Chp 12: ensuring health and safety at workplace Flashcards
1
Q
LO1: define assumption of risk
A
meaning worker accepts all customary risks associated with his/her occupation
2
Q
LO1: 2 points to assumption of risk
A
1) Was a legal expