Category Archives: Health & Safety

Logging operations have stopped on a section of southern Vancouver Island after an altercation broke out Tuesday between forestry workers and blockaders, a flashpoint in a months-long dispute over an unlogged watershed in the region. Video of the incident… shows forestry workers acting aggressively, using racist language and making explicit threats against the activists. At one point, one of the forestry workers knocks a phone from a protestor’s hand. …Protesters have set up blockades at the Fairy Creek watershed since last summer. …The workers in the video appeared irate that protesters had expanded their activities beyond the Fairy Creek watershed. …Cpl. Chris Manseau with Cowichan Lake RCMP said they received a complaint about forestry workers harassing people travelling on logging roads. Manseau said RCMP have watched the video and are looking to speak with the protesters who were harassed.  

In light of the recent cougar attack on a woman in the Fraser Valley, here are some safety tips should you find yourself face-to-face with one of the big cats. If you encounter a cougar: Stay calm and keep it in view. Back away slowly, ensuring that the animal has a clear avenue of escape. Make yourself look as large as possible. Never run or turn your back on a cougar. Respond aggressively, keep eye contact with the cougar, show your teeth and make loud noises. If a cougar attacks, fight back – focus your attack on the cougar’s face and eyes. …Contact the Conservation Officer Services (COS) Call Centre 1-877-952-7277 (RAPP) if a cougar poses an immediate threat or danger to public safety.

There are over 620,000 kms of roads across BC which are used by both industrial users and the public. Loaded log trucks can weigh 10 times more than a regular pick-up, have limited maneuverability and can take up to 300 feet to stop.

British Columbia is effectively managing highway avalanche risks, says a report by the province’s auditor general that examined two decades of data. Michael Pickup said Tuesday an audit by his office found avalanche deaths on B.C. highways are rare and road closures are declining, but improvements can still be made. …Pickup told a news conference there haven’t been any avalanche-related deaths on provincial highways in the last 20 years. “And over the same time frame we have seen a decrease in both the frequency and duration of closures due to avalanches.” …The audit also found the ministry provides timely avalanche forecasts to highway users, maintenance contractors and emergency services. It recommended that the ministry update the 1,600 avalanche paths it has mapped to reflect changes from a variety of factors, including vegetation growth, fires and logging activity.

WorkSafeBC has published its high-risk strategies and industry initiatives for 2021–2023, targeting industries and employers where the risks of serious injuries and fatalities are the highest. It will focus on the construction, forestry, health care and social services, and manufacturing industries. In addition to these four sectors, WorkSafeBC has 17 specific industry initiatives that focus on key workplace health and safety issues affecting industries across the province. …“The purpose of our high-risk strategies and industry initiatives is to direct our prevention efforts — including education, consultation and enforcement — to the industries, activities and issues that have the greatest risk of serious injury,” says Al Johnson, Head of Prevention Services at WorkSafeBC. As part of the strategy, workplace inspections will follow a “risk-based, back-to-basics” approach. …WorkSafeBC’s high-risk strategies and initiatives are reviewed annually and remain flexible to address emerging issues in industry that arise due to incidents, fatalities, or changes in technology.

Every year, on April 28, workers, families, employers, and others come together at events held around the province to remember those who have lost their lives on the job, and to renew our commitment to creating safer workplaces. Join us here on April 28 at 10:30 am for a moment of silence and a video recognizing those we’ve lost.

B.C. tree planters working from camps, or other employer-provided accommodations, may be able to interact internally more normally in terms of social distancing and cohorts if they can remain virus-free at work for at least two weeks according to a new Provincial Health Officer Order released last week. The WFCA had requested the change in order to make work more practical and to reduce the mental health risk to planters who remain more or less a captive workforce for the months-long planting season. The Order requires crews to be self-contained limiting their interactions with communities to dedicated camp suppliers and managed essential visits for workers needing health care or other necessities. The change from last year’s requirements is set against strict rules for masks, health checks, barriers etc. and greater expectations of COVID coordinators along with having available qualified professional medical support in the event of sickness.

Jordan Tesluk

More than 1,500 tree planters from Quebec and Ontario are expected to travel across the country to the B.C. Interior in the next two weeks to help plant millions of seedlings in the midst of a pandemic. They’ll join thousands of B.C. planters who are preparing to work on a major provincial reforestation effort, planting more than 300 million seedlings in the B.C. Interior this summer. The government’s plan to mitigate wildfire damage and address the impacts of climate change by replacing lost trees took shape well before the pandemic. Silviculture, or the growing and managing of trees, “is an essential service, because it’s considered an essential step to maintaining continuity in the global supply of pulp and paper,” said Jordan Tesluk, the B.C. forestry safety advocate who co-ordinates COVID-19 prevention strategies for silviculture in the province. …This year, the rules at the camps and the cutblocks will be even stricter, said Tesluk.

