CKE1 (Health and Safety)

Links between human resource practices and health and safety

(1) Safety is a people issue - Through a variety of strategies including compensation and awareness programs, human resources professionals motivate safe working - HR decisions may affect safety even if safety was not considered at the time of the decision e.g. high-performance work system (or lean manufacturing) may make employees tired, stressed or overworked and make them ignore safety issues - HR professionals should monitor changes in the organization with an eye to their impact on occupational health and safety (2) Safety required legislative compliance (3) Safety decreases costs - Workers' Compensation premiums, long-term disability coverage, sick-time provisions, health plans - HR has a role to play in ensuring that the benefits an organization pays for are used most effectively to help injured workers and ensure a prompt return to health (and to work) (4) Safety relates to other human resources functions such as training initiatives

Organized Labour as a Stakeholder

- Bring emerging health and safety problems and issues to the attention of government and employers, and to pressure other stakeholders to take corrective action - Use collective bargaining process to incorporate health and safety provisions in many contracts (e.g. contract stating that a union must have a full-time safety representative in all plants)

Ontario Workmen's Compensation Act

- Collective liability for employers, with some recognition of risk in the amount of contribution paid by individual employers - Compensation for workers regardless of the financial condition of the employer - Compensation based on loss of earnings - A "no fault" system - A non-adversarial process: little or no recourse to the courts

Employers as a Stakeholder

- Company's management team is the most pivotal Employers' responsibilities are (1) Employers are responsible for preparing a written OH&S policy and ensure that it is prominently displayed (2) Provide and maintain equipment, materials and protective devices (3) Ensure that the manner in which the work is performed is safe and that the environment is free from hazards and serious risks (4) Monitor their workplace and report minor, critical, disabling, and fatal injuries, as well as occupational illnesses and toxic substances (and to maintain the records of these occurrences for many years) (5) Establish health and safety committees with strong employee representation; alert employees to any known or perceived risks and hazards in the workplace (6) Provide employees with health and safety training - Managers must be trained: They cannot monitor and control what they do not recognize as unsafe

Financial/Economic considerations associated with occupational injuries and illnesses

- Cost of workplace injuries exceed $12 billion a year - Lost time attributable to injuries exceeds that of labour disruptions (like strikes or lockouts) - Direct and indirect estimates must be considered underestimates of the true costs because workplace injuries are not accurately reported (only one-tenth) and statistics do not adequately capture the extent of illnesses that are caused or exacerbated by exposure to workplace conditions - Employers that are not concerned about health and safety affect negatively on Workers' Compensation rates are determined by industry sector - A negligent employer forces others in the sector to pay higher rates - Also escalate insurance premiums and health expenditures

Barriers to the Implementation of OH&S Programs

- Employers concerned with production quotas or may clean up their locations just before an announced safety inspection - Managers do not recognize unsafe conditions or feel unable to do anything about it or unaware of the methods and instruments - General medical establishment is neither well versed nor well trained in OH&S issues and occupational medicine (e.g. some industrial diseases are not apparent for years)

Moral Consideration associated with occupational injuries and illnesses

- Employers have a moral obligation to employees and their families to provide the safest working environment possible - Workers have a moral responsibility to learn about safety and health, to follow recommended workplace practices, and to alert and responsible

Overcoming Barriers to the Implementation of OH&S Programs

- Form alliances among the stakeholders (employer, employee, unions) and have the same goal: The reduction of injuries and illnesses Joint Health and Safety Committee - Committee is required in every organization with 20 or more employees (federal and most provincial and territorial governments' requirement) - Ontario has no requirement unless a designated substance is present at workplace. If this is the case then no matter how many employees there are, committee is required - Committees respond to accidents; monitor workplace; notify authorities about serious hazards, critical injuries, or deaths; hear complaints; make recommendations

Structure and Role of Joint Health and Safety Committee

- Joint health and safety committees are required by law in nine jurisdictions the minister responsible has the discretionary power to require the formation of committees in the remaining four jurisdictions. - The primary function is to provide a nonadversarial atmosphere in which labour and management can work together to create a safer and healthier workplace. Increases representation of the workers and grows out the idea of an internal responsibility system.

Three (3) Central Elements of WHMIS Program

- Labels designed to alert the worker that is contains hazardous material - There is material safety hazard sheets and procedures for safe handling - Employee training

Legislative Framework of OH&S

- Occupational health and safety is regulated under a variety of mechanisms including acts, regulations, guidelines, standards and codes. - Each province and territory publishes its own regulations which augment the federal ones.

Legal Considerations associated with occupational injuries and illnesses

- The Occupational Health and Safety Act of Ontario, section 25(2)(h): "Take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker" (Due Diligence) - Due diligence: An expected standard of conduct that requires employers to take every reasonable precaution to ensure safety - Worker is required to work in compliance with health and safety legislation

An Act

A federal, provincial, or territorial law that constitutes the basic regulatory mechanism for occupational health and safety.

