Canadian Occupational Safety

April 2014

Canadian Occupational Safety (COS) magazine is the premier workplace health and safety publication in Canada. We cover a wide range of topics ranging from office to heavy industry, and from general safety management to specific workplace hazards.

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24 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com that we had turned a corner and safety was number 1 in our company." The success of an organization's OHS program depends on the sup- port of those at the top. Yet, it is often up to safety professionals to persuade executives that, by buying into safety, they can not only help keep workers safe but also improve the bottom line. "The business case for safety is straightforward," says Ben Amick, senior scientist at the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) in Toronto. "Safe organizations are higher performing." Workers in organizations that care about safety are more likely to work according to safe practices, he says. Safe working procedures also reduce turnover, help build morale and increase productivity. Most important, Amick adds, safe procedures help protect workers. Once, he recalls, during a tour of a manufacturing plant, a supervisor introduced him to a man seated away from the main work area. The man had acquired carpel tunnel surgery and wore braces on both wrists. "As we walked away, the supervi- sor told me, 'He was my best worker,'" he says. "If people are an important part of your business, then what other business case for safety do you have to make?" Looking at the fi nancial benefi ts of safety, it's important to consider both direct and indirect costs of workplace accidents, says Karla Thorpe, direc- tor of workplace health and wellness research with the Conference Board of Canada, based in Ottawa, which runs the Health and Safety Leader- ship Centre. These can range from medical expenses and replacement labour to downtime, injury claims administra- tion and legal fees. Some organizations provide templates to help companies calculate the full cost of an incident. "It's only by looking at some of the cost savings that an organization can start to understand the ROI of investing in health and safety practices," she says. By supporting the organization's safety culture, executives increase its ability to attract highly skilled, motivated people and make it more competitive by building a reputation with customers, investors and the public, says Thorpe. In making their case, she recom- mends safety professionals appeal not just to leaders' heads but also to their hearts. Ask an injured employee to relate how his accident has affected him and his family. "It's the human element," she says. "At the end of the day, health and safety programs are designed to pro- tect workers from harm." Thorpe says senior managers should demonstrate visible commitment to OHS initiatives — discussing safety at meetings, acknowledging employees' contributions to OHS and recogniz- ing people who follow safety policies. They should also act as role models, wearing helmets and safety goggles when they tour facilities. Many organizations across Canada have embraced a leadership safety charter. Safe Saskatchewan in Regina began working on a charter in 2008 to address the province's workplace injury rate, the second highest in Canada (after Manitoba). "We knew we needed help in look- ing at health and safety in a different way," says CEO Gord Moker. "It almost seems as if we, as a society, don't value injury prevention the way we could." Today, the Saskatchewan Health & Safety Leadership Charter has 341 signatories. These business, union, government and community leaders have committed themselves to the charter's seven principles — as well as one further goal. N oël Després has seen what it takes for a company to trans- form its safety performance. At Comeau's Sea Foods, it took a great deal of effort over several years, and required a change in outlook among senior managers. "We changed our safety culture. Safety was there, but it was not in the forefront," recalls the general manager and COO of the Saulnierville, N.S.