The Day of Mourning is an important day to many – especially our own staff, some of whom began a career in health and safety because they were affected by a workplace incident or death. Wade Marling is an occupational safety officer in our Nelson office. In more than 20 years of working as a faller and a faller supervisor, Wade has led by example, insisting that everyone on his crew follow safe work practices. “If you’re not working safely,” he would tell them, “you’re not working for me.” And he meant it. “…I’d pull the guys off a crew for not following the safety rules.” Wade’s father, Don, a logging-truck driver, lost his older brother Clint Marling in a tree-falling incident. As a result, Don adopted the attitude that there was always time to do the job safely, and retired after 56 years with an accident-free record. …Join us in a moment of silence on April 28 at 10:30 a.m. to remember the 151 B.C. workers who died last year from a workplace injury or disease.

…Jason Woods, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 400 is calling for stronger federal laws, particularly for vessels under 15 gross tons, which are exempt from annual inspections and are not required to be operated under a safety management system, or SMS. Woods said that by not inspecting small tugboats, Transport Canada has created an economic incentive for companies to compromise safety by using a small tug to tow a large barge because it costs less and allows them to underbid competitors for contracts. …In the absence of effective safety regulations, many B.C. tugboat companies have already started to adopt SMS. But it has come with a cost. …Seaspan president Bart Reynolds said, “Some aspects of safety come at a financial cost. If everyone is not playing by the same rules, then it can be a cost advantage (or) disadvantage.” …Transport Canada needs to create a strong regulatory framework that covers all vessels, including mandatory SMS and enforcement…

While you never eliminate the risk of falls on the jobsite, making prevention part of your construction culture will help to keep your crew safe as houses. …In order to instill a culture of safety on your jobsite, regular training and commitment on the part of leadership will help to show just how important safety is. Have rules and regulations that are clear to all crew members and enforce those rules—no exceptions. Fall protection gear and practices are required whenever you are working on an edge, a steep surface or at heights 6 feet and up. This includes working on the ground next to a hole or trench that has been excavated. It also applies where you are working on unstable or fragile surfaces, and near an opening in a floor or wall. According to OSHA regulations, fall protection gear is required whenever you are working 6 feet or more off the ground.

The 2021–2023 Forestry High Risk Strategy (HRS) is a comprehensive prevention strategy to address workplace safety in forestry operations. The intent of the Forestry HRS is to execute focused and impactful inspectional activity in those areas of the timber harvesting segment that represent exceptional risk to workers. Identified high risk work activities typically fall into five areas of operations:

• Manual tree falling
• Log transportation
• Cable yarding
• Mechanized harvesting (primary focus will be on steep slope and tethered/winch-assist operations in 2021–2023)
• Silviculture (see additional information on our approach for silviculture inspections for 2021)

In addition to the five main focus areas … emergency response planning (ERP) has also been identified as a critical target area for the Forestry HRS because of a number of serious ERP failures documented at forestry workplaces through incident investigations. Due to the continuing high injury rate in hand falling, a dedicated inspection team will focus on employers who are involved in manual tree falling and are associated with high injury rates, a sequence of high risk injuries, and/or poor compliance rates.

Cleanup is underway after a fire ripped through part of Meadow Lake’ssawmill over the weekend. NorSask Forest Products LP, which owns the sawmill, said the fire started just before noon Saturday. Most of the fire damaged two of the facility’s kilns, used for drying product. …Al Balisky, president and CEO of Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) Industrial Investments said there were no injuries during the fire, and the cause is under investigation. He said production has paused at the sawmill while crews finish cleaning. He said work will get back to normal as soon as it is safe.

Paper Excellence is happy to report that no cases of COVID-19 resulted from our large maintenance shutdown at Howe Sound last month. None were reported during the shutdown or in the following two-week incubation period. …the shutdown included our 350 regular employees and 650 contractors. While 11% of the contractors (approx. 70) were Sunshine Coast residents, the rest had to travel to the area. We thank our employees and contractors for giving their full support to our COVID-19 protocols including social distancing, mask wearing, daily heath checks, temperature monitoring, regular disinfecting of surfaces, increased signage, virtual meetings, and daily safety meetings. We also had spaces re-engineered to allow for more physical distancing and staggered crew start and end times to avoid congestion in change rooms at shift change. WorkSafeBC did a full review of our COVID-19 plan prior to the start of the shutdown.

Harry Bains

VICTORIA — BC’s labour minister says he has contacted the head of the province’s workplace safety agency after six workers died on the job in the past four weeks. Harry Bains says he’s reached out to the chair of WorkSafeBC to make sure appropriate prevention and enforcement of health and safety rules are taking place. Bains says there has been a steep learning curve to adjust to COVID-19 safety regulations, but the deaths are a reminder that the pandemic isn’t the only hazard workers face. Two men were killed when a boom broke on a construction site on Gabriola Island, two forestry workers died in separate incidents. …WorkSafeBC says in its most recent annual report that 203 workers died on the job in 2019, tying a previous high in fatalities set in 2014.

