Cold stress or hypothermia can affect workers who are not protected against cold.  Cold combined with stresses such as hard physical work, loss of fluids, fatigue or medical conditions, may lead to illness, disability or even death.  Serious effects of exposure to cold include: frostbite on the fingers, toes, nose and ear lobes, and hypothermia which can lead to death.  People with pre-existing medical conditions, or who are taking certain medications, may be more at risk from cold.

Employers and supervisors have a duty to take every precaution reasonable to protect workers; this includes protecting them from the cold.  Employers are required to provide information, instruction and supervision to prevent cold-related illness.

Employers may:

• Acclimatize workers to conditions by establishing a warm-up schedule and/or provide warm shelter.
• Establish a system to monitor worker symptoms.
• Provide first aid and establish emergency response plans.

Workers can:

• Get advice from the supervisor before working in a cold environment
• Wear the appropriate clothing for the temperature and weather conditions.
• Prevent contact with bare skin and cold surfaces.
• Drink fluids often especially when doing strenuous work-for warming purposes, hot beverage and soup are suggested.

Additional information to help protect you is available from the Ministry of Labour and itsworkplace partners.

*         November 18, 2014 - Burlington, ON - Samuel, Son & Co., Ltd., also known as GO Packaging, has pleaded guilty and has been fined $70,000 after a worker suffered fractures and other injuries after being caught in machinery.  A worker was learning how to thread multiple strands of plastic strapping material at the company's workplace in Burlington. The worker was participating in peer-to-peer job advancement training with a senior, experienced operator who was also a lead hand.  The trainee worker was instructed to shut down the machine and, while reaching for a side stop control panel near exposed rollers, one hand and forearm became entangled in plastic strapping. As the worker tried to use the other hand, it also became caught.  The worker suffered bruising, sprains and bone fractures as well as amputation of the tip of one finger. Samuel, Son & Co., Ltd. pleaded guilty in court to failing to appoint a competent person as supervisor when it appointed the lead hand as the supervisor.

*         November 26, 2014 - Brampton, ON - Colortech Inc., a manufacturer of colour concentrated plastic additives, has pleaded guilty and has been fined $80,000 after a worker was severely burned and suffered permanent injuries.  On September 26, 2012, an employee was working at Colortech's facility located at 8027 Dixie Road, Brampton. The worker was engaged on a production line of processing equipment used to mix, heat, form and cut plastic into small pellets.  At approximately 1 a.m., some of the heaters near the die on the line stopped operating. A plant electrician attended and repaired the wiring at 3:20 a.m.  Elsewhere in the line, the heaters remained operational and the hot molten plastic caused a buildup of pressure and gases at the blocked die and screen changer.  As part of the procedure to re-start the line, the worker was required to change the screen in the screen changer. During this change, there was an unexpected release of pressure which resulted in the release of hot liquefied plastic, causing second degree burns to multiple part of the body. The worker also inhaled the hot gases, resulting in internal injuries.  The worker is not expected to recover or be able to return to work.  The production line's screen changer was not equipped with a shield or guard to prevent workers from being injured by hot plastic or gasses; the Occupational Health and Safety Act requires that a machine be shielded or guarded so that the product or material being processed does not endanger the safety of any worker.

*         December 4, 2014 - Toronto, ON - Swing N Scaff Inc., the Ottawa-based company that supplied the swing stage platform that collapsed on December 24, 2009, resulting in the deaths of four workers and significant injuries to another, has been fined $350,000 in Old City Hall court. A company director, Patrick Deschamps, has been fined $50,000.  The workers were employed by Metron Construction Corporation of Toronto and were conducting balcony restoration on an apartment building at 2757 Kipling Avenue in Toronto. Swing N Scaff Inc. manufactured and supplied the swing stage that collapsed.  At least six workers were on a swing stage suspended about 13 floors above the ground when the modular 40-foot swing stage broke apart in the middle and collapsed. After forensic examination of the swing stage, Ministry of Labour investigators found it was not fit for its intended use as fabricated. In particular, the welds on the platform were inadequate.