Management of Occupational Health & Safety

Mental Health Matters

July 8, 2020 by esoostar

Do you remember the feelings you had as a child when you returned to school after summer vacation? Were there flutters of anxiety, nerves, or maybe even a sleepless night or two? Many of us still experience these feelings as adults when we think about having to return to work from any extended time away. Now think about these feelings being escalated by additional levels of fear, as employees begin to be called back to work with the ease of current COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

As noted in this article in OHS Canada magazine, the mental health of workers must be a priority when welcoming back employees, who have to return to work in some kind of physical capacity during the pandemic. The employer continues to have a heightened duty of care that comes with ensuring the placement of proper health and safety protocols, especially those that centre on the assessment and responses required for reducing psychosocial hazards. The mental health stressors on employees resulting from the COVID-19 crisis must be recognized for the hazards they are, and appropriate remedies must be put in place to reduce the risk of deteriorating mental health for all workers.

Embedded in the article is a podcast worth listening to. It features an interview with Emma Ashurst, manager of inquiries and technical services with the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety. The content of the podcast focuses specifically on the employers’ responsibilities when implementing sound mental health strategies for managing the workplace during the pandemic. The starting point is always to check in on employees and to ask how they are coping. Many workers are overwhelmed as a result of pandemic-related increases in workload, forced isolation, and the lack of human or social contact.

During this time, the risk of increases in depression and anxiety is significant. As Ashurst states, it is imperative that managers look for signs of changes in an employee’s behaviour that may be an indicator of increased levels of burnout, stressors, and fears. She goes on to describe the employer’s duty to ensure that employees’ fears about returning to work be met with proactive support instead of a punitive reaction. The employer can do this through clear communication about cleaning protocols, ergonomic set-ups, and regular and routine communications that all assist in the management of fear. Employees cannot work if they are afraid. When an employer can alleviate fears by providing a safe physical work environment, this allows for a safe mental health environment as well.

It is also incumbent upon the employer to ensure that they are following protocols, rules, and regulations driven by jurisprudence. The employer should do this not only to show compliance with legal requirements, but also because the adherence to and communication of the ‘rules’ helps most people find comfort in structure during what continues to be a chaotic time.

Finally, as part of the most important message that Ashurst reiterates, now is the time to treat each other with grace, kindness, compassion, and connection.

Discussion Questions:

As a Health and Safety professional, what steps would you put into place to help workers overcome pandemic-related fears as part of a return-to-work strategy?
In your opinion, what impact does ongoing isolation have on employees who must continue to work from home, even as the pandemic-related restrictions begin to ease?
As you think about your own return to work or to in-class learning, what are areas of potential anxiety for you? How will you manage your own personal concerns? What supports are in place for you from either your employer or your post-secondary institution?

The Reality of Workplace Violence

April 15, 2020 by esoostar

Imagine yourself at work and a co-worker intentionally hits you. For most people, such situations are unthinkable. Hitting, slapping, grabbing, or unwanted touching of any part of a person’s body is completely unacceptable in today’s workplace, and yet, it continues to happen.

This type of conduct can be categorized as both harassment and workplace violence. Harassment is illegal under both the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) in Ontario. Workplace violence is prohibited by the OHSA. Bill 132 amended this act to include the requirement for employers to investigate complaints of both workplace harassment and violence.

A year after the implementation of Bill 132, Workplace Safety North posted this article, which states that there was a 100% increase in reports of workplace harassment complaints. This does not mean that there was suddenly an increase in actual cases. Instead, the legislation provided a previously unavailable mechanism for reporting incidents and complaints in accordance with the Ministry of Labour.

As uncomfortable as it may be, we do need to understand what a reported case of workplace harassment and violence looks like in order to prevent it from happening again.

The case of Bassanese v. German Canadian News Company Limited et al., 2019 ONSC 1343 (CanLII) is particularly problematic. Ms. Bassanese was subjected to an ongoing litany of workplace harassment, which included the allegations of being slapped in the face three times by her co-worker. On the day she filed both an internal complaint and a police report about these abuses, Ms. Bassanese was terminated for employment without notice. A summary of this case is provided here.

