Category Archives: Health & Safety

VANCOUVER, April 11, 2019 – The United Steelworkers (USW) is welcoming today’s announcement by the Government of British Columbia that Vancouver lawyer Lisa Helps has been retained to assess the actions WorkSafeBC in relation to sawmill explosions at Babine Forest Products and Lakeland Mills.  The explosions in 2012 killed four workers and injured dozens more in the communities of Burns Lake and Prince George. The USW has been fighting for answers and justice for the victims and families who continue to be affected by the tragic events. “For seven years, we have been standing with victims, families and community members who have been desperate for answers,” says USW District 3 Director Stephen Hunt. “Through the Coroners’ Inquests, the Dyble Report and the Macatee Report, we learned that WorkSafeBC failed to live up to its responsibility to protect the health and safety of workers.”

Vancouver lawyer Lisa Helps has been contracted by the Province to assess how WorkSafeBC implemented worker safety recommendations following the two sawmill explosions at Babine Forest Products and Lakeland Mills. Helps will also provide advice on potential legislative changes to improve safety for B.C. workers. …Helps will seek input from relevant stakeholders and staff in WorkSafeBC and the ministries of Attorney General, Public Safety and Solicitor General, and Labour. She will also invite workers affected by the explosions, and their families, to share their perspectives on the issues under review. A report, including recommendations, will be delivered to the attorney general by mid-July 2019. 

A fire at Pacific Bioenergy on the weekend did significant damage to some areas of the wood-pellet facility. “We are continuing to investigate the incident and assess the efforts to effect and complete repairs,” Pacific Bioenergy (PacBio) president John Stirling told The Citizen. “No workers were injured. All workers continue to work their regular shifts at the plant.” The incident was detected by employees at approximately 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. They carried out the company’s emergency response training, and were soon joined by the city’s fire department. …Stirling described the fire’s initial location as “at the top of a bucket elevator which transports wood pellets” and concurred that it was a strong wind that spread the flames to the nearby electrical room. …PacBio staff continue to monitor the facility for undetected hotspots, and are checking over the factory’s equipment looking for answers to the cause.

QUESNEL, B.C. — A lumber mill in the Cariboo region has been fined after a worker sustained serious injuries at the plant. The incident happened at West Fraser Mills in Quesnel. WorkSafeBC said in its penalty decision that a worker from a subcontractor’s firm was vacuuming ash from a hatch midway up a multi-cone hopper when compacted hot ash broke free. The ash rushed out of the hatch and onto the worker, causing serious injuries. “WorkSafeBC’s investigation determined …not conducted an adequate assessment of the risks associated with accumulated hot ash”. “Safe work procedures had not been communicated to the subcontractor firm, and the subcontractor’s workers had not been trained in the work task.” WorkSafeBC imposed a $637,415 fine.

One of the major players in Saskatchewan’s forestry industry has been fined for its role in the death of a worker near Big River more than three years ago. Prince George, B.C.-based Carrier Forest Products, which also operates in Saskatchewan, pleaded guilty to one charge under Occupational Health and Safety regulations in January of 2018. A fine was imposed last month, following an appeal by the Crown. An additional charge was stayed in court. The plea comes after an accident at Carrier’s site at Big River, about 100 kilometres northwest of Prince Albert, in 2015. A worker died on Sept. 8 of that year, after being hit by an object thrown from a machine that reduces logs into smaller woodchips.

The Sande Overpass is now open after a logging truck tipped over on its side, spilling its cargo across the road. …The truck had been turning right onto the overpass from Hwy 16 eastbound when it turned over on the driver’s side. There are no injuries and no other vehicles were damaged. …This isn’t the first time logging trucks have had issues turning onto the sharply-angled Sande Overpass. …an accident similar to this most recent one was fatal. In 1986, a woman was killed while walking across the overpass when a loaded logging truck overturned at the south end of the bridge. …The RCMP Inspector at the time said the narrow lanes and acute turns on both access routes to the Sand Overpass require semi-trailer trucks to infringe on adjacent traffic lanes, and in the case of logging trucks, the rear load overhang generally swings into another lane.

