Toronto West CAER - Speakers since 2007

Toronto West CAER Speakers 2007-

2003-2006

At the June meeting Bruce Carlin, Supervisor at the Province of Ontario's Ministry of the Environment’s Spills Action Centre, explained the significance of Regulation 675/98 and Part X of The Environmental Protection Act, to the committee as it deals with spills. Some highlights were: That the role of the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) is to provide advice and direction to those who spill and to enforce the legislation. Spills outside containment must be reported forthwith to the Spills Action Centre at 1-800-268-6060. As well as the MOE, the local Municipality must be notified of all outside spills. Duty to cleanup and restore lies with the owner of the pollutant and the person having control.

A guide to reporting Spills and Discharges can be found at the MOE website or downloaded here.

A graduate of MacDonald College of Montreal, Bruce has been a supervisor at the Ministry of the Environment’s Spills Action Centre since 2003. Prior to that he was a contingency planning officer and a senior environmental officer at the same office. He also has worked in the agricultural field as well as with product safety issues. Bruce lives in Milton with his spouse Hazel and enjoys gardening and is actively involved with the local historical society.

In May, OZZ Solar Inc., based in Toronto, gave a presentation on how they have been helping industry better utilize the rooftop areas of their buildings.

Andrew Gilchrist, Senior Sales Manager, informed us that OZZ Solar Inc. "is the Canadian leader in rooftop solar distributed generation development. OZZ offers the most comprehensive and vertically integrated partnership currently operating within this new and exciting space of renewable generation. OZZ guarantees its partners the ability to utilize their real estate for the production of clean power, which is both financially and environmentally efficient with the understanding that OZZ has the ability to develop a customized program to suit your specific needs. As a company and together with our partners, we have accumulated over 10 years of solar industry experience, both in manufacturing and system integration, in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
In Ontario we subscribe to the Feed-In Tariff program under the Green Energy Act, where solar PV system owners get 20 years of steady payment from the Ontario government for the green electricity generated by their rooftop solar PV systems. We provide complete turnkey rooftop solar PV solutions for single buildings or multiple building portfolios."
For any further inquiries, please contact:
Andrew Gilchrist
Senior Sales Manager
OZZ Solar Inc.
(905) 326-2437
agilchrist@ozzsolar.com

At the April meeting, Mike Reiser delivered a one hour presentation on arc flash safety and the relevance of the new CSA standard, Z462-08, Workplace Electrical Safety. The presentation gave information on the dangers of electrical arcs and how Z462 can be used to ensure workers are properly protected.

Mike Reiser is a Professional Engineer, registered with PEO. For 34 years he was an engineer with the Ontario Ministry of Labour, retiring in July of 2009. Since then, he works as a safety consultant on electrical and machine guarding issues, and continues to work with CSA as a volunteer member of the Technical Committee for Z462.

At the March meeting Mike McIllwraith, Irving Tissue's Health, Safety and Environmental Manager for their Toronto Plant, led a facilitated discussion on the Province's legal requirements for Fall Protection.

Mike provided references and links to the Occupational Health and Safety Act - R.R.O. 1990, REGULATION 851, regarding fall protection. He then gave a list of Key Program Components to consider, showed some illustrations of requirements and gave a real case example of a fall harness opportunity for improvement that was detected and properly corrected at his Irving facility. He then led a facilitated group discussion with Toronto West CAER members that discussed: examples of projects that members had encountered; some of the challenges faced in complying with the Fall Arrest requirements; and finally, steps that they would use to ensure that Fall Arrest regulations are complied with when working at the prescribed heights. Mike's engaged the CAER members with respect to an aspect of safety in the workplace in terms of legal requirements so that the group could decide together on a current best approach to Fall Arrest which they could then take back to their workplaces and share with the community.

Mike has been the HSE Manager at Irving Tissue for about nine months now. He has over 15 years of HSE experience from several different industries including telecommunications warehousing and logistics, plastics and commercial bus manufacturing in the automotive industry. Over his career, he has developed his skill sets personally, obtaining his Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree in Business, as well as his CRSP (Canadian Registered Safety Professional) designation while working full time in industry simultaneously. He enjoys his role and feels he can make a contribution every day to HSE improvements and getting people home safely every day. He believes that HSE concerns involve all the people at the site to actively participate through their routine actions in the workplace and that their safety should not just be left in the hands of the "Safety Guy".

Mike has also been a volunteer for IAPA (Industrial Accident Prevention Association) for over 10 years now and has participated actively in roles such as a YWAP (Young Worker Awareness Presentation) Presenter to young high school students before they start co-op jobs, Safe Communities, Safety Groups and the IAPA Volunteer Council. He was awarded the IAPA Provincial Award of Merit as Volunteer of the Year for Ontario in 2002 for his volunteer work in safety.

Mike is active in his local Orangeville community as a Hockey Coach and Lacrosse Trainer, where he lives with his wife and two children.

As part of its ongoing commitment towards the protection of people, property, and the community in which it operates, Bayer recently updated and improved its Business Recovery Plans. With a goal to build awareness and better understanding amongst C.A.E.R. members, Joe Caponio, currently Head of Warehouse Management for Bayer Incorporated with over 20 years experience in the field of Logistics, provided the group with an overview of Bayer’s path towards building a sound business recovery program.

To begin, a company must first determine what its recovery time objective (RTO) is. Simply stated, the RTO is an estimate of the maximum amount of time a company can operate without its systems before adversely impacting its customers, business partners and the community at large. This is something that needs to be carefully debated and discussed, typically at the executive level, as this will form the basis of the recovery plan.

