SK DOCTORS OF OPTOMETRY
Occupational Vision Care Program
LET US PROTECT YOUR SIGHT
Each year the Saskatchewan
Workers’ Compensation Board
receives more than 3,500 reports
of eye injuries. The Saskatchewan
Association of Optometrists’
Occupational Vision Care program
goal is to eliminate these injuries.
The Occupational Vision Care
program ensures:
• quality safety eyewear for
every employee
• Industry Safety Standard
approved products
• cost effectiveness for
companies and employees
• experienced eye health
professionals
• ease of administration
ovc@saosk.ca
saoovc@optometrists.sk.ca
www.optometrists.sk.ca
environmental remediation activities as
part of Project CLEANS – a multi-year, mul-timillion-
dollar project to assess and re-claim
Gunnar Uranium Mine and Mill Site,
Lorado Uranium Mill Site and 35 Satellite
Mine Sites in northern Saskatchewan.
SRC uses this ice road to transport a va-riety
of items to its remediation camp such
as vehicles, machinery, equipment, mate-rials
and fuel. Last year, over 1 million li-tres
of diesel were successfully delivered to
the camp for use in heavy equipment and
camp operations. The ice road itself is typi-cally
built at the end of February and used
through March. At the end of March, the
provincial ice road closes and SRC follows
the same regulations and requirements as
the government.
In SRC’s experience, there are opportu-nities
to work with local contractors and
sub-contractors in the Athabasca Basin re-gion,
which is beneficial for multiple rea-sons.
Safety is the priority when building
and maintaining an ice road, particularly
on Lake Athabasca with its many islands
and currents. Northern residents have the
expertise, knowledge and understanding
of the water currents and their locations
and know where to build ice roads, while
prioritizing safety. Hiring locally provides
opportunities to maximize capacity build-ing
in the north via employment and skill
development for residents in the region.
When building an ice road, measuring
the thickness of the ice and determining
the ratio between white ice and blue ice is
critical for knowing the weight bearing for
the road. White ice typically has air bubbles
trapped inside, which makes it weaker than
blue ice. As a result, certain sections of the
road may be open to a maximum, medium
or minimum weight load. SRC follows the
provincial government’s regulatory frame-work
in determining threshold limits for its
ice road.
As the temperature drops and the bod-ies
of water freeze, the ice builds itself natu-rally.
To maximize this effect, the roads are
continuously plowed with a path up to 45
metres wide. Since snow acts as an insula-tor,
it needs to be removed to expose the
ice to the freezing temperatures. If the ice
is thin in certain locations, holes are drilled
into it and water pumps are used to flood
and reinforce the ice.
Road maintenance is often dependent
on the local conditions. One of the biggest
challenges is dealing with cracks that form
SASKATCHEWAN RESEARCH COUNCIL
54 Think BIG | Quarter 4 2017 | saskheavy.ca