Wood stoves are the largest contributor to air quality issues in Houston, according to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. …A Wood Stove Exchange Program introduced in Houston last year offered residents a rebate if they swapped their wood-burning stove for a more energy-efficient appliance, but the program had no usage, said Gerald Pinchbeck, Houston’s chief administrative officer. …The ministry said Canfor and its pellet plant, which is run in partnership with Pinnacle Renewable Energy, are “generally in compliance” with their permit, which sets out limits for emissions. …Michelle Ward, a spokesperson for Canfor, said their Houston mill passed both inspections conducted by the ministry in 2018 with no deficiencies. …When asked if the curtailment of mill operations is advised during air quality advisories, the ministry said not necessarily, as curtailment can sometimes lead to increased emissions.

A logging truck that lost its load in front of a Port Alberni hotel in February had nearly lost its load a couple of kilometres earlier, crossing a bridge over the Somass River. Dash cam video reveals the 25-year-old driver from Qualicum Beach taking a corner off the Orange Bridge at Falls Street on his left side wheels—the right side wheels in the air. Charlie Starratt, Beaver Creek Volunteer Fire Department chief, was approaching Pacific Rim Highway from Falls Street when his dashcam caught the logging truck coming fast off the bridge. He turned left and followed the truck, watching in horror when the truck turned right onto Stamp Avenue from Roger Street and tipped over. …Starratt’s dashcam video shows the truck turn the corner and shift left then fall all the way over, logs spilling over four lanes Stamp Avenue, cars narrowly missing a collision.

VAVENBY, B.C. — Worksafe B.C. has fined forestry giant Canfor nearly $130,000 after a worker at the company’s Vavenby sawmill operation was seriously injured in a planer accident. According to Worksafe’s latest list of penalties, the fine was imposed after the worker came into contact with a planer’s rotating top head, sustaining serious injuries. Worksafe’s investigation found that the employee was using a stick to unjam the planer, which had become jammed by a broken board. While the worker had locked out the planer, it had been switched to bypass mode a few days earlier, meaning that the planer head continue to spin even with the power turned off. …Worksafe says all three are considered “high-risk violations” and fined the forestry company $129,460.07.

Jason Reagan has already booked an appointment to get tested for lung cancer. He has lived beside the former Domtar site in northeast Edmonton for 13 years, along with his wife, Maureen, and their seven children. This week, a provincial health assessment revealed higher than expected rates of three types of cancer — lung, breast and endometrial — among people who lived near the former wood-treatment plant for 10 or more years. “Our main concern is what health risks we’ve already been exposed to. Is this actually going to hurt us in the future? Because if it is, they better get us out now,” Reagan said. …The Domtar site operated between 1924 and 1987, using creosote to preserve wood. The company did some remedial work on contaminated lands around the plant in 1994, before selling the site to 1510837 Alberta Ltd. in 2010.  

British Columbia’s natural resource officers should be armed with batons and pepper spray to defend themselves against the intoxicated, confrontational people they sometimes face on the job, according to a recently released report.  Natural resource officers enforce provincial rules related to the environment. Their jobs include managing wildfire risks at campsites and on private property, investigating unauthorized use of Crown land and educating the public.  Joel Johnston, a violence prevention consultant, wrote the March 2018 report for the Forestry Ministry’s Compliance and Enforcement Branch. It was released last week as part of a Freedom of Information request. The report says the officers are not properly equipped for the risks they commonly face, which include groups of drunk campers, mentally unstable people living on Crown land and people with weapons like knives, axes and firearms.

VERNON – The driver of a semi hauling a load of lumber through Vernon is sure to be counting his lucky stars after avoiding serious injury when he engaged his emergency braking system to avoid hitting a small car. Thousands of pounds of manufactured lumber loosened when he slammed on the brakes and was propelled into the cab of the truck, according to an RCMP media release. Police say a small black vehicle allegedly cut off the semi and then stopped suddenly for a pedestrian in the crosswalk… “The driver of the semi truck was very fortunate to have sustained only minor injuries during this incident, given the amount of lumber that shifted and impaled the back of the drivers cab,” Vernon RCMP spokesperson Const. Kelly Brett said in the release.

