Mosquito season, and months of concern about West Nile Virus, is back. The concern is justified. The first recorded outbreak in North America happened in New York City in 1999, and in 2002 some 4,000 people were infected throughout North America. In Canada, as of April 2003, 18 people have died from among 325 confirmed cases. Adding to the worry over the harmful microorganism's spread is the fact that there's no vaccine and no specific treatment, medication or cure.

Most people who become infected have no symptoms. But when symptoms do show - usually 3 to 15 days following the bite of an infected mosquito (mosquitoes contract West Nile after biting infected birds) - they range from fever and ache, to rashes to meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain or spinal cord) and encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). Although any one can be at risk for the West Nile Virus infection, the overall risk of serious health effects increases with age, with the most severe cases occurring in the elderly and those with weak immune systems.

The long-term effects are not fully understood because West Nile is an emerging disease.

Studies to date show that some people with serious symptoms and health effects recover completely. Others, however, experience prolonged health problems including muscle weakness, fatigue and headache, confusion, depression, problems with concentration and memory loss.

With health professionals limited to supportive therapies to ease symptoms in serious cases, it falls to governments and individuals to try to cut down the risk. The best defence is a strong offence.

Workers who spend a lot of time outdoors should wear light coloured clothing, (less attractive to mosquitoes), long sleeved shirts and long pants and spray DEET insect repellent on top of clothing and exposed skin. Individuals should dump stagnant water where mosquito eggs are laid. They should also avoid mosquitoes' prime feeding times of dawn and dusk. Meanwhile, provincial and local health authorities are entering the battle with larvicides to dramatically reduce the number of mosquitoes hatching this year.

Read more information CCOHS' OSH Answers

CCOHS Presentation on West Nile Virus [May 2003]

Learn more about personal insect repellents

A deadly five-year run of accidents in confined spaces has prompted the Prevention Division of the Workers' Compensation Board of BC to distribute a new hazard alert.

More than 60 per cent of confined space fatalities are would-be rescuers. Consciousness can be lost within a few breaths in oxygen-deficient spaces and without an adequate oxygen supply, death can occur in less than four minutes.

Among the incidents cited:

• A worker suffered fatal burns in an intense trailer fire. He reportedly lit a match in an unventilated trailer that was filled with polyethylene foam and stored over a warm weekend. The isobutane used to turn plastic into the foam had leaked and collected in the atmosphere and ignited.
• Four workers died and two were injured after they entered into the hold of a barge through a small hatch.
• A welder became unconscious in the oxygen-deficient atmosphere of a barge hull. Four rescuers also became unconscious. The welder died and the other workers suffered lung damage.
• The owner of a winery collapsed while taking a sample from a wine fermentation tank. The owner and his would-be rescuer died.
• A pulp mill worker entered a tank without testing the air. The tank was filled with colourless, odourless nitrogen and the worker collapsed from oxygen deficiency. A second worker at the tank entrance also collapsed. Both could not be revived.

The WCB warns that before workers enter a confined space, a hazard assessment must be performed by a qualified person and, based on this assessment, proper training, procedures, and equipment for rescue must be in place.

Full text of this alert

CCOHS' OSH Answers addresses confined spaces

More Hazard Alerts from CCOHS

The individual benefits of active living are obvious - stronger hearts and lungs, flexible and mobile joints and stronger bones. Less obvious, but just as significant, are the benefits to workplaces that encourage employees to make active living part of their daily regime.

According to CCOHS' Wellness in the Workplace publication, active living and the resulting enhancements to employees' quality of life bring:

• Productivity gains
  
• Decreases in absenteeism and turnover
  
• More positive employees
  
• Lower medical costs and fewer injuries
  
• Enhanced corporate image and workplace culture
  
• Stress reduction
  
• Improved employee health and wellness
  

Although running an activity program may incur short-term cost, the long-term benefits can be substantial. And small changes can bring big results.

Here's how to get started:

• Develop a workplace physical fitness policy
  
• Ask staff what types of programs interest them
  
• Consider flexible working hours, job sharing, telecommuting and on-site day care to help employees add activity to their day
  
• Allow individuals to take an extra half hour at lunch, twice a week, to walk, swim, attend fitness class, etc.
  
• Encourage people to walk to their co-workers rather than using the telephone or e-mail to communicate
  
• Map a 10-minute walking route inside or outside your workplace
  
• Start each workday or shift with a pre-shift stretch program
  
• Provide bike racks (in secure location)
  
• Offer on-site fitness facilities, or negotiate discounts to various health clubs in the area
  
• Provide resources and education - newsletters, bulletins, community guides, health fairs and guest speakers
  
• Help staff to find a support group or buddy system to encourage each other
  

Active living should cover the three key areas of endurance, flexibility and strength.

More from CCOHS

Review CCOHS' Wellness in the Workplace Guide

CCOHS representatives spread out across the country last month to help celebrate NAOSH Week, the annual, continent-wide event to highlight the importance of preventing workplace illnesses and injuries. Workshops burst at the seams with participants. In Hamilton, a graduation ceremony was held for 25 area businesses that completed the 2003 Safe Workplace Awareness Programme.

North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week, held this year May 4-10, continues to gather momentum. And CCOHS, with its Canadian partners, the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering and Human Resources Development Canada, is playing a key role to increase the impact.

The week seeks to:

• Increase understanding of the benefits of investing in occupational health and safety
  
• Raise awareness of the role and contribution of safety and health
  
• Reduce workplace injuries and illness by encouraging new activities and interest in NAOSH Week
  

The lead agencies took the 2003 theme - Education is Prevention - to heart. Tremendous response for workshops at CCOHS - on due diligence, new worker health and safety initiatives, ergonomics, the business side of health and safety and West Nile virus - required another day to be scheduled for the following week to accommodate registrations.

In a speech May 6, CCOHS' Vice President and Director General, P.K. Abeytunga, added that, "The push for inclusion of Health and Safety education in schools as a part of school curricula, in addition to education in the workplace and for young people in communities, is gradually gaining momentum."

In other NAOSH news:

• Len Hong, President and CEO of CCOHS, took part in the national launch of NAOSH Week in Edmonton.
  
• Three Canadian students, Joan Saary, Kristin Holm and Karen McCaig were awarded the inaugural Dick Martin Scholarship Award, which commemorates the distinguished career of Dick Martin, a tireless advocate of occupational and environmental health and safety and a former CCOHS governor.
  
• The Canadian LifeQuilt, a unique and permanent memorial commemorating young women and men killed or injured on the job, was displayed at CCOHS with personal commentary from Shirley Hickman, a mother whose son is part of the memorial.
  
• The Youth Employment Network participated in Hamilton NAOSH Week celebrations for the first time.
  
• For the third consecutive year Hamilton Safe Communities Council declared May 4 - 10 "Hamilton Safety Week".