe with the Weather Prediction Center warning that some areas could see a heat index—a metric showing how hot the weather really feels—of between 100 degrees and 105 degrees. …While the Midwest region is expected to take the brunt of the heatwave on Tuesday, cities in the Northeast will also face extreme temperatures that will rise over the next few days. 
Cities concentrate problems that affect human well-being and biodiversity. Exploring the link between mental health and biodiversity can inform more holistic public health and urban planning. Here we examined associations between bird and tree species diversity estimates from eBird community science datasets and national forest inventories with self-rated mental health metrics from the Canadian Community Health Survey. We linked data across 36 Canadian Metropolitan Areas from 2007-2022 at a postal code level. After controlling for covariates, we found that bird and tree species diversity were significantly positively related to good self-reported mental health. Living in a postal code with bird diversity one standard deviation higher than the mean increased reporting of good mental health by 6.64%. Postal codes with tree species richness one standard deviation more than the mean increased reporting of good mental health by 5.36%. Our results suggest that supporting healthy urban ecosystems may also benefit human well-being.
OTTAWA, ON…
At its May 2024 meeting, WorkSafeBC’s Board of Directors approved amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation. The amendments relate to 
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Starting next year, Metro Vancouver urban residents using unregistered indoor wood burning appliances such as fireplaces and wood stoves could face fines of up to $500. It’s not a ban on wood burning stoves, but part of the regional district’s plan to clear the air of harmful emissions by using certified appliances and best burning practices. “We are trying to establish an emission standard that allows for improvements in air quality and health, particularly in those more densely populated areas, whilst not prohibiting the use and enjoyment of wood burning appliances that people enjoy,” Julie Saxton, program manager for air quality regulation with Metro Vancouver said on Thursday. According to B.C. Lung, only five per cent of residents know they are required by law to register their indoor wood burning devices by September 2025. Because of this, Metro Vancouver staff have recommended that the region launch a fall campaign to remind people of the bylaw.
In January of 2012, the Babine Forest Products sawmill in Burns Lake suffered an explosion that resulted in the deaths of two workers while injuring 20 others. In April 2012, the Lakeland Mills sawmill in Prince George exploded, killing another two workers and injuring 22 more people. The investigations into these explosions found one culprit responsible: combustible dust. …B.C.’s management of combustible dust was the topic of the closing keynote presentation for the 2024 Global Dust Safety Conference, which took place earlier this year. The presentation, “Upcoming release process for the proposed British Columbia regulations for combustible dust. Why they are needed and what it means for industries in B.C.,” was presented by Rodney Scollard, senior policy and legal advisor, and Mike Tasker, CRSP occupational safety officer with WorkSafeBC. …While the focus of WorkSafeBC has understandably been on regulations related to combustible wood dust, the proposed regulations would expand the types of dusts within the regulations.
ONTARIO — Workplace Safety North and the Occupational Cancer Research Centre released the top occupational disease risks for 2023 in the forestry, mining, and pulp and paper sectors. Rankings were based on data from the Occupational Disease Surveillance System, which monitors disease outcomes among over two million workers in Ontario. …In the forestry sector, workers face unique health risks related to outdoor work and specific industry processes. Here are the top occupational disease risks in the forestry, logging, and wood industries: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome… Laryngeal Cancer… Asthma… Oral Cancer… Acute Myocardial Infarction… Lung Cancer… COPD… and Raynaud’s Syndrome. …In the pulp and paper sector, specific risks are associated with the materials and processes involved. Noise-induced hearing loss is also a top disease based on approved WSIB claims. Here are the top occupational disease risks for pulp and paper mills, paper box and bag manufacturers, and miscellaneous paper converters: Asbestosis… Carpal Tunnel Syndrome… Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis… COPD… Acute Myocardial Infarction… Raynaud’s Syndrome… and Colorectal Cancer.
A stubborn heat wave that has engulfed much of the Western United States for more than a week continued to linger over the region on Friday, with triple-digit temperatures expected to stretch into the weekend for millions of Americans. In the Denver area, a heat advisory was in effect through the weekend, with the National Weather Service predicting record-breaking temperatures for both Saturday and Sunday. The heat will subside in the West this weekend, but it isn’t going away. Before Saturday, another up to two-dozen daily records could be broken to begin the weekend. “This long-duration heat wave remains extremely dangerous and deadly if not taken seriously,” a forecaster with the Weather. …The extreme heat will push into the Midwest and Eastern U.S. by early next week, with heat indexes as high as 110 degrees expected in the Philadelphia area and in the low 100s in New York. [to access the full story a NY Times subscription is required]
SACRAMENTO, California — Swaths of California sweltered Tuesday and things were only expected to get worse during the Fourth of July holiday week for parts of the United States, with nearly 90 million people under heat alerts. The torrid conditions were being caused by a ridge of high pressure just off the West Coast and a separate ridge that spawned heat warnings and advisories from Kansas and Missouri to the Gulf Coast states, according to the National Weather Service. California’s capital, Sacramento, was under an excessive heat warning expected to last until Sunday night, with temperatures forecasted to reach between 105 degrees and 115 degrees. …About 70 miles north of Sacramento, crews working in scorching conditions were battling a wildfire in Butte County that forced the evacuation of about 13,000 people in and around Oroville. The governor’s office announced late Tuesday that federal funding had been approved to help with firefighting efforts. 
OREGON – The end of wildfire season is a relief for residents in areas prone to blazes this time of year, but it often marks the beginning of a new battle between first responders and their own mental health. For wildland firefighters, wildfire season–which from mid-May through late September–is a seasonal opportunity to earn extra money, but it can come with a hefty price tag. “There can be acute exposures where it’s a massive call where there’s highly traumatic events; those are easily identifiable, and they never go away. They stay with you for the rest of your career. And then there’s the incremental, the calls that add up over time,” said Matt Laas, fire service safety officer for the Oregon State Fire Marshal. Laas has worked as a first responder for 28 years and says firefighters usually work 24 hour shifts with their off hours plagued by sleep deprivation.
