Canadian Occupational Safety

32 www.cos-mag.com Canadian Occupational Safety great enthusiasm, but I don't always think we adequately welcome them and provide them the support and guidance that's going to integrate them into the country so they succeed both personally and professionally," says Beatch. Doing work for which one is over- qualified, also known as occupational mismatch, can take a toll on mental health. The IWH research found it was very rare for recent immigrants to find work in their own profession in Canada. Immigrants are more likely to be found in precarious, part-time and shift work as well as non-unionized environments and small businesses. "We have heard some conversations about feeling hopeless and disap- pointed because immigrants may not expect they are going to find them- selves in these kinds jobs," says Yanar. A recent report from the United Way of the Greater Toronto Area paints a bleak picture for immigrants. It found that no matter how long an individ- ual has been in Canada, the fact that they were not born here means they are earning less. Additionally, the racial divide in the GTA has reached an historic high with racialized groups becoming poorer over time. For every dollar a white person in the GTA earns, a racialized person takes home on average 69 cents, the report found. It's important for employers to provide mental health support to all their employees, including those that are culturally specific. When one employee said they would like to speak with an elder rather than a traditional counsellor, Beatch made this option available through the City of Vancover's employee assistance program provider. "I get learnings from them and as I hear, my gosh, I wasn't aware of that cultural need or cultural sensitivity, how do I ensure that we as an organ- ization become sensitive to it and respond to various employees' needs?" Additionally, language barriers can contribute to feelings of hard- ship, rejection and difficulty in making meaningful relations at the workplace for some new immigrants, Pirmoradi says. "And the feeling of being rejected can be the very Achilles heel for even emotionally strong human beings," she adds. Having poor language skills may also inhibit workers from expressing themselves, Yanar says. "People, because they may lack language proficiency, they may feel hesitant to speak up," she says. "Or one person [in our research] had an injury, but she didn't know how to explain it to her doctor." Language barriers can also make it difficult to understand train- ing, instruction and signage. Most provincial safety associations or governments have posters and resources available in many differ- ent languages. Some employers have a buddy system where a newcomer is paired with another employee who speaks their language. According to the New Zealand report, foreign workers are more likely to respond to and take advice from their peers and people within their community. "Quite often, what happens is you might get a nucleus where people apply for a job because there are already some people from their com- munity who work there. So, you might have 10 people who speak Urdu and some of them have been in Canada for 10 to 15 years, fully fluent in English. Use those people as your allies for new people coming in," says Arntz-Gray. But language might not be the only issue; it could go deeper to literacy. "People might not be literate even in their own language," Yanar says. "So, simplification of occupational health and safety training, using more visual materials and really making sure the new workers understand [ is crucial].". At a previous employer, Beatch and his team made educational videos that showed the thoughts of a first- aid attendant. Because it was just the written thoughts on the screen and not voices, translation was much easier and the videos were produced in multiple languages. When Pirmoradi came to Canada, language was the last of her concerns because she had been learning Eng- lish since she was 10. But even for her, there were some difficult phone con- versations in the early days. "But I feel for the capable skilled immigrants who may find language as one of the concerns before and after their arrival, as communications is such a key aspect in ensuring one's success," she says. To help these individuals along, Pir- moradi recommends having visualized procedures, a list of company-wide abbreviations and glossary, mentor- ship support and standardized work. Local consulates are a great resource for safety professionals, although they wouldn't normally think to go there, says Arntz-Gray. The Mexican consulate, for example, works with many Canadian employ- ers to help them with issues they might have around communicating safety to Mexican workers. Cultural intelligence training is something that employers might want to consider implementing. For the safety team, the training can help them understand the issues that may arise for various groups of workers and how these may increase their vulner- ability to injury. "It's important for safety managers to adopt that cultural lens," says Yanar. But all employees can benefit from being more culturally aware. "[Make] sure