Shooting comment
constitutes workplace violence
Worker's denial and attempt to suggest
motive by co-worker to fabricate
allegation hurt his credibility
BY JEFFREY R. SMITH
AN ARBITRATOR has upheld the dismissal of a Toronto transit
worker who voiced his displeasure with management through com-
ments to a co-worker about committing violent acts.
Mark Davis, 54, was a fare collector for the Toronto Transit Com-
mission, working in ticket booths at stations on the city's subway and
rapid transit lines. He was hired in 1989 and worked as a bus driver
before becoming a fare collector.
Psychological safety: Are women
and millennials at greater risk?
Millennials and women report mental health challenges at a much higher rate
than other groups. What's behind those numbers and how can HR help?
BY MELISSA CAMPEAU
ACCORDING TO the Ameri-
can Psychological Association,
millennials report experiencing
higher levels of stress than any
previous generation. The APA
also reports that 12 per cent of
the generation has a diagnosed
anxiety disorder — nearly twice
the rate of Baby Boomers.
They aren't the only group
making headlines over mental
health concerns: The APA finds
that women are about twice as
likely as men to be diagnosed
with major depression.
With psychological safety in
the workplace emerging as a top-
ic of high priority for many orga-
Safety Reporter
Canadian
www.safety-reporter.com
June 2017
COMPANY CHARGED IN WORKPLACE
FATALITY HAS CHARGES STAYED
AFTER LENGTHY TRIAL DELAY
Company who provided machine that caused
fatality waited nearly 5 years for trial pg. 5
WORKER WINS BENEFITS
COVERAGE FOR MEDICAL
MARIJUANA pg. 3
Private benefit plan's refusal to cover
medically-necessary, prescribed drug
placed worker at disadvantage
UNION'S CHALLENGE OF SHIRT-
TUCKING RULE UNSUCCESSFUL
Employer and union couldn't agree
on proper way to wear shirts in plant,
but collective agreement proivded for
following legislative standards
pg. 6
INSIDE
NEWS BRIEF
Women > pg. 4
Credit:
Shutterstock/ESB
Professional
Comments > pg. 2 News Brief > pg. 8
PM
#40065782
EXXON REFINERY BLAST
PROBE FINDS SAFETY
PROGRAM WEAKNESSES
(Reuters) — The U.S. Chemical
Safety Board (CSB) has wrapped
up a two-year investigation of a
Feb. 18, 2015, explosion at a Tor-
rance, Cal., refinery then owned
by Exxon Mobil Corp. It found that
weaknesses in Exxon Mobil's pro-
cess safety management program
led to the explosion, which caused
minor injuries to four workers and
spiked West Coast gasoline prices.
The blast occurred when volatile
hydrocarbons flowed backwards in
an idled gasoline-producing flu-
idic catalytic cracking unit (FCCU)
to the electrostatic precipitator,
which releases sparks as it collects
catalyst particles from escaping
through the unit's exhaust stack.
"These weaknesses led to op-
eration of the FCC unit without
pre-established safe operating lim-
its and criteria for unit shutdown,
reliance on safeguards that could
not be verified, the degradation of
a safety-critical safeguard, and the
re-use of a previous procedure de-
viation without a sufficient hazard
analysis that confirmed that the
assumed process conditions were
still valid," the CSB said in its report.
The board also found debris
