(January 10, 2012) Saskatoon – Saskatoon Health Region has received the occupational health officer report into the carbon monoxide exposure at St. Mary’s Villa Dust Wing in December 2010. The report was issued by the Ministry of Labour in late December 2011 and staff and management of the Region have been reviewing it since then.
The report from the Department of Labour cites six contraventions of Occupational Health and Safety regulations. Many of the contraventions and the findings of the report have already been addressed by the Region in the days and months following the CO exposure. “We didn’t wait for the report to act,” says Nilesh Kavia, Vice President of Finance and Administration for Saskatoon Health Region. “We immediately began taking steps to address the concerns over ventilation and equipment at St. Mary’s Villa when the incident took place.”
Saskatoon Health Region has already begun replacing the boilers and ventilation system at St. Mary’s Villa. The Region has also installed CO detectors at all Region facilities to aid in preventing a similar situation occurring again.
“Our maintenance staff will be properly trained in the use and maintenance of the new equipment by the manufacturer,” adds Kavia. “An outside agency has already inspected all boilers and ventilation systems in all rural Saskatoon Health Region owned and operated facilities, including St. Mary’s Villa. We are considering a service contract or training our own staff to continue these inspections on an ongoing basis.”
“We have increased our education and training opportunities for staff and supervisors to ensure they are familiar with safety processes,” says Bonnie Blakley, Vice President of People Strategies.
The Region has already completed significant revisions to its “code brown” (hazardous material) procedures and continues to consult with the Department of Labour and others to ensure the revisions are acceptable. There are also revisions being considered for the Region’s “code green” (evacuation) processes. All rural facilities will be completing a CO exercise by March 2012. A consistent format to conduct the exercise has been developed and some rural facilities have already completed the CO exercise.
“We want to acknowledge that this has been an extremely difficult time for our residents, their families and our staff. We cannot forget the tragedy of that day in December 2010, but we also want to take our learnings and ensure nothing like this ever happens in the future,” says Blakley.
- 30 -
Related Information
For more information contact:
Linda Walker
Media Relations Consultant
Saskatoon Health Region
(306)
655-3476
|
|
Saskatoon Health Region
Healthiest people ~ Healthiest communities ~ Exceptional service
|