The deaths of two Vancouver Island loggers within weeks of each other in March … has sparked discussion about how to ensure such tragedies don’t happen again. “It’s pretty sombre right now…,” said Rob Moonen, chief executive of the B.C. Forest Safety Council… “When a faller passes as a result of a work-related death, there is a ripple effect not only within the industry but the community where this work takes place.” …Moonen said the two deaths in quick succession spurred a series of discussions with fallers, companies, contractors and the union on how to prevent similar tragedies. Brian Butler, president of Steelworkers Local 1937, said safety discussions have been held with falling departments of member companies, and the union is awaiting WorkSafe’s report into the accident that killed Bohn. …WorkSafe B.C. said since 2010, the industry has seen an average of eight deaths each year. There were five in 2018 and eight in 2019.

For the second time this month, a logging accident has claimed the life of a Vancouver Island man. Port McNeill RCMP say they received reports of a workplace fatality at a logging facility on Mount Connolly, near Kingcome Inlet, shortly before 12:30 p.m. on March 15. When officers arrived, they discovered a 41-year-old man from Comox had died. … “While the circumstances surrounding the man’s death remain under investigation, criminality is not suspected,” said Sgt. Curtis Davis of the Port McNeill RCMP. … the victim is a faller who may have been hit by another tree that came down adjacent to one that was being cut. The B.C. Coroners Service and WorkSafe BC are conducting their own, concurrent investigations into the incident.

A branch of a helicopter-based rescue service that caters to resource-based industries could be ready to fly out of Prince George by the early summer. Miles Randell, president of Squamish-based Technical Evacuation Advanced Aero Medical, says he has nearly 20 people signed up to take the training this April and aims to have the branch take to the sky by sometime in June, if not sooner. He said what TEEAM provides differs from B.C. Ambulance Service in that a crew will be able to reach remote locations, and differs from search and rescue in that each flight will carry two members capable of providing advanced life support. In the three years it has been operating out of Squamish, Randell said the non-profit has attracted strong support from the forest industry in general and treeplanting companies in particular.

The Truck Loggers Association (TLA) says there isn’t enough medical helicopter evacuation coverage in the region and is looking to create a program based out of Campbell River to fix the problem. In a letter received by Campbell River City Council … , TLA executive director Bob Brash asked for – and received – the city’s support in creating such a program. … The TLA, Brash writes in his letter to the city, is trying to get the provincial government to provide better emergency helicopter evacuation programs for resource workers. “As you may be aware, while there are systems in place to do our best to get injured workers out of the woods, it is decidedly far less than similar services for a resident living in the Lower Mainland. … The TLA has been working on getting such a program in place for many years.

It’s already tick season in South Okanagan. With a fairly mild winter, ticks are making their way out in full-force. …Tick season usually starts in April. Last spring and summer was a particularly bad year for ticks throughout the Interior. The Rocky Mountain wood tick is the most common tick found in the Interior. They are known to spread diseases such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever. They aren’t known to carry Lyme Disease, according to Interior Health. The Western blacklegged tick is common in warm, moist areas on Vancouver Island and the B.C. coast. Bites from these ticks are said to be painful, and they are responsible for transferring the microorganism which causes Lyme Disease in humans. Lyme Disease is debilitating and there are no cures if not treated right away. It is only recently, that doctors in B.C. have been testing for Lyme Disease.

Nootka Sound RCMP and Work Safe BC are investigating the fatal accident of a Western Forest Products contract employee at Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 19 near Gold River on Monday morning. Cpl. Kim Rutherford said that the RCMP responded to a report of a workplace fatality at a wood lot located south of Gold River at 9:40 a.m. on March 1. Work Safe BC and BC Coroner Service are investigating the incident. …“We are saddened to hear of a fatal incident that occurred this morning involving an employee of one of our contractors working in Tree Farm Licence 19 near Gold River, B.C. Our thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues impacted by this tragedy. On behalf of all employees at Western, I would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the worker’s family,” said Don Demens, President and CEO, WFP.

The industry association for woodstove producers is fighting back against local government attempts to curb use of woodstoves as a heating source. The Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association of Canada (HPBAC) recently launched a publicity campaign to “overturn the ban” in Vancouver Island’s Comox Valley area, including a website devoted to the issue. Adam De Caire, the association’s director of public affairs, told Black Press Media the group is disappointed by the actions of local governments in recent years that pose obstacles for the inclusion of new, cleaner woodstoves in homes. The campaign is the first of its kind for the HPBAC and went live in late January. …“If a resident sees a neighbour’s chimney letting off large amounts of smoke, then it is highly likely that the offender is using an appliance that is many years or decades old,” De Caire said. Stoves sold before 1988 had no limits on emissions.