Latest news with #workersafety
RNZ News
2 days ago
- RNZ News
Christchurch Hospital workers sleeping in cars to try secure a car park, mayor says
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Christchurch Hospital workers are sleeping in their cars before work to try to secure a car park, mayor Phil Mauger says. Christchurch City Councillors have voted to consider making overnight car parks available at Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre when it opens in October and potentially providing free transport to and from the building and the hospital a few hundred metres away. Hospital workers had been pleading for better parking because of unaffordable fees at nearby car park buildings and staff safety concerns. Mauger told a council meeting on Wednesday that it was clear the problem had not gone away when he visited the hospital recently. "Some people, nurses and people who work at the hospital, still come to work at 4am in the morning and sleep in their car until it's time to get up. Just so they can get the car close to their place of their work," he said. Other staff had been parking further away but feared for their safety, he said. "A young lady I was talking to... she said I've got a scooter because I know it will go faster than the person chasing me. Now we don't need that," he said. Mauger said he understood existing hospital parking was not enough to account for the overlap between shifts and he wanted an urgent solution. "I want to have this going as soon as we've got the keys and we [open Parakiore]. I don't want it to get lost into the system, and it comes out at the middle of next year. We owe it to these people to look after them as best we can," he said. In May, a hospital staffer was assaulted on her way to work in the evening and a student midwife was attacked on the way to their car after leaving work at the hospital's birthing unit at night. The motion to investigate overnight Parakiore parking received unanimous support around the council table. Councillor Yani Johanson said it was "incredibly frustrating" that the situation had not been resolved by years of effort to make enough parking available. "When we started to do some of the roading changes around Oxford Terrace there was a suggestion that we actually as part of a hospital development do a land swap and actually get a purpose-built car parking building to support the hospital at the time, but people didn't want to go there," he said. "Then it was raised, when we were considering the plans for Metro Sports [Parakiore Recreation and Sports Centre] to put a multi-storey car park there and partnership with the hospital. The health board at the time, central government, for whatever reason rolled out so we didn't do that," he said. Staff were also unable to use a private parking building that opened near the hospital in 2023 because it was too expensive, he said. "I'm really supportive of us doing more. I feel that people's safety is really important," Johanson said. Councillor Kelly Barber also supported the motion but questioned why the onus fell on the council not the government to arrange staff parking. "I think it's madness that our council's having to get involved in something that really is probably an issue that government should have taken care of a long time ago," he said. "I mean, why would you build a house with no parking, if you know if there isn't great public transport? Why would you build a hospital and have inadequate parking for your staff and for the people that visit?"
CBC
3 days ago
- Health
- CBC
New asbestos handling standards coming for Manitoba workers
Social Sharing New regulations to protect workers from asbestos exposure will come into effect in Manitoba this fall, and officials with the Manitoba Federation of Labour say they can't come soon enough, as workers continue to die from exposure. "Asbestos is the number one occupational killer in Canada and in Manitoba," federation president Kevin Rebeck said Monday, adding that approximately six people die every year in the province from asbestos exposure. According to the province, the regulations — which are expected to come into effect in October — will require workers to be trained and certified through an intensive training program prior to having any contact with asbestos. "So having an intensive training program that keeps workers safe, lets them know what the proper equipment is, and allows them to do those jobs minimizing their risk is vitally important," Rebeck said. Asbestos was commonly used in roofing materials, insulation and other building products for decades in Canada. It was not fully banned in Canada until 2018, although its use was largely phased out by around 1990. During demolition and construction projects, microscopic fibres of asbestos can be released and trapped in people's lungs. It's known to cause several health conditions, including cancer. Rebeck said the new regulations are important because many people who work with the substance don't have a true understanding of how dangerous it is and how to avoid being exposed. "For too many young workers, newcomers who might be hired to these low-wage jobs and exposed to this deadly substance without the protections that they need, this law will make a huge difference," he said. Mark McKean, the owner of Manitoba business Breathe Easy Eco Solutions, which offers asbestos and mould remediation services in the province, said the new regulations will follow a model for asbestos exposure prevention that has been in place in B.C. since 2024, and was the first of its kind in the country. "It's a more stringent course, it goes over risk assessments and conditions of asbestos, and what to do." McKean said. McKean said he has been hoping for years that Manitoba would start to "tighten up" its asbestos regulations, which he said he believes will now happen when the new regulations go into place this fall. He added he believes many of the most serious asbestos exposure cases in Manitoba likely happened years or even decades ago, but says the new regulations are important so that work happening now does not lead to exposure, and possible illness or death. In a Monday email, a spokesperson for Manitoba Labour Minister Malaya Marcelino explained the province's rationale behind the new regulations. "Everyone deserves to come home safe from work, especially when dealing with hazardous materials like asbestos," the statement reads in part. "That's why our government is moving forward with new regulations this year to better protect Manitoba workers. These changes will include mandatory safety certification for anyone handling asbestos, ensuring stronger safeguards are in place where they matter most."