As part of the decision to award punitive damages to the former employee, the courts included the fact that the employer’s actions were considered a reprisal as defined by the OHSA. Furthermore, the failure on the part of the employer to comply with the legal requirements, as prescribed by the OHSA, to investigate workplace harassment and violence complaints, resulted in the costly damages to be paid by the employer to the employee.

No amount of compensation, however, can pay for someone’s pain, humiliation, and suffering at the hands of their employer. It also, unfortunately, does not seem to be enough of a deterrence to make some employers stop.

Discussion Questions:

As an HR practitioner, what steps would you take if an employee came to you with a complaint that they were slapped by a co-worker? If an investigation provided evidence that an employee did slap a co-worker, what actions would you take?
In the case of Bassanese v. German Canadian News Company Limited et al., 2019 ONSC 1343 (CanLII), what other cases did the courts consider as part of the final decision and award?

Heightened Risk. Heightened Refusal?

April 8, 2020 by esoostar

Canadian workplaces have to confront the reality of increased safety risks to workers if they are required to attend to work in essential services, such as healthcare or social services, during the current pandemic crisis. While they may face the increased pressures that come with potential increased risks, workers in Canada continue to have the protection of provincial health and safety legislation that includes the right to refuse work when they believe their own safety is in peril.

In healthcare, for example, nurses at the London Health Sciences Centre exercised this right as noted in this news article. The union representing the nurses alleged that the employer did not provide facemasks as part of a personal protective equipment (PPE) requirement for nurses working in a cancer clinic. In correctional services, prison guards in an Ottawa jail refused to work due to the lack of COVID-19 screening for people entering the jail, as noted in this news article.

Both situations provide us with textbook examples of the rationale for work refusal. It begins with the reasonable belief on the part of the worker that the working conditions are unsafe. The worker must alert the employer to the potential danger and indicate their intent to refuse to do the work. The employer must investigate and take corrective action(s) if there is an existing danger to the workers.

The challenge facing the employer in both situations is the increasing scarcity of masks for PPE and the lack of availability of COVID-19 screening and testing tools. How can the employer provide corrective measures if the equipment is just not available?

As a result, the increased vigilance and reactions in both examples are understandable. Additionally, any current situation where service workers feel that they are at risk is heightened by their growing sense of fear. Fear that they will contract the virus. Fear that they will unknowingly infect someone else. Fear that the consequences of exposure may end with devastating results.

While it seems almost impossible to separate the emotional reaction of fear from the recognition of a workplace hazard, the rules must prevail—as noted in this posting by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), which gives clear directions to unionized workers that “fear alone of a potential exposure will not be an adequate reason to refuse work.”

When people start to emotionally escalate into fear, it can quickly turn into panic and result in chaos. We need to help each other to de-escalate out of panic by providing rational and legitimate fact-based information. In a time of turbulence, it is important to go back to the basics and reinforce what the ground rules are for safety protection. The PSAC posting provides excellent and extensive information from a union perspective. From the employers’ side, the law firm of McCarthy Tetrault provides this posting that reiterates the ground rules and circumstances that must be followed in the case of work refusals in order to protect workers and workplaces.

Usually the union and the employer are on opposite sides of a work-related issue. In this current climate, it is heartening to know that the messages are unified in support of protecting each other with logic and reason, through the crisis of this COVID-19 pandemic.

Discussion Questions:

What are the conditions in your current place of work that could prompt a work refusal by employees?
What measures can an employer put into place to provide additional protection for employees in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis?
How can employees who work in service environments ensure that they are self-protecting and meeting their essential job requirements?

Protect Your New Employees

March 10, 2020 by rmcfadden

One certain way to protect your recruitment investment is to protect your new workers.

Many HR professionals are aware that younger workers get workplace injuries more often than older workers, and because of that, many HR departments have young worker awareness (YWA) training programs. Many HR professionals, however, are unaware that all new workers are more susceptible to injuries, and not just young workers. In fact, some research states that not only do young workers and new workers get hurt more often, but they get hurt earlier on the job as well.