Then, some assumptions need to be made in order to begin working on the plan. A worst case scenario, one in which a site and its computer systems are no longer available, is usually a good starting point.
Upon completion, work can then begin on identifying those departments that are critical to providing the continued flow of goods or services. A common example is the order to cash work stream within a company. Many departments play critical roles within this function, such as: Customer Service; Import/export and Transportation; Quality Assurance; Inventory Management; Distribution and finally Payable/Receivable departments. These groups, and any others that are deemed critical, must then begin outlining individual or group plans on how to continue operating without computer systems. With due consideration to the RTO, they must also outline the computer systems and data they require once in order to resume normal processing.

Armed with an RTO and system requirements from the various individual or group plans, the Information Technology or I.T. department can then begin to build its technology plan to restore critical systems such as servers, networks, data and voice. It is at this point usually, that a company can begin to more closely examine its RTO and adjust if required.

Last but certainly not least, while all of the above work is going on, an overall corporate or master plan must be articulated. It is within this document that a company will define its recovery objectives and strategies. By doing so, the various components or stages of its recovery can then be outlined. This will include, but is not limited to, such things as establishing immediate response steps and alternate work locations, restoring & validating system functionality, resumption of normal processing and migration or return to a home site. The master plan must clearly define team roles and responsibilities, how the various functions/departments will interact, and provide contact information, alternate work site locations and setup activities.

With the creation of a master and technology recovery plan, and with further support from critical functional/departmental plans that are integrated with I.T., a company is well on its way towards protecting and preserving its relationship with all stakeholders.

Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Bayer Inc. operates the Bayer Group's HealthCare and MaterialScience businesses in Canada. Bayer CropScience Inc., headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, operates as a separate legal entity in Canada. Together, the companies play a vital role in improving the quality of life for Canadians - producing products that fight diseases, protecting crops and animals, and developing high-performance materials for applications in numerous areas of daily life.

Prior to assuming his current role, from 2005 - 2009, Joe’s responsibilities as Director, Logistics & Customer Service included leading and directing Bayer’s Distribution, Import, Export, Transportation and Customer Service departments. While a key area of this function was to ensure the highest quality of service and value be delivered to Bayer’s internal business partners, another component was to ensure compliance to regulations, best practices, corporate policies and directives. An integral part of Bayer’s Emergency Preparedness & Response Program, his responsibilities also included direct accountability over Bayer’s chemical Emergency Response Assistance Plan as well as key roles within the Business Recovery Plan.

The City of Toronto has launched a new ChemTRAC program, which aims to protect public health by reducing toxic chemicals in our environment and helping businesses become more environmentally sustainable. ChemTRAC includes a new Environmental Reporting & Disclosure Bylaw (Municipal Code Chapter 423), the first municipal regulation of its kind in Canada. The new bylaw requires facilities to publicly report their use or release of any of 25 priority toxic chemicals above reporting thresholds. The City of Toronto will also help facilities find sustainability solutions. More information about the program and requirements for reporting can be found at www.toronto.ca/chemtrac. In this presentation, Rich Whate and Marianne Kingsley from the City of Toronto provide an overview of the bylaw, examples of how facilities can calculate their data and prepare to report, and invite businesses to pilot test new ChemTRAC systems.

Rich Whate is an Acting Supervisor of Environmental Health Assessment and Policy at Toronto Public Health's Environmental Protection Office. He contributes to research, public outreach and policy development on issues such as air quality, pesticides, toxic chemicals and industrial pollution. He is a coordinator of Toronto's ChemTRAC program and its Environmental Reporting and Disclosure Bylaw. Prior to joining Toronto Public Health in 2004, Rich spent a decade coordinating campaigns for Canadian and international environmental non-governmental organizations.

Marianne Kingsley is a Health Promotion Consultant in the Environmental Protection Office at Toronto Public Health. She is currently working on implementing the Environmental Reporting and Disclosure Bylaw and ChemTRAC, along with developing a range of program supports and resources. E-learning and online development are a particular area of interest and she is creating a suite of online resources and e-learning modules for ChemTRAC stakeholders. Previously, Marianne spent over six years developing evidence based public health policies, such as a food safety bylaw and vaccine handler training. Marianne studied ecology at Trent University and completed her M.Sc. in freshwater ecology in 2003 at the University of Ottawa. Her research focused on the effect of anthropogenic disturbances in salmonid rivers in British Columbia.

Greg Bain, Environmental Health and Safety Specialist for Chrysler's Etobicoke Casting Plant, which is ISO14001 certified. The plant manufactures aluminum parts and pistons.

Greg has been the EHS Specialist at Chrysler for over 10 years and he is also the Energy Manager and Incident Commander. Over his career, he has made significant contributions to Chrysler under the topics of Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost and Morale. He has trained hundreds of employees and Greg developed a strong Environmental Management System to ensure the plant maintains ISO14001 certification.

At the November meeting Greg gave a presentation on the Province of Ontario's Toxics Reduction Act (TRA) and who it will affect. The Act was passed on June 3, 2009 and starting in January 2010, facilities identified by NAICS codes commencing with the digits "31", "32", "33" and "212" will be required to account for the toxic chemicals manufactured, processed or incidentally produced at their facilities.

The list of affected raw material and manufactured product industries is very broad and it is anticipated that about 2,000 manufacturing facilities will be required to report to the MOE and to the public. The list of toxic compounds and the reporting thresholds will mirror the National Pollutant Release Inventory but will be phased-in over 3 years.

If the reporting thresholds are met, the owner and operator of these facilities will have to prepare and submit a Toxics Substance Reduction Plan certified by the highest ranking employee who has management responsibility at the facility and an accredited Toxics Reduction Planner. Greg went on to explain that the Plan, if required, will include detailed process analysis including toxic chemical accounting, disclosure as to why these chemicals are used, identification of reduction opportunities and cost benefit analysis. The underlying intent is to identify and implement toxic chemical reduction opportunities. While implementation is voluntary, the Plan summaries will be made public and the facility will be required to report on its progress.

At the June 2009, Toronto West CAER Committee meeting, Laura Fiore, Divisional Waste Program Specialist, Central Region Office, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, provided information about the management of hazardous wastes in Ontario and, more specifically, provided information related to the Land Disposal Restrictions December 31st, 2009 Phase-in requirements.
Regulation 347 (Reg. 347) of the Revised Regulations of Ontario, 1990, made under the Environmental Protection Act (EPA), was amended in 2005 to establish a land disposal restrictions (LDR) program in Ontario. Under these rules, listed and characteristic hazardous wastes that are to be land disposed must be treated to meet prescribed treatment requirements prior to land disposal. The LDR program is being phased-in between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2009 to assist hazardous waste generators and the waste management industry transition to the LDR requirements.
The LDR program establishes treatment requirements for hazardous wastes that will be land disposed, including both generated wastes and residuals from the processing of these wastes. Listed and characteristic hazardous wastes with a primary characterization of severely toxic waste (S), acute hazardous waste chemical (A), hazardous waste chemical (B), hazardous industrial waste (H), corrosive waste (C), ignitable waste (I), reactive waste (R), or leachate toxic waste (T) must now be treated to meet their waste specific treatment requirements before they can be land disposed. Land disposal, as defined in Section 1(1) of Reg. 347, includes activities such as the disposal of wastes at a dump, a landfill, or landfarm and the discharge of wastes into a geological formation (i.e., deep well disposal).
Laura' presentation is available (see attached) and further information related to the management of hazardous waste in Ontario and/or the Land Disposal Restrictions requirements can be found under the following Ministry website: http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/en/land/hazardouswaste/hazardouswaste.php

Laura Fiore is well versed in project co-ordination and management of environmental projects and issues since starting her career 11 years ago in the private sector managing soil remediation and wastewater treatment projects while completing her Masters in Environmental Microbiology. In 2001, she joined the Ministry of the Environment in the Environmental Monitoring and Reporting Branch' (EMRB) Terrestrial Assessment Unit where she coordinated and managed province-wide soil and vegetation monitoring programs, such as the Sudbury Soils Study, and provided support to Operations Division on a number of contentious contaminated site files. Since November 2007, Laura has been with the Program Services Unit in the Central Region Toronto office of Operations Division as a Divisional Program Specialist for the waste program. In this role, Laura has been involved with the Ministry's response to the Ontario Auditor General's 2006 Hazardous Waste Audit and has provided training on the new Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR) requirements both internally and externally. Laura is also involved with the recent Extended Producer Responsibility programs under the Waste Diversion Act, namely the Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (MHSW) program, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and the Used Tire Program.

At our March 2009 meeting; Pamela Chappell, Regional Director - Ontario, for the Business Improvement Group, Inc. gave a presentation to the committee. The focus was understanding the government's Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) Tax Incentive Program and how it can apply to industry.

The SR&ED program is a federal tax incentive program, administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) that encourages Canadian businesses of all sizes, and in all sectors, to conduct research and development (R&D) in Canada. It is the largest single source of federal government support for industrial R&D.The SR&ED program gives claimants cash refunds and/or tax credits for their expenditures on eligible R&D work done in Canada.

To qualify under this program an organization must demonstrate that their activities meet 3 essential criteria:

Technological Uncertainty - Whether a given result or objective can be achieved, or how to achieve it, is unknown or cannot be determined based on generally available scientific or technological knowledge or experience.
Technical Content - There must be evidence that qualified personnel with relevant experience in science, technology or engineering have conducted a systematic investigation through experiment or analysis.
Technological Advancement - The work must generate information that advances the understanding of scientific relations or technologies (a gain in knowledge).

Business Improvement Group, Inc. (BIG) is a national consulting firm that assists companies with filing their SR&ED claims. With over 10,000 successful projects being approved by Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) at a success rate of over 99.9%, BIG is an industry leader in providing reliable and accurate SR&ED claim preparation services. Their team of technical engineers and costing staff have prepared claims for clients, whether the organization is a single person operation or a multi-national firm with thousands of employees.

Pamela Chappell has supported the manufacturing industry for the past 13 years. She is well versed in the challenges that manufacturers experience on a daily basis. She has helped companies obtain their ISO registration and provided support for companies wishing to take advantage of government programs. Although her education is in Environmental Science, her knowledge and experience covers all manufacturing sectors.
If you would like an appointment to determine if your company has any eligible activity please contact Pamela at 289-200-2055 or pchappell@busimpgroup.ca.

At the February meeting, Jeff G. Noel, Divisional Director for Emergency Disaster Services for The Salvation Army Ontario Central-East Division gave a presentation to the Committee. The focus of the presentation was around four important assets The Salvation Army brings to the community in times of crisis.

Mobility: The Agency has a commitment to the community to be front and center when calamity strikes. This often means rolling in specialty vehicles that allow them to effect services such as nutrition and hydration, comfort care, and other forms of crisis support. As a secondary responder, there is a cache of mobile kitchen and modified RV vehicles ready to respond throughout North America, parts of Europe, and Australia. The City of Toronto has four mobile units in the area with one of them dedicated full time to Emergency Services. Should it ever be required, they also have access to a 53 ft. Trailer Field Kitchen based in Pennsylvania that could be here in Toronto within 48 hrs. This unit has a food services capacity of approximately 4000 meals per day. It is hoped that a similar unit (slightly smaller) could one day be acquired permanently for this area.

Organization: From its earliest days, The Salvation Army has used a quasi-military organizational structure. There are four levels of administration; 1) The corps (Community Church) or Institution level, is that front line of operation with a community. 2) Divisional Head Quarters, is a regional command. 3) Territorial Head Quarters, for the Canada & Bermuda territory. And finally, 4) International Headquarters in London, England. This tiered administration makes for quick response to needs globally as well as locally.

Experience: The first major response The Salvation Army responded to was a hurricane that devastated Galveston, Texas back in 1900 claiming well over 5000 lives and leaving many more thousands homeless and with no providence for food or clean drinking water. Since then, they have been there to assist with practical support services for war time, as well as natural and man made situations. Some of the earliest known engagements here in the GTA include the SS. Noronic Fire 1949, Hurricane Hazel 1953, Mississauga Train derailment 1979.

Purpose: The Salvation Army does not participate in these activities to evangelize or thumb bibles but merely to serve. Jeff would not make any apology for being part of a “Faith Based” agency in this kind of work but claims it as a strength that deepens this organization's commitment to helping those in need of assistance in times of undue hardship.

Within the City of Toronto there are three groups who assist the Toronto Fire Services with nutrition and hydration services. For the north west portion of the City The Salvation Army has been responsible to ensure there are such services ready 24/7. They assist with police issues across the City and have been deployed to help with searches and prolonged investigations. Working with the City of Toronto's Social Services, TSA assisted with the needs of citizens impacted by the Keele / Wilson propane explosion.

With a continued commitment for the needs of tomorrow, TSA seeks to be a caring and supportive service that can be counted on to be professional, resourceful, and practical in its efforts to make a positive difference for those involved in crisis in our community.

Jeff Noel

In 1988 Jeff was commissioned and ordained at The Salvation Army's College for Officer Training. Moving to Toronto from the east coast in 1990, he began working with The Salvation Army (TSA) in Community Mental Health Services in a non officer capacity. Having enjoyed five great years there he then moved to take the office of warehouse manager at the central family services distribution centre. In 1997 a call came from TSA Winnipeg for assistance with the Red River flood and he was then baptized into the world of Emergency Management. TSA in Ontario Central soon recognized the need to better develop a response program and Jeff was hired on as the first full time Emergency Disaster Services Director. From the start, Jeff has sought to forge better relationships with the area Police and Fire services, other NGO organizations and to get involved in as much training as possible. During an EMO course in Scarborough another call for assistance came, this time from Montreal. By 8:00pm that evening he was on his way to support TSA response to the needs brought by the Ice storm. Other major response involvement include being on the first wave of Salvationists to go to Ground Zero following 911, two tours of duty in Mississippi following hurricanes Katrina and Rita. (The first tour as Deputy Recovery Commander for the Mississippi area response, the second as Emotional and Spiritual Care Chief for the same region), and most recently a two week tour in Galveston Texas following Hurricane Ike. Jeff is a trained trainer for the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation as well as for a newly launched National Disaster Training Program within the TSA.

During January's meeting, David Peters, Responsible Care Manager for BASF Canada shared the new version of Responsible Care® from the Canadian Chemical Producers' Association (CCPA). David explained the case for change, compared the main differences of the new Responsible Care® versus the old version and discussed the timing for implementation of key steps.

David explained how society's expectations have changed as concerns about toxins in products, climate change, water issues and globalization have increased. The CCPA wants to meet society's higher expectations in these areas and act as contributors towards sustainability rather than its enemy. To this end, the CCPA has already adopted a new Responsible Care® Ethic & Principles for Sustainability. David explained that the new principles hard-wire sustainability concepts into Responsible Care®. Including sustainability now incorporates business success and understanding and meeting expectations for social responsibility within Responsible Care® which is an expansion from its previous predominantly environmental, health and safety focus.

David also discussed some innovative products and processes that BASF has in place that are either safer products, use less resources, offer added benefit or combinations of all of these factors. Included are a new spray foam insulation developed in Canada that uses recycled material and helps customers reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and a new waterborne coating for refinishing automobiles with less VOC (volatile organic compound) emissions. David introduced BASF's Eco-efficiency Analysis tool which is used to compare the relative environmental impact and economics of different options for providing the same benefit to the customer in order to focus development of more eco-efficient products.

David closed by saying that the new Responsible Care® continues to raise the bar for the chemical industry and will hopefully help keep the industry strong in Canada.

David M. Peters, P.Eng., graduated from the University of Toronto in 1983 with a bachelor of applied science degree in chemical engineering.
He began his career with BASF in 1988 in Brampton, Ontario as a project engineer for BASF Coatings and Inks. In 1991, David joined BASF Canada and in 1992 transferred into the Ecology and Safety department. David has since had a number of positions of increasing responsibility within this department. In 2001, he was given responsibility to coordinate BASF activities pertaining to the company's commitment to the ethic and codes of practice of Responsible Care and has led the company through 2 successful Responsible Care 3rd party re-verifications. Responsible Care is the Canadian Chemical Producers' Association initiative to continuously improve the environmental and safety performance of member companies. Presently, David is the Manager responsible for Ecology, Health and Safety and Responsible Care® in BASF Canada.

At the All Toronto CAER meeting, Sat Anand, BSc (Hons), Chem. Eng. presented a safety video from the U.S. CSB (Chemical Safety Board). The video related how a fire had broken out due to a propane leak on Feb. 16, 2007 at Texas's Valero Refinery and a loss of 50 million dollars was recorded.
It showed that, due to a dead end in a pipe, water had accumulated and frozen when the temperature dropped well below freezing and subsequently cracked the pipe line. Next day, when the atmospheric temperature went up, the ice melted and the propane started leaking from the cracked portion of the pipe. A spark from a boiler ignited the propane and a major fire resulted. The fire destroyed the nearby pipes and steel structure, resulting in further propane ruptures. Water spray on the nearby LPG tanks could not be initiated as the shut off valve was too close to the fire.
The CSB subsequently recommended a freeze protection program for the refinery and fire proof steel structures where a jet fire can occur. They also recommended remote shut off valves for such tanks.
Chlorine cylinders were used in the refinery and the CSB suggested that they can be replaced with a safer product, commonly called bleach.

Sat Anand has been the Quality & Regulatory Manager, as well as the Safety Manager, for Anco Chemicals Inc. for the last nine years. Before that Sat was with Union Carbide USA, now called Dow Chemicals USA, for 7 years; Kuwait National Petroleum Co. Kuwait for 7 years and National Fertilizer Ltd. India for 7 years.

Anco Chemicals is an ISO 9001-2000 and CACD (Chemical Association of Chemical Distributors) certified company.

Sat is also the Chair of the Toronto North CAER association (TNCAER) where he presents at least one safety moment at each of the TNCAER meetings, so the safety can be part of their meetings and all can share in the lessons learned from it. Their charter is that each member company of TNCAER be prepared to respond to emergency situations and that field exercises be conducted from time to time. TNCAER believes in increased public awareness of emergency response procedures, capabilities and services involved in handling potentially hazardous materials and products within our communities.

During the October 2008 meeting, we heard from Greg Bain, Environmental Health and Safety Specialist for Chrysler's Etobicoke Casting Plant, which is ISO14001 certified. The plant manufactures aluminum parts and pistons.

Greg has been the EHS Specialist at Chrysler for over 10 years and he is also the Energy Manager and Incident Commander. Over his career, he has made significant contributions to Chrysler under the topics of Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost and Morale. He has trained hundreds of employees and Greg developed a strong Environmental Management System to ensure the plant maintains ISO14001 certification.

Greg presented an overview of how Chrysler prepares for and responds to incidents at its facilities and explained how training exercises and critiques of incidents elsewhere in the company and in the community are used to share ideas and strengthen skills. Everyone is encouraged to consider and prepare for the unexpected.

To illustrate these concepts and to show how the principles of Incident Command can and should be applied to any type of incident, Greg presented a case study describing how a tiger escaped from its enclosure at the San Francisco zoo in December, 2007 and killed one visitor and injured two others. This presentation was created and presented to Chrysler by Mr. Rich Barcum of Hawkum LLC and Greg received special permission to present it to the CAER group today.

The presentation began with a review of some of the original media coverage of this incident from December, 2007 and the audience was encouraged to share their opinions about what they thought had happened. The response of various zoo staff, the police and EMS was then thoroughly discussed along with a timeline of the incident. At the conclusion of the presentation it was enlightening to compare the facts to our original opinions.

A couple of years ago, if someone had told Johanna Fisher that she would be speaking in front of groups of people about injury prevention, or speaking publicly about what her family has been through, she would not have believed them. But she says, “It's amazing what can happen in a year… here I am. Speaking to a group of people who know just how wrong things can go no matter how prepared you are… no matter how well trained you are… no matter how safety conscious you are.”

Johanna Fisher, Speakers Bureau Volunteer and Family Support Program Volunteer, Threads of Life (Association for Workplace Tragedy Family Support), spoke to committee members from Toronto CAER West, North and East, at the September 2008 meeting about the importance of injury prevention and the tragic impact that a workplace injury and fatality can have on the family of the victim. She also addressed the impact that this kind of tragedy has on the co-workers who witness or are involved in the incident and acknowledged her gratitude toward the First Responders who helped her son at the scene. The basis of her presentation is in part a personal tribute to her son Micheal, who died in January 2006 after 6 days in a coma as the result of a workplace injury. But it's also her story from the perspective of a mother who has lost her only son - of how his workplace fatality has affected both her life and her family's lives - and a call-to-action about injury prevention.
Johanna's son Micheal was a roofer who fell nearly three stories from a roof on a construction site when he was not wearing his safety harness. He had apparently been seen wearing his safety belt just moments before descending the roof to repair his nail gun. It is assumed that he removed it while he was repairing the tool and forgot to put it back on, however, no one saw him take it off and his supervisor didn't notice that Micheal was not wearing it when he walked by to return to the roof. “It's important for me that people who listen to me speak understand that Micheal's workplace injury was entirely preventable - it was not a workplace 'accident'. It's also very important to me that people understand that I am not here to place blame. I don't blame the company that Micheal worked for, I don't blame his supervisor, and I don't blame Micheal. That's not to say that I don't hold any of them accountable for this tragedy - workplace safety is everyone's responsibility.”
Johanna considers her involvement with Threads of Life to be a positive part of her personal healing process after the loss of her son, and feels that her work with them involves an element of personal growth as well as helping her to move forward while honouring Micheal's memory. “I believe very strongly in our vision statement, which is to ‘lead and inspire a culture shift as a result of which work-related injuries and illnesses are morally, socially and economically unacceptable'.”

Threads of Life (www.threadsoflife.ca) is a national, charitable, not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting families who have suffered from a workplace fatality, life-altering illness or occupational disease.

Working with provincial workers' compensation boards, governments and safety associations, Threads of Life assists families by providing:

· a Family Support Program which offers one-on-one peer support to family members and friends who have suffered a workplace tragedy
· links to professional support services
· a support network to those who have experienced similar pain and suffering;
· advisory support regarding the workplace investigation and inquest process;
· opportunities to promote workplace injury prevention and awareness within their own community.

