Status of Ecif legislation in Canada? I need to quit nicotine cold turkey or I lose my job

[Newff]

Well some people that live in camps have shifts like that. I live outside in the town of Fort Mcmurray full time for the past 4 years and I work for 7 days then am off for 7 days. The work there is also mentally draining (busy office) and I always look forward to being able to vape during the day, I'm not sure how I could handle quitting and also being stressed and I also don't like the idea of using a patch. I'll try to quit I guess if they don't reverse the rules. I even go out to the smoke pit to vape with the other smokers.

They actually approved ecigs a few weeks ago for people to vape in their camp rooms..but I guess after their horrible research they are now changing their mind. There really is nothing I can do only talk to my bosses (which I already have) and they will pass the message along that they are wrong about it being banned. My bosses agree with me and have read the advisory that HC put out in 2009. All I can do now is wait until my boss passes along the message and hope they agree. I can't really call up the safety guy on the phone and start telling him to change his mind I'd like to though.

 

[vpur]

Love to know the site your at. As a power engineer in the oil and gas industry, I use a ecig at work all the time. Recently I have been looking at some fly in fly out opportunities, now that my divorce is over.
It be nice to know where this site is, so I wont bother applying.

 

[MattB]

E-cigarettes are by no means illegal. Not yet anyways.

Health Canada statements and restrictions for importing are NOT law!

They have issued a ban on importing liquid nicotine and advertising the sale of said liquid nicotine for businesses, but there is nothing stated by ANY goverment run organization regarding end-user application of the product.

Your boss obviously fell in with the bulldoody HC is trying to spoon feed the population to scare them away from e-cigs.

As for safety, i suppose you must be working on the oil fields? The safety inspector might have justifiable grounds to ban the use of them while working. Personally, i wouldnt allow any electronic devices(cell phones included) near the fields myself we're i in charge. In the fenced off areas and sleeping bunks though, free for all.

 

[cactusgirl]

Thanks guys..I'll see what happens. As for the safety guy he is just not some safety officer working for a small contractor. He is the Safety Lead for the whole site and when goes to his big meetings and makes a decision he makes a decision it's policy and there is nothing my boss can do about it. Once it's policy and I get caught with an ecig then I'm fired.

I'm going to wait and see if an official email is sent out and what kind of info is provided with that email such as what his information source is that leads him to believe these are banned. I will then try my best to make them aware that they are not correct.

I could see them not allowing you to use them in 'work areas', however, in living quarters or, at the very least, in designated 'smoking areas, you should be able to use them....otherwise, that would be a violation of your rights.

 

[Concat]

This makes me way more angry than it should.

 

[wood]

Hey jjust a thought if u are at an industrial site it might b because its a battery not because its illegal. We had to use special flashlights because batteries were not allowed on site it was a safety issue

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

 

[VapesAlot]

lindsay order a flashlight head to fit on your pv NicFitNation.com - Canadian supplier of e-cig kits, parts, accessories, and e-liquids - Other Vaping Accessories now its a flashlight, cant say anything for bringing around a flashlight with you. have a few cartos filled and bring with you stelth vape where you can until it blows over

 

[kanadiankat]

Well some people that live in camps have shifts like that. I live outside in the town of Fort Mcmurray full time for the past 4 years and I work for 7 days then am off for 7 days. The work there is also mentally draining (busy office) and I always look forward to being able to vape during the day, I'm not sure how I could handle quitting and also being stressed and I also don't like the idea of using a patch. I'll try to quit I guess if they don't reverse the rules. I even go out to the smoke pit to vape with the other smokers.

They actually approved ecigs a few weeks ago for people to vape in their camp rooms..but I guess after their horrible research they are now changing their mind. There really is nothing I can do only talk to my bosses (which I already have) and they will pass the message along that they are wrong about it being banned. My bosses agree with me and have read the advisory that HC put out in 2009. All I can do now is wait until my boss passes along the message and hope they agree. I can't really call up the safety guy on the phone and start telling him to change his mind I'd like to though.

If you have email access to this person - or to your boss - might be wise to make a statement now (as our friendly polar bear stated a few posts back).

Send them the following links

Tobaccoharmreduction.org (site of University of Alberta prof. studies on ecigs and other smoking replacements)
News Archive
(Boston University article on ecigs - with links to studies conducted and some of the issues with the FDA)


This should be a good start and give the heads something to discuss. If they do insist - and there is more than one vaper onsite - you can always request in writing - the reason why you are no longer allowed to use the ecig - and take it from there.

Remember though - what you do off the job is not and never will be - something that your employer has the right to control (unless of course your a criminal during off-hours... lol).

 

[MattB]

Remember though - what you do off the job is not and never will be - something that your employer has the right to control (unless of course your a criminal during off-hours... lol).

I hate to correct you, but in this case the employer does. Accomodations are provided by the employer in the oil fields. They can and are entitled to put any limitations they so choose.

 

[VapesAlot]

kinda like were living in Russia

 

[MadValleyVapingMama]

Hmmm Does this Health & Safety guy work on his knees by chance. Concat, it makes me angrier than it should also.

