Category Archives: Health & Safety

Gordon Murray

The investigation into an explosion this week at a wood pellet plant in Entwistle, Alta. has put the spotlight on a facility that is less than a year old and has touted its use of cutting-edge safety technology. …A 2014 report by WorkSafeBC found numerous plants in British Columbia failed to adequately address wood dust concerns. The report was commissioned, in part, after fatal explosions at sawmills in B.C highlighted the need to better manage combustible dust.  “Our industry came up short, for sure,” Gordon Murray, executive director of Wood Pellet Association of Canada, told CBC News Tuesday. “We were not managing the dust properly and so WorkSafe sat us down and pretty much told us that we need to get more serious about managing dust so we put a large focus on that.”  A “cultural shift” resulted after the meeting, Murray said. The association broadened to include a safety mandate.

Three people were hurt — one critically — in an explosion and fire at a renewable energy plant near Entwistle, Alta., on Monday. “I felt the explosion,” said Kyle Wickstrom, who was one kilometre away. “It was nuts.” It happened at Pinnacle Renewable Energy, which is about 100 kilometres west of Edmonton. “There was an industrial explosion and a fire,” Parkland County Fire Chief Brian Cornforth said. “We responded with 40 crew, both from Yellowhead County and Parkland County — there was also a private fire contractor. …The CFO for Pinnacle told Global News she couldn’t say how many people were hurt but said nobody’s injuries were life-threatening. She said the company is working with Occupational Health and Safety to determine what caused the incident. Alberta Labour confirmed OHS had been notified and a team was heading to the scene.

VANCOUVER — Inhaling smoke from a wildfire can be equal to smoking a couple of packs of cigarettes a day depending on its thickness, says a researcher studying wildfires in Western Canada. Mike Flannigan, a professor with the Department of Renewable Resources at the University of Alberta, said the smoke is like a “chemical soup” that can be trapped in the lungs and cause a number of health issues. “They are all kinds of particles, mercury, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane … there’s a whole long list.” Depending on the size of the particles, they get trapped in the lungs, accumulate over time and cause “all kinds of problems,” Flannigan said. Sarah Henderson, a senior environmental health scientist at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, said the smaller the particles, the worse they are. Both Flannigan and Henderson will make presentations at the BC Lung Association’s annual workshop.

VANCOUVER—WorkSafeBC is reviewing the deaths of two logging truck drivers who were killed when their cargo slid forward in low-speed crashes — even though they were protected by stronger barriers that should have stopped the logs. The deaths, in December 2017 and March 2018 near Fort St. James in Northern B.C., are two of three such incidents that have occurred since new regulations were passed in 2015 to strengthen the metal barriers that separate cargo from the drivers’ cabs.  In both cases, about 40,000 kilograms of logs shifted forward, crushing barriers that actually exceeded the new standards. Notably, investigators determined the collisions appear to have occurred at low speeds: approximately 20 km/h. …Tom Brocklehurst, WorkSafeBC’s director of prevention practices and quality, said the regulatory body is now reviewing the two incidents investigated.

KAMLOOPS — The driver of a logging truck who got stuck under a Canadian Pacific railway overpass in downtown Kamloops earlier this week has been issued a fine according to the Ministry of Transportation. In an emailed statement, ministry officials say the driver was issued a violation ticket for driving without reasonable consideration since the route was closed to commercial vehicles. …”It is important for commercial vehicle drivers to follow pre-approved trip routes and obey any route closures,” the statement says. …”We will be looking at repairing and potentially getting those pipes tucked up a bit higher,” he says. “There is signage up throughout the corridor indicating this is not a truck route… at the end of the day, that particular vehicle should not have been on that corridor.” 

VANCOUVER – Today, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada released its investigation report into a July 2017 occurrence during which the tug Ocean Monarch made bottom contact while transiting the Princess Royal Channel south of Kitimat, British Columbia. The report underlines the need to effectively manage the risk of fatigue in the marine industry. On 9 July 2017… the tug Ocean Monarch, with three crew members on board, made bottom contact while towing the loaded cement barge Evco No. 15. No pollution or injuries were reported, but the tug’s hull, starboard propeller and nozzle were damaged. …The investigation determined that the mate, alone on watchkeeping duties, fell asleep while the tug and barge transited on autopilot through the channel’s confined waters. …The investigation also found that the tug’s operator had no strategies in place to mitigate crew fatigue, despite a previous occurrence in 2011 where fatigue played a role.

