Category Archives: Health & Safety

KAMLOOPS, BC —The Domtar pulp mill in Kamloops is communicating more with the public about its response plans to an environmental emergency involving chlorine dioxide following a recent update to the federal environmental emergency regulation. …Chlorine dioxide gas is classified as an inhalation hazard, which if inhaled can lead to effects ranging from irritating a person’s eyes, nose, throat and lungs at low concentrations to being fatal at high concentrations. According to Domtar, the mill has specialized instruments that monitor the air in and around the storage tanks to detect the presence of any leaks. While the Kamloops pulp mill has never had an environmental emergency relating to chlorine dioxide, it has an emergency response plan in place in the event such an event were to occur. Unsuppressed chlorine dioxide vapours could be carried downwind from the Kamloops mill.

The BC Forest Safety Council is actively monitoring the COVID-19 situation to determine how we can best support forestry workers, contractors and employers throughout BC. We continue to follow guidance from public health officials and will adjust and enhance our resources and information to ensure all necessary precautions are being taken to minimize the risks of COVID-19 transmission and illness to forest sector employees. BC’s Restart Plan is a four-phased approach to ensure the gains and efforts we have made to date allow us to continue to move forward. Industry sectors are encouraged to develop enhanced protocols aligned with the Public Health and Safety Guidelines and WorkSafeBC and will be expected to adopt and implement sector COVID-19 Safety Plans. The BCFSC has assembled resources and information for Phase 2 and Phase 3 to help the forestry sector restart safely. This information is catalogued by operational use based on the type of company you run. 

The BC Wildfire Service urges British Columbians to be safe in the woods and reminds everyone that the return of warm weather means an increasing risk of wildfires. Although the start of this year’s wildfire season was quieter than normal, August is typically the most active month of B.C.’s wildfire season. This is why it is important for British Columbians and visitors to remain vigilant and ensure that they are using fire safely. Human-caused fires are completely preventable… From April 1 through July 29, 2020, the BC Wildfire Service responded to 239 wildfires throughout the province, approximately 85% of which were attributed to human activity. …Up-to-date information about current open burning prohibitions is available on the BC Wildfire Service website: www.gov.bc.ca/wildfirebans Local governments and other jurisdictions (e.g., BC Parks) may have their own burning restrictions or bylaws in place. People should also check with those authorities before lighting any fire.

Switching from 8-axle B-trains to 9-axle B-trains has been gaining traction in Western Canada (pun intended). A new calculation recently developed by FPInnovations has led to the discovery of the real and remarkable benefits of having more 9-axle B-trains on the roads. The 9-axle B-train, a new more efficient log hauling truck, was accepted for implementation in British Columbia in 2017. Prior to its introduction, FPInnovations conducted formal assessments of truck stability, braking, cornering, pavement impacts, and environmental impact. In Canada, regulators use the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) Load Equivalency Factor (LEF) formulae to assess one truck configuration against another, and to design pavement service life. FPInnovations’ recent research has developed additional LEF formulae that allows regulators, academics, and consultants to assess pavement impacts from steering axles equipped with various tire sizes.

Training Officer Bart Schneider was one of those on scene at West Fraser’s MDF Plant on Carradice Road. “We responded to a fire inside their … material storage area.   When we got on scene they had a fire up on top of a bunch of their sawdust and chip piles, so we set up our ladder truck and made entrance into the top catwalk area of the RMS building and managed to put out the kind of creeping fire along the top of the chip pile there.” Schneider says there was no real damage to the MDF plant as the fire was contained to that one area. … No one was hurt and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

No injuries were reported after part of a building under construction in Saskatoon’s Eastview neighbourhood collapsed on Wednesday. Lumber was scattered throughout the site, which is operated by Dura Construction Ltd., on Wednesday. Large parts of the structure were piled in the middle of the building in a tangle of wood and equipment. …Len Protz, a battalion chief with the Saskatoon Fire Department, said that while he doesn’t know what caused parts of the building to collapse, it’s possible that recent wet weather and high wind were factors in the incident. …He said… pedestrians will be asked to find an alternative route, as the contractor is expanding fencing around the site as it stabilizes the building and cleans up. 

