Editorial: Safety consequence goes beyond company walls

Written by Mari-len De Guzman 09 October 2008

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Canadian Occupational Safety was recently granted the opportunity to witness first-hand the tough and often dangerous work that the Toronto Fire Services has been doing to maintain safety in the blast zone.

There’s no greater love than this — that a man would give his life for a friend.

This age-old adage came to my mind as I walked through the burnt ruins of what was once Sunrise Propane’s Toronto facility on Murray Road. Canadian Occupational Safety was recently granted the opportunity to witness first-hand the tough and often dangerous work that the Toronto Fire Services has been doing to maintain safety in the blast zone. [Watch COS's coverage on the Sunrise blast site]

I have always had a concept of the dangers and life-threatening risks our firefighters face on a daily basis. But our blast site visit was somehow a personal realization and appreciation of the real perils of their profession. The firefighters’ job does not always end when the last of the fire has been extinguished. Particularly in an industrial incident such as the Sunrise blast, firefighters remain on site to provide support for staff from other agencies who will be conducting investigations and documentation on the incident. Firefighters are trained to assess the risks and ensure that no life or limb is put in harm’s way, even at the expense of their own.

The 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York, which took the life of hundreds of firefighters in the course of their rescue operations, is a testament to that dedication. But none of them saw the September 11 terrorist attack coming, making it difficult to prevent from happening (some would argue otherwise, but that’s for another editorial).

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said on the Sunrise blast incident. A document released by the Technical Standards and Safety Authority revealed that Sunrise Propane has been engaging in unsafe truck-to-truck propane transfers since at least November 2006. Truck-to-truck propane transfer is prohibited in Ontario. The TSSA also found that prior to the fire and explosions at the Sunrise facility, a truck driver there was engaged in illegal truck-to-truck propane transfer.

This practice is known to have been occurring at Sunrise since November 2006, for which the TSSA has issued a cease and desist order to Sunrise. That order didn’t seem to have any effect on changing the company’s safety policies though, because two years later, that same practice may have been the cause of the massive blast.

The devastation from the explosions not only left the propane company with millions of dollars worth of losses, but had also caused some residents in the surrounding neighbourhood grief from the resulting destruction to their own properties. Most of all, it has put our firefighters once again in harm’s way.

Disasters have always been a part of humanity’s existence. It’s what firefighters, emergency medical services, the police and other emergency responders are trained for. But while these brave man and women understand the sacrifices they need to make, it doesn’t mean we can unnecessarily put them in the position of making that sacrifice. We have a role to play as well.

When organizations do their part in creating a safe workplace and instilling safe work practices among their employees, they are not only looking after the well-being of their workers and their families, but the well-being of those outside their organization. Your safety practices mean one less emergency to respond to for our emergency response workers. By promoting a safe workplace, companies are doing their part to help firefighters, the police and emergency medical responders get home to their families safely, too.

Last modified on Friday, 14 January 2011 12:46

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