it is everyone that has these skills of understanding different cultures and managing that and inter- acting. It's not so much about what languages and what cultures anymore, it's more about this is our environ- ment, it's diverse," Yanar says. Regardless of their own experiences and understanding of different cul- tures, all workers need to be respectful of each other, stresses Beatch. "When I hire someone, I am not hiring someone to be a friend of mine, I am hiring them to do a job and we do not have to like each other — and I tell employees that. What you do have to do is respect each other. And my expectation is respect and part of that is to respect the dif- ferences," says Beatch. At the end of the day, it's on employ- ers, supervisors, health and safety professionals, trainers and regulators to make sure recent immigrants are healthy and safe on the job, says Arntz- Gray. The data is very clear, he notes, that the first 30 days on the job are the most dangerous. But the challenges that are presented during this first month are amplified for immigrants because they are also grappling with cultural issues. "As a health and safety profes- sional, if we don't take this seriously, we will not succeed in implementing health and safety management sys- tems, health and safety programs," Arntz-Gray says. "If we are ignoring the potential for increased health and safety risk for recent immigrants, we are going to have continued injuries, illness and death." COS You might have 10 people who speak Urdu and some of them have been in Canada for 10 to 15 years, fully fluent in English. Use those people as your allies. Announcement - Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals 2019-20 Executive Officers The Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals is a public interest, not-for-profit, federally incorporated self-regulat- ing organization which sets the certification standards for the OHS profession. Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals Conseil Canadien Des Professionnels En Sécurité Agréés In addition to the Executive Committee, the 2019-20 Governing Board includes newly elected Governors Tehzin Chadwick, CRSP, CIH, ROH; David Larson, CSP, CFPS, ARM, CRSP; Peter Sturm, BA, CHSC, CRSP, and returning Governors include Paul Belair, MBA, CRSP; Mark Fernandes, MBA, CRSP; Marianne Matichuk, CRSP, CHSC, COHS, CNM; Dave Rebbitt, MBA, CRSP, CHSC, CET, CD; Sandra Stephens, LLB, LLM (Public Member) and the Executive Director is Nicola J. Wright, BA (Hons), CAE. Kevin Dawson, Board Past Chair, is currently the principal consultant at Omnius Consulting in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Prior to forming Omnius, he was the Man- ager, Safety & Health at Nalcor Energy. Kevin holds a B.Eng. (Mech) and a MBA from Memorial University of Newfoundland. Kevin is a member of the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE) and has served as the CSSE Avalon Chapter Chair. He is also a past Chair of the Newfoundland and Labrador Construction Safety Association. Kevin has been a Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP) ® since 1998. David Johnston, Board Vice-Chair, is an environmental, health and safety professional with over 35 years' experience. He is currently employed by Toronto Hydro as the Director, Environment, Health and Safety. David has worked throughout Canada and the United States in a variety of industries and is recognized for leading organizations to safety excellence. In addition, he is a tireless volunteer contributing to the advancement of safety and the profession through serving on multiple committees, associations and boards. In 2013, he was selected as Canada's Safety Leader of the Year. David has been a Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP) ® since 1999. www.bcrsp.ca info@bcrsp.ca Monica A. Szabo, Board Chair, has over 25 years of experience in occupational hygiene, health and safety, and is a senior leader who has built a reputation for developing progressive and results-oriented health and safety solutions for the broader public sector. Monica is currently President of Szabo Safety & Operations Services. In addition to holding the CRSP, Monica is a Registered Occupational Hygienist (ROH), a Certified Occupational Health and Safety Technologist (OHST) and a Certified Municipal Manager (CMM III). Monica has been a Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP) ® since 1993. Robin Angel, Secretary-Treasurer, is the Regional Di- rector Occupational Health and Safety Division, Nova Scotia Department of Labour and Advanced Education. Robin has diverse experience in the disciplines of occupational health and safety, environmental manage- ment, industrial hygiene, and quality assurance systems. Her experience includes chemical manufacturing, oil and gas exploration, oil refinery operations, corporate industrial hygiene, tire manufacturing and occupational health and safety programs. Robin has been a Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP)® since 2006. BCRSP_NewExecutiveCommittee Announcement2019_COS Magazine.indd 1 2019-07-09 4:39:52 PM

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