Canada: Labour Federation President Calls for Heavier Penalties on EHS Violations

Labour Federation President Danny Cavanagh issued a public response to a recent contractor who was the first person jailed for violating health and safety regulation. Less than three months after being jailed, the contractor was once again found putting his employees at risk by failing to ensure they were using proper fall protection. In response to the repeat offender, Cavanagh stated how “change will only happen when the courts hand out stronger sentences and fines for workplace safety violations.” The Labour Federation President has also noted that repeat offenders are clearly undeterred by the current punishments. Read more here.

Closing the Gap Between Developed and Developing Worlds

In an interesting Ted talk by Hans Rosling, a Swedish medical doctor and statistician, Rosling observes and analyzes the family size, life expectancy, and the separation between first world countries and the developing world—starting from 1962.  Initial observation of the data captured by the United Nations showed how first world families tended to have longer lives with smaller families, whereas developing countries had relatively shorter lives with a larger family. As Rosling ascends through the years into 2003, the developing countries race to close the gap between the two worlds—becoming almost unified with the first world countries in family size and life expectancy. The data analysis ultimately shows a tight relationship connecting the rise in global health and the change in societal and economic values within a country. Watch the video here.

Dollar General Continues to Ignore Safety of Workers—Fined $156K

The Dollar General in Bolivar, Ohio continues to ignore federal workplace safety inspectors. The safety inspectors found repeated instances where the company endangers workers and customers alike by blocking exit routes with stacked merchandise. OSHA issued three repeat safety citations earlier this month, coming to a total of $156,772 in proposed fines. These fines relate to blocked access to emergency exits, electrical panels, and unmarked fire extinguishers. OSHA’s area director Larry Johnson expressed his concern stating how “In an emergency, no one should have to struggle to get out of a store safely, grab a fire extinguisher or shut down the power quickly.” Read more here.

Canadian Asbestos Removal Company Fined for 274 Outstanding Safety Violation Orders

Seattle Environmental Consulting, a Vancouver asbestos removal company, is being fined a total of $506,000 for 274 workplace safety violations that have been accumulated since 2007. Some of the outstanding infractions include failing to clear asbestos from a site before demolition, repeated and high-risk violations that may have exposed the firm's own workers and other workers to asbestos, and the incorrect set-up of a negative-air unit which ended up contaminating the clean room with asbestos. Lee Loftus of the B.C. Insulators Union calls it "a crime" that the company has been allowed since 2007 to ring up over half a million dollars in fines and incur 274 safety violation orders. Read more here.