The thick, black smoke last August that had people in Prince George waking up in the dark put the area among the 10 worst cities in the world that month for air pollution. That’s according to a new report, released Tuesday, from Greenpeace, sounding the alarm about the high level of air pollution recorded in B.C.’s Interior in 2018. The “unhealthy” range on the Air Quality Index is 55.5-150.4. Prince George, Quesnel and Williams Lake had readings of 74.2, 72.2 and 67, respectively – the worst in Canada for that month. …Comparatively speaking, the level of pollution in these regions was roughly five times the 2018 average, prompting the World Health Organization to flag them as well. “Our province’s vulnerability to forest wildfires has a major impact on the air we all breathe and has serious public health implications,” said Eduardo Sousa, senior campaigner at Greenpeace Canada.

The world’s most poisonous mushroom is spreading in British Columbia, according to a recent article in the B.C. Medical Journal. The publication is alerting doctors, nurses and pharmacists to the dangers of people consuming Amanita phalloides, commonly known as the death cap mushroom, as well as to their roles in preventing related deaths.  “Healthcare providers need to be aware of the risk, as prompt recognition and appropriate management are critical for positive patient outcomes,” said authors of the article, Maxwell Moor-Smith, Raymond Li and Omar Ahmad. The death cap is not native to Canada and was brought to B.C. on the roots of imported European trees. Since the first death cap specimen was found and collected in B.C. in 1997, there have been numerous sightings of the mushrooms in the Fraser Valley, southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.

B.C.’s Ministry of Public Safety has approved approximately $1.5 million in funding for evacuation route planning to 60 local and regional governments and First Nations communities. Each of the communities and governments will be receiving up to $25,000 each through the province’s Community Emergency Preparedness Fund, bringing the total granted successful applicants all over the province to more than $17 million since September 2017. That’s just over halfway to the $33.5-million allocated by the government to help communities prepare for and respond to disasters. “We can’t predict exactly when a disaster may hit, but we can help our partners prepare so that if people have to be evacuated, they’re doing so in the safest, best way possible,” said Solicitor General Mike Farnworth.

A 91-year-old Port Alberni man escaped serious injury after a logging truck taking a right turn onto Stamp Avenue from Roger Street toppled over and spilled its load in Port Alberni. The truck was on its side and logs had spilled across all four lanes of traffic in front of the Best Western Barclay Hotel, snarling traffic at one of Port Alberni’s busiest intersections. The driver of the logging truck, a 25-year-old man from Qualicum Beach, was also uninjured in the incident. He has been charged with driving without due care and attention under the Motor Vehicle Act, Port Alberni RCMP Cpl. Amelia Hayden said.

A wood-pellet plant in Entwistle where three people were injured in an explosion on Monday reported a fire six weeks ago and was recently inspected twice by the province after workers lodged complaints. A fire at the Pinnacle Renewable Energy plant was reported to Occupational Health and Safety on Jan. 2. No one was injured. OHS inspected the plant in December and again in January after workers complained. Those inspections resulted in an order being placed on the worksite regarding equipment safety. Monday’s explosion at the plant was so forceful that nearby residents say it rocked their houses and knocked pictures off their walls. …Occupational Health and Safety is at the scene and is investigating, said spokesman Gurshan Dhillon. Operations at the plant have been suspended, Pinnacle said in a statement. The cause of the explosion is not yet known.

A detached logging trailer caused traffic delays at the Sande Overpass in Terrace Tuesday morning after blocking the left-turning lane going west on Hwy 16 for three hours. At approximately 7:10 a.m., a truck from Main Logging Ltd. was hauling a trailer of timber over the bridge when the driver noticed the hitch had broken off the truck turning onto the overpass. Nathan Voogd, roads area manager from the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure says that the incident is uncommon and that the driver made the right choice to stop. “He did a good job of actually preventing it from getting worse, he noticed it right away and put the trailer breaks on before anything happened,” says Voogd.

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.”