2013 OEANS – McInnes Cooper

Employer Conference

Occupational Health and Safety Division

NS Labour and Advanced Education

Introduction To Industrial Hygiene For Employers

Discussion Topics

• NS LAE / OHS Division

• Workplace Safety and Health Regulations

• Inspections / Investigations

• Industrial Hygiene

• Contaminants and Control

• Material Safety Data Sheets / Safety Data Sheets

• Air sampling

• Consultants

• Reports and Records

NS Labour and Advanced Education

• Department

• Skills and Learning

• Labour Services

• Advanced Education

• Safety Branch

• Immigration

• Status of Women

• Policy and Professional Services

• Safety Branch

• Office of the Fire Marshal

• Technical Safety

• Occupational Health and Safety

Occupational Health and Safety

• OHS Division

– Inspection, Investigation, Enforcement, Education, Law Development

– 96% Funded by the WCB

• Workers Compensation Board

– Prevention programs (Social marketing, Consultation, Safety Certification)

– Claim processes (Workplace injuries, Appeals)

• Safety Strategy

– 2013 to 2017 initiatives

– Released March 2013

Legislation

Acts •Occupational Health and Safety Act •Hazardous Products Act (WHMIS component) •Smoke-free Places Act

Regulations

•Occupational Safety General •Administrative Penalty •Fall Protection and Scaffolding •First Aid •Blasting Safety •Occupational Health •Disclosure of Information •Temporary Workplace Traffic Control •Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System •Workplace Violence •Appeal Panel •Underground Mining •Occupational Diving •Workplace Safety and Health •Controlled Products •Smoke-free Places

Framework

Acts Regulations Codes of Practice Guidelines

Occupational Health Regulations / Workplace Safety and Health Regulations

• Adopt the chemical and physical agent exposure standards.

• The standards come in many forms and units of measurements

• The standards are all time based, usually 8 hours

• When the work schedule is not based a regular (8 hour) shift the standard need to be adjusted.

ACGIH - Exposure Limits

Exposure Limits – Threshold Limit Values - TWA

Exposure Limits – Threshold Limit Values - BEI

Exposure Limits – Threshold Limit Values - Noise

Questions?

Inspection / Investigation Process

• OHS Officers – appointed by law to administer OHS requirements

• At a workplace based on a targeted inspection program, as part of an incident or accident investigation, a random selection, or a complaint

• OHS officer can enter any premise at a reasonable time and during an inspection, the employer and an employee can accompany them

• OHS officers have certain powers to inspection, interview and copy documents

Inspection / Investigation Process

• After an inspection / investigation a report is prepared and made available to the workplace

• The report can include ‘compliance orders’

• Compliance orders must be responded to within the time period specified on the order

• Compliance orders can be ‘forthwith’, ‘time based’ and ‘stop work’

• You need to confirm with the OHS officer has requested and what you are required to do

• Compliance orders can be appealed

Inspection / Investigation Process

• Enforcement provisions

– Administrative Penalties

• Non Court process

• Presently under review

• Allows for the issuance of a monetary fine (employer, employee, contractor, etc.) when a non-compliant condition is identified

– Summary Offense Tickets

• Court process but can be settled out of court

• Alleges an offense with a specified monetary penalty

– Long Form Prosecutions

• Court process

• Alleges an offense that will be determined by a judge at a trial

Questions?

Occupational Health and Safety

• Industrial Hygiene

– Health and safety specialty

– Anticipation, recognition, evaluation and control of chemical, physical and biological agents in the workplace

• Contaminants in the Workplace

– Chemical (metals, minerals, gases, solvents)

– Physical (noise, temperature, vibration)

– Ergonomics (machine person interaction)

– Biological (fungi, mold, bacteria, virus)

– Electromagnetic (x-rays, microwave, laser)

Control Strategies

• Substitution (process, equipment, material)

• Isolation (process, equipment, people)

• Engineering (process design, ventilation)

• Administrative (education, practices, procedures)

• Protective Equipment (dermal, respiratory, hygiene)

Questions?

