Coping With COVID-19: OHS Canada Webinar March 19

Please join OHS Canada for a webinar on COVID-19: What You Need To Know. Click here for more information and to register.

COVID-19: State of Emergency

Alberta has declared a state of public health emergency. Aggressive measures are being taken to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Currently, there are 74 confirmed cases in Alberta and 342 in Canada.

New public health measures have been recommended to limit the time spent in large crowds and crowed spaces. Effective today:

• all events over 50 people should be cancelled; including weddings, funerals, etc.

• no attendance at rec. centres, casinos, bingo halls, bars, theatres and other facilities

• sit-down restaurants can remain open at lower capacity

Please click here to visit the Alberta Health Services website to learn more or read the Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s update by clicking here.

COVID-19 Update: How MHSA is Responding

The team at MHSA has been closely monitoring information related to the COVID-19 virus through credible and reliable sources of information to not only monitor, but assess the situation and refine our plans accordingly. These sources include The World Health Organization, the Canadian Government, and Alberta Health Services.

Our main concern is the health & safety of our employees, our members, our class participants and the community. Alberta Health Services has stated that the overall risk to Albertans associated with COVID-19 is low. With that said, we want to assure you that we have taken a calm, rational, proactive approach and have enacted a class size restriction cap of 10. We are strongly suggesting that everyone in our facility practices social distancing, keeping 2 meters from the nearest person. We can further assure you that MHSA employees have not traveled outside of Canada within the last 3 months and we are discouraging any unnecessary travel arrangements at this time.

We are following the Alberta Health Services and Alberta Government’s recommendations and have increased our sanitization regime for our classrooms, tables and chairs, common areas, door handles, washrooms, etc. Should information come in that may change MHSA’s plans or actions we will keep you informed and take the necessary precautions.

Presently, we are asking our members to be vigilant of any symptoms they may be experiencing. If you are experiencing any of the following, please call your local MHSA office to reschedule your training to a later date:

• chills, shivering and a fever (temperature >38˚C) 

• onset of muscle aches and pains

• sore throat 

• dry cough

• trouble breathing

• or if you have traveled within the last 14 days

MHSA has altered our cancellation policy in light of COVID-19. Should you need to cancel a participant from a course our three day policy is not in effect at this time.

To help protect you and your family please find below a list of ways you can practice preventing the spread of COVID-19 and other illnesses:

• Wash your hands often and well

• Avoid touching your face, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick

• Clean and disinfect surfaces that are frequently touched

• Stay at home and away from others if you are feeling ill

• Contact your primary health provider or Health Link 811 if you have questions or concerns about your health

• When sick, cover your cough and sneezes and then wash your hands

A self-assessment tool is available on the Alberta Health Services website and may be found at the following link https://albertahealthservices.ca/topics/Page16997.aspx. Please remember to protect yourself if you are out in public, wash your hands frequently and maintain a distance of about 2 meters from others.

We will provide timely updates and government recommendations as this situation continues to progress. We appreciate your trust in the association as we work through these challenging times together. Please let us know if you have any questions. 

COVID-19 Information for Alberta

In an effort to make sure you are receiving the most accurate information on what’s happening in Alberta in regards to the COVID-19 cases that are now appearing in our province, please be sure to check the Government of Alberta Website.

You can find the most up-to-date information here.

COVID-19 & How MHSA is responding. 

Like most businesses in Alberta, and throughout the world right now, we are keeping a vigilant eye on the Alberta Government Website for the most accurate and up-to-date information regarding the spread of COVID-19 in Alberta. Rest assured, we are doing everything we can to keep our staff and students as healthy and risk-free as possible at this time. Some things we are doing / we are asking our students to be mindful of include:

• Staying home if you feel ill, or notice any form of symptoms related to COVID-19 (fever, cough, extreme fatigue)

• If you notice any symptoms please contact your local MHSA office and we will reschedule your training for a later date

• Wash your hands - Often!

• Use Hand sanitizer - each of our classrooms have a bottle available

• Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze - preferably into an elbow or tissue 

• MHSA will be switching to a stronger cleaning agent for our daily cleaning

We will continue to provide you with up-to-date information as it becomes available to us, and as we adapt our strategy to keep the risk of infection low for both our staff and students. 

Fatigue in the Workplace

Daylight Savings Time may give us an extra hour of daylight, but it also increases the risk of workplace injuries.

Researchers in the States analyzed information between 1983-2006 and found that there were 5.7% more workplace injuries and 67.6% more work days missed due to injuries that happened on the first Monday following Daylight Savings than on other days. (https://www.ccohs.ca/newsletters/hsreport/issues/2011/02/ezine.html#hsreport-inthenews)

For more information on what effects fatigue could have on workers, and how employers can protect their workers from fatigue related injuries, please see the Bulletin released by OHS on Fatigue, Extended Work Hours, and Workplace Safety.

POSTPONED: MHSA Regional Spring Update Meetings

Investigations - Prevention, Reaction, After Affects

In light of COVID-19 MHSA has decided to postpone all Regional Update Meetings until further notice. We appreciate your understanding.

We would like to invite you to Save The Date to attend our Members Spring Update Meeting for 2020. This years topic will be centered around Investigations: Prevention, reaction, and the After Affects. As well as all relevant MHSA Updates.

Cost: $30.00

Rocky View: April 28th, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Location: @ Hotel Blackfoot 5940 Blackfoot Trail SE Calgary
To Register please email: Maggie@mhsa.ab.ca

Edmonton: May 1st, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Location: @ MHSA 225 Parsons Road SW
To Register please email: Richelle@mhsa.ab.ca

Red Deer: May 5th, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Location: @ MHSA 54 Queensland Crescent
To Register please email: Lori.Lerminiaux@mhsa.ab.ca

More information regarding presenters will be available soon. We look forward to seeing you there!



OHS Online Incident Reporting Service

The OHS Online Incident Reporting Service is now Live!

What’s new with the OHS Online Incident Reporting service?

-        It uses MyAlberta Digital ID for Business accounts. 

-        Now employers can set up an account and have all their information in one spot. For more information on MyAlberta Digital ID for Business, see the new webinar

-        Employers no longer have to complete an online report all at once, they can save the record and complete it at another time.

-        Employers can have multiple users on one account. 

·         Employers can upload their investigation reports, instead of manually entering the information.

To increase your understanding of PSIs’s, watch the webinar below!

Alberta Health and Safety Conference 2020

The MHSA team would like to send a huge THANK YOU to the Alberta Health and Safety Conference for another year of amazing hospitality. Everyone who attended had a great time meeting and mingling with others working in the Health and Safety field.

At the conference we held a draw for one Registration into our new Workplace Violence and Harassment Course - the winner of that draw was Jude Groves, from Rosenau Transport Ltd. Congratulations!

Respiratory Viruses and the Workplace

OHS has released a bulletin regarding Respiratory Viruses and the Workplace. This bulletin contains information and links including:

• viral transmission

• where to gain more information about new viruses

• controls and best practices that can be implemented

• what to do in case of an outbreak, etc.

This bulletin can be found on the OHS Online Resource Portal here.

Insurance Requirements for Farms and Ranches

The Alberta government recently introduced new legislation that impacts workplace insurance requirements for farms and ranches. These changes will take effect January 31, 2020

You can access more information here, through the WCB Alberta website.