Canadian Safety Reporter

April 2019

Focuses on occupational health and safety issues at a strategic level. Designed for employers, HR managers and OHS professionals, it features news, case studies on best practices and practical tips to ensure the safest possible working environment.

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Safety Reporter Canadian www.safety-reporter.com April 2019 Worker's return to full-time work after 16-year absence doesn't stop benefits Benefits were locked in when worker was deemed unemployable; Decision not reviewable after five years BY JEFFREY R. SMITH AN ONTARIO employer has lost its appeal to discontinue ongoing future loss-of-earnings benefits that were locked in until the age of 65 for an injured worker, despite the fact the worker receiving the benefits was able to return to work full-time after 16 years off work recovering from a workplace injury. Doug Featherstone, 50, was an employee of Nepean Hydro — cur- rently operating as Hydro Ottawa — dating back to the '90s. On One conviction, one charge dismissed after worker's fall Hole worker fell through and plummeted 2 storeys was too big to cover but should have had guardrails or other safety measures in place: Court BY JEFFREY R. SMITH A SASKATCHEWAN construc- tion company has been found guilty of one out of two charges filed in the wake of a worker's two-storey fall down a hole that had no guardrails. Norred Construction is a construction business based in Saskatoon, Sask., owned by Nor- man Reddekopp. In the summer of 2017, Norred was contracted to work at a residential construc- tion site. Reddekopp worked at the site with another Norred employee, Keith Giesbrecht. On Aug. 3, 2017, Giesbrecht and Reddekopp were onsite DEPRESSION DIAGNOSIS LINKED TO WORKPLACE ACCIDENT 5 YEARS EARLIER Worker had psychological condition deserving of entitlement after injury pg. 5 LIGHTS OUT FOR WORKER WHO REFUSED NIGHT SHIFT MOVE Worker claimed he couldn't work night shift for medical reasons, but medical information he provided didn't support his argument pg. 6 INSIDE NEWS BRIEF Not feasible > pg. 4 Credit: Shutterstock/Zapylaiev Kostiantyn Certainty > pg. 2 PM #40065782 28-HR RESIDENT SHIFTS NOT HARMFUL TO PATIENTS (Reuters Health) — Hospital resi- dents working 80 hours a week get nearly as much sleep and provide comparable patient care whether their schedule is highly-structured or more flexible, according to a study looking at extended shifts. Thirty-day mortality rates for patients in the iCOMPARE study were 12.2% when shifts were lim- ited to 16 hours a day and 12.5% where shifts could be as long as 28 hours. Both schedules gave the doctors-in-training roughly the same number of hours of sleep through the week. But Dr. Charles Czeisler, director of the division of sleep and circa- dian disorders at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said the iCOMPARE results do not prove it is safe to sleep-deprive doctors. The study measured physician performance where neither the flexible group nor the control group gave residents and interns close to the amount of protected sleep time recommended by a 2009 analysis by the Institute of Medi- cine, Czeisler said. Concern about the long work hours that residents and interns are required to work prompted new rules in 2011 limiting shift duration. BENEFITS FOR RECURRENCE OF MENTAL STRESS INJURY 3 YEARS AFTER INCIDENT Modified work, PTSD diagnosis, similar symptoms developed 3 years after incident pointed to compatibility pg. 3

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