Members of the Speakers Bureau are volunteers who have been affected by a workplace tragedy. They are parents, spouses and family who share their stories at various community venues (businesses, schools, conferences, etc) and public events, in the hope that by sharing their personal story they will create awareness and prevent further fatalities and injuries in the workplace. Johanna says, “It gives those of us who have been impacted by workplace fatalities, injuries or disease the opportunity to promote injury prevention and accountability for workplace health and safety.”

Members of the Volunteer Family Guide Program, receive training during an intensive, accredited, one-week, full-time training course, the components of which are delivered by professionals in a variety of disciplines. The volunteers are trained to provide families suffering from a workplace fatality, life-altering injury or occupational disease with the first one-on-one peer support program in the world. These Volunteer Family Guides have experienced their own workplace tragedy so they understand what other families go through.

For more information on Threads of Life or to book a speaker, you can visit their website at www.threadsoflife.ca and call 1-888-567-9490 or email Shickman@threadsoflife.ca or speakersbureau@threadsoflife.ca.

During the April 2008 meeting, Joan Burton, B.Sc., R.N., M.Ed. of the IAPA, (Industrial Accident Prevention Association) led a discussion about Pandemic Planning. Joan's presentation (Pandemic Planning: Is Your Business Ready?) was a refresher for the group on what the coming influenza pandemic is all about, why businesses should be concerned, what they should be doing to prepare and how the IAPA can help them. Despite the fact that many members were somewhat familiar with pandemic information, there were many questions and good discussion from the group.

IAPA is Canada's largest health and safety association. A not-for-profit organization partially funded by Ontario's Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, IAPA provides training and consulting on all facets of workplace health, safety and wellness. A highlight of IAPA's work is Health and Safety Canada, the largest health and safety conference and trade show in Canada, and the second largest in North America. Held in Toronto each spring, the conference is being held this year April 21-23.

Joan is currently Senior Strategy Advisor, Healthy Workplaces for IAPA. Joan's background includes working as Infection Control Coordinator in a large Canadian hospital, and Infection Control Consultant for the Ontario Hospital Association. During that time she also served on Ontario's Ministry of Health's Advisory Committee for Communicable Disease. In 2003, the year of SARS, she facilitated dozens of workshops across Ontario on Infectious Diseases and Your Business, and she is currently delivering half-day workshops to help businesses prepare for the coming influenza pandemic. Joan also chairs IAPA's internal Pandemic Planning Task Force.

While Joan's background in infection control has led to her high profile as a speaker on pandemic flu, her main expertise these days is in the area of healthy workplaces. Her goal is to help businesses understand that creating a healthy workplace is more than just ensuring a safe and healthy physical work environment. A truly healthy workplace integrates a safe physical environment, a healthy organizational culture, and support for personal healthy lifestyles for employees. Her booklet, “Creating a Healthy Workplace” has been IAPA's number one download from their website for some time, and has attracted the attention of the World Health Organization, which is hoping to turn it into a global guideline.

Vic Lim In March, 2008, Vic Lim, M.A.Sc., P.Eng., of VL Environmental Services gave our members a presentation on spills, spills prevention and spills response based on the requirements of the City of Toronto's Municipal Code, Chapter 681. He also explained how industries could qualify and apply for the sewer surcharge rebate available under Chapter 849. Both chapters can be found on our Resources page in the City of Toronto section.

Vic Lim is an executive-level Professional Engineer with 35 years of experience in the field of water pollution control, especially in the areas of industrial waste control, pollution prevention planning, sewer use by-law enforcement, environmental sampling and analysis, and quality control of wastewater treatment plants. His successful track record is based upon technical expertise, leadership skills and the ability to maintain positive stakeholder relations, and sustainable improvements in productivity, operations, and quality control. Vic's areas of specialization are: Industrial wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment, wastewater analysis, stormwater monitoring, groundwater remediation, pollution prevention planning, sewer use By-law revision & enforcement.

As a consultant, Vic currently is a member of the CH2M HILL Canada Limited project team for the City of Winnipeg Sewer Use By-law Review / Revision project, the scope of which includes providing research material on various municipal Sewer Use By-laws across the country, peer reviewing the reports being produced for this project, conducting public consultations, and presenting the final report to Winnipeg City Council.

Vic has delivered presentations on the City of Toronto Sewer Use By-law and its P2 Requirements at 9 conferences, as well as given presentations on the City of Toronto new Sewer Use By-law to various industry associations.

As a member of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) Advisory Group, mandated to develop a Canada-wide Strategy for the Management of Municipal Wastewater Effluents (MWWE), Vic was awarded the 2002 CCME Pollution Prevention Award in the “Institute, Organization or Group category.”

For his work on the new Sewer Use By-law, Vic earned the FCM-CH2M Hill Sustainable Community Awards under the category “Water/Wastewater for the new Sewer Use By-law” in 2001, and the 2000 Toronto Region Remediation Action Plan (RAP) Award of Excellence for leadership in developing and adopting the new Sewer Use By-law No. 457-2000

Vic graduated from the University of Toronto with a Master of Applied Science in Chemical Engineering degree in 1972. He is a member of the following professional associations: Professional Engineers Ontario, Municipal Engineers' Association, Water Environment Association of Ontario, and U.S. Water Environment Federation. Vic Lim can be contacted at vlim@rogers.com.

At the January 2008, Toronto West CAER meeting the members met Alex Kasperowitsch, Manager, Experience Rating, Prevention Standards & Incentives Branch of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB).

Alex has been with the WSIB for 35 years, working mostly on the financial side of the business in such areas as revenue, collections and on systems projects. His current responsibility is to manage the Experience Rating section of the Prevention Standards & Incentives Branch, an area he's been with for ten years. He and his staff of eight are responsible for administering the experience rating components of the various financial incentive programs offered by the Prevention Standards & Incentives Branch. Annually, across the province, in addition to CAD-7 and MAP presentations, they conduct about 45 NEER workshops for employers to demystify the NEER program and to help them understand the financial impacts of having a safe and healthy workplace.

