Canadian Occupational Safety

June/July 2016 7 More than one-half of business directors, offi cers trained in OHS: Survey I t is well-known offi cers and directors drive the health and safety culture of a workplace. Just slightly more than one-half (55 per cent) of offi cers and directors in companies across Canada are trained on their organization's occupational health and safety policy and program, found a survey by Fasken Martineau, a national business law fi rm. On the other hand, 70 per cent of workers have been trained, found the employer occupational health and safety survey, Building a Safer Work- place, which had 416 respondents. "It's disappointing. The leaders of orga- nizations, including directors and offi cers, in Canada do not seem to be generally putting as much importance on workplace health and safety as the law requires," said Norm Keith, partner at Fasken Martineau in Toronto. "There is some pretty detailed responsibility and accountability that directors and offi cers have, so if they are not aware of that through training, that's a real gap that is serious." The survey also looked at alcohol and drug use, which is a health and safety concern for many employers across the country. Three-quarters (75 per cent) of survey respondents do not conduct random testing of workers in safety sen- sitive positions, compared to nine per cent that do. In the last 12 months, 41 per cent of employers had a situation where a worker was under the infl uence of alco- hol or drugs at work. Most employers (81 per cent) have an employee assistance program to help workers with substance abuse issues. Employers are required to develop a workplace violence and harassment prevention program and provide infor- mation and instruction to employees on its contents. While 93 per cent of survey respondents have a violence and harassment policy, only 33 per cent had conducted a risk assessment in the last 12 months. In Ontario, for example, legisla- tion requires employers to review their health and safety policy and program annually — which includes violence and harassment — but it is silent on the fre- quency of risk assessments. "A prudent and responsible employer is going to say, 'Look, what's the point of reviewing the paper policy if I am not really going to update the risk assessment?'" said Keith. "I think it's a useful thing to give to a joint health and safety committee to do annually." More than one-half (53 per cent) of employers reported receiving a complaint of workplace violence or harassment in the last 12 months. Government health and safety inspec- tors enforce health and safety legislation across Canada, conducting routine inspec- tions to verify compliance. In the past year, nearly one-half (46 per cent) of survey respondents had been visited by an inspec- tion offi cer; one-third (33 per cent) had been given an order or a direction by an inspector; and more than 80 per cent had not appealed an order or direction. National workplace activity program discourages sitting A new program to help employers create a more active workplace culture is being piloted in British Columbia before a nationwide rollout. UPnGO with ParticipACTION nudges and rewards Canadi- ans for sitting less and moving more at work. "Many of us spend most of our day at work and get caught up in the day-to-day activities, forgetting to look after ourselves. UPnGO can change that by incorporating physical activity into the workplace," said Andrea Cohen Barrack, CEO, Ontario Trillium Foundation. The program, delivered by the Public Health Agency of Canada with other partners, seeks to create healthier workplaces by support- ing employees at all levels in making physical activity both accepted and expected in the workplace. Through a digital platform and app, employees are given weekly challenges and personalized goals based on their self-described level of activity and sitting time. UPnGO then rewards users' achievements with points that can be redeemed in the online store for healthy products, such as a Pilates kit, gift certifi cates to Mountain Equipment Co-op or donations to specifi c charities. UPnGO is being piloted in fi ve B.C. workplaces, Telus, the City of Richmond, the University of British Columbia, Providence Healthcare and AutoTRADER, and will roll out in other provinces in the fall. Workplace physical activity initiatives have been proven to increase productivity and job performance, boost creativity, reduce turnover and improve employee satisfaction and loyalty. However, for many Canadians, work involves sitting down in front of a computer for hours at a time, with only 20 per cent getting enough daily exercise. Nearly two-thirds (62 per cent) of Canadian adults are overweight with the average adult spending 9.8 hours per day being sedentary, according to Health Canada. These sedentary lifestyles contribute to obe- sity and can increase the risk of developing chronic diseases, such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer. A survey from ParticipACTION found 48 per cent of workers in British Colum- bia worry they spend too much time sitting at work. They said they are inter- ested in changing their ways at work by walking outside during meetings (53 per cent), stretching (51 per cent) or standing (38 per cent). PHOTO: WORKPLACE SAFETY AND PREVENTION SERVICES would be on site in the case of very serious injuries and fatalities. This "for prosecution" team would not have any access to the evidence uncovered by the previous teams. It needs to completely start over and evidence cannot be seized without a search warrant. These WorkSafeBC offi cers work closely with the police who would stay on scene. "You need to, at this point, be very aware of your rights and responsibilities and be cautious about what the consequences are of this kind of inves- tigation," said Harwood. "If an offi cer gives you a Charter warning — you have the right to legal council etcetera — then you know you are in a 'for prosecution' investigation." At this stage, causation is still a key consideration but the offi cers and the police are looking for fault, whether it's the employer, workers, supervisors or directors. This would be a good time to involve legal counsel, advised Harwood. Employers should have a team of experts ready in the event they are subject to a "for prosecution" investigation, includ- ing engineers, specialized OHS experts and external investigation advisors, said Harwood. "Identify these people now, have them on call, say, 'If this should ever happen, will you be the person I can call?'" Canadians, work involves sitting down in front of a computer for hours at a time, with only 20 per cent getting enough daily exercise. Nearly two-thirds (62 per cent) of Canadian adults are overweight with the average adult spending 9.8 hours per day being sedentary, according to Health Canada. These sedentary lifestyles contribute to obe- sity and can increase the risk of developing chronic diseases, such as Type 2 diabetes, ested in changing their ways at work by Fall restraint system wins top prize at student safe design contest U niversity of Regina engineering students took home the top prize in the 2016 James Ham Safe Design Award Competition for designing an innovative, por- table and cost effective fall restraint system to prevent injuries and fatalities when working on trailer fl at bed trucks. The team was comprised of Ryan Schmidt, Tanner Thomsen and Marlee Wasnik. Engineering undergraduate students at the University of Toronto — Jeremy Wang, Ryan Williams, Shuyi Wu and Noah Yang — took second prize for designing an attach- ment for mop wringers (the PowerWring) that can assist in preventing lower back and repetitive strain injuries in the janitorial industry. The annual award, presented by Minerva Canada Safety Management Education, challenges Canadian uni- versity engineering students and college students in technology programs to make an original contribution toward integrating safety into engineering design. Another university team deserved an honourable mention during Minerva's review of the submissions for this award. The University of Waterloo engineering team of Dena Arghastani, Mahdi Mahdi, Brant Wunderlich and Peter VanderMeer conducted a very thorough hazard analysis and dispersion modelling in arriving at a design solution to mitigate and reduce the potential risk of an ammonia release from a chemical processing facility. "Our Minerva awards committee members were very impressed with the thoroughness of all three uni- versity submissions and congratulate all these students. They will clearly be among our future champions of health and safety in the workforce," said Minerva Canada president and CEO Tony Pasteris. The award honours James Milton Ham whose Report of the Royal Commission on the Health and Safety of Workers in Mines led to the creation of Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety Act in 1979 and to the adoption of the internal responsibility system in Ontario workplaces. Tanner Thomsen and Marlee Wasnik, University of Regina National workplace activity but the offi cers and the police are looking for fault, whether it's the employer, workers, supervisors or directors. This would be a good time to involve legal counsel, advised Harwood. ing engineers, specialized OHS experts and external investigation advisors, said Harwood. "Identify these people now, have them on call, say, 'If this should ever happen, will you be the person I can call?'"

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