It seems as if he's opening the door to a lot of stress related comp. cases. Content employees are much more productive than disgruntles workers.

 

[F_Munson]

Hey Newff! I'm still back home on de big island mon, e-cigs are rare here on the west coast. When I started vaping a month ago I went to my boss and asked her if I could vape discretely in a non common area away from fellow workers etc. She asked me the usual questions about what it is, asked if I would take a few hits in her office out of curiosity and then said " sure, if none of your co-workers objects.". Most of the folks I work with smoke or are trying to quit/ have quit so no prob there. I have a pretty understanding boss but it's a government gig so I keep it on the down- lo. I agree with those who suggest stealth vaping for now, sooner or later this will work itself out. In the mean time don't go back to the analogs, every time it gets harder to quit.

 

[Toronto_Mike]

Any employer has the rights to restrict its employees of common things like smoking or vaping where it may interfer with the daily operations. Usually for safety reasons. Smoking near flammable gas - well thats just a given.

Back in 2000, after 2 interviews & a meeting with a company's owner/operator, I was offered a position with a high tech electonics company. The floor in this building cost $2,000,000 to build. This company would repair high end circuit boards for Can & US in a unheard timeframe. 72 hour turnaround. If the US army reported a defective printed circuit board in a missle head to this company - it was back in the US' army' hands, fixed in just 72 hours. The technicians would start troubleshooting it as the po order was being sent. I was simply blown away by what they did.

Anyhow, just before I left my last interview, one gentlemen asked me "You don't smoke do you?" Of course, I was honested & replied yes. The guys in the boardroom, all sighed together & they explained to me, that I'd have to quit immediately & they would pay for anything that I needed. Reason being if nicotene, even in its microscopic amounts ever touched a high tech, $100,000 circuit board - it could harm the electronics. If your talking aviation & missles - you just can't take that chance.

Sadly, I had to refuse the offer. There was no way I could promise them, that I'd quit. There were no e-cigs!

 

[kanadiankat]

I hate to correct you, but in this case the employer does. Accomodations are provided by the employer in the oil fields. They can and are entitled to put any limitations they so choose.

Generally speaking that's not true. Supplying accommodations does not give an employer rights over what you do in your spare time. Employer provided accommodations rights are the same as that of a landlord - except for the notice required, leases, etc. So you can be restricted from bringing a pet inside or smoking cigarettes (or cigars), loud music, duration of guest visits, but that is the limit.

There are exceptions, of course, but only when certain actions or activities would cause financial, legal or physical harm.

Employee/Employer rights and obligations in Canada are controlled by laws that prevent employers from interference in the individual life choices of their employees.

 

[Newff]

The oil sands do not give me accommodations. I live in a town and travel to work but whether I lived on the oil sands site in camp or in town I know that they can ban e-cigs from site and for no good reason.. I woek for them and it's their private property. I was told though that the reason that they did is because ecigs are illegal in Canada and not because of some safety reason. The office I work in is actually outside of the plant anyway and we have a designated fenced smoke pit so smoking is not a problem...the safety guy actually thinks he's breaking some law by allowing e-cigs I guess LOL. My boss is going to let them know that they are not illegal in Canada and I'm hoping that once they see they are wrong they will allow them on site.

I've been vaping on this site for over 2 years now and everyone loves the idea of the e-cig and so does my bosses boss lol. He is going to look into if for me and he actually has a lot of influence to what happens on site so I'll hope for the best.

 

[Toronnah]

Newff, this is your job. Vaping isn't worth losing it.

 

[smokum]

Well here's to hoping your boss is able to knock some common sense into the uninformed safety guy and his misguided reasoning

 

[Amowyn]

I'm wondering now which site. Can you PM me? I have 4 family members that work at 4 of the different sites here in Fort McMurray, where my husband and oldest son work, it's okay to vape. My son even vapes (along with a number of his buddies who started) in equipment at his site. My youngest son is a camp site and they can vape but only in smoking areas, not in camp rooms. My daughter works security at a 4th site and vaping is allowed but again, not in camp rooms but not because it's a smoking device, because it's a heating device! No cooking, or electronic heating elements allowed where she works.

I know there a several sites here in Fort Mac but I've never heard of this before. BTW if it's where my Husband works, he's staff, after 37 years at site they tend to listen to him so he could set them straight if it's his site.

 

[Newff]

My coordinator is going to bring up the e-cig issue in the next meeting which is in a few days. He would like me to gather some good legit info that supports my claim that e-cigs are not illegal. I would appreciate if you guys post some links if you know some. He agrees with me but now he has to convince these people within the few minutes he will have to talk about this issue so I would like him to know what he's talking about and be clear.

Also can someone clear this up? If I were to cross the border into Canada with e-juice can I get charged at all? In what way is it banned? A guy in my office is saying that because it's banned it's now contarband.

 

[VapesAlot]

the only thing that i know is banned is the nic part. you can buy ecigs at gas stations and dollar stores just they dont contain nic. so if you say you aint using nic then they arnt banned. just dont tell anyone that there is nic in it and nobody can tell the diffrence