Every year it seems spring can’t come soon enough. People head outside to enjoy the warmer weather and tackle the “to-do” lists that have been growing over the winter months. But we should always keep safety top of mind during this time.

Take a look at this list of spring safety reminders.

Yard Safety

When planning projects that require digging, such as planting a tree or building a fence, remember that natural gas and other utility lines could be buried in your yard. It’s the law to locate buried natural gas lines before you dig. Contact your local authorities at least one week before starting your project. They will coordinate with their member utilities to locate underground lines, mark them, and leave a locate sheet providing instructions on how to proceed safely.

Make sure you landscape carefully near gas meters and regulators and ensure soil does not touch them as this could result in corrosion and cause a gas leak.

Thaw Safety

Spring showers and melting snow can increase the possibility of water main breaks and sewer backups, which can create safety issues if not addressed properly. If you have a sewer blockage beyond the walls of your building, this is another time to contact authorities before using any sewer clearing equipment. There could be a gas line intersecting with your sewer line. Once advised, they will have someone visit your home within 2 hours to determine if there is a potential safety issue.

Natural gas appliances (including furnaces, boilers and water heaters) that have been submerged, partially submerged, have come into contact with water, or had their gas controls or electrical cords come into contact with water, are considered unsafe. Never enter any flooded areas or attempt to restart your natural gas appliances until they’ve been inspected by a licensed heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) contractor.

Always call your local gas utility if you suspect damage to natural gas equipment due to flooding.

Pool Safety

Before pool season gets into full swing, it’s the perfect time to have your pool heater serviced. Like other fuel-burning equipment, pool heaters need to be maintained regularly to work safely and efficiently. A licensed HVAC contractor can assist you with service and any questions you may have.

Barbecue Safety

For many of us, the barbecue has been out of use for the winter. With grilling season around the corner, it’s a good time to give your barbecue a thorough inspection and review your manufacturer’s instructions for maintenance and use.

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Transport Canada has recently issued Amendment 10, an update to Canada’s Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations. The text of this amendment can be found at http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2011/2011-10-12/html/sor-dors210-eng.html.

This Amendment deals specifically with Emergency Response Assistance Plans (ERAPs), and compensation for situations where the government has invoked a plan in the event of a terrorist action. Costs that are eligible for compensation include:

• the salaries and other compensation for employees and contractors;
• the cost for tools and equipment used, including rental of equipment where necessary,
• cost of replacing supplies, single-use equipment and other consumables,
• travel expenses for personnel, including meals and accommodation,
• expenses related to injury or death of employees or contractors, and
• costs incident to cleanup after an incident, including handling and disposal costs for dangerous goods and contaminated materials.

In the event of a terrorist incident involving dangerous goods in transport, the Minister of Transport can invoke an ERAP, even if the ERAP is held by someone other than the consignor of the goods. The amendment is required to ensure that this does not place an undue economic burden on the owner of the invoked ERAP.

Other aspects of ERAPs, such as the quantities that trigger the requirement, have not been changed in this amendment. If you have questions about how Amendment 10 will affect ERAPs, please contact ICC The Compliance Center Inc at 1-888-442-9628 (USA) or 1-888-977-4834 (Canada).

See our TDG resources >>

Some topics that were discussed at the last Regulatory Affairs Committee meeting of the Canadian Association of Chemical Distributors (CACD www.cacd.ca).

• The CACD board of directors has approved a new standing committee – Health and Safety; there will be more news about this committee as it comes together
• CACD has re-branded and launched its new website at its 25th anniversary AGM which was held in St. John’s NF this past June
• the Auditor General will be reviewing the TDG directorate and will include the emergency response assistance plan (ERAP) programme in the review; the objective is to determine if the programme has value to Canadians; in general, experience has shown that emergency responders do not make use of ERAPs.
• the MACTDG met in May at which Amendment 12 was discussed and CACD’s response to this amendment were presented
• the security group of Transport Canada may be announcing that they will harmonize with the US regarding security issues, which we will hear more about later this year
• CACD’s voice has been heard (along with others) regarding the Generic Products Regulations that Health Canada and Environment Canada buried in the mercury containing products regulations; the government has withdrawn the proposed legislation
• the Consumer Product Safety Directorate (CPSD) of Health Canada has formed a new team to implement GHS; this team will be reviewing the decisions made by the CIC (Current Issues Committee), for example:
  • considering a new classification – hazardous, not otherwise classified
  • no reference to the SDS is required on a label as it is redundant
  • possibility of no hatched border on the label
  • grouping of hazard symbols, signal words and hazard statements
  • flashback for aerosols will not be considered anymore
• CPSD will be meeting with the CIC in the fall; draft regulations could take 6 to 8 months to be drafted with a final regulation in approx. 2 years; however, the Hazardous Products Act needs to be amended which the government has not yet authorized.
• the Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission (HMRIC) will be issuing a Policy Information Sheet (PIS) on the order of the sections for a material safety data sheet
• CACD will be taking a larger role in government affairs; CACD will be registering federally as a lobbyist and in any province that has lobbyist legislation; the goal is to advocate before the rules are made, not after
• the first advocacy meeting was be held July 4 with the mayor of Burlington to discuss Responsible Distribution^®

Transport Canada announced yesterday that office-size toner cartridges would be forbidden in checked bags or carry-on bags. Operators will not be permitted to transport these cartridges as cargo on passenger flights.

These measures are being put in place as a result of two (2) packages that were found on October 29. This is just a knee-jerk reaction by our federal government. I can understand not permitting anything from or through Yemen or Somalia, but why hasn’t the federal government banned shoes and underwear from passenger aircraft? If you remember, there was the so called shoe bomber who tried to light his shoes and just last year the flight into Detroit where an idiot tried to light his underwear.

If the competent authorities (now there’s an oxymoron) insist that shoes be inspected, why is it there is no consistency? On a flight from the US to Canada, I had to remove my shoes, but the gentleman behind did not ‘because his shoes are runners and don’t contain any metal’. Anybody know how much metal there was in the shoes or underwear of the two attempted bombings? And if there was any, why didn’t the security agents find it during inspection?

Let’s get a grip people. Yes, security is a part of life today, but do we have to jump to whenever some idiot tries something? The terrorists are probably laughing their heads off just watching the western world impose additional restrictions that really are not going to do anything. At what point do we stop – when international commerce comes to a grinding halt?

See Transport Canada’s press release for more information.

Under 49 CFR, a number of regulatory changes will become mandatory on October 1st, 2010. Three of the changes include:

• Preparation of shipping papers/Emergency response telephone number
  The shipping paper must contain an emergency response telephone number and, if utilizing an emergency response information telephone number service provider, identify the person (by name or contract number) who has a contractual agreement with the service provider.
• Packing instructions(written notification)
  Shipper’s must retain a copy of the written notification for at least 365 days from the date of issuance and have copies available for representatives of the DOT.
• Security plans (if required)
  Security plans must include the identity by job title the senior management official responsible for overall development and implementation of the security plan, security duties for each position and a plan for training hazmat employees. The security plan must be available upon request to the DOT or Department of Homeland Security.