Transcript How do you measure up? The Cost of a Workplace Accident

Preventing Damage to Buried
Facilities
Jeff McKay, OSO
Today’s Topics
• How Do You Measure Up?
• Due Diligence
• Occupational Health and Safety
Regulation
• Workers Compensation Act
• Employer Incident Investigations
• Notification Requirements
How do you measure up?
Responsibilities of ground
disturbers/ digging community
How do you measure up?
“WorkSafeBC Investigates Contractor
Over Oil Pipeline Rupture” Media coverage
• July, 2007 Burnaby
• “The contractor could be
fined as much as
$500,000 if WorkSafeBC
finds it did not accurately
determine the location of
an underground facility
before using a machine to
excavate.”
The Cost of a Workplace Accident
• Insured Costs
• Medical
• Wage loss [injured employee(s)]
• Studies show between 2% - 12% of the total
cost of an accident is covered by insurance
(including WCB coverage)
© 1985 Practical Loss Control Leadership – Bird & Germain
The (hidden) Cost of a Workplace
Accident
• Uninsured costs
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Property damage
Tool & equipment damage
Accident investigation time
Hiring and/or retraining replacements
Production losses
Loss of business & goodwill
© 1985 Practical Loss Control Leadership – Bird & Germain
Hits to cables - $$$
• Outage - high speed internet may cost
$2,257 per minute.
• Outage - Vancouver/Toronto primary may
cost $144,506 per minute.
• These lines are a critical part of 911 systems
and special monitoring systems between
hospital centres
How do we prevent accidents like this?
In a word
– PLANNING
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Accurately locate u/g facilities and verify
Conform with requirements of the owner
Hand expose facilities
Develop site-specific plans and emergency
plan
How do we prevent accidents like this?
Ground disturbance checklist
Enforcement
WorkSafeBC enforcement tools include
• Compliance Orders
• Administrative penalty
• Referral to Crown Counsel
for prosecution
Defense of due diligence
Generic
“Due Diligence”
Take every reasonable precaution in the circumstance
Take every precaution reasonable in the circumstance
Take every precaution reasonable in the circumstance
Take every precaution reasonable in the circumstance
Take every precaution reasonable in
the circumstance
Defense of due diligence
Due Diligence requires an employer to:
prove it has established a system of
procedures intended to ensure a safe
workplace and;
ensure that the system is implemented,
monitored and enforced internally
The Four Cornerstones of Due Diligence
A system approach that provides:
Information
Instruction
Training
Supervision
Managing Safety from the Supervisor’s Perspective: Understanding the
Four Cornerstones of Due Diligence
Know your responsibilities
If everyone –workers, supervisors,
employers, contractors, consultants and
owners – is aware of the hazards and
their responsibilities then the effect will
be a safer workplace.
Employers ultimately must be
knowledgeable about those regulations
applicable to their industry.
What’s in the OHSR?
• Part 20: Construction, Excavation and
Demolition – Section 20.79
Underground Utilities
• Part 4: General Conditions – Section
4.18 Notification of Utilities
OHSR 20.79
• (1) Before excavating or drilling with powered
tools and equipment, the location of all
underground utility services in the area must
be accurately determined, and any danger to
workers from the services must be controlled.
• (2) Excavation or drilling work in proximity to
an underground service must be undertaken
in conformity with the requirements of the
owner of the service.
OHSR 20.79 (cont.)
• (3) Pointed tools must not be used to
probe for underground gas and
electrical services.
• (4) Powered equipment used for
excavating must be operated so as to
avoid damage to underground utility
services or danger to workers.
OHSR 4.18
• An employer whose work activities
result in a hit or damage to a pipeline,
buried electrical cable or other such
utility must notify the owner of the utility
without delay.
What’s in the WCAct?
• Section 173 – Incidents that must be
investigated
• Section 172 – Immediate notice of
certain accidents
WCA Section 173
• Employers must immediately undertake
an investigation into the cause of any
accident or incident that had a potential
for causing serious injury to a worker.
• Any gas line hit or high voltage contact
is likely to fall into this category and an
investigation is required.
WCA Section 172
• Employers must also investigate the
cause of any accident that involved the
major release of a hazardous
substance.
• Must consider the seriousness of risk to
the health of workers that the release
presents.
What is serious risk?
• It was necessary for people to be evacuated from
buildings
• Gas seeped into sewer or drains
• Any person required medical treatment
• The gas leak ignited
From OHS Guideline G20.79 Underground Utilities
• Situations involving natural gas that should be
considered a “serious risk”
Notification Requirements
• Notify Utilities – already covered OHSR
4.18
• An employer must immediately notify
the Board of the occurrence of any
accident that involved the major release
of a hazardous substance.
Further Information
www.worksafebc.com
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Publications
Hazard Alerts
Tool box meetings
Regulations &
Guidelines
Questions
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WorkSafeBC Contacts
• Jeff McKay: Cranbrook - ElkValley
• Phone: 250-417-4702
• Email: [email protected]
• Mary Salmon: Cranbrook - Invermere
• Phone: 250-417-4707
• Email: [email protected]
• Scott Peet: Cranbrook – Creston
• Phone: 250-417-47
• Email: [email protected]