The WSIB, in addition to experience rating programs, offers the Safety Group incentive program for employers to come together to share their experiences in prevention workplace injuries and illnesses and the SCIP incentive program, geographically based, for smaller employers to learn health and safety by sharing experiences and attending formal training sessions.

The JHSC Certification & First Aid area of the Prevention Standards & Incentives Branch provides information with respect to first aid requirements and the approved first aid trainers. The Occupational Health & Safety Act outlines the requirements for certification training of JHSC members. Designated members acquire basic training either through providers and programs approved by the WSIB, or passing competency testing.

Chris Rickett , a Project Manager with Toronto and Region Conservation (TRCA), briefed Toronto West CAER members with a presentation on Partners in Project Green at the November meeting. A partnership between TRCA, the Greater Toronto Airport's Authority, the Region of Peel and cities of Toronto, Brampton and Mississauga, the project aims to create North America's largest eco-business zone on over 11,000 hectares of industrial and commercial land surrounding Toronto Pearson Airport.

Utilizing the model of eco-industrial networking, which sees companies working together to improve their financial and environmental performance, Partners in Project Green seeks to help businesses: reduce their costs via resource efficiencies, develop new revenue streams by facilitating by-product exchanges; increase the efficiency goods movement; and develop a cost effective, high performance business development area that makes the region the first choice of employers to do business.

The project is in the initial stages of development with a launch date of early 2008. They are currently seeking input from the business community on how Partners in Project Green can best serve their needs. If you would like more information on the project, or to provide input, please visit www.partnersinprojectgreen.com or email Chris Rickett at crickett@trca.on.ca.

Chris Rickett, BES, MPA is a former Municipal Councillor from the City of Stratford and has worked with TRCA for two years. He holds a Bachelor of Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo and Masters of Public Administration from the University of Western Ontario.

During October's meeting, David Peters, Responsible Care Manager for BASF Canada shared BASF's approach to Responsible Care Management. David explained how Responsible Care is a unique “ethic" for the management of chemicals that was adopted by BASF Canada and other members of the Canadian Chemical Producers Association (CCPA) to help safeguard employees, the environment and the community. Member companies commit to do the right thing and to be seen doing the right thing. Consequently, BASF's management processes focus on continual improvement in the area of Environment, Health, Safety, and Security. A key component of BASF's Responsible Care commitment is the Community Right-To-Know Policy. This includes processes to inform the community of risks associated with company operations and to identify and respond to community concerns. A team of industrial experts and community representatives verifies these management processes every three years to confirm that they are still in place and improving.

BASF Canada has evolved a Management System that ensures continual improvement in the company's performance within all six of Responsible Care's Codes of Practice, including Research and Development, Manufacturing, Transportation/ Distribution, Product Stewardship, Hazardous Waste Management, and Community Awareness and Emergency Response. David shared the basics of the company's Management System that includes an access database where all BASF Sites and Businesses annually attest to their compliance or commitment to comply to all 155 Responsible Care protocols. Gaps are identified and prioritized. Sites issue quarterly reports to a Responsible Care Steering committee for review. Reports include progress made towards the site's planned outreach activities, progress towards meeting environment, security and safety performance goals and a gap completion report. The committee then reports process on a scorecard to BASF Canada president, Robin Rotenburg. Sites and businesses are held accountable for their commitment to the process, and are provided guidance to ensure that the Plan-Do- Check-Act process has been fully implemented.

After David reported the successful completion of the company's 4th verification, verifiers were impressed with the development of company's Management System and left with confidence in BASF ability to self heal and to continue to improve in all areas of Responsible Care. For more information on Responsible Care, you are welcome to view the power-point presentation.

David Peters David M. Peters, P.Eng., graduated from the University of Toronto in 1983 with a bachelor of applied science degree in chemical engineering.
He began his career with BASF in 1988 in Brampton, Ontario as a project engineer for BASF Coatings and Inks. In 1991, David joined BASF Canada and in 1992 transferred into the Ecology and Safety department. David has since had a number of positions of increasing responsibility within this department. In 2001, he was given responsibility to coordinate BASF activities pertaining to the company's commitment to the ethic and codes of practice of Responsible Care and has led the company through 2 successful Responsible Care 3rd party re-verifications. Responsible Care is the Canadian Chemical Producers' Association initiative to continuously improve the environmental and safety performance of member companies. Presently, David is the Manager responsible for Ecology, Health and Safety in BASF Canada.

As the Manager of Emergency Planning for the City of Vaughan Sharon Walker apprised the representatives from CAER committees from Toronto West, Toronto North and Toronto East of the City of Vaughan's Exercise Summer Blast. Conducted in June 2006, the exercise was designed to include all members of the emergency management team and representatives from the private sector. This was accomplished through shift changes in the Emergency Operations Centre. She explained that the exercise was developed to create realism for members of the control group. As all primary and alternates were not deployed at the same time, the Emergency Management Program created an exercise to reflect the different time frames during which the primary, first alternate and second alternate members would be called upon. The scenario was a train derailment with a hazardous materials incident that included the impact, containment and recovery phases. Each shift was responsible for managing a specific phase of the emergency. This complex table top exercise included utilization of the notification process to convene the team at different points throughout the day, implementation of procedures, plans and protocols, media briefings, and interaction with external agencies. The City shared the lessons learned and the challenges of planning an exercise of this nature.

