Participants wanted for Ontario OHS study • WCB action plan • Alberta young worker safety report fails to address threat of violent crime: AFL • WorkSafe Saskatchewan and business launch safety glasses campaign • EAPs lead to healthier workplaces: Study
Participants wanted for Ontario OHS study
TORONTO — The Institute for Work and Health (IWH) and Health and Safety Ontario are seeking organizations to participate in an online study to establish best practices in workplace injury and illness prevention. The online questionnaire, called the 5,000 Firms Study, takes about 40 minutes to complete. It asks for information about organizational policies and practices, safety culture, OHS management systems, employee relations and joint health and safety committee functioning. Input from companies will remain confidential, but collective results will be shared with all participants. The study is open until September. For more information, contact project co-ordinator Colette Severin at [email protected] or (416) 927-2027 ext. 2126.
Improved decision-making, timelines part of P.E.I.
WCB action plan
CHARLOTTETOWN — Improved communication with workers, a better decision-making process and improved timelines for receipt of wage-loss benefits are the main strategies identified in the action plan of Prince Edward Island’s Workers Compensation Board. The actions are based on the results of a 2010 survey of injured workers. The survey is conducted every two years. In the area of improved communication, the board plans to work on follow up contact with workers, improve worker understanding about how long it will take for a claim decision to be made and increase staff ability to answer questions from workers. The action plan is available online at: www.wcb.pe.ca/DocumentManagement/Document/pub_injuredworkersurveyactionplan2010.pdf
Alberta young worker safety report fails to address threat of violent crime: AFL
Edmonton — A report that came in the wake of an inspection blitz focused on young worker safety is grim, said the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL). It doesn’t deal with violent crime, one of the biggest threats faced by the group, according to the AFL. The union said more than 70 per cent of convenience stores and restaurants in the sample of 118 worksites inspected were found to be in violation of at least one section of the Occupational Health and Safety Code. The report would have been even more disturbing if it looked into the vulnerability of young people working alone on the night shift in fast-food restaurants, convenience stores and gas stations, said AFL president Gil McGowan. The issue of attacks on night-shift workers started to be more prominent in the province 11 years ago when Subway restaurant worker Tara Macdonald was bludgeoned to death in Calgary. She was working alone at the time.
WorkSafe Saskatchewan and business launch safety glasses campaign
Regina — Thousands of pairs of free safety glasses will be handed out across Saskatchewan this summer, thanks to a partnership between WorkSafe Saskatchewan and Magna Electric Corporation (MEC). The campaign was the brainchild of MEC president Kerry Heid, the 2010 WorkSafe Saskatchewan Safe Employer Award winner. Of the top five body parts injured at work in 2010 in Saskatchewan, eyes ranked third. The glasses will be handed out by MEC employees and distributed through WorkSafe Saskatchewan presentations in high schools in the fall.
EAPs lead to healthier workplaces: Study
Toronto — Mental health in the workplace is costing Canadian organizations a lot of money. But early intervention through employee assistance programs (EAPs) translates into improved employee mental health and higher productivity, as well as a 25-per-cent reduction in costs due to lost productivity, according to a study by Morneau Shepell, an EAP provider. The study measured four specific outcomes: general health status, mental health status, productivity and absenteeism. Some of its findings included: EAP intervention resulted in a 34-per-cent reduction in costs related to lost productivity. For the study, Morneau Shepell gathered data from more than 53,000 EAP client cases that opened and close in 2010.
TORONTO — The Institute for Work and Health (IWH) and Health and Safety Ontario are seeking organizations to participate in an online study to establish best practices in workplace injury and illness prevention. The online questionnaire, called the 5,000 Firms Study, takes about 40 minutes to complete. It asks for information about organizational policies and practices, safety culture, OHS management systems, employee relations and joint health and safety committee functioning. Input from companies will remain confidential, but collective results will be shared with all participants. The study is open until September. For more information, contact project co-ordinator Colette Severin at [email protected] or (416) 927-2027 ext. 2126.
Improved decision-making, timelines part of P.E.I.
WCB action plan
CHARLOTTETOWN — Improved communication with workers, a better decision-making process and improved timelines for receipt of wage-loss benefits are the main strategies identified in the action plan of Prince Edward Island’s Workers Compensation Board. The actions are based on the results of a 2010 survey of injured workers. The survey is conducted every two years. In the area of improved communication, the board plans to work on follow up contact with workers, improve worker understanding about how long it will take for a claim decision to be made and increase staff ability to answer questions from workers. The action plan is available online at: www.wcb.pe.ca/DocumentManagement/Document/pub_injuredworkersurveyactionplan2010.pdf
Alberta young worker safety report fails to address threat of violent crime: AFL
Edmonton — A report that came in the wake of an inspection blitz focused on young worker safety is grim, said the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL). It doesn’t deal with violent crime, one of the biggest threats faced by the group, according to the AFL. The union said more than 70 per cent of convenience stores and restaurants in the sample of 118 worksites inspected were found to be in violation of at least one section of the Occupational Health and Safety Code. The report would have been even more disturbing if it looked into the vulnerability of young people working alone on the night shift in fast-food restaurants, convenience stores and gas stations, said AFL president Gil McGowan. The issue of attacks on night-shift workers started to be more prominent in the province 11 years ago when Subway restaurant worker Tara Macdonald was bludgeoned to death in Calgary. She was working alone at the time.
WorkSafe Saskatchewan and business launch safety glasses campaign
Regina — Thousands of pairs of free safety glasses will be handed out across Saskatchewan this summer, thanks to a partnership between WorkSafe Saskatchewan and Magna Electric Corporation (MEC). The campaign was the brainchild of MEC president Kerry Heid, the 2010 WorkSafe Saskatchewan Safe Employer Award winner. Of the top five body parts injured at work in 2010 in Saskatchewan, eyes ranked third. The glasses will be handed out by MEC employees and distributed through WorkSafe Saskatchewan presentations in high schools in the fall.
EAPs lead to healthier workplaces: Study
Toronto — Mental health in the workplace is costing Canadian organizations a lot of money. But early intervention through employee assistance programs (EAPs) translates into improved employee mental health and higher productivity, as well as a 25-per-cent reduction in costs due to lost productivity, according to a study by Morneau Shepell, an EAP provider. The study measured four specific outcomes: general health status, mental health status, productivity and absenteeism. Some of its findings included: EAP intervention resulted in a 34-per-cent reduction in costs related to lost productivity. For the study, Morneau Shepell gathered data from more than 53,000 EAP client cases that opened and close in 2010.
