TRADE UNIONS Carpenters Union locals introduce course in healthcare infection control As renovations increasingly become commonplace in aging hospitals and other health care institutes, more pres- sure is being placed on contractors to mitigate the risk of contaminating and disrupting ongoing health care opera- tions. Enhancing the Success of Women in the Canadian Construction Industry CAWIC is a not-for-profit Canadian association whose membership includes women and employers across all sectors of the Canadian construction industry. www.cawic.ca 60 – Winter 2015 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report It is why the training centres representing Carpenters Local 27 and Local 675 in Woodbridge have introduced a three-day course to the rank and file: Construction ICRA: Best Practices in Healthcare Construction. “The idea is to educate our members to a standard for construction in hospitals and health care facilities,” says Anthony Simone, one of three instructors teaching a class of 16 at the Interior Finishing Systems Training Centre (IFSTC) in suburban Toronto. “If contractors are not dealing with infection control, they could be putting patients at health risk.” Furthermore, they could see their contracts suspended or even terminated, he adds. Contractors that meet recommended infection control practices, however, “definitely get noticed,” which could benefit them when bidding on future hospital contracts, says Hajira Hafeez, infection control practitioner, Toronto East General Hospital (TEGH). Calling infection control “a fact of life” in most hospitals today, she says the three-day course is a timely primer for contractors and their employees. Hafeez was invited to speak to students in the first class about her experience at TEGH and her expectations of contractors. The first of its kind in Ontario, the course will be held periodically to rank and file members at the IFSTC in Wood- bridge. It covers such issues as asbestos, lead, mold, sil- ica, blood-borne pathogens and other hospital-specific concerns. Identification and classification of work areas that minimize risks, illness and injury are part of the cur- riculum. Mike Yorke, president of Carpenters Local 27, was in- strumental in bringing the course to Toronto. It was devel- oped by the International Brotherhood of Carpenters at its training centre in Las Vegas. “HAI’s (healthcare-associated infections) had reached an alarming rate in the U.S. and insurance costs were im- pacting all healthcare providers,” he says. “Given the cir- cumstances in Ontario . . . . the time was right to implement the ICRA program here. We have a solid work- force (employers and labour) along with training centres that have the staff and capacity to deliver this state-of-the- art program.” At Toronto East General, some renovation contractors are up to speed on infection control procedures, but many are not, says Hafeez. In a poll she conducted four of five contractors were not aware of proper infection control pro- cedures. The most common problem is poorly constructed hoarding with gaps and holes; other problems include un- derperforming enclosures (containment areas) on high- level projects and inadequate ventilation. The ICRA course includes installation methods for dif- ferent types of containment enclosures, including softwall structures comprised of 6 ml poly on frame for short-term contracts and hardwall structures with 6 ml poly and dry-