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.
Issue link: https://digital.thesafetymag.com/i/353330
8 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com HEALTH & SAFETY NEWS Research centre to help workers with injury, illness, disability A new research centre has been launched at McMaster University in Hamilton to improve how people with disabilities are supported in the job market. The Centre for Research on Work Disability Policy aims to develop evidence-based policy options that will allow Canada's current disability policy system to provide better income support and labour market engagement for people when they are injured, ill or have a disability. "Throughout my six years in offi ce, I've spoken to employer groups, service clubs and commu- nity organizations around the province about the strong economic case for employing people with disabilities," said David Onley, lieutenant governor of Ontario. "I'm pleased to say that I've witnessed some great progress, but there is still more work to do." The new research centre is a seven-year initiative funded by the federal Social Sciences and Humani- ties Research Council. Co-led by doctors Emile Tompa and Ellen MacEachen, senior scientists at the Institute for Work & Health in Toronto, the centre includes regional hubs in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador. "Taking into account all forms of dis- ability — acute or chronic, temporary or episodic, physical or mental, coming early in life or late, work-related or oth- erwise — it's not hard to see that work disability touches most people at some point in their lives," said Tompa. "We are bringing together academic talent from across the country and working closely with partners to identify a road map for the future of work disability policy in Canada." The centre also involves 46 partners from across the country. These partners represent disability and injured worker community organiza- tions, provincial and federal-level disability support program providers, labour organizations, employers and research institutions. According to Statistics Canada, about 2.3 million people between the ages of 15 and 64 — representing one in 10 working-age Canadians — reported in 2012 they were sometimes or often limited in their daily activity due to a long-lasting health impairment. "More and more people with health conditions or impairments are falling into the grey zone of unem- ployment," said MacEachen. "They can and want to work, and need help to get there, yet may not qualify for work integration support from any one program. With our partners, we will do research to help us understand how this is happening and how our system might be improved to address it." 'Enhanced' OHS training for offi ce workers effective, study shows H ealth and safety training for offi ce workers is substantially more effective when followup ses- sions help them apply their newly learned skills, and supervisors are taught how to support them in doing so, according to a study by the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) in Toronto. The IWH study assessed in-person versus online training to address hazards associated with computer work, as well as the effect of "enhanced" training on both methods of delivery. "Despite the importance of training as a tool to change worker health and safety practices, there has been little research into what kind of training is most effective," said IWH senior scientist Ben Amick, who led the study. "Our study shows that both in-person and online training improve worker practices and postures. However, both methods are signifi cantly more effective when followed up by enhanced training." Enhanced training, Amick explains, is designed to reinforce the knowledge and skills of workers and supervisors, and to increase their self-effi cacy, such as their confi dence in their own ability to success- fully identify problems and implement solutions. The in-the-fi eld study was conducted in fi ve multi- site organizations over a 12-month period. Workers participated in one of fi ve offi ce ergonomics training alternatives: in-person training only, online training only, in-person plus enhanced training, online plus enhanced training, or none of these (the control group). The in-person training was a 90-minute session led by a trainer in a classroom setting. The online training consisted of nine 10-minute computer-based modules completed at participants' desks. Both deliv- ered the same content in about the same amount of time. The enhanced training was delivered three to six months after the in-person or online training. It included three 30-minute sessions for workers and one 60-minute session for managers and supervi- sors, all delivered in person. The sessions for workers coached them in how to partner to identify and address the ergonomic hazards of offi ce work stations (called "ergo-buddy assessments"). The session for supervisors informed them how the ergo-buddy system works, the impor- tance of being a role model and how to build a healthy computing culture. "Over time, those who received the enhanced ergonomics training on top of either the in-person or online training had signifi cantly higher self-effi cacy, signifi cantly lower postural risk, and signifi cantly greater likelihood of having properly confi gured and adjusted work stations," said Amick. According to Amick, the key training message emerging from the study is this: The same health and safety content can be delivered either in person or online, and both will improve worker practices to about the same degree. Adding in-person sessions to increase the self-effi cacy of workers and supervisors, and to coach them in how to support each other, will signifi cantly increase the effectiveness of both methods of training delivery. Sometimes...It's better when the fish don't bite! The Safety Knife Company St. Louis (USA) • Ph: 314-645-3900 • email: sales@safetyknife.us.com Visit our website to view our complete line of quality knives. www.safetyknife.net Products engineered with YOUR safety in mind. strip ad_Layout 1 11/20/12 11:21 AM Page 1