Sharon Walker is the Manager of Emergency Planning for the City of Vaughan. Through the course of her career in Emergency Management she has worked for the Region of Peel and Canadian Red Cross. While working for the Red Cross she was responsible for coordinating Red Cross activities for the Kosovo Refugee Humanitarian Evacuation at CFB Trenton and responses to several localized emergencies. She is trained as a registered nurse and worked in progressive neurological diseases research, geriatric care and infection control. She holds diplomas in Nursing, Business Administration and certificates in Management-Labour Relations, Human Resources Management and Volunteer Resources Management. She is a Director on the Board of the Ontario Association of Emergency Managers and holds the positions of Treasurer and Membership Committee Chair.

Cathy Grant and Christina Labarge Also at the September meeting attended by representatives from CAER committees from Toronto West, Toronto North and Toronto East Cathy Grant, P. Eng. and Christina Labarge, P. Eng., two officers from the Standards Development Branch had been invited by Toronto North CAER to speak on provincial air quality initiatives. Their presentation showed how a large part of the Ministry of the Environment's (MOE) regulatory and enforcement activities focus on local air concerns affecting Ontario's communities. For example, the MOE sets air standards for a large number of air toxins, and deals with individual industrial emitters on a facility-by-facility basis. Clean, safe air is essential in protecting the health of people and communities in Ontario. As part of its commitment to clean up Ontario's air, the provincial government updated its regulation to protect local air quality. Ontario Regulation 419: Air Pollution - Local Air Quality is a key component of Ontario's plan to address industrial emissions of harmful pollutants. It is the cornerstone of the ministry's efforts to protect local air quality. As decisions on air standards are made, the regulation is amended to make the standards stronger by giving them the force of law. On November 30, 2005, Regulation 346 “General - Air Pollution” was revoked and replaced with O. Regulation 419/05. The regulation imposes air standard concentration limits for contaminants that are assessed using air dispersion models and/or ambient monitoring. Regulation 419 places Ontario at the leading edge of jurisdictions addressing local air quality issues by combining protective air quality standards with the most up-to-date scientific methods and practical implementation tools.

Cathy Grant is currently with the Standards Development Branch, Environmental Sciences and Standards Division, Ministry of the Environment. Cathy is a Chemical Engineer and has held a broad range of positions at the Ministry including regional operations, waste management, approvals, and Drive Clean. Most recently, Cathy has been working on the development and implementation of Ontario's Air Quality Standards and the new Ontario Regulation 419/05: Air Pollution - Local Air Quality.

Christina Labarge

Christina Labarge is currently with the Standards Development Branch, Environmental Sciences and Standards Division, Ministry of the Environment. Christina is a Chemical Engineer with over 15 years of experience in the areas of process design, environmental management and government programs. She has worked in research, industry and environmental consulting prior to joining the Ministry's Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch in 1999. Most recently, Christina has been working on the implementation of Ontario Regulation 419/05: Air Pollution - Local Air Quality.

Ted Hutcheson and Michael Kwiecien Conestoga-Rovers & Associates (CRA) asks how prepared are you? A Waterloo, Ontario based company providing solutions for emergency response, crisis and emergency management, business continuity and geographical information system (GIS) technology applications demonstrated how, by integrating design, physical asset and emergency response capabilities the Toronto District School Board would be able to make informed decisions in the event of an emergency quickly and confidently. Robert (Ted) Hutcheson, B.A. (Geog.) and Michael Kwiecien, C.E.T., P. Eng., CCEP, impressed the committee with the effectiveness of the CRA's software in helping industries, commerce and institutions handle the logistic and infrastructure decisions necessary to respond to almost any crisis.

The Toronto West CAER member from the Economic Development Office (City of Toronto), Glenn Walker, gave a presentation on the activities and objectives of the Office with regard to business development and retention.

Economic Development works with numerous industry and business sectors in order to facilitate cooperation with the municipal government, resolve local issues and concerns as well as to identify and access government programs. The three field offices located throughout the city facilitate development applications and relocation searches and provide a gateway to City Hall and senior levels of government. The presentation's topics also featured recommendations for enhancing the business climate, current and future government programs and employment land strategies.

Tony Horvatin of Sun Polishing and Plating gave an interesting presentation of the City of Toronto's proposed new water supply by-law as drafted by Toronto Water. In addition to harmonizing the water supply by-laws of the six former municipalities the new by-law includes an index of fees, a schedule of fines and a reference list of orders and tickets.

The by-law also goes into detail regarding the backflow preventer and premise isolation devices that will be required by industries and numerous businesses including food processors and apartment buildings, among others. Owners required to submit a cross connection control and backflow prevention device survey to the General Manager must submit updated surveys at a frequency of not less than once every five years and the survey and report must be stamped, signed and sealed by a professional engineer, authorized by the Professional Engineers Ontario to perform such work. These devices must also be tested annually by approved testers.

Acting Captain George Warner of the Toronto Fire Services reviewed all the necessary components of a Fire Safety Plan along with the relevant code sections as well as a step by step process of how to go about preparing and submitting a Fire Safety Plan. As well, the difference between an Emergency Safety Plan and a Fire Safety Plan were identified.

It is an Ontario Fire Code regulation requirement to have a plan approved and stamped by Fire Services and the plan must be accessible at the entrance to the property or building. This plan must be in a Fire Safety Plan Box which and is to include a copy of the approved fire plan, a schematic of the buildings and related service rooms, keys to access the rooms and a replacement open lock for the lock box. Acting Captain Warner provided handouts which included: Ontario Fire Marshal Guidelines for Fire Drills(OFM-TG-01-2004), Fire Safety planning for Recycling Facilities(OFM-TG-06-1998), Fire Safety Planning for Industrial Occupancies(OFM-TG-02-2000), City of Toronto Bylaw No. 186-2004 and a list of manufacturers of Fire Safety Boxes. Extra copies were left at Irving Tissue.