~ Support for IMIRP growing in industry

$37 million.

“They (musculoskeletal injuries) constitute the highest percentage of injuries in the sawmill sector,” said Brother Menard. “These statistics are alarming. We have set out with the tripartite approach to fix the problem.

To put the IMIRP program together the

Growing concerns about the human and financial costs of workplace injuries have led to innovation and cooperation between labour, industry and the Workers Compensation Board in the B.C. forest industry.

Since 1998, when the Council of Forest Industries and the I.W.A. got together to form the Industrial Musculoskeletal Injury Reduction

Program (IMIRP) Society, co- society, with WCB operative efforts have been madeto funding assistance, assist joint occupational health and hired professional

safety committees reduce or eliminate MSI’s and to achieve compliance with Workers Comp- ensation Board regulations on workplace ergonomics in order to reduce and eliminate injuries.

The IMIRP’s most important function to date has been to reduce musculo-skeletal injuries in the B.C. forest industry's sawmill sector.

The I.W.A. is proud of the role that it has played, in cooperation with COFI and the WCB, which has provided valuable funding assistance, guidance and expertise.

“As a union we're interested in reducing injuries of all kinds,” said

ergonomists to visit 584 sawmills through the province, in order to analyze 106 common industry jobs.

The end result was the production of sixty-six tool kits, now formatted on a single CD-ROM, ~ available to assist sawmill OH&S sawmill committees or designated person(s) with ergonomic responsibilities in reducing and eliminating injuries.

The tool kits and other IMIRP materials describe and explain the risks of MSI’s and suggest solutions.

Ts Muscle jy Redon Paoge

Common Industry Jobs (Clus) Lumber Straightener

Too! kit

IMIRP program coordinated by:

Council of Industrial

Forest Wood & Allied

Nisineiries Workers of Canada

In cooperation with the Workers’ Compensation Board of British Columbia

They give an overview of the job(s), provide a physical demand analysis and a risk factor identification check list. A work manual is included which has information on body parts that have an increased risk for MSI's and an MSI safety guide briefly describes physical demands associated with the job.

The tool kits are available at no cost to all B.C. sawmills.

“Just about all of the mills in B.C. should have IMIRP tool kits and materials by now,” says program

@ national first vice president Neil 4 Menard, who sits as one of two volunteer union representatives on the IMIRP board. “The IMIRP has given the B.C. forest industry and workers valuable tools to create safer workplaces and work towards the outright elimination of muscul etal injuries.”

Between 1995-1999 musculo- skeletal injuries (see definition o, MST’) have accounted for 33% of accepted WCB of B.C. claims in the ‘sawmill industry at a cost of over

4

manager Brenda Wagg, a member of I.W.A. Canada Local 2171. “All local union safety directors and councils are aware of them and are assisting in getting them out to safety committees to create awareness and

get them out

safety

committees and

supervisors all over the province. As more and more people are utilizing the materials, the word is spreading about the effectiveness of the IMIRP program.”

Sister Wagg said that non-union mills should also be involved in the IMIRP program and that joint OH&S committees are mandatory under the WCB regulations. IMIRP materials are available to the entire sawmill sector.

Tools kits help committee members match one of the 106 common industry jobs with information on ergonomic issues.

Committee members first identify ergonomic risk factors, then determine the best solutions, using the work manual sections of the kits.

The kits assist the committee in the preparation of a strategy to implement solutions and later evaluate those solutions.

“The IMIRP is practical stuff,” says Jim Parker, Local 2171's safety director who sits on the board with Brother Menard. “We are seeing people in the workplace find solutions to their own ergonomic

problems,” he added. “It’s not practical or feasible to have a trained ergonomist go into every job site.” He adds that the (I.W.A.) operations that are using the materials are “finding them highly useful.” Sister Wagg notes that IMIRP offers training for OH&S committees and supervisors and also has a train-the- trainer program. “These education programs train people how to do isk assessment and come up with solutions,” she says. “In the ast there asn’t been a lot of attention aid to ow work stations have been

(equipment designers) weren't necessarily thinking about the ergonomics of work stations when technological change has been introduced.” In February. or March of 2002, there will be more training throughout the province.

“In our opinion union participation is fundamental to the advance- ment of the IMIRP,” says Brother Menard. “The union is a major player and we have to continue working to get the word out to our members.”

The IMIRP society is putting together a proposal to start a program for the panel board sector of the B.C. forest industry as well. That will include oriented strandboard, veneer, plywood and laminated wood _ structure manufacturers.

In that sector of the industry, WCB claims costs totaled over $4.8 million between 1995-98. MSI claims made up about 38% of accepted claims in veneer or plywood. manufacturing in the same time period.

The proposal will go to the WCB for consideration in November.

“Projects like these ones, where you’ve got the industry and labour working together with the WCB, that has good resources, are the way to go,” says Brother Parker.

“We are very efficient in terms of doing this work and delivering essential services,” he adds. H

SS

aggravated by work.” (Part 4, Section 4.46)

accident type claims.

force to an object or person.

A DEFINITION OF MSI’S

The Occupational Health and Safety Regulations defines MUSCULOSKELETAL INJURIES (MSI) AS..... ”an injury or disorder of the muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, nerves, blood vessels or related soft tissue including a sprain, strain and inflammation that may be caused or

MSI CLAIMS are overexertion and repetitive motion OVEREXERTION INJURIES result from application of

REPETITIVE MOTION INJURIES result from repeated free body motion where no individual repetition was likely to have caused injury.

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LUMBERWORKER/NOVEMBER 2001/17