Latest news with #OccupationalHealth
CTV News
6 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Worker suffers life-threatening injuries in Leduc landfill fire
Occupational Health and Safety is investigating after an employee suffered life-threatening injuries in a fire at the Leduc and District Regional Waste Facility. Emergency crews were called to the landfill at 8:42 p.m. on Saturday. The victim was taken to hospital in serious, life-threatening condition. 'It is always tragic when a worker is hurt or dies on the job,' Alberta Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration said in an email to CTV News Edmonton. 'Alberta's government is focused on having all workers return home healthy and safe after every workday.'
CBC
30-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Hamilton steel processing company fined $200K after death of worker hit by forklift
A Hamilton steel processing company has been fined $200,000 after a worker was hit by a forklift and died in 2022. Janco Steel Ltd. pleaded guilty in provincial offences court in April for failing to ensure a signaller was directing the forklift operator, who didn't have a full view of the area — a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, said a Ministry of Labour court bulletin released Thursday. Justice of the Peace Butany-Goyal ordered the company to pay the fine plus a 25 per cent victim surcharge on April 2, 2025. Janco Steel director Rick Nordeman said in an email Friday that the company's culture is "rooted in safety." "The tragedy was devastating to the worker's family first and foremost, but also to his work family who cared for him deeply and continue to grieve his loss," Nordeman said. "We continue our relentless pursuit of safety through rigorous training and supervision." On the morning of April 26, 2022, the worker was at Janco Steel's Stoney Creek location, operating an overhead crane and offloading a large steel coil from a transport truck to a weight scale, the ministry said. Hamilton police previously said the worker was a 36-year-old man. "While performing the tasks and looking up at the load, the worker walked backwards into an interior driveway where a large industrial forklift was travelling," it said. The forklift operator, who was driving two to three kilometres per hour, didn't see the worker, the ministry said. Another worker yelled out, and the forklift operator immediately stopped. "But the forklift had already fatally struck" the worker operating the overhead crane, said the ministry. First responders tried to resuscitate the worker, who had life-threatening injuries, but he died shortly after arriving at West Lincoln Hospital, Hamilton paramedics said in 2022. The incident could have been avoided if Janco Steel had ensured another worker was on the ground to direct the forklift, said the ministry. In 2018, the company was fined $150,000 after a steel coil crushed a worker, killing him in 2016.
CBC
30-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Company that employed apprentice plumber killed in Calgary trench collapse charged with 11 safety offences
Social Sharing The Calgary company that employed a 27-year-old apprentice plumber who died after he was buried in a collapsed trench at a work site two years ago faces 11 charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Liam Johnston was killed in June 2023 while doing sewer repairs in the northwest community of Charleswood. Johnston worked for Mr. Mike's Plumbing at the time. The charges against the company include failing to ensure worker safety, failing to stabilize an excavation site by shoring and failing to ensure a worker is protected from cave-ins at an excavation site. "Finally something is happening," said Johnston's mother Kim Ivison. Hazard identified day before incident, charge alleges Another of the charges alleges Mr. Mike's identified a hazard the day before the fatal incident yet failed to take measures to eliminate the safety concern. Johnston's parents say that charge, in particular, makes them feel "angry and sick." "It shouldn't have happened," said stepdad Adam Groves. The company is due in court to face the charges on July 22. The Calgary Police Service conducted its own investigation. A spokesperson for CPS said this week that the file is currently with the Alberta Crown Prosecutions Service for review. Both of Johnston's parents say they're angry and frustrated with the system; it's been nearly two years since Johnston was killed. "It's very slow and it's very non-transparent," says Ivison. In an interview with CBC News in June 2023, Johnston's girlfriend Emily Gofton said he had texted her regarding his concerns about job site safety the day before he was killed. According to information posted to a website set up by Johnston's loved ones, the family alleges there were no engineers on site and no trench box set up on site. Company said it had 'shoring on site' In a statement issued days after Johnston's death, Mr. Mike's Plumbing Ltd. said it was "deeply saddened" at its employee's death. The company said it had "shoring on site and everything available to be able to install the shoring from above without jeopardizing anyone's safety. At some point while installing, this tragedy occurred." The statement went on to say it was working closely with authorities and would ensure "appropriate measures" were taken to prevent similar accidents in the future. CBC News has reached out to Mr. Mike's Plumbing for comment on the charges. On the day of the incident, the Calgary Fire Department said in a media release that the victim was working on a ladder in the three- to six-metre deep trench when a large amount of earth collapsed on top of him from the steep slope above. Fire department crews spent hours digging to get to Johnston. He was found dead by the time they got to him. A fire department battalion chief said the recovery involved "extensive safety precautions" because the trench was "unsafe." Firefighters used tools to remove the sandy soil and parts of the cinder block retaining wall, but heavy equipment was needed to remove the surrounding dirt to get to the man.
CTV News
29-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
3 workers rescued from roof of Alberta Walmart, OHS investigating
The Walmart in Cold Lake, Alta. in June 2024. (Source: Google Street View) Occupational Health and Safety is investigating after workers were injured at a Walmart in Cold Lake on Sunday. The province confirms three people were on the roof of the building when they were struck by a piece of falling equipment. The workers were rescued by Cold Lake Fire Rescue using an aerial and transported to hospital. A spokesperson for Cold Lake says the call initially came into 911 as a roof collapse, but that was inaccurate.
Sky News
14-05-2025
- Health
- Sky News
How working more than 52 hours a week may alter the structure of your brain
Working more than 52 hours a week may alter the structure of your brain, new research has found. Being "overworked" could affect the part of the brain linked with problem-solving and memory, as well as impacting mental health, the researchers found. The findings were published in the journal Occupational And Environmental Medicine and looked at the impact of overwork on specific regions in health workers who regularly clocked up more than 52 hours a week. Some 110 workers were included in the final analysis - of these, 32 worked excessive hours and 78 worked standard hours. Those working longer hours each were significantly younger, had spent less time in work and were more highly education than those doing standard hours, the study said. They used data including MRI scans to examine brain structure and found "overworked individuals exhibited significant changes in brain regions associated with executive function and emotional regulation". They also found planning and decision-making parts of the brain were affected. The researchers, including from Yonsei University in South Korea, said: "The results underscore the importance of addressing overwork as an occupational health concern and highlight the need for workplace policies that mitigate excessive working hours." Ruth Wilkinson, head of policy and public affairs at the charity the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, said urgent action is needed to tackle "an epidemic of long working hours". "A long hours culture can be experienced in what we've identified as the 'small print' of working life today," she said. "This captures those hidden or unspoken expectations placed on top of workers' contracts. "It includes always having to be available/on duty in this digital age, stripped of the right to disconnect from work outside of normal working hours." A YouGov survey by the institution found nearly a quarter of UK workers regularly work more than the legal maximum number of hours (48 hours a week), while more than half said they regularly check work emails and messages outside of normal hours.
