APA – The Engineered Wood Association has announced the winners of its 2021 Safety and Health Awards. The APA Safety and Health Awards Program encourages and recognizes operational excellence with the goal of reducing injury and illness rates. …Resolute Engineered Wood and West Fraser won Safest Company Awards in their respective categories, while the coveted Innovation in Safety Award went to two winners: Tolko Industries Ltd. of Athabasca, Alberta, for the Equipment-Based Innovation Award, and Tolko Industries Ltd. of Armstrong, British Columbia, for the Jeff Wagner Process-Based Innovation Award. …“We are proud of our members’ commitment to developing systems and processes that improve worker safety,” said APA President Mark Tibbetts. …Besides the Safest Company and Innovation in Safety awards, other competition categories include Annual Safety and Health Award, Safety Improvement Award (2019-2021) and 3-Year Safety Award.
WorkSafeBC announced today that the preliminary average base rate for 2023 will remain unchanged at 1.55 per cent of employers’ assessable payroll. This will be the sixth year in a row that the average base rate has remained at this level, consistent with WorkSafeBC’s goal of keeping rates stable. Annual base premium rates are driven by provincial injury rates, return-to-work performance and the resulting cost of claims, as well as investment performance relative to required rates of return. Each year, the costs in some industries go up, some go down and others stay the same. In 2023, 50 per cent of employers in B.C. are projected to experience a decrease in their industry base rate, 37 per cent will see their industry base rate increase, and 13 per cent will see no change. …The Workers Compensation Act requires WorkSafeBC to set premium rates annually for employers in order to pay for the workers’ compensation system.
Nanaimo, BC — Mosaic Forest Management is recognizing forestry contractors who have contributed to the company’s focus on safety, environmental performance, Indigenous relations, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and quality over the past year.
The deadly heat wave scorching much of the US will continue Sunday, when the Northeast and mid-South regions are likely to be suffocated by temperatures feeling as hot as 105 degrees. More than 90 million people across the country are under various heat alerts for dangerously high temperatures. Sunday is expected to bring the hottest temperatures to the Northeast. …The extreme conditions — which experts note are becoming more common around the globe due to climate change — have led local officials to issue heat emergencies to allow for resources to aid in confronting the heat millions have been enduring. Officials are also imploring people to practice extreme caution when spending time outdoors, stay hydrated and check on vulnerable communities and neighbors. In the US, excessive heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths.
A wildland firefighter died while battling a wildfire in southern Oregon on Thursday, the second firefighter to lose their life on an active blaze this month in Oregon. No details about the death were released other than that the incident took place on a fire in Josephine County, where both state and federal firefighters are battling multiple lightning-ignited fires from a thunderstorm that hit the area earlier this week. The individual’s name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, officials said in a statement. “Our deepest sympathies are with the family, friends and fellow firefighters during this time,” a statement from the Oregon Department of Forestry and Bureau of Land Management said. “The cause is under investigation and more details will be released as they are confirmed.”
The evolution, emergence and spread of novel pathogens has been widely discussed even before the first case of COVID-19 was reported in 2019. A team of researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has received a $2.75 million grant to identify disease mitigation strategies that will minimize the risk of amphibian pathogens spreading from captive pet populations to wild populations and negatively impacting biodiversity. The project, “Socioeconomic and Epidemiological Drivers of Pathogen Dynamics in Wildlife Trade Networks,” is being funded by the Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases Program… The goal of the study is to identify how socio-economic decisions and pathogen dynamics impact each other in a wildlife trade network. …Many infectious outbreaks, like that of monkeypox, chronic wasting disease and COVID-19, have been linked to wildlife trade. These outbreaks cost economies trillions of dollars, cripple biodiversity and result in substantial loss of human life.
As wildfires begin to be something of a year-round hazard for hotspots around the world, the spotlight on safety in aerial firefighting operations is increasing in intensity. Understanding wildfire behavior is a key element to safe operation, and to best understand wildfire behavior, you need to know how various weather conditions impact wildfires. Specific wildfire weather elements are provided by government meteorological services. Helicopter pilots working a wildfire will check these wildfire weather forecasts, as well as following their own individual routine for getting weather information prior to takeoff. …Significant fires require a multifaceted response directed from a command center, typically located close to the fire site. In an almost military-type operation, both land crews and aerial support will be engaged in the control effort. …Aerial operations (or air ops) will have their own briefing, with special emphasis on the weather conditions that will affect aircraft assignments.
Hot, dry air moving westward from east of the Cascades along with a strong high pressure ridge will combine to keep Portland’s high temperatures searing through much of the week. While daytime highs likely won’t set any records, Portland will see some of the hottest temperatures so far this year, and a fairly long string of them as temps near 100 are likely Monday through at least Thursday. The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat warning from noon Monday through 9 p.m. Thursday. Temperatures from 98-103 are possible. …Multnomah County and the City of Portland have issued emergency declarations ahead of this long stretch of high temperatures and are planning to open overnight cooling shelters as soon as Tuesday, in addition to providing other cooling options.