When it comes to chemical safety, ignorance is your worst enemy.

 

Ross Armstrong doesn’t pretend to be a chemical expert. The safety supervisor at Boart Longyear Canada has developed a keen eye for spotting important health data on a material safety data sheet (MSDS) over the years, and the workers come to him when they have concerns about chemicals used at the plant. Still, he’s no chemist and he "has no problem finding out" all he can about these substances.

 

Health and safety experts outline some basic steps to follow for safer chemical handling in the workplace. 

 

Many employers and workers across the country use representatives to assist them with their dealings with their respective compensation boards. Representatives assist with revenue issues, including rate group classification, registration, claim reporting, return to work and appeals. 

Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) stated that, effective Nov. 1, 2007, it will not accept as representatives, individuals who have not applied for a paralegal licence and who are not otherwise exempt from the licensing requirement. As of that date, worker and employer representatives are required to provide the WSIB with confirmation of their licensing status for all WSIB matters. 

The Alberta government is launching a pilot project to make the Employment Standards complaint process easier for employees.

“Like most Albertans, I imagine you enjoy the work that you do and your employer is treating you fairly,” said Minister Thomas Lukaszuk in a recently posted video blog. “However, if that is not the case, now you have a new, innovative way in which you can file your complaint with Employment Standards.”

In addition to the more traditional methods of mailing a complaint or dropping by in person, Alberta workers can now use the new online complaint process to complete an online complaint from start to finish. The form can be accessed at employment.alberta.ca/EScomplaint.  

There are over two-million workers in Alberta. Employment Standards receives about 5,000 complaints annually.

For more information on your Employment Standards responsibilities, and to better understand your workplace rights, call the Employment Standards Contact Centre at, toll free in Alberta, 1-877-427-3731.

Click here to view Minister Lukaszuk’s video blog.

Bill 120, the Securing Pension Benefits Now and For the Future Act, 2010 fulfils the government's commitment in the 2010 Budget to build on recommendations of the Expert Commission on Pensions, advice from the Advisory Council on Pensions and Retirement Income, and discussions with the Canadian Institute of Actuaries.  Amendments were also made during extensive consultations with partners and the public.

This second set of reforms addresses almost 40 recommendations from the expert commission and would:  

• strengthen funding rules;
• permit more flexible funding rules for certain multi-employer pension plans and jointly sponsored pension plans;
• clarify pension surplus rules and provide a dispute resolution process to allow members, retirees, and sponsors to reach surplus-sharing agreements on plan wind-up;
• provide a more sustainable Pension Benefits Guarantee Fund; and
• further strengthen regulatory oversight and improve plan administration.

These proposed reforms are the outcome of extensive consultations and build on Bill 236, the Pension Benefits Amendment Act, 2010 that passed in the Legislature unanimously on May 5, 2010. Before Bill 236, pension rules in Ontario had been largely unchanged for more than two decades.

The government's reforms to date have responded to about two-thirds of the 142 recommendations in the expert commission's report that were addressed to the Ontario government. Remaining recommendations will be considered for inclusion in future reforms.

Ontario regulates approximately 8,350 employment pension plans, which comprise more than 40 per cent of all registered pension plans in Canada. Research conducted for the Expert Commission on Pensions found that 62 per cent of Ontario families with a member in the workforce have some degree of pension coverage.

As part of the Open Ontario plan, the Ontario government says it supports a multi-pronged approach to reform of the retirement income system and playing a leading role in national discussions on retirement income system reform to help Ontario families.

Manitoba recently proposed amendments to the act which would add four new occupational disease presumptions for firefighters. If enacted, these amendments would apply to full-, part-time and volunteer firefighters.

"Manitoba was the first jurisdiction in Canada to enact a firefighter's disease presumption," says Labour and Immigration Minister Jennifer Howard, minister responsible for the Workers Compensation Act. "These new amendments reflect our ongoing commitment to the brave men and women who risk their lives on a daily basis."

The four new cancers which would be added to the list are multiple myeloma, primary site prostate, skin and, for the first time in Canada, breast cancer. Ten primary-site cancers have been listed since the first presumptive legislation in 2002:  brain, bladder, kidney, lung, ureter, colorectal, esophageal and testicular cancers, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and leukemia.   

Manitoba firefighters have worked with government to help bring together the scientific and medical research showing that firefighters experience higher rates of certain cancers, the minister said.

"Firefighters lay their lives on the line not only at the fire scene itself, but also face a higher risk of developing cancer in later years," said Alex Forrest, president of the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg. "Firefighters in Winnipeg and across the province applaud the government of Manitoba for recognizing that fact in this important legislation."

In 2002, Manitoba became the first jurisdiction to have a firefighter disease presumption. Five cancers were initially included. In 2005, the Workers Compensation Act was amended to expand the presumption to part-time and volunteer firefighters, add three more cancers and presume heart injuries within 24 hours of an emergency response to be work-related injuries. In 2009, testicular and esophageal cancers were added.

