Safety Reporter
Canadian
www.safety-reporter.com
February 2017
WORKER WINS APPEAL FOR
CHRONIC PAIN BENEFITS
Workplace injury initially believed healed
but worker developed headaches and
neck pain from the trauma pg. 5
DISABILITY MANAGEMENT
PROGRAMS: CHALLENGES TURNED
OPPORTUNITIES pg. 3
Formalization and integration key
elements of an effective disability
management program for an organization
WORKER CAN'T PROVE
PERMANENT IMPAIRMENT
FROM SECOND ACCIDENT
Medical reports couldn't distinguish
effects of earlier accident from
more recent one
pg. 6
INSIDE
Safety changes ahead in Ontario
What employers need to know about what's new and what's coming in safety regulations
BY MELISSA CAMPEAU
IF CHANGE IS the only con-
stant in life, that's true of em-
ployee safety regulations, as well.
With one big change just final-
ized in Ontario, and one more
seemingly just around the corner
for the province, employers will
need to prepare to ensure policies
and programs are in place, prac-
tices are up to date and resources
are set aside to cover the costs.
"Certainly from the Ontario
perspective, the biggest news of
the last year was Bill 132 com-
ing through the pipelines and
amending the Occupational
Health and Safety Act (OHSA)
to provide greater protections
for workplace harassment," says
Adrian Jakibchuk, Associate
with Littler LLP, in Toronto.
As of Sept. 8, the bill required
Former smoker gets
benefits for lung cancer
History of smoking didn't mean
occupational asbestos exposure
didn't contribute to his lung cancer
BY JEFFREY R. SMITH
AN APPEALS tribunal has overturned a previous denial of work-
ers' compensation benefits for a worker who developed lung cancer
after years of exposure to asbestos at work.
The worker worked in an electrical motor shop from 1976 to 1982,
where he took motors apart and handed them to electricians for
building or repair. The electric motors used asbestos as insulation in-
NEWS BRIEF
NEW GLOBAL
WHIMIS STANDARDS
ADOPTED IN CANADA
A relatively straightforward — but
no less important than changes
to occupational health and safety
legislation — change impacting
workers' health and safety is Can-
ada's adoption of the new global
standard for WHIMIS and the iden-
tification of hazardous materials.
As of February 2015, Canada
adopted the new standards. On-
tario did the same in July of 2016.
"For most employers, if you're
not a manufacturer of chemicals
or hazardous materials, the main
thing to be aware of is now you're
going to have an obligation to train
employees not only on the old WHI-
MIS 1988 labels and safety data
sheets, but also on the new 2015
labels and safety data sheets."
"By Dec. 1 of 2018 we're no
longer supposed to see the old
WHIMIS labeling and safety data
sheets," says Jakibchuk. "Every-
thing is to be replaced with the
new 2015 versions and employers
are not to have in their inventories
hazardous materials with the old
labeling and safety data sheets."
For more on changes in health
and safety legislation in Ontario,
please see the article "Safety
changes ahead" in this issue.
Some > pg. 4
Credit:
Shutterstock/Zerbor
Asbestos > pg. 2
