Canadian Occupational Safety

6 Canadian Occupational Safety | www.cos-mag.com WORKPLACE NEWS Atlantic Canada addressing return to work A tlantic Canadians injured on the job tend to take longer to return to work than those living in most other provinces. To further assist workers as they recover from workplace injury, Atlantic Canada's workers' compensation organizations have teamed up to launch a region-wide program, Working to Well. The goal of the shared initiative of WCB Nova Scotia, WorkplaceNL, Work- SafeNB and the Workers Compensation Board of PEI is to keep people connected to their workplace, whenever possible, following an injury. "We understand how important work is to a person's physical and psycho- logical well-being. That's why we are so committed to helping workers who are injured maintain a workplace connection and safely return to wellness and work," said Tim Petersen, WorkSafeNB's acting president and CEO. Each year, workers in the Atlantic Provinces lose a combined total of millions of days due to workplace injury. In Nova Scotia, more than 770,000 work days are lost due to workplace injury per year. Although the number of time-loss injuries has declined in recent years, the average length of those claims has increased, said WCB Nova Scotia. At 115 days, the average claim duration in Nova Scotia is longer than in any other Canadian province. While New Brunswick's lost-time workplace injury frequency continues to remain lower than the Canadian average, the volume of case-managed claims and their duration increased last year. Working to Well aims to reduce both the human and financial impact of workplace injury. At its core are four powerful stories of Atlantic Canadians who overcame challenging and life-changing workplace injuries. Custodian Jeff Wilcox hurt his back working at the St. John's Citadel in Newfoundland; registered nurse Denise Cann suffered a serious shoulder strain while moving a patient at Cape Breton Regional Hospital in Nova Scotia; mechanic Robert Gunn broke all four limbs while working on a tire reassembly service call near Charlottetown; and Fredericton carpenter Darren Shaw suffered serious injuries to his arm during a drywall installation. All four workers were able to make a successful return to work. "A workplace injury or illness can have a signifi- cant physical, emotional and financial toll on a worker and on their families, employers and communities," said Dennis Hogan, CEO of Work- placeNL. "Following a workplace injury, it takes the support of the injured worker's employer, health-care provider, family and (the workers' compensation board) to help most injured workers return to sustainable employment." Manitoba focusing on disease, illness prevention at work S afe Work Manitoba has introduced a five-year Occupational Disease and Illness Prevention Strategy to address some of the most severe health conditions workers can experience. From 2000 to 2015, more than 200 Mani- tobans lost their lives to cancer, lung diseases and other illnesses because they were exposed to harmful substances in their workplaces. Most of these deaths were linked to asbestos exposure or exposure to other toxic gases, fumes and dusts that occurred many years ago and developed into dis- eases later in the workers' lives. Still more workers cope with serious, work-related health conditions that, in some cases, will last the rest of their lives, including respiratory issues, skin disorders and noise-induced hearing loss, said Safe Work Manitoba. "A stronger, healthier Manitoba is our goal, and improved disease and illness prevention in our workplaces is part of that vision," said Minister of Growth, Enterprise and Trade Blaine Pedersen. "In carrying out the Occupational Disease and Illness Prevention Strategy, Safe Work Manitoba will work closely with employers, workers and other safety professionals to pinpoint where exposure risks exist and identify targeted, industry-specific approaches to disease and illness prevention." The strategy deals with one challenge in particular: a lack of comprehensive data that shows how often workers are being exposed to harmful substances in the workplace. The strategy's tactics will help fill some of these gaps in informa- tion by doing the following: monitoring exposure levels across a number of different workplaces and industries over an extended period of time; allowing Safe Work Manitoba, employers and other safety professionals to better identify and address exposure risks; and evaluate safety measures that are already in use. Using the results of the monitoring to improve illness prevention will make workplaces safer now and will help to prevent future illnesses, according to Safe Work Manitoba. "This monitoring is unique in that it will give us a more complete picture of high-risk substances in Manitoba workplaces, taking into account different work- ing conditions that can affect how much a worker is exposed," said Jamie Hall, chief operating officer for Safe Work Manitoba. "This will also give employers and workers relevant information to make practical improvements in the workplace." The strategy's tactics also aim to increase public awareness about occupational disease and illness and how they can be prevented, and strengthen partnerships with other organizations with disease and illness prevention mandates. Federal government introduces plan to stop harassment T he federal government has introduced a framework that aims to make federally regulated workplaces and Parliament Hill free from harassment and sexual violence. "Not only have I been mandated by Prime Minister Trudeau to ensure that federally regulated workplaces are free from harassment and sexual violence, but this is also important to me, personally," said Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour Patty Hajdu. "Over the course of my career, I have worked with many people who have survived the physical, psychological and practical consequences stemming from harassment and sexual violence. I have seen the effects it has on their lives and on communities." Bill C-65 has three pillars: prevent incidents of harassment and violence from occurring; respond effectively to these incidents when they do occur; and support victims, survivors and employers in the process. "Power imbalances and gender norms underpin our culture, which has led to tolerance of these behaviours for far too long. Research shows that harassment and violence in Canadian workplaces are persistent and pervasive, and that incidents often go unreported because people fear retaliation," the Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) said in a news release. According to results from the most recent Federal Jurisdiction Workplace Survey, which were released in November 2016, there were 295 formal complaints of sexual harassment brought to the attention of the federally regulated employers in 2015. About 80 per cent of the complaints were from women. There were 1,601 reported incidents of violence in 2015 and 60 per cent of the injured or targeted employees were men. The survey provides information on employees and employers governed by federal labour standards legislation and includes the banking, communi- cations and transportation sectors (including air, maritime, rail and road), among others. There were almost 900,000 employees in Canada in 2015 in the federal labour jurisdiction. Harassment and violence have long-term nega- tive effects not just for people who have experienced them, but for employers as well, through lost pro- ductivity, absenteeism and turnover, ESDC said. Bill C-65 would amend existing provisions in the Canada Labour Code, replacing the patchwork of laws and policies that address these issues within the fed- eral jurisdiction, putting into place one comprehensive approach that takes the full spectrum of harassment and violence into consideration. Federally regulated workplaces, the federal public service, parliamentary workplaces (such as the Senate and the House of Com- mons) and political staff on Parliament Hill would be protected by this legislation. The proposed changes to the code will repeal weak provisions and ensure employers are required to take steps to prevent and protect employ- ees against these behaviours, to respond to them when they do occur and to offer support to employees affected by them. The government will also launch an awareness c a m p a i g n to challenge misconceptions and stereotypes and develop sample policies for employers. To support people who do experience harassment or violence at work, the government will provide outreach to employ- ees and employers to help them navigate the workplace preven- tion and resolution process and to help direct victims to sup- port services.

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