- OCTOBER-NOVEMBER, 1977

SAFETY PAGE

TO AID INJURED MEMBERS
HIGH LEVEL COMMITTEE SUGGEST ED }

IWA

The 28th Annual Conference
on Safety and Health was the
prelude to the I.W.A. Western
Regions 40th Convention
Anniversary, at the Holiday
Inn, City Centre in Vancouver,
September 16th and 17th.

Sixty-nine Safety Directors,
Delegates and Council Officers
processed recommendations
on thirty-six health protection
and accident prevention
subjects, designed to seek
progressive changes’ in
workers compensation by
legislation and through
amendments to existing
regulations.

ers at the

Special guest speak
conference included M.J.B.
Paradis, Vice Chairman of the
B.C. Workers’ Compensation
Board, who enunciated the
future policies of the Board, in
respect to increased education
in subjects allied to. accident
prevention, and greatly in-
creased emphasis on industrial
hygiene. Mr. Paradis drew
attention to the sudden growth
of interest in occupational
health, producing a demand
for attention, which the W.C.B.

resources were not geared to
handle.

A second speciality address
concerned problems of the
alcoholic worker, presented by
Jo-An Lynch of the ‘‘Interlock”’
agency, which provides
assistance programs to cover
workers in the forest products
industry.

had one more fatality

sistent

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER 30

Regional Safety Director, :
Max Salter presented a report
recommending greater
educational emphasis, par-
ticularly in the industrial
hygiene field, and delivered an
analysis on -forest industry
fatalities covering the four
provinces within the Regional
Council.

Looking at the record of the
first six months of 1977,
Manitoba had the misfortune
of equalling the record for the
year 1976, while Saskatchewan

1977 six months period than it
had in the twelve months of
1976.

Alberta came through with
no recorded fatals in the first
half of this year, against six
fatals occuring in 1976, while
B.C.’s record showed no im-
provement, having suffered
exactly half, of their 1976 total,
in the first half of 1977.

Fallers again bore the brunt
as the sector with the greatest
number of deaths for a single
occupation, while an equal
number of fatals resulted
from being struck or run over
by equipment.

A number of fatals were the
result of failure to apply proper
accident prevention measures.
A significant factor in the long
list of industrial fatalities in
the forest products industry,
would appear to be the con-
occurrences’ in
unorganized, or medium sized
work units, where no accident

CRAN BROOK DELEGATES were nied highly hiterested’ in the fuseday meet.

¢

in the -

prevention program is prac-
tised, or in units where no
authoritative safety committee
exists or functions.

. Of the many serious
determinations presented in
resolution form, and also
receiving the endorsation of
the Regional Convention Body,
was the report of the Com-
mittee structured under S-28
emanating from the 1976
convention.

The 1976 directive required a
study to be performed, and
ready for presentation to the
1977 Convention by the
Regional Officers.

The study prepared by Max

‘Salter, Tom McCrae and Jack

Welder, as Officers of the
Safety Council, recommended
the establishment of a high
level industry-wide committee,
to structure guidelines to cover
rehabilitation of workers
handicapped as a result of
forest industry accident in-
juries or occupational health
handicaps accruing from
hygienic exposures.

This committee is charged .

with the responsibility of
developing a system .of
judgment panels to deal with
cases to be considered for
rehabilitation in the han-
dicapped capacity.

The convention endorsement
calls for the results of these
processes to be presented for
examination by the 1978
Regional Convention.

a

THREE of the Council officers — left, Tom Meche; Chair-
man; Verna Ledger, Recording Secretary; Max Salter,
Regional Safety Director.

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Two DELEGATES from the Prince Albert Local show their.
interest in the speaker. i

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BET tas

" DELEGATES from the pagers! Céeal took an active part in
the Conference.

COURTENAY delegates show keen interest.