Here at YorkU we rely on emergency phones when accidents or other bad things happen. They are a key part of our safety infrastructure. And, because of this, they need to be checked to see if they are actually functioning. Unfortunately, we've discovered that for some time now many of these safety phones are broken. […]
As the debate on maximum indoor temperature standard gets underway at Toronto City Hall today, now is a good time to point out to YorkU employees and students that we once had a standard for maximum acceptable temperature but the HSEWB Department got rid of it this year. The bottom line is this: we shouldn't […]
This will be a short post on silica, a "designated substance" here in Ontario. It is found in building materials like concrete blocks. Another "designated substance" is asbestos. According to the Ontario Government, the "generation of airborne silica-containing dust should be controlled with a mechanical ventilation system, wetting, or the use of a dust collection […]
This isn't just about directing the pizza delivery to your late night study session. It's about being able to tell the 9-1-1 operator where the emergency is happening. A student died at the University of Victoria and one of the contributing factors appears to be the inability of the 9-1-1 operator to get paramedics to […]
York University hides a lot of health and safety documents behind the Passport York wall. The "YU-Link" set of pages was introduced about ten years ago and, in the process, many documents that were previously accessible are now locked away and hard to obtain. In other words, this means that many important documents cannot be […]
Why are so many sidewalks at York University still covered in ice and snow? Because we simply don't have enough employees and equipment to get the job done. What staff we do have has been working really hard to make the walkways and building entrances safe, but there is simply too much ground to cover […]
File the following in the "for a work friend" category of blog posts. The TL;DR of dealing with bed bugs is this: Let's imagine that your friend, who works with you but in a different building, has discovered a bed bug infestation in their work space. And, let's imagine that the employer is reluctant to […]
I want to follow-up on my earlier post on workplace incident reporting at York University. Our HSEWB department, which controls resources and processes related to workplace health and safety at York University, continues to insist that documentation -- including workplace incident forms -- be hidden behind password protection access. Hiding health and safety documentation behind […]
Summary The Ontario Workers Health & Safety Training Centre provides training on Indoor Air Quality. It’s valuable training for Joint Health and Safety Committee members to provide them on background to better understand how to go about gathering and analyzing information on indoor air in the workplace. The training covers common issues, limitations, and responsibilities. (preview here) Given the importance of […]
TL;DR: There is little to no evidence to show that coughing into your elbow prevents the spread of disease. Elbow-coughing has long struck me as a cop-out, but some posts on Twitter piqued my interest into digging around in the scientific literature. Thanks to Dr. Christine Peters and Dr. Lee Altenberg for the pointers to […]