CBC
3 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Manitoba to have new regulations for workers exposed to asbestos
New regulations protecting workers from asbestos exposure will come into effect in Manitoba in October. The provincial government says workers will be provided with information and training before they work on sites containing the carcinogenic material, which was commonly used in roofing materials, insulation, tiles and other products.
The Guardian
7 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
‘We feared the worst': 31 construction workers rescued after LA tunnel collapse
Thirty-one construction workers inside a huge industrial tunnel in Los Angeles made it to safety after a portion of it collapsed Wednesday evening, an outcome officials called a blessing after they initially feared much worse. The cave-in appears to have occurred between the tunnel boring machine 5 miles (8km) in from the sole entrance and the construction workers who were working 6 miles in, said Michael Chee, spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, which is in charge of the nearly $700m project. The workers were about 400ft (121 meters) underground. Authorities were still investigating the cause, Chee said. The workers scrambled over loose soil more than 12ft high to reach the tunnel boring machine and then were transported back to the opening. Aerial footage showed workers being brought out of the tunnel in a yellow cage hoisted up by a crane. None of those rescued had major injuries, authorities said. Arally Orozco said she was at church when her phone started buzzing with calls and then her son texted her the news of the tunnel where her three brothers worked. 'It was sad and scary,' she said in Spanish. 'We feared the worst.' After an hour, she managed to get through to one brother who told her they had to squeeze through a tight space to get out. 'My brother was crying,' she said. 'He told me he thought he was going to die underground.' LA city council member Tim McOsker praised the workers for keeping cool heads. 'This is a highly technical, difficult project. And they knew exactly what to do. They knew how to secure themselves,' he said. 'Thank goodness for the good people that were down in the tunnel.' The mayor, Karen Bass, said at a news conference that she met with some of the workers. 'I know when we raced down here I was so concerned that we were going to find tragedy. Instead, what we found was victory,' Bass said. 'All of the men that were in that tunnel, rescued, up, safe.' The tunnel is being constructed almost entirely underneath public right-of-way. The structure is 18ft wide and will be 7 miles long to carry treated wastewater from across Los Angeles county to the Pacific Ocean. Work will not resume until the project contractor assesses what happened and deems the site safe, authorities said.
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- General
- The Guardian
‘We feared the worst': 31 construction workers rescued after LA tunnel collapse
Thirty-one construction workers inside a huge industrial tunnel in Los Angeles made it to safety after a portion of it collapsed Wednesday evening, an outcome officials called a blessing after they initially feared much worse. The cave-in appears to have occurred between the tunnel boring machine 5 miles (8km) in from the sole entrance and the construction workers who were working 6 miles in, said Michael Chee, spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, which is in charge of the nearly $700m project. The workers were about 400ft (121 meters) underground. Authorities were still investigating the cause, Chee said. The workers scrambled over loose soil more than 12ft high to reach the tunnel boring machine and then were transported back to the opening. Aerial footage showed workers being brought out of the tunnel in a yellow cage hoisted up by a crane. None of those rescued had major injuries, authorities said. Arally Orozco said she was at church when her phone started buzzing with calls and then her son texted her the news of the tunnel where her three brothers worked. 'It was sad and scary,' she said in Spanish. 'We feared the worst.' After an hour, she managed to get through to one brother who told her they had to squeeze through a tight space to get out. 'My brother was crying,' she said. 'He told me he thought he was going to die underground.' LA city council member Tim McOsker praised the workers for keeping cool heads. 'This is a highly technical, difficult project. And they knew exactly what to do. They knew how to secure themselves,' he said. 'Thank goodness for the good people that were down in the tunnel.' The mayor, Karen Bass, said at a news conference that she met with some of the workers. 'I know when we raced down here I was so concerned that we were going to find tragedy. Instead, what we found was victory,' Bass said. 'All of the men that were in that tunnel, rescued, up, safe.' The tunnel is being constructed almost entirely underneath public right-of-way. The structure is 18ft wide and will be 7 miles long to carry treated wastewater from across Los Angeles county to the Pacific Ocean. Work will not resume until the project contractor assesses what happened and deems the site safe, authorities said.