RCMP were called to the scene of a collision between a logging truck and a train north of Quesnel earlier today. Sergeant Richard Weseen spoke to us from the scene and said it happened just before noon on Naver Creek Road, off Highway 97. “A fully loaded logging truck, was heading east and came to a marked train crossing.    There was a collision between a freight train and the logging truck, which caused the logging truck to flip over on its side.   The driver of the logging truck has been transported to the Quesnel hospital with minor injuries, and there is minor damage to the train.” Weseen says the crossing was closed briefly. While the crossing was clear, he said the logging truck was on its side in the middle of the road and there were logs that needed to be cleaned up as well.

RICHMOND, B.C. – The Transportation Safety Board says ice in a carburetor was the cause of a fatal plane crash last year outside Smithers, B.C. A pilot and three crew members were doing contract work for the BC Wildfire Service when the Cessna 182E crashed into some trees on May 4, 2019. The pilot and two crew members were killed, while a fourth man survived and was transported to hospital by helicopter. The safety board investigation determined the plane was operating at a low engine power setting in conditions that were favourable for carburetor icing. It says ice would have reduced the engine’s ability to produce enough power to maintain altitude and would have eventually led to a complete power loss. …Forests Minister Doug Donaldson has said the crew was conducting infrared scans after forest fires in 2018 on behalf of the BC Wildfire Service.

A recent serious accident on the Bamfield Main road offers a reminder to drivers that dust on logging roads during summer months create a serious safety concern. Huu-ay-aht First Nations wants to caution motorists to drive carefully if they head to Bamfield this summer. Stan Coleman, a Registered Professional Forester and Huu-ay-aht’s forest consultant, hit a logging truck while travelling on Bamfield Main, escaping serious injury but totalling his car. “Stan…is an experienced driver and has travelled the Bamfield road most of his career, and yet last week he hit a logging truck that was invisible to him on the dusty roads,” explains Chief Councillor Robert J. Dennis Sr. Last week, in a meeting with Huu-ay-aht, Mid Island-Pacific Rim MLA and Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation, Scott Fraser, promised to continue to push for the necessary approvals to move the Bamfield Road project forward.

Researchers in the BioProducts Institute at UBC have designed what could be the very first N95 mask that can be sourced and made entirely in Canada. …Johan Foster, a former McBride resident is part of the research team. …“Foster, a chemical and biological engineering associate professor… “we knew early on we wanted a solution that uses local materials, is easy to produce and inexpensive, with the added bonus of being compostable and biodegradable.” The new mask—dubbed Canadian-Mask, or Can-Mask—ticks all those boxes, says Foster. …Mask prototyping is nearly complete, and a shift to cost-effective scaling and production is in the works. The mask frame is made entirely from B.C. wood fibres from sources such as pine, spruce, cedar and other softwoods.

…A spokesperson with the Provincial Health Services Authority confirmed Malia was diagnosed with tick paralysis from a Rocky Mountain wood tick bite on her scalp, and spent four days in hospital. Paralysis from a tick bite is quite rare. The B.C. Centre for Disease Control doesn’t officially track cases, but its public health lab typically consults on zero to two cases each year. According to HealthLink B.C., paralysis is caused by the venom secreted by female ticks when feeding, and symptoms typically begin four to seven days after a tick attaches itself to a person. Paralysis from a tick bite is more common in children than adults. On Monday, the toddler appeared to be fully recovered. …The B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) warns pets and people are at risk of tick exposure in wooded and grassy areas. …If a tick has buried itself into your skin you should seek medical attention immediately.

A Manitoba family hopes that sharing the story of Samuel Brandt, …who died from complications of Lyme disease, will help raise awareness about a rare but deadly consequence of the tick-borne illness. …Samuel’s story was featured … the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Lyme carditis, which happens when the bacteria that causes Lyme disease attacks the heart, isn’t very well known or well reported, says one of the co-authors, Dr. Richard Rusk with Manitoba Health, Seniors and Active Living. That’s part of the reason the researchers took a closer look at it. …Canada-wide, the reported numbers of Lyme disease increased from 144 in 2009 to 2025 in 2017. But according to the report, Lyme carditis is under recognized even in areas where there’s a high prevalence of the disease. …Rusk added that if you do find a tick or get bitten by one, you should remove it properly and take note of the day you find it. For the next month, monitor symptoms in case you need to report it to a health care provider.