For more information on the conference and trade fair, or to register:

· Web: www.hsconference.com

· Phone: (403) 236-2225

· Email: info@hsconference.com

Keeping today’s workforce safe and injury-free is vital to the more than 800 people that will be attending the 2006 Health and Safety Conference & Trade Fair in Edmonton. The conference is being held November 20, 21, and 22 at the Shaw Conference Centre, 9797   Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta.

The conference will include over 30 keynote, blockbuster and technical session

speakers, and a trade fair with over 115 exhibitors.

“The Alberta Health and Safety Conference and Trade Fair is being recognized as one of the premier occupational health and safety events in Canada. People from all over the country join us every year to network, learn something new, and share their knowledge with other professionals.”

      - Sandy Arseneault

2006 Health and Safety Conference:  November 20—22, Edmonton.

AMHSA at AUMA Conference and Trade Show

In October, the Alberta Municipal Health and Safety Association participated in the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) conference and trade show in Edmonton.

Jim Moroney and Susan Klingspor attended sessions on sustainability and meth amphetamines on October 6th.

Susan and Shannon Thomas distributed information and publications at AMHSA’s trade show booth on October 4th and 5th. Many AUMA conference delegates were interested in the SECOR program (Small Employer Certificate of Recognition).

 Municipal Safety News

Attention         Auditors—Deadline November 15, 2006

The 2006 audit    deadline is fast      approaching—audits must be submitted to AMHSA by November 15, 2006.

Questions? Contact Susan Klingspor.

Web: www.amhsa.net     Email:  safety@amhsa.net

helpful tools on a variety of topics such as emergency response plans, hazard identification, and workplace health and safety legislation.

The health and safety teaching resources are being made available to high schools across the province throughout the fall of 2006. Teacher preparation workshops will be offered to support the use of these resources.

More information on this initiative is available online at

http://www.hre.gov.ab.ca/whs-jointed.

Edmonton… Centre High Campus hosted the official launch of new resources developed to teach students how to work safely before they enter the workforce.

"The workplace health and safety learning and teaching resources provide a comprehensive toolkit and binder to help teachers demonstrate to students how to keep classrooms and worksites safe."

Students will receive a Work Safe Passport where teachers

 and employers can record the health and safety training completed. Courses recorded in the passport will be recognized by employers, and will make students more marketable when seeking employment.

Resources are provided to assist  teachers when workplace health and safety is covered in high school courses. These include teacher's notes, handouts, posters and other

Alberta Students Learn Workplace Health and Safety in School              Sept 26/06

On Friday, October 20, 2006, H & H Stucco & Siding Ltd. was fined a record setting $300,000 plus a victim fine surcharge of $45,000. This is one of the first fines imposed in Alberta since the maximum fines were increased on December 4, 2002. The case marks a major turning point in sentences imposed under the Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Act.

H & H Stucco & Siding Ltd. plead guilty to one count of failing to ensure the health and safety of a worker pursuant to section 2(1)(1) of the OHS Act. The case involved the death of a worker who fell from a fourth floor balcony while helping to install aluminum soffits on a condominium construction project in Edmonton. The worker fell from an unguarded

New Record OHS Fine in Alberta:  $300,000!           McLennan Ross OHSAlert, Oct 20/06

balcony while attempting to hand some soffits to an installer located in a scissor-lift near the balcony.

Fall protection was available at the work site but not used. It was only a few feet away. The deceased worker was also the nephew of the two directors of H & H Stucco. The company was bankrupt and unrepresented by legal counsel at the time of sentencing.

Her Honour Judge Johnson of the Alberta Provincial Court imposed the record sentence after carefully reviewing the law in the area—including previous cases and legislative changes. In sentencing H & H Stucco she concluded that the increase in maximum fines in late 2002 was a clear signal from the Legislature that the

range of acceptable fines should be raised accordingly. (The highest previous fine in Alberta was $150,000 + $22,500 victim fine surcharge. See R. v. South Rock.)

In 2002, the Alberta Legislature increased the maximum fines for first offences under the OHS Act from $150,000 to $500,000. For subsequent offences the maximum fines were increased from $300,000 to $1,000,000. In addition to a fine, an individual can also be imprisoned for up to six and 12 months, respectively. No one in Alberta has ever gone to jail for violating the OHS Act but they have in other jurisdictions.

 McLennan Ross OH&S News

By David Myrol

KINGSTON, ON, Oct. 25 /CNW/ - A partner of Peaks & Valleys Contracting, a

roofing contractor based in Seeley's Bay, Ont., was ordered jailed for 30 days

today for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that resulted

in injuries to a young employee.

On September 14, 2004, a worker fell from a roof about three storeys into

a refuse bin on the ground below. The worker suffered a bruised shin bone.

Just prior to the incident the worker had been instructed by the defendant to

ascend the roof to remove old shingles so they could be replaced. The roof was

about eight metres (27 feet) from the top of the eavestrough to the ground.

The worker had been on the roof for about 10 minutes before falling. It was

the worker's first day on the job. The incident occurred at a shingling project at row housing on Craig Lane in Kingston. K.B. Home Insulation Ltd., a Kingston-based contractor, was hired by the row housing's condominium corporation for 

Seeley’s Bay Contractor Jailed 30 Days for Health and Safety Violation    Oct 25/06

the shingling project. K.B.  Home Insulation Ltd., in turn, hired the defendant to do the work.

A Ministry of Labour investigation found the worker was not wearing a

fall harness when ascending the roof. However, as the worker lay injured in

the bin, the defendant put a fall harness on the worker and told the worker to

tell Ministry of Labour investigators the worker had been wearing it while on

the roof. The worker did as instructed.

The defendant pleaded guilty, as an employer, to failing to ensure fall

protection was used by the worker, as required by Section 26.1(2) of the

Regulations for Construction Projects. This was contrary to Section 25(1)(d)

of the act.

The jail term was imposed by Justice of the Peace Fred Ross of the

Ontario Court of Justice in Kingston.

In a separate matter, following a trial, K.B. Home Insulation Ltd. was

found guilty, as a constructor, of two  

violations of the act in connection with the worker's fall.

Justice of the Peace Fred Ross fined the company a total of $43,000, including $25,000 on the first count and $18,000 on the second count.

In addition to the fines, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.

Ontario Ministry of Labour

AMHSA Workbook Prices

Please note that the cost of WHMIS and Flag Person Self-Study Workbooks has increased to $5.00. View product catalogue online:

http://www.amhsa.net/_auto-store/product_catalog.asp

2006 Municipal Safety/Utility Conference: December 4-6, 2006

This annual event, co-sponsored by the Rural Utilities and Safety Association (RUSA), the Alberta Cities Safety Council (ACSC), and AMHSA, will be held in Red Deer on December 4th, 5th, and 6th. Take advantage of this opportunity to broaden your knowledge, keep up with current trends in health, safety and utility operation, and network with your peers. See www.rusa.ca for details, or contact Al Coker at RUSA—1-877-347-0324 (email: adcoker@shaw.ca).