U of L employees volunteer for disaster-recovery effort in The Bahamas

caroline.zentner — Tue, 24 Dec 2019 17:56:26 +0000

Two ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge employees who volunteer with Team Rubicon have returned from a two-week deployment to provide disaster recovery in The Bahamas following Hurricane Dorian. Eric Foster, team lead with Campus Safety, and Nolan Meyer, emergency preparedness coordinator, were stationed in Marsh Harbour on Abaco Island, where the tropical cyclonestalled for about 30 hours.

Nolan Meyer, standing at left, and Eric Foster, fourth from left, volunteered with Team Rubicon to help with recovery from Hurricane Dorian.

They faced a landscape like nothing they’d ever seen before. Trees were bent over or snapped in two. Sea cans from the harbour had been tossed about the landscape from a storm surge that was as high as seven to 12 metres. Rotting vegetation provided a perfect breeding ground for flies and other insects. The only electricity was supplied by generators and water supplies were limited.

“It was hot and humid, over 30 degrees during the day,” says Meyer. “It looked like bombs had gone off everywhere. There were vehicles overturned and smashed and impaled on road poles. There were I-beams through palm trees, boats were upside down, roofs were gone, buildings were gone.”

They were part of wave two for Team Rubicon, which consisted of 10 Canadians and 58 Americans. Team Rubicon, a disaster response organization, is part of a global response in The Bahamas. Many non-government organizations were also on the ground to help with recovery efforts.

“Several NGOs were there, from disaster recovery to organizations trying to establish IT services,” says Foster.

Foster and Meyer cleared roadways, conducted damage assessments, mucked out homes and other buildings, removing damaged materials and getting rid of mould. They ripped out walls, all while wearing Tyvek suits and masks for protection.

“It was so hot that we could only ever work inside a residence for 15 minutes at a time,” says Meyer. “Anything past that was heat exhaustion. We would sit in an air-conditioned truck to cool down before we could go back in again.”

They heard many sad stories from the locals, like how sharks ended up in people’s homes because of the storm surge and how some people were trapped in their attics for days at a time while they waited for the water levels to recede.

“There were some good stories of people helping people during the storm, too,” says Foster. “One gentleman we spoke to — we were working on his mother’s house — said they went out onto their roof during the eye of the storm and heard people screaming for help. So, they left their house and rescued 18 people from an apartment complex about a half a block away. They swam back to their house and hunkered down for the other half of the storm. Those people survived.”

“Everyone was very appreciative that we were there to try and help,” says Meyer. “It’s nice to be part of a humanitarian effort to try and help people. We appreciate that the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ made it possible for us to take the time to go down and help. It was a terrible event and a great experience for us. You come home and you realize the value of what we have here.”

“Everything from a simple thing like having running water or switching a light on,” adds Foster.

Entering the second week of their deployment, team members were asked to submit the name of someone on the team who’d worked hard and was a positive team player. Foster was selected by many as the person to be MVP.

“It was very humbling,” says Foster. “It’s nice to be recognized for the hard work and I kind of felt like I was representing Canada.”

When asked if they would do it again, neither hesitates before saying yes.

“We were mentally and physically exhausted at the end of two weeks,” says Meyer. “It’s going to take generations for Bahamians to truly rebuild their lives. If people want to donate, I encourage them to donate to Team Rubicon Canada, which is purely volunteer and operates entirely on donations. Go online and donate or join. This is a volunteer disaster-response organization that embraces anybody who wants to join.”

Campus Safety to socialize new Environmental Health Safety Management System

trevor.kenney — Fri, 23 Nov 2018 23:12:36 +0000

How often do you think about the safety risks associated with your job? How often does the person working next to you?

The safety of everyone on the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge campus is dependent on each and every member of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community. Do you know if you are meeting the regulations set out by Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S)? Did you know that new policies have been put in place by the Government of Alberta?

In the coming months, Campus Safety, led by Chief Safety Officer Doug Mackie and Manager of Safety Carolin Cattoi-Demkiw, will be visiting all campus units to discuss new OH&S regulations and the U of L’s new Environmental Health Safety Management System (EHSMS), which was adopted as policy in June.

“We’re trying to continue to build a culture of safety,” says Mackie. “This is important, it’s a heightened emphasis on safety and we’re all going to be better for it. It’s looking out for yourself, looking out for others who work with you and making sure people go home safe at the end of the day.”

Simply because of the nature of the work that takes place on campus, risk is everywhere and while safety protocols have been in place for years, new regulations have made it imperative all post-secondary institutions revisit their EHSMS.

“The changes in the Occupational Health and Safety act are being felt throughout industry in Alberta and specifically within the post-secondary system,” says Mackie. “It’s never a bad thing to look at your safety protocols. This is about charting a course for continuous improvement and it couldn’t be more important because it involves life safety.”

The timing of the new policy also coincides with the impending opening of the new Science & Academic Building. A new facility, with a central chemical store, already prompts a reset of safety procedures.

“It really is a good time to talk about safety,” says Mackie. “We’re moving from old lab space to new lab space and we want to use the state-of-the-art facilities with a state-of-the-art safety plan. All the while, we have to keep in mind that the new EHSMS encompasses all of campus.”

Dr. Andy Hakin, provost and vice-president (academic), says it is incumbent upon everyone on campus to evaluate the risks associated with their activities and to properly equip themselves with the knowledge to conduct their work safely.

“Nobody comes to work thinking an accident is going to happen. Everyone has the best of intentions, but we cannot cut corners when it comes to our personal safety, that of the people we work with and our students,” says Hakin.

The campus community will have multiple opportunities to engage with the new protocols, from presentations to respective units to videos, training opportunities and a host website of information. For some, the messages will be a reinforcement of what they are already doing, for others, it will be the introduction of new ways of doing business.

“It’s an opportunity for a reset and in many ways, this could not come at a better time,” says Mackie. “We’re trying to implement a sustainable safety management plan for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ so that we’re not only meeting the legislative requirements but exceeding the requirements.”

Mackie says the community will be better off once the new measures are in place.

“The standards that we want to achieve will benefit the entire campus.”

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U of L employees volunteer for disaster-recovery effort in The Bahamas

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Campus Safety to socialize new Environmental Health Safety Management System

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