The Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) turns 43 today. For many workers, this important legislation came into force long before they were born, but some workers will remember the days before this important Act came into force. The Act came into force in 1979, but Ontario had a long history of labour-safety-related workplace…
Read MoreCanada’s National Day of Mourning
Fight for the Living, Mourn for the Dead On April 28th, we mourn for our workplace dead. Canada’s earliest workplace safety legislation came into being when Ontario’s Factory Act was passed in 1884. The Ontario legislation was modelled on Britain’s Factory Acts to improve conditions in textile mills by limiting the working hours for children…
Read MoreFive reasons you should attend our Free Safety Talks
Reason #1 – Free Safety Talks You can’t argue with Free Stuff! Last week we partnered with Schmersal Canada and Franklin Empire to put on three days of Free Safety Talks. We had full houses in all three locations, Windsor, London and Cambridge, with nearly 60 people participating. We had two great presenters who helped…
Read MoreQ & A: Can Safety PLCs be used for Lockout?
The question of lockout and the use of safety PLCs as a means to meet the lockout requirements comes up more and more frequently these days. Can Safety PLCs be used for lockout? Safety professionals don’t always agree on this controversial topic! During the Free Safety Talks that we did with Schmersal Canada and Franklin Empire,…
Read MoreSafe Drive Control including Safe Torque Off (STO)
Ed. Note: This article was revised 25-Jul-17 to include information on safe standstill. Safe Drive Control including STO Motor drives are everywhere. From DC variable speed drives and indexing drives, through AC Variable Frequency drives, servo drives and stepper motor drives, the capabilities and the flexibility of these electronic systems has given machine designers unprecedented…
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