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Reader responds to CSA over counterfeit products
I found the letter to the editor in your January 2007 e-newsletter from the CSA’s Dave Shanahan about CSA labels and markings rather interesting. Think of it this way: If I am producing a counterfeit product, and selling that product to someone who in turn is misrepresenting that product as having been approved by CSA, EU, UL, etc. then why would that “retailer” have any qualms about also counterfeiting the CSA, EU, UL labels and markings? An unscrupulous entrepreneur, since he is already merchandising illegal products, will just include in his order to his manufacturer, specs that include the forgery of the very labels and markings that I, as a buyer, believe to be an authentic indication of quality and the product’s legitimacy. The producer of the illegal products (which may not be illegal where they are produced), doesn’t care, he’s making money. The minor inconvenience of charges and fines, should our entrepreneur be caught and convicted, is just the cost of doing business. The mark-up is enough to cover any puny fines. If caught and convicted, this entrepreneur could just move off to a new company. That is like saying the drugs you buy on the street are not tested and regulated. Who cares? These people live and deal on that side of the line and how much worse is it to be selling an illegal product (whatever it is) compared with selling an illegal product that also carries a forged seal of approval. Personally I don’t think anyone has a handle on this problem yet and it will get far worse before it gets better. John M. Materna |
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| In The News | |||||||||||||||
| Transportation safety the focus for NAOSH Week 2007
Organizers say this year’s theme is transportation safety and they are encouraging Canada’s safety leaders to focus efforts on this key area. Here are some stats that prove this area needs more attention: • Motor vehicle collisions are the greatest single cause of traumatic workplace fatalities in Ontario. Between 2000 and 2005, motor vehicle collisions were responsible for 199 work-related deaths, accounting for more than 30 per cent of all-work related traumatic fatalities in the province. (www.wsib.on.ca) • In 2005, there were 241 accidents, 37 fatalities and 48 serious injuries at railway crossings across Canada. (Transportation Safety Board of Canada) If you haven’t yet come up with something to do, you should visit the NAOSH website (www.naosh.ca) to find a list of events in your area, and to let the NAOSH organizers know what you are up to. You can also visit www.csse.org and download a handy resource guide with all sorts of activities, sample proclamations, news releases and ideas to get you started. The resource guide explains why transportation safety is key this year, and also provides an extensive list of links to transportation safety organizations and resources. Whatever you do, please remember to take photos and take some notes for photo captions that you can submit to Canadian Occupational Safety magazine for our 7th Annual NAOSH Week photo contest. If the judges pick your photos, you’ll be featured in COS magazine and will be eligible for some great prizes! Simply email the pictures and captions with your contact information to the editor at: tphillips@clbmedia.ca. Launched in June 1997, NAOSH week now includes activities in the United States and Mexico, and the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE) is the lead organization, in partnership with the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety (CCOHS) and the Labour Program of the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) and the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE). IAPA gears up for Health & Safety Canada It’s only about a month to go before this year’s Health & Safety Canada 2007 Conference and Trade Show, held by the Industrial Accident Prevention Association (IAPA). Billed as the largest safety event in Canada, it takes place April 16-18, 2007 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre’s South building. The IAPA says this year’s event will have four key streams: healthy workplaces, health and safety core practices, leadership and management breakthroughs and evolving innovations through research. Attendees can check out the latest and greatest health and safety products and services on display from more than 200 exhibitors, and can attend dozens of workshops and presentations from industry experts. Don’t forget to drop by the COS booth and pick up your show issue and meet some of the people who bring you COS magazine. We are also sponsoring the Internet Café at the event, and are launching new online training course offerings, in conjunction with 360training. So, drop by and say hi! For more information, or to register, visit www.iapa.ca. Safety Council issues safe winter driving tips The Canada Safety Council issued a reminder to all drivers to slow down and be safe on the roads. The association issued the release after a horrific crash near Cobourg, Ont. “Leaving earlier to get to your destination, maintaining a rate of speed at or slightly under the legal limit depending on road conditions, and maintaining a suitable following distance with other cars on the road, are key elements when it comes to proper driving procedures,” says Raynald Marchand, General Manager of Programs for the Canada Safety Council. Marchand says an average driver takes 1.2 seconds to perceive a hazard ahead, plus another second to react and brake. In typical winter conditions, the Council recommends that highway drivers need to leave eight to 10 seconds of following distance and even more in icy conditions. The Council also cited data from Transport Canada that found that between 2001 and 2005 there were 7,329 drivers and an additional 3,334 passengers killed on Canada’s roads. They also stress the need to buckle up, citing 2005 stats that found 34.9 per cent of drivers and 35.4 per cent of passengers killed weren’t wearing seatbelts. For more information, visit: www.safety-council.org |