Non Chemical Agents

• Noise

– Regulate noise exposure to reduce the risk of hearing loss

– 85 dBA for an eight hour day

• Temperature

– Regulate extremes in temperature

– Heat (Wet Bulb Globe Temperature Index) ability to dissipate heat

– Cold (Equivalent Temperature) risk of frost bite and hypothermia

Non Chemical Agents

• Radiation

– Ionizing – X-rays

– Nonionizing – Lasers, Ultra-violet, Infrared, Radiofrequency (microwave), Electro-magnetic fields

• Vibration

– Standards for hand arm

– Standards for whole body

• Ergonomics

– Standards for hand activity

– Standards for lifting

Chemical Agents

• Every product that comes into a workplace is usually made up of a numbers of chemicals

• Each chemical will have unique properties and hazards associated with it

• Workplace specific training should be provided to employees who work with the products

• In some cases some form of exposure control will be required

• Safety Data Sheets are a source of information for the workplace

Material Safety Data Sheet

Chemical Agents

• Chemicals come in many different forms

– Dust, Fibers, Mist, Aerosol, Fume, Gas, Vapour

• Form of chemical and its properties determine what the effect could be

– metals, particulate, inorganic gases, organic solvents

• Monitoring

– Sampling the air (collecting and analyzing a contaminant in the air)

– Biological Sampling (measurement in the body)

Chemical Agents • Toxicology

– Every chemical exhibits unique properties, the dose is usually what determines an effect or injury

• Target organs

– Chemicals have their effect on specific body sites

• Routes of Entry

– Ingestion – hand mouth contact, with food

– Skin absorption – some chemicals can be absorbed

– Inhalation – breathing in the contaminant and most common method of workplace exposure

• Body Response

– Body’s ability to handle and metabolize chemicals

Questions?

Chemical Information • Federal labeling requirements and data sheets

– Hazardous Products Act and regulations

• Provincial requirements to provide information and training

– Inventory and WHMIS regulations

– Workplace labels

• MSDS / SDS

– Structure and content of the data sheet will change to an international standard

• Introduction of Globally Harmonized System (GHS) in Canada - June 2015

Monitoring

• MSDS need to be reviewed to understand what chemicals are used in your workplace

• Understand your processes, what is produced

• Review what is known from the industry

• When to conduct air sampling

– The process generates contaminants

– Handling hazardous products

– Concerns raised / health issues

– Law requires monitoring

• Purpose to form an objective opinion concerning exposures

Questions?

Hiring a Consultant

• Finding a consultant

– Business contacts

– Industry / Safety associations

– http://novascotia.ca/lae/healthandsafety/consultants/

• Evaluating the consultant

– Can they provide the service required and at what cost

• Defining the required work

– Clearly indicate and get agreement on what outcome is being requested (officer / union / employees)

Expect a Report

• What to look for in a report

– Executive summary

– Title

– Authors

– Introduction

– Hazard description

– Process description and protective measures

– Methods and measurements

– Evaluation criteria including legislation

– Results, discussion, observations

– Conclusions, recommendations, actions

– Figure, maps, photos, graphs

What to do with a Report

• May need to submit to the regulator to obtain compliance with the law

• Make it available to OHS Committee / employees (OHSA section 35)

• Determine what action is required

– Is there a problem or issue

– To comply with existing laws

– To improve working conditions in the workplace

Posting and Records Retention

• Posting Requirements contained in the OHS Act section 37

• Some categories of information (reports) to be made available in the workplace OHS Act section 38

• Retention of some reports covered in regulations OSG Regulations section 8A and WSH Regulations section 1.15 (2 / 5 / 30 years)

• Historical reports may be required if a disability or health implication has to be addressed in the future

Questions?

Websites

• http://novascotia.ca/lae/

•http://novascotia.ca/lae/healthandsafety/

•http://www.wsis.ns.ca

•http://www.wcb.ns.ca/

•http://www.ccohs.ca/