According to the Infrastructure Health and Safety Association (IHSA), “New and young workers in Ontario are four times more likely to be injured during the first month of employment than at any other time.”

Four times more likely to get injured in the first four weeks! This is an incredibly alarming statistic, and it is not just applicable to young new workers; it is all new workers that are getting injured at a higher rate (click here to read in greater detail), and HR departments must take notice.

Some jurisdictions are taking note of this safety concern and are addressing it in their provincial Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) legislation, such as in British Columbia, under sections 3.22 to 3.25 of their Workers Compensation Board (WCB) safety regulations, which specifically address what is required for young and new workers’ safety training. Click here to learn more about the safety requirements for young new workers in BC.

Employers are concerned about how hard it is to recruit and retain good employees, but perhaps if employers did more OHS training during employee orientation and on-boarding, they would not be losing their young and new workers in the first month of their employment.

Discussion Questions:

1. Research the OHS legislation in your jurisdiction. Identity if there are any specific laws or regulations regarding the specific training of young and new workers.

2. Review the BC OHS regulations that pertain to young and new workers (click here for link). Review the requirements and develop an outline of a safety orientation program that would meet its legal requirements.

Eldercare and Workplace Violence

February 20, 2020 by esoostar

Many of us have, or will have, to live through the process of finding care for our aging elders who are battling age-related dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease. Most of us are unable to provide the escalating level of care that is required for our parents or grandparents with this disease, so that they can live safely in their own homes. As a result, we have to make the difficult decision to move our elders into a healthcare facility, such as a nursing or long-term care home.

As we know from multiple media sources, the demand for eldercare, especially critical care, far exceeds the availability of facilities and spaces for this aging and growing demographic. Public healthcare services are simply not able to keep up with the demand. Not only are the facilities filled to full capacity, the services needed once the elderly are in care are at maximum demand. Adding to this pressure for demand, the needs of those afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease can vary tremendously depending on the level or progress of the disease.

Included in the litany of miseries that comes with Alzheimer’s disease is the change in the affected person’s behaviour. People who have spent their adult lives as loving and thoughtful parents or grandparents, often turn into violent, aggressive, and abusive individuals. The cause for this dramatic and devastating change is the disease. While we know that the person who is raging abuse, and hurling objects at anyone who enters the room, is ‘not themselves’, the impact of the violent or aggressive behaviour is devastating to the person who is the subject of that abuse. Getting slapped, kicked, or punched feels the same on the receiving end, no matter what the age or mental state of the person doing the slapping, kicking, or punching.

In 2017, the results of a poll showed the impact of the escalating levels of workplace violence experienced by healthcare workers from patients in the Ottawa area. This risk of harm to workers increases for those who care for patients who have to move into extended healthcare programs, hospitals, and facilities.

Typically, people who have to live in long-term care facilities are not there by choice. Healthcare workers in these facilities find themselves working with patients in a closed environment—meaning that patients cannot leave—who may be easily triggered by the routines the workers must abide by in order to do their jobs. When coping with numerous patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, these triggers can multiply and range in level of severity, depending on any number of differing variables.

It is no wonder that the healthcare sector finds itself in need of more resources and training tools to reduce the risk of harm for both healthcare workers and the persons entrusted to their care.

In the fall of 2019, the Ontario government published ‘Workplace violence prevention in health care: A guide to the law for hospitals, long-term care homes and home care.’ While this document reinforces the regulatory requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, it also emphasizes the need for employers in the healthcare sector to train and support their workers, and instructs supervisors on how to work safely in the face of an increasingly unsafe workplace environment. A brief legal analysis of the guide is provided by the Canadian HR Reporter.

As noted in the analysis, the time for a cultural shift in healthcare, with the implementation of proactive workplace safety measures, is at hand. All of us will be the better for it.

Discussion Questions:

As the Health and Safety leader in a healthcare workplace environment, how will you balance the rights of workers with the need to provide appropriate services to patients who may be violent?
What are specific and proactive steps you could implement to reduce the risk of harm to healthcare workers in a long-term care home?