The last day of 2009 seems like the perfect time to review what happened this year in the world of workplace safety—and to ponder what 2010 may hold for Canadian safety professionals. THE 6 BIGGEST STORIES OF THE YEAR 1. The H1N1 Challenge 2009 will be remembered as the year of swine flu. On June 11, the World Health Organization officially declared that H1N1 had reached the pandemic level. Late summer witnessed heavier than normal flu activity across Canada and that trend continued through the beginning of the winter. Click here for a FREE report on swine flu. 2. The C-45 Volcano Remains Dormant The biggest story in OHS compliance in 2008 was that after almost four years of inactivity, C-45 yielded up its first ever conviction of a corporation. We all wondered whether the conviction of the Transpavé company in connection with a machine fatality in Québec would usher in a wave of C-45 prosecutions. Apparently not. No individuals were prosecuted for a C-45 violation this year. In fact, there hasn’t been a C-45 prosecution of any kind in the 20 months since Transpavé pleaded guilty to criminal negligence in April 2008. 3. Traditional OHS Enforcement Continues to Intensify In 2009, OHS inspections, prosecutions and fines kept increasing. We know that in 2008, average OHS fines across most of Canada increased. And while the 2009 data hasn’t yet been released, it looks highly likely that the trend will continue this year. 4. Ontario Expands the Concept of Workplace Violence In 2009, Ontario pushed the workplace violence envelope further than any other Canadian jurisdiction. Bill 168 requires employers to implement risk assessments, violence policies and other anti-violence measures required by other provinces in their OHS regulations. But the new law breaks new ground by requiring employers to protect workers not only from violence by co-workers and strangers but also domestic violence they know or should know is a threat. 5. The Controversy Over Workers’ Comp Coverage for Mental Stress Another manifestation of how workplace hazards are assuming a mental dimension involves the question of whether workers’ compensation should pay for mental stress. In 2009, the issue came to a head in BC. As in other provinces, BC provides workers’ comp coverage for job-related stress as long as the stress is the result of a discrete, traumatic event that happened at work. But in April, the BC Court of Appeal ruled that the traumatic event requirement was unconstitutional. So in July, the BC Workers’ Comp Board changed its policy by defining a traumatic event as “an emotionally shocking event” (a definition that accords with accepted medical dictionaries) and indicating that mental stress can be a delayed and not necessarily an immediate reaction to an event (consistent with accepted diagnostic practice for mental stress). But while BC was loosening the restrictions on workers’ comp coverage for mental stress, Newfoundland was going in the opposite direction. In July, the NL Supreme Court ruled that the standard for judging the traumatic nature of an event is an objective, not a subjective one. In other words, the question of whether the event was traumatic is based on how a reasonable worker would have reacted to it, not on how the actual claimant did react to it. 6. The Ban on Cellphone Use While Driving One of the most noticeable trends in safety legislation in 2009 involved traffic safety. At least five different provinces—BC, MB, ON, QC and SK—either proposed or adopted bills banning individuals from using cell phones and other handheld communication devices when they drive. Click here for a FREE report on workplace cell phone use. Click here for more on the safety year in review, including awards for some of the best—and worst—court decisions and new laws. What Does 2010 Hold for Workplace Safety? So let’s hear some predictions—what do safety professionals think the new year holds for workplace safety? Will other provinces follow Ontario’s lead and add domestic violence requirements to their workplace violence regulations? Will we finally see a company CEO prosecuted under C-45? Will the use of cell phones while driving be banned across the country? Will the economy continue to impact safety budgets?