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Expert Columns
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| SAFETY TRAINING: Safety education in the workplace
Tips on how to select a safe contractor using leading indicators by Alan D. Quilley I take great pride in the fact that I now keep an open mind to new ideas. But there was a time when I was very sure that what I knew about managing occupational health and safety issues was correct and that I’d found the secret. The trouble was, most of what I believed in simply wasn’t true. It was just someone else’s guess at how it could or should be. Often this “knowledge” I had was based on “expert” opinion formed with little or very poor research. Case in point, for many years I was absolutely positive that unsafe acts were the root of all evil and caused almost 90 per cent of the injuries. I believed that if we could just get those darn workers to stop doing those unsafe acts, that all would be right with the world. The trouble was the data that was collected to make this 90 per cent observation was done in the 1930s and was collected by the researcher asking supervisors what was the cause of accidents. Now my hat is off to those early pioneers of safety but my guess is, that even today, if you asked most supervisors what caused the accident that just happened to one of their workers, it would rarely be “lack of supervision” or “it’s our unguarded machine.” I realize now that it’s just too easy to say that a worker did something unsafe — therefore it’s the cause of the majority of accidents. Over the years I’ve very much come to think that accidents are indeed very complex and that much of what I believed to be true, simply isn’t. Lately I’ve been speaking to groups of folks about this and the other myths and realities of safety. Let’s see where this takes us when it comes to selecting safe contractors. To read Alan’s full column, click the link below: |
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Tools of the Trade: Safety Products
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Sensor offerings expanded for dockable gas monitor
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Industrial gas detector uses two-wire systems
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NIOSH approved supplier airline respirator available
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Air supplied breathing system
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New coveralls designed for confined space and fall arrest
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Coming Events
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Have
you and your safety team figured out what to do this year to promote
health and safety during North American Occupational Safety and Health
Week May 6-12, 2007?
Industrial
Scientific Corporation says it enhanced its full-featured, dockable
GasBadge Pro single gas monitor by adding an electrochemical hydrogen
(H2) sensor option. This product is suited for areas where low level
hydrogen leaks may exist, says the company. It can monitor unsafe
levels of oxygen or these toxic gases: ammonia, carbon monoxide,
chlorine, chlorine dioxide, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulfide,
nitrogen dioxide, phosphine and sulfur dioxide. The monitor works with
the company’s DS2 Docking Station and iNet monitoring service to
further simplify and automate calibration, function (bump) testing and
data management.
Honeywell
Analytics introduces its Series 3000 XPIS (explosion proof,
intrinsically safe) gas detector for industrial applications. The
detector uses existing two-wire systems to monitor for toxic and oxygen
gas hazards in potentially flammable environments. The company says the
product is designed for demanding industrial environments such as
exploration and drilling platforms, production platforms, onshore oil
and gas terminals, refineries and chemical plants; power plants, waste
water facilities, utilities and others.
Draeger
Safety introduced the PAS Colt, a NIOSH approved supplied airline
respirator with a five or 10 minute self-contained air cylinder for
emergency entry or escape in potentially hazardous environments. The
unit is configured for up to 300 feet or 12 hose length sections from
the air source. This hip-mounted unit is lightweight and ergonomic for
stability and comfort, says the company. The unit can be used in
applications ranging from chemical spills and decontamination
operations to routine maintenance tasks. Draeger Safety says its new
harness and mask material meets rigorous requirements of EN137 heat and
flame resistance, is fully washable, and is inert to chemicals and oil
and impervious to most acids and alkalis.
AOSafety
introduces the new BackTrack air supplied breathing system, that uses a
dual airline Y-design that wraps the breathing tube around the back of
the wearer and out of the work zone. The lightweight yet durable
breathing tube resists kinks and flexes for mobility, says the company.
It can be used with all AOSafety 8000 Series half mask and full-face
mask respirators, including QuickFit, the full-face mask respirator
with the QuickDial system for rapid donning and doffing. The complete
BackTrack product includes the breathing tube, belt, belt mounted
adjustable flow control valve, hose clip, and optional vortex cooling
system. Air supply hoses are reinforced polyvinyl chloride and meet
“off-gas” specifications of MIL H-2815 F for high quality breathing
air, says the company.
Safety-Alls
Workwear Inc., from Sydney, N.S. introduces its Safety-Alls coveralls
and overalls. The company says this patent pending product is a work
garment that will receive internally (and be removed if required) any
standard full body fall arrest harness combined with several closable
D-ring slots. Safety-Alls says its coveralls and overalls were designed
and developed specifically for confined space and fall arrest
environments. The company says the design is intended to reduce
negative safety issues associated with the daily use of fall arrest
harnesses; including entanglements while working, harness not
maintaining proper shape and D-rings not located properly.