May 21 - Ontario Power Generation

More documents

Recommendations

Info

page 2 IT’S ALL ABOUT PEOPLE volume twelve • issue nine HEALTH & WELLNESS Vitamin D Dr. Sotto says... “What’s the BIG deal about vitamin D?” The big deal is that vitamin D can protect you against significant diseases and illness such as cancer (colorectal, breast, ovarian, prostate), heart disease, stroke, diabetes, depression, osteoporosis, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune diseases and more, according to extensive research studies. Statistics Canada says most Canadians are deficient in vitamin D. According to a recent study, about 37,000 Canadians or 16% of the Canadian population can be saved from premature death if they increase their daily intake of vitamin D. So how do you know if you’re getting enough vitamin D to stay healthy? You can find out through a simple blood test which can be ordered by your doctor. Where can you get vitamin D? It is produced in your skin when you’re exposed to Ultraviolet B (UVB) rays from the sun during midday in the summer. It can also be found in fatty fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, and sardines), milk, egg yolk, liver and orange juice fortified with vitamin D, and through liquid or tablet supplements. Vitamin D also helps your body absorb calcium, which is especially important after age 30 when bone mass starts to decrease. Adults should ingest at least 1,000 to 1,500 mg of calcium per day, depending on your age or as recommended by your doctor. The Canadian Cancer Society recommends that adults living in Canada increase their daily vitamin D intake to 1,000 IU. This can be obtained by 10 minutes of daily, VITAMIN direct skin exposure to sunlight in the spring and summer, and by taking vitamin D supplements in the fall and winter. Visit your doctor for more information and to take a blood test to ensure you are getting enough vitamin D. ZERO INJURIES. BELIEVE IT. ACHIEVE IT. Improved WPC OPG Work Protection Code Gets a Facelift Recent revisions to the OPG Work Protection Code (WPC) have resulted in not only a higher level of protection for employees, but also in the achievement of a major regulatory milestone. Over the last two years, work has been underway to improve OPG’s WPC to align with new Ministry of Labour (MOL) requirements for “complex group lockout and tagout”. These requirements which were finalized in December 2008 after several years of consultation with the MOL mark a significant achievement in the MOL’s recognition of the safety afforded by OPG’s current processes. With the work coordinated by an OPG-wide project team of WPC experts led by Corporate Safety, WPC improvements required detailed action plans involving over 150 employees from across OPG. One part of the governance for this transition was developed by the tripartite Corporate Code Advisory Group, who revised the WPC with over 50 new/ modified rules. The end result will be noticed by all employees who rely on work protection to isolate the energies associated with their work. Some of the major changes include: • a new requirement to add additional protection (e.g., locks) to thousands of high-risk energy isolating devices; • a new process where workers verify through initials their understanding of the status of isolation; and • additional training for permit holders on the hazards associated with their work environment. Businesses are transitioning to these new requirements in 2010 with Thermal, Hydro and Corporate Real Estate sites already complete. Due to longer lead times for work protection planning and the critical Pickering Vacuum Building Outage, Nuclear’s transition will be complete by August 1, 2010. Mary Lou Sinclair, Director of Corporate Safety, summed up this accomplishment best: “It took a great team effort from employees across OPG to make the WPC an even safer Code to live by. It is this kind of employee commitment and dedication to safety that will help us achieve our overall goal of Zero Injuries.” If you have any questions about this project, please contact Cathy Catton at (416) 592-4015. DIVERSITY OPG’s Equity Survey Are You In? Throughout the month of <strong>May</strong>, we are asking all employees to count themselves in by completing OPG’s Employment Equity Survey. This short, voluntary survey will help OPG to better understand its workforce and meet the needs of all employees. Under the Federal Employment Equity Act (FEEA), OPG has an obligation to monitor and report detailed data regarding designated groups – Aboriginal Peoples, Visible Minorities, Persons with Disabilities and Women – in its employee population. It is critical that this information be kept current, not only to meet the obligations of the FEEA, but because it may also result in changes in training, support and accommodation programs that affect all employees and benefit our company through diversity. The EE workforce survey is the only means by which this information can be gathered. Typically, this survey is completed by employees when they join the organization, but it can be completed or updated at any time throughout your career with OPG. If you did not complete the EE workforce survey when you joined OPG or if you need to update the information in the survey (e.g., if you have developed a disability), please consider doing so today. To complete the survey, login to ESS, mouse-over Personal Information and click on Employment Equity Survey, or obtain a paper copy from your HR Consultant. All information collected through the EE survey is confidential. It will only be used for statistical purposes with no names identified. If you have any questions, please contact your Human Resources Consultant.
