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Toronto
West CAER Speakers 2007- |
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 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.
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 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. |
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 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. |
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 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.
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 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. |
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 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,
forthe 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.
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. |
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 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.
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 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 Ananda
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.
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 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.
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 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
publically 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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. |
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 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.
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 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 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. |
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 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.
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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.
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 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.
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 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.
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