3 E's

A traditional approach to occupational health and safety that emphasized engineering, education, and enforcement - Engineering the solutions to ensure safe work environments, equipment, PPE - Educating supervisors and employers in the use of equipment - Enforcing existing regulations and practices

Lost Time Injury

A workplace injury that results in the employee missing time from work

Due Diligence

An expected standard of conduct that requires employers to take every reasonable precaution to ensure safety

Occupational Illness

Any abnormal condition or disorder caused by exposure to environmental factors associated with employment

Occupational Injury

Any cut, fracture, sprain, or amputation resulting from a workplace

Standards and Codes

Design-related guides established by agencies such as the CSA (Canadian standards association)

Duties and Responsibility of Workers

Duties of workers are included in a majority of statutes, the inclusion of workers responsibilities is relatively new within OHS Duties include: - Complying with OHS act - Properly using the safety equipment - Reporting hazards such as defective equipment - Reporting any contraventions of the act or regulations

Regulations

Explains how the general intent of the act will be applied in specific circumstances.

Major stakeholders

Government Employers Employees Organized Labour

Employees as a Stakeholder

Have a role to play in occupational health and safety both as individuals and as members of organized labour groups - Perform their duties and tasks in a safe and responsible manner - Wear protective equipment in compliance with company and legislative regulations - Required to report defective equipment and other workplace hazards to the safety professional, the Join Health, and Safety Committee or the manager

Duties and Responsibility of Ontario Employers

In ON the employers responsibilities are extensive and include: - Ensuring equipment is provided and properly maintained - Appointing a competent supervisor - Providing info in a medical emergency - Informing supervisors and workers of possible work hazards - Posting the OHS act in workplace - Preparing and maintaining a health and safety policy and reviewing it annually All federal and provincial OHS acts must include prescribed duties - Prescribed duties are under Ontarios OHS legislation and something to undertaken of because of legal or employer requirement such as a rule or direction. A constructor / primary contractors have responsibilities similar to those of employers. - A constructor is: In health and safety legislation a person or company that oversees the construction of a project and is ultimately responsible for the health and safety of the workers

Guidelines and Policies

More specific rules that are not legally enforceable unless referred to in an act regulation or act.

Government as a Stakeholder

Ontario was the first province to enact compensation legislation with the passage of the Workmen's Compensation Act in 1914 - Provided lost-time wages to almost every injured worker (removing the right of workers to sue their employers) After WWI, the governments (federal/provincial/territorial) began to enact legislation to protect workers - Two main goals (1) Ensure that injured workers receive compensation and that employers accepted liability, and (2) Prevent accidents and illness by establishing safe work environments continued improvement to legislation: reduced number of accidents -the federal government has created the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) vital health and safety research and resource organization creates and maintain comprehensive database such as CCINFOWEB -information on the toxicological effects of chemicals and biological agents such as MSDS (material safety data sheets) and health and safety laws for all of Canada's jurisdiction produces wide variety infograms and other publications

Methods of calculating injury severity rates

Severity of work-related injuries is the ratio of the number of days lost due to injuries to a factor of 200,000 and is calculated using the relationship Severity = (Number of Days Lost to Injuries/Total Hours Worked) * 200,000

Assumption of Risk

The belief that a worker accepted the risks of employment when he or she accepted a job

Accident Proneness

The notion that some individuals are inherently more likely than others to be involved in accidents, as a result of individual characteristics

Occupational Health and Safety

The recognition, assessment, and control of hazards associated with the work environment

Purpose and Basic Provisions for the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act

The regulation of environmental hazards, the OHS and transportation of dangerous goods in not exclusive domain of either the federal, provincial or territorial governments. Therefore knowledge of the statute relevant to his/her area or jurisdiction is imperative.

Methods of calculating injury frequency rates

To determine the frequency injury ration, consider the number of medical aid injuries relative to the number of hours worked expressed in a ratio of 200,000 (some firms use a factor of 1,000,000). Frequency = (number of Injuries/Total Hours Worked) * 200,000

Duties and Responsibility of Supervisors

Very similar across Canada and a 'supervisor' is basically a person who Has charge over a workplace and/or worker Duties include : - Ensuring that workers comply with the OHS act and regulations - Ensuring workers use safety equipment, devices and clothing -Advising workers of possible hazards - Providing written instructions if applicable - Taking every reasonable precaution to ensure the protection of workers

The goals and methods of Workers' Compensations Boards (WCBs)

Workers' Compensation Board administer the provincial and territorial acts throughout Canada The provincial boards are empowered to fix and collect assessments, determine the right to compensation, and pay the amount due to the injured worker. Workers' Compensation system has the exclusive and final jurisdiction