[Healthandsafety] News April 3-08

["Barry Doyle" <bdoyle@cupe.ca>]

Ottawa panel wants to stop lowering flag for Vimy Ridge, police, women and workers
The Globe And Mail 
Tuesday, April 1, 2008 
Page: A1 
Section: National News 
Byline: Bill Curry 
Dateline: OTTAWA 

OTTAWA -- A federal advisory panel that studied whether Ottawa should fly the Peace Tower flag at half-mast to mark the deaths of individual soldiers is rejecting the idea - and wants to dramatically scale back the number of days already receiving the ceremonial honour. 

The "special days" that would be scrapped include Vimy Ridge Day on April 9 and Workers' Mourning Day on April 28. Also targeted is the last Sunday in September, which marks Police and Peace Officers' National Memorial Day, and Dec. 6, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. 

The goal of the proposed new guidelines is to focus attention on Remembrance Day as the only scheduled day on the calendar that would receive the honour. 

The flag would continue to fly at half-mast after the deaths of federal officials such as MPs and lieutenant-governors. 

The report is surfacing as opposition MPs plan to pass a motion tomorrow calling for the Peace Tower flag to fly at half-mast each time a Canadian dies overseas in a military mission. 

In advance of losing the nonbinding vote, Conservatives are countering with the federally commissioned report from a who's who of Canadian heraldry called the Secretary of State flag advisory committee. Chaired by Robert Watt, the former chief herald of Canada, the panel also includes current Chief Herald Claire Boudreau, Brad White of the Royal Canadian Legion, and historians René Chartrand and Jacques Monet. 

They were asked last year by Jason Kenney, the Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity, to review not only the issue of soldier deaths but the protocol of flying flags at half-mast at federal buildings. 

Its chairman, Mr. Watt, argued yesterday that Remembrance Day is the single most appropriate date to honour all fallen soldiers. 

"One of our aims was trying to emphasize how important half-masting is as a procedure," said Mr. Watt, in explaining why his panel recommends an end to the "special days" section of the current protocol. "We felt really that the idea of half-masting had been extended beyond where it needed to be, and so we wanted to reinforce its importance by focusing it in as precise and clear a way as possible." 

The government is expected to reject the results of tomorrow's vote. It will instead call for the report to be studied by the House of Commons Canadian heritage committee. 

As for soldier deaths, the panel recommends easing the rules for soldiers to be honoured locally by flying flags at government buildings at half-mast. 

Other than dropping the "special days," the proposed protocol for the Peace Tower and all other government buildings is essentially the same as the status quo. That means flying the flag at half-mast is an honour reserved for the Queen and her family, the current and former governor-general, prime minister, chief justice of the Supreme Court, lieutenant-governors, current members of Parliament, senators and privy councillors. The panel recommends the flag at the Department of Foreign Affairs be flown at half-mast to honour the passing of current heads of mission to Canada. 

Liberal MP Andrew Telegdi's motion - which is supported by all three opposition parties - also calls for MPs to observe a moment of silence in the House of Commons. 

The government started lowering the flag for soldier deaths under former prime minister Jean Chrétien, and the opposition heavily criticized the Conservatives for stopping the practice. 

Mr. Telegdi argued that the Conservatives are simply trying to avoid negative attention surrounding soldiers dying in Afghanistan. 

"I'm a Liberal. I voted for extending the mission," Mr. Telegdi said. "But this comes at a heavy price and it's not something we should be sweeping under the rug." 

© 2008 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.


Idnumber: 200804010072 
Length: 615 words 
Keywords: POLITICAL; DEFENCE; DEATHS; FLAGS; POLICY; PEACE TOWER 




Stelco pays for safety violations
Hamilton Spectator 
Thu 03 Apr 2008 
Page: A4 
Section: Local 
Byline: Barbara Brown 
Source: The Hamilton Spectator 

A judge dealt Stelco Inc. a hefty $500,000 in fines and surcharges yesterday for failing to heed workplace safety regulations. 

The violations led to injuries to two workers, including the amputation of one man's leg and the loss of another man's thumbs. 

Lawyer Robert Little entered three guilty pleas on behalf of Stelco under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The charges involved failures to protect workers in two 2005 accidents and in a potentially dangerous situation in 2006. 

Crown counsel Line Forestier said the fines reflected Stelco's less-than-stellar health and safety record, which included 18 prior convictions since 1978. The company was fined $250,000 in 2004 for failing to protect steelworker Jeffrey Turner, who was killed at Hilton Works in December 2001. 

Little acknowledged that the $400,000 in fines (plus a 25 per cent victim surcharge) were driven by Stelco's past convictions, "Although they are spread out over many years and reflect the size of the company and its workforce." 