OPG CELEBRATES EARTH DAY page 3 volume twelve • issue nine With the help of Atikokan GS - the Walleye is Back! The Walleye did indeed do its part and anglers are once again happy as the Walleye fishery in Lower Marmion Lake has re-opened. This comes after an 11 year closure of the fishery and a program to improve the Walleye population that was carried out by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) and OPG. To help move the program forward, Atikokan GS partnered with the Atikokan Sportsman’s Conservation Club and the MNR in a stocking program, which introduced 12 million regionally-sourced fry into Marmion Lake over a threeyear period commencing in 1998. A succession of netting surveys, funded by OPG, monitored the population and signs The Atikokan Progress article of Jan. 18, 1999 read, “Cooperation made the new Abie/Marmion Lake Spawning Bed a reality for the Community – the rest is up to the Walleye!” Flash forward 10 years to Jan. 5, 2009, and the Progress article reads “OPG, MNR Efforts Pay Off – Marmion walleye fishery recovered – angling closure lifted after 11 years.” In 1996, a fishery study indicated that the Walleye population in Lower Marmion Lake near Atikokan was in a serious decline. Lower Marmion Lake was created by impoundments and flooding of surface lands during the active mining years of the Steep Rock Lake iron ore mines. It is now one of several lakes that form a chain of “circuit cooling water lakes” for Atikokan GS. While the decline of Walleye in the lakes was not attributed to a single cause, there was evidence that the station’s fluctuating discharge flows and thermal effluents were causing early spawning and “hatch advance” of Walleye before their natural food supply had emerged. The issue became such a serious concern for local anglers and the MNR that the lakes were closed to Walleye fishing until further notice. “The issue proved a unique engineering and biological challenge in order to prevent migration of Walleye to their usual spawning area, while allowing water to continue to circulate through the lake system,” said Gerry McKenna, Senior Environmental Scientist, Thermal. “A creative solution was to design a weir that doesn’t hold water and prevents fish from going upstream, the opposite of what most weirs and dams are required to do.” The weir was installed at the outlet of Abie Lake to Marmion Lake in 1998 and consists of porous angled screens anchored between gabion blocks. In addition, a new spawning bed was developed immediately downstream of the weir. of recovery started to show with increasing recruitment of younger fish to the overall population. Over the years, Atikokan GS staff worked with the MNR to review the results as well as ensure the new weir was properly maintained and inspected. Brian Jackson, a biologist in MNR’s Atikokan area office, was involved throughout the program. “It’s definitely a success story,” he said, adding that public support for the closure was strong, and OPG’s support for the overall effort was crucial. OPG contributed over half a million dollars to build the weir and support the stocking and netting surveys. “While it took 11 years, the re-opening of the Walleye fishery at Atikokan demonstrates that, if we do our part, nature will do the rest,” says Ed Enge, Production Manager, Atikokan GS. In 2010, the “year of biodiversity,” this is a case of putting words into action to protect biodiversity. Over 150 employee volunteers and their families, local Scouts, and community members participated in a soggy but successful tree-planting event at Nanticoke GS on <strong>May</strong> 1. Over 2,000 white pine and white spruce seedlings were planted to enhance biodiversity on the site. Since 1997, over 35,000 trees have been planted at Nanticoke. Nicole Goulet, Thermal Env. Chemical & Safety Technician/Technologist, with sons Joshua (left) and Gavin. Wayne Weller, OPG Senior Environmental Scientist, displays a cedar tree, one of the species of trees planted at Decew Headworks site during an Earth Day tree planting event. Niagara plant group volunteers planted about 400 seedlings during the event. Lori Matorcevic and her daughter, Alexandra, joined 250 volunteers to help plant about 650 indigenous trees and shrubs at Alex Robertson Park in Pickering. Thanks to a successful partnership between OPG, Toronto Region Conservation Authority, City of Pickering, Environmental Stewardship Pickering, along with other community groups and volunteers, more than 7,000 plantings have been made in the park as part of a wildlife corridor. Jill Ward, Environmental Advisor at Lambton GS, reads an OPG Earth Day message during a recent recording at Blackburn Radio Inc. The message aired on all three local Blackburn radio stations across Sarnia-Lambton on Apr. 22.
Page 1: I n s i d e f e a t u r e s The big

May 21 - Ontario Power Generation

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?