KAMLOOPS — Worksafe BC says a combination of human error and manufacturer’s mistake led to an accident that killed a Domtar employee last June. The accident on June 29, 2017 killed a crane operator and seriously injured another worker. A redacted incident investigation report released today (Dec. 14) refers to the fatality victim as ‘Operator 1’, but Unifor has identified the man as 57-year-old Jim MacLeod. The report says MacLeod and his co-worker were standing on a crane chassis, attempting to stow a jib — an extension to the boom of a crane — when the jib fell. The huge piece of equipment struck both men, causing them to fall more than two metres off the crane chassis and killing MacLeod. Worksafe’s report says the accident happened because the jib was not connected to the boom of the crane, and lists three contributing factors to the accident.

Richmond, BC – Today, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada released its investigation report into a fatal derailment that involved an uncontrolled movement of rail cars and a subsequent collision with engineering working equipment in April 2017 near Woss, British Columbia. Although the occurrence railway company was under provincial jurisdiction, the TSB conducted the investigation at the request of the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. On the morning of 20 April 2017, a cut of 11 cars loaded with logs rolled uncontrolled out of the Woss Reload Centre, operated by Western Forest Products, near Woss, British Columbia.

RICHMOND, B.C. — The Transportation Safety Board has issued rail-safety advisories involving a crash in April of last year. A WorksafeBC report issued in October said decaying railway ties and the failure of a safety mechanism allowed rail cars at a Western Forest Products reload centre to run uncontrolled and hit two work equipment vehicles with the five men aboard. The board’s report issued Wednesday adds to the conclusion, saying the 11 cars loaded with logs rolled away after a locking device between the cars inadvertently released. The report also says a safety device meant to derail the runaway cars failed to work because the rail ties were deteriorating and the device hadn’t been adequately secured. …It says another advisory letter went to B.C.’s Ministry of Transportation saying it may want to review how the derail devices are installed, maintained and inspected on properties operated by Western Forest Products.

…Three years ago, Russell Davies and his friend Shawn Sanders were working on Davies’ property when Davies fell to the ground from a cardiac arrest. “He just went over into a slump. I rolled him over onto his back and he was gone. Eyes wide open. Boom. Basically all white,” says Sanders. …According to the CPR Certification HQ website, the chances of a victim surviving decreases seven per cent every minute CPR is not administered. …The 911 operator gave Sanders the rhythm for CPR to follow. Incidentally, it’s the same beat for the song Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees. …“I hadn’t had a first aid course in 15 years. Thank god for 911,” says Sanders. …Amazingly, Davies made a full recovery. …The BC Ambulance Service in Revelstoke presented Sanders with the Vital Link Award, for citizens who are involved in saving a life through successful CPR efforts.

A worker at the Chasm Sawmill division of West Fraser was buried to about head or chest depth in a wood shavings bin area and needed to be rescued, according to a WorkSafeBC report. “A worker performing clean up during maintenance type work inside a bin approximately 50 to 80 feet high, 30 feet wide, was engulfed by sawdust and/or wood shavings type recovery waste product,” according to the report. “The need for rescue did arise and the lone worker was engulfed and unable to self-rescue.” …West Fraser has since developed and performed a risk assessment, developed a safe work procedure for entering the shavings bin and as of Nov. 21 planned an emergency drill for confined space and/or enclosed space within the next 30 days.

The pulp mills are the likely source of the haze that settled over the Bowl area this morning, according to University of Northern British Columbia professor Peter Jackson. Jackson noted a light easterly wind and a spike in the reading for particulate matter at the Plaza 400 monitoring station, which jumped from about 17 micrograms per cubic metre at 10 a.m. to 61 at 11 a.m. “The high levels are most likely from the pulp mill area – a phenomena called ‘fumigation’ where there is a spike in air pollution levels in mid-late morning when the nocturnal inversion begins to break down and pollution-rich air mixes downward to the surface,” he said in an email shortly before noon. …B.C. Ministry of Environment air quality meteorologist Gail Roth confirmed Jackson’s assessment.

