HSE Updates Week of 7 February 2024 – RAE, ESC, OHS

Greetings,

Please review the applicable HSE Updates..

• Company Safety Meeting Presentation:   deadline: second Friday of each month for the previous month
  • If you have not already done so by the deadline, please review the attached Company Safety Meeting on SiteDocs to indicate you have reviewed it. If the deadline has passed – you missed it but are still expected to review and sign-off the presentation in SiteDocs.
• H&S Bulletin: Answer due by 8am last Friday of the month (23 Feb 2024)
  • See attached: February 2024 Health and Safety Bulletin
• Health and Safety Committee: Next Meeting: Thurs before last Fri of the month (22 Feb 2024)
  • If you can’t join the HSC meetings,  you can still participate by providing feedback, questions, or concerns to hsc@raeengineering.ca. Please submit feedback prior to the next meeting so it can be brought forward.
  • The HSC meets the last Thursday of each month at 1pm via Teams
  • Previous HSC Meeting Minutes can be found in the Teams Channel and SiteDocs.
• Safety Rewards Program: Where your commitment to RAE’s Safety Culture is rewarded!
  • December 2023 PRC winners: Submit more cards! Be specific in how your coworkers are contributing to safety!
    • $500 Best Card Winner:  Irwin Garcia
    • $100 Safety PRC Draw: Sepehr Sari
  • If you have any questions or concerns about the Safety Rewards Program, or would like to sign-up to do a presentation, please email hsc@raeengineering.ca.
• Peer Recognitions: Due by Company Safety Meeting each month
• Performance Reviews:
  • Performance reviews are coming up. Please ensure your certifications are in place and valid.
  • If you are a Supervisor, arrange time with your staff to perform Annual Assigned Equipment Checklists

Energy Safety Canada (ESC)

• Safety Bulletin | New Legislation and Regulations – 2024:
  • As a part of the energy industry, staying up to date on federal, provincial, and municipal legislative and regulatory changes is crucial.
  • Keep yourself well-informed with ESC’s most recent safety bulletin, New Legislation and Regulations – 2024 that includes federal—and provincial— level changes for Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, that may impact energy industry employers. There is also information about the role employers and employees play in remaining compliant with these changes.

OHS

• OHS eNews – February 2024 (via email) include:
  • Top OHS resources of 2023 from the OHS Resource Portal
  • Improving OHS enforcement information:
    • News releases for OHS-related court outcomes will now be issued similar to AB enforcement agencies and other provinces such as British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Ontario.
    • In addition to the news releases, the ministry is revising the OHS charges, convictions, prosecutions and prosecution outcomes web pages
  • Inter-jurisdictional recognition issued for CSA-approved filtering respirators:
    • An inter-jurisdictional recognition (IJR) has been issued for filtering respirators approved by CSA Group (CSA). Under this IJR, filtering respirators that comply with CSA standard Z94.4.1, Performance of filtering respirators, are now acceptable personal protective equipment in Alberta. This gives employers the flexibility to use filtering respirators approved by either CSA or the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
    • For more details on the IJR for filtering respirators, visit open.alberta.ca/publications/ohs-director-inter-jurisdictional-recognition-csa-approved-respirators.
  • CSA invites comments on draft updates to two CSA standards:
    • The deadlines to submit comments on the draft updates are February 16, 2024 for the office ergonomics standard, and March 18, 2024 for the respirator standard.
    • To view the drafts and submit your comments, visit CSA’s draft review pages for the office ergonomics standard and respirator standard. (You will need to register for a free account.)
      • CSA standard Z412, Office ergonomics – An application standard for workplace ergonomics
      • CSA standard Z94.4, Selection, use and care of respirators
  • Upcoming live webinars on employment standards. For more information, or to register for one of the sessions, please visit alberta.ca/employment-standards-webinars.aspx.
    • Employment Standards in Alberta – Wages and Overtime: Thursday, February 8 (1:30 p.m.)
    • Employment Standards in Alberta – General Overview: Tuesday, February 27 (1:30 p.m.)
    • Temporary Foreign Worker Advisory Office – TFW & Employer Rights and Responsibilities – Thursday, February 29 (1:30 p.m.)
    • Employment Standards in Alberta – Vacation Pay and General Holiday Pay: Tuesday, March 12 (1:30 p.m.)
    • Employment Standards in Alberta – Administration and Enforcement: Tuesday, March 26 (1:30 p.m.)
    • Temporary Foreign Worker Advisory Office – TFW & Employer Rights and Responsibilities: Wednesday, March 27 (10:30 a.m.)
  • OHS: Beyond the numbers
    • Working in extremely cold conditions is a hazard that can cause debilitating injuries. From 2018 to 2022 there were an average of 76 WCB injury claims each year due to extreme cold, with almost all such claims (97 per cent) being a result of frostbite. Fingers were the most commonly injured body part (35 per cent), while the construction and construction trade services industry sector had the highest percentage of claims related to extreme cold (40 per cent).
    • Workers who had lost-time claims with WCB due to extreme cold injuries were off from work an average of two months. More injuries from extreme cold happened in February than in any other month.