- based company, which employs 500 workers at processing plants, testing facilities, a dry dock and fi shing boats. "We turned it around miraculously. It was a lot of hard work." In each of 2011 and 2012, Comeau's reduced lost-time injury claims by 50 per cent. Last year, the Workers' Compensation Board of Nova Scotia (WCBNS) recognized the company for its safety leadership and signifi cantly improved safety outcomes. "It was a very emotional time, when we received the award," Després says. "We wanted to show the employees MAKING THE BUSINESS CASE FOR SAFETY By Linda Johnson Congratulations to the following OHS professionals who have recently been granted the Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP) ® Professionnel en sécurité agréé du Canada (PSAC) ® designation. The BCRSP is a self-regulating, self-governing organization accredited by the Standards Council of Canada to ISO 17024 (Personnel Certification Body) and certified by BSI Management Systems to ISO 9001 (Quality Management System). Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals/Conseil canadien des professionnels en sécurité agréés 905-567-7198, 1-888-279-2777, www.bcrsp.ca Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals Abbasi, Muhammad Kamran Ali Adams, Dean Ajibulu, David Toope Almond, Rodney Anwer, Muhammad Iqbal Awomodu, Gbolahan Bahadoorsingh, Yugash Balango, Scott Baratelli, K. Michelle Barnett, Chelsey Beauchamp (McReynolds), Jane Becker, Joel Benoit, Martin Berze-Butts, Shaun Betzema, Arnold Bhatnagar, Pravin Kumar Bidlock, Shelly Blank, Janina Blasius, Lavern Bluzat, Michelle Bodnar, Ashley Boone, Christie Bouchard, Eric Briese, Amanda Brigden, Sean Brown, Barclay Brown, Kurt Campbell, Amber Campbell, Janice Campbell, Paul Canning, James Carter, Charles Castro, Dario Chaffey, Aaron Chamberlain, Darrell Chisholm, Alicia Ciconte, Rita Clements, Warren Coca, Jairo Cole, Julie Collins-Cavers, Kathleen Comaniuk, Paul Cox, Quentin Crack, Brent Craig, Cathy Croisetiere, Terri Cyr, Marc Da Silva, Chantel Dahlgren, Karla Davidge, Richard Decunha, Anzette Dennett, Aisling DeWitte, Joe Di Giovanni, Ester Doherty, Linda Donnelly, Timothy Donovan, Jo Anne Durdle, Dion Eastaugh, Douglas Enns, Richard Essilfie, Samuel Everatt, Brittaney Fernandez, Edgar Fillier, Damien Fonseca, German Franko, Danielle Freake, Jeffrey Golshahi, Hooman Gonzalez Chapman, Antonio Goodall, Jaclyn Grannum, Korie Greenlay, Kathryn M. Grega, Tammy Gunter, Ian Haldorson, Zizhen Hall (Caron), Shannon Hamidnejad, Ramin Hendrie, Carl Hirang, Francisco Jr. Hnidan, Kory Houlden, Earl Hunter, Ronald Hurry, Shelly Iqbal, Mohammad Zahid Jacques, Emile Jardine (Rainville), Marilee Javeed, Saadat John, Ray John, Siju Johnson, David Jolly, James Michael Jones, Doran Jones (Solomon), Corissa Kachanoski, Kevin Kearney, Derek Kendall, Sterling Kennedy, Mary-Anne Klapstein, Carmen Korney, Colin Kriekenbeek, Hans Krueger, Anneliese Lagani, Jennifer Lakusta, Michael Lam, Patrick Lamb, Robert Landreville, Joseph Lashek, Amy Lawrance, Monique Libatique, Almira MacDougall, Heather MacNiven, Rob MacSween, Blair Mah, Steven Maniatogiannis, Georgios Mason, Edmund McComb, Geoffrey McDougall, Darrell McNamara, Amber Mills, Patrick Montgomery, Wes Mossman, Bruce Mudford, Hillary Mueller, Dana Muhammad, Ibraheim Mullowney, Laura Murphy, Craig Murphy, Lynn Nyan Murray, Lyndsay Murray, Richard Nagel, Tammie Newman (Hollett), Dana Newton, Roger Nhan, Kyle Nikmaram, Kevin Nummela, Jani Nyambaka, Geoffrey Oftebro, Tanya Page, Rylan Parker, Holly Perrin, Douglas Perrin, Leah Phelan, Jason Phillips, Tanner Polson, Jody Melissa Rayner, Ben Reimer, Allan Reynolds, Brett Riley, Brian Robertson, Joan Robins, James Rodgerson, Patrick Rooney, Shawn Rousseau, Jo-Anne Runge, Leah Sabharwal, Rick Sathiyavanthan, Subajinie (Suba) Schwabe, Chad Scott, Crystal Shek, Wei-Ting Short, Charles (Darrell) Shupe, Cindy Smith, Morgan Snell, Keri Soldan, John Soong, Edmund Sperling, (Aileen) Tal St. Hilaire, Jacques Stasyk, Kendra Szuch, Daniel Takenaka, Lori Taylor, Robert Tchalakova, Magdalena Thompson, Matthew Topolniski, Valerie Upham, Elise Varrasso, Brian Vijayakumar, Joseph Way, Chesley Webber, Krista Wellon, George Wilding, Nancy Wilkie, Janice Zang, Armand Zaszewska, Justyna APPEAL TO EXECUTIVES' HEADS AND HEARTS TO GET BUY-IN

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