Ontario Court Justice Norman Bennett imposed a $180,000 fine for the incident on Nov. 11, 2005, when a steelworker's leg was amputated below the knee. His leg was pinned between two pieces of equipment at the sinter plant on Wilcox Street. 

Bennett imposed a $160,000 fine for an accident on June 17, 2005, when two industrial maintenance workers were attempting to change shear blades. One suffered broken toes and the other lost both thumbs when one blade cut through a sling and fell to the ground. 

The final conviction involved a Feb. 2, 2006, incident in which two workers were exposed to a moving arm on the lower material gate on a blast furnace. A fence guard had been removed a week earlier. 

bbrown@thespec.com 

905-526-3494 

© 2008 Torstar Corporation


Idnumber: 200804030017 
Edition: Final 
Story Type: News 
Length: 286 words 


Log trucker killed near Fort St. John
Prince George Citizen 
Thu 03 Apr 2008 
Page: 6 
Section: News 
Source: The Citizen, with files from the Alaska Highway News 

A driver of a logging truck was killed on the Alaska Highway on Monday, marking the second death of a log trucker this year in northern B.C. 

The two deaths come after there were no fatalities of logging truck drivers in 2007. 

The fatal crash took place at Mile 131 of the Alaska Highway near Pink Mountain, north of Fort St. John. The man was driving southbound down a hill before going around a corner when the truck rolled off the highway. Witnesses on the scene say he didn't appear to be wearing a seatbelt, according to police. He was pronounced dead at the scene. It is the third fatality on the Alaska Highway in two weeks. 

"We're considering if speed was a factor just because of the (truck) going down a hill and going into a corner. And it's a logging truck that was loaded at the time, so we have to determine if there was a shift in the load that could have caused it to go off road," said Const. Jackelynn Passarell of Fort St. John RCMP. 

She couldn't say whether road conditions were a factor in the crash, but stressed black ice is still a possibility during this time of year. 

"It might not look like the roadway was slippery, but if it's going to be below zero (degrees Celsius) then the chances are that there can be black ice and you need to slow down and drive to the conditions of the roadway," she said. 

The identity of the driver is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, but police believe he is not from the North Peace. 

The first log trucker to die in northern B.C. in 2008 was killed near Fort St. James. The 44-year-old driver died in a collision in January with another logging truck near the 62-kilometre mark of the North Road, near Fort St. James, about 150 kilometres west of Prince George. 

Although no logging truck drivers were killed in 2007 in northern B.C., more than 30 logging truck drivers and other forestry drivers have been killed since 1995. 

© 2008 Prince George Citizen


Idnumber: 200804030024 
Edition: Final 
Story Type: News 
Length: 350 words 





Workers' Compensation strong fiscally; Commission sees $48M deficit but overall finances still healthy
Times & Transcript (Moncton) 
Thu 03 Apr 2008 
Page: C2 
Section: Business 
Byline: Times & Transcript staff 

Poorer than expected investment returns and new legislation containing a presumption clause for certain occupational diseases for firefighters have combined to produce a $48-million deficit but the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission still managed to end 2007 on a positive note. 

Strong payrolls, secure assessment income, stable new accident costs, improving service delivery and return to work initiatives helped the commission weather the dark patches. 

"The introduction of Bill 12, An Act to Amend the Workers' Compensation Act, increased the commission's claim costs by $31.2 million," said WHSCC chairwoman Roberta Dugas, commenting on the WHSCC's 2007 annual report. 

"While the funded liability fell from 111 per cent in 2006 to 105.4 per cent in 2007, this funding level still represents a steady improvement from a low of 92.3 per cent in 2003, and consecutive decreases in assessment rates since 2005, " she said. 

Decisions are based on long-term assumptions and objectives and the commission continues to maintain sufficient funds to pay future benefits, she added. 

The commission promotes work safety and fewer workplace accidents. 

Another positive note was the annual client satisfaction surveys administered by an independent firm which endorsed the WHSCC's commitment to high quality services to employers and workers of New Brunswick. 

The commission administers no-fault workplace accident and disability insurance for employers and their workers funded solely through assessments on employers. It also provides accident prevention services besides cost-effective disability and liability insurance. 

© 2008 Times & Transcript (Moncton)


Idnumber: 200804030060 
Length: 237 words 



Barry Doyle
Senior Officer, Health and Safety
Canadian Union of Public Employees
1375 St. Laurent Blvd.
Ottawa, ON  K1G 0Z7
o.613-237-1590 x289
c.613-294-9424
f. 613-237-5508
bdoyle@cupe.ca
www.cupe.ca