Geraldine Manson, Snuneymuxw Elder, and Elder in Residence at Vancouver Island University, welcomed delegates at the 13th annual Vancouver Island Safety Conference to the traditional, unceded territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation. …Rob Moonen, CEO of the BC Forest Safety Council (BCFSC), said he wanted to provide delegates with information about some of the industry accomplishments and some of the challenges in safety. Rob said the overall injury rate for harvesting in 2017 was the second lowest on record outside of 2009 (year of financial crisis and record low harvest levels). …Speaking from the heart, Minister Bains shared how he had worked at a Canfor sawmill and understood the many is- sues industry faces. He said that there had been both challenges and opportunities about health and safety at his time at the mill.

Time to tell us what you think—and win a gift card! Did you know: Forest Safety News (FSN) has been produced for five years? That’s 30 editions, either 16 or 20 pages each. One person works on FSN as part of their role at the BC Forest Safety Council (BCFSC). All other contributions are from industry volunteer writers/ photographers. Every BCFSC department provides input…. Forest Safety News was introduced five years ago as a means to share regular safety-related information with SAFE certified companies and workers in the forestry industry. It’s time for you to tell us what you think and what you’d like to see in future editions. Please click here for the online survey. The goal is to help support continuous improvement in safety knowledge and performance, and to reflect our industry’s social license to operate sustainably safe, innovative and respected companies

Whether you are hauling logs, driving to and from the bush to operate a machine or conducting forest management activities, preparing for winter driving conditions is a must. …Year after year, incident data provided by log hauling contractors to the Trucking and Harvesting Advisory Group (TAG) shows increased incidents throughout the winter months. This is not surprising given the challenging conditions, but making the decision to drive to the conditions and chain up where required can reduce the risk of an incident. There is a safe speed for every load and road condition, including not going at all!  The Shift into Winter driving safety alliance has released updated information for all commercial carriers in all industries on “winterizing your safety plan”. The brochure includes employer responsibilities, dispatch/supervisor duties, drivers’ responsibilities, proper vehicle preparation and maintenance, pre-trip inspections as well as the roll of joint health and safety committees or worker representatives.

Witnesses say a log truck driver is lucky to be alive after his truck crashed on Highway 20 Tuesday. “We called in for a Medevac and landed it on the highway,” said Mike Elvin, who lives at the Old Riske Creek School House. “It’s all still in place as we speak. We got the highway all cleaned off but there are logs on each side of the road, the truck’s completely dismantled inside and it’s an absolute miracle the man’s alive.” Elvin said it was just before noon when he heard a ‘massive bang,’ looked out and saw a logging truck was flipped upside down. “I’m right in front of where the accident took place. It blew a front tire and went off into the ditch. We had logs scattered across the highway and it took out the gates and fences out front of our place.”

RCMP investigators say weather and a slippery road were possibly factors in a bus crash north of Prince George that put 18 people to hospital. RCMP Cpl. Madonna Saunderson says there’s nothing to suggest the driver was impaired or did anything wrong before the bus slid into a ditch Thursday on snow-covered Highway 97. The bus chartered by forest products company Canfor flipped partially on its side with 30 employees travelling from Prince George to the Polar Sawmill in Bear Lake. Northern Health spokeswoman Eryn Collins says 11 people had minor injuries and the rest were more seriously hurt but everyone has since been sent home from hospital. Canfor spokeswoman Michelle Ward says every worker had been released from hospital by 10 p.m., and operations at the Polar mill have not been affected.

A bus carrying workers to a sawmill crashed Thursday afternoon north of Prince George, sending 16 people to hospital, three of them in critical condition. B.C. Emergency Health Services says one person was in serious condition and 12 others were stable. Sixteen others were uninjured and taken back to Prince George by bus, said Libby Brown of EHS. …Forest products company Canfor said the bus was chartered by them and was transporting employees from Prince George to its Polar Sawmill when it was involved in an accident. “The accident is currently under investigation by the local authorities,” Michelle Ward, director of corporate communications, said in a statement. “Our focus is on supporting our injured employees and their families.”