Employment in British Columbia has reached an all-time record high, breaking the previous employment record set two years ago, Finance Minister Colin Hansen announced at the start of December.

“B.C.’s economy is continuing its recovery from the global downturn and employment has now exceeded pre-recession levels,” said Hansen. “Retail sales and exports are also showing growth compared to last year, but we remain mindful of ongoing instability across many sectors and international markets.”

According to the Labour Force Survey released today by Statistics Canada, B.C. created 4,300 jobs in November, resulting in a total of 2,326,100 people working in B.C. in November. B.C.’s employment is now 2,600 jobs above the all-time high of 2,323,500 jobs reached in July 2008, prior to the start of the global economic slowdown.

Year-to-date to November, B.C. has created 46,600 more jobs than the same period last year. Since December 2001, B.C. has added 307,000 full-time positions and 120,000 part-time positions.

Terms of Engagement: New Ways of Leading and Changing Organizations. 2nd Edition
By Richard H. Axelrod
Barrett-Koehler Publishers; $29.95 (U.S.)

Consultant Richard Axelrod says the idea for his book, now newly launched as a second edition, was to provide line managers with a guidebook for implementing organizational change. Axelrod focuses on four core principles and three practices that enable leaders to build strong employee commitment to change efforts. He shows how the old change management model actually discourages engagement.

Axelrod first destroys six common change management myths and then shows leaders how to involve everyone in an organization-not just select committees or working groups – in designing change efforts. He offers strategies for creating connections between people at all levels and building communities within the organization enthusiastically engaged in fostering change.  Underpinning all these efforts, he insists, must be a fundamental and transparent commitment to fairness in planning, implementation and outcome.

This revised edition features many new interviews and three new chapters. It includes a summary of recent findings in neuroscience that support Axelrod’s change model, and advice on how you can encourage engagement through everyday conversations, staff meetings, and work design.

Click here for more information (Axelrod speaks in a brief video on the book), or to order the book.

Canadians aged 25 to 34 fear that they will have to work longer into their golden years, according to a new poll commissioned by Edward Jones. This is a concern that has increased over the past four years – in 2006, 28 per cent of Canadians aged 25 to 34 listed this as their top fear about retirement, while today 40 per cent say this is their top fear.

A similar trend can be seen in the U.S. In 2006, only 15 per cent of Americans aged 25 to 34 listed having to work longer as their number one retirement fear, while now nearly one-fourth (23%) list this as their top fear.

"The recession has been a wake-up call for many investors – especially those that are still early in their careers," says Sucharita Maitra, principal, retirement planning, Edward Jones. "Many fear that they will have to work longer to supplement their savings making retiring at 65 a pipe dream, a worry that has become even more pronounced since the recession. I can't stress enough the importance of starting to save early to avoid having to work longer."

"Quelling fears about retirement comes back to planning and preparation," says Maitra. "Developing a financial strategy early and sticking to it will assist in calming those worries and allow young Canadians to finish the rat race in record time."

The Canadian survey results are based on a telephone survey of 1,005 nationally representative adults between October 28 and 31 by Harris/Decima.  A sample of this size will provide results that can be considered accurate within plus or minus 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.   

The U.S. survey results are based on a telephone survey of 1,008 nationally representative adults between October 28 and 31 by Caravan. A sample of this size will provide results that can be considered accurate within plus or minus 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.   

Edward Jones is a full-service investment dealer with one of the largest branch networks in Canada.

One-on-one coaching is rated the most effective method for developing employee skills in communication, critical thinking, collaboration and creativity, according to a survey of more than 2,000 senior managers and executives by the American Management Association (AMA).

The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) recently launched a survey to learn more about the human rights issues and barriers people with mental health and addiction disabilities face. The survey kicks off a broader consultation process on human rights and mental health-related issues.

The questions are aimed at learning how discrimination because of a person's mental health issue or addiction may affect their ability to find and keep a job, get an apartment or connect with education and health-related services.

"Mental health is a priority for the OHRC," says Chief Commissioner Barbara Hall. "There are many ways we will add our voice to advancing rights for people living with mental health and addiction issues; the first step is to open this dialogue with the people who know first-hand the lived realities of mental health challenges."

The surveys are part of a broader public consultation that will hear stories from people with mental health disabilities and addictions, their families and friends, employers, service providers and housing providers in a number of communities across Ontario.

The OHRC will apply what it learns to its work in this area, which will include developing an effective, meaningful and relevant policy to help people living with mental health and addiction-related disabilities as well as the people who serve and employ them.

The survey is available online in two different formats, one for people with a mental health disability or addiction, and one for friends and family members. People are invited to fill out the survey online or print it out and mail it to the OHRC before the end of February 2011.

More information is available on the OHRC website at www.ohrc.on.ca, and regular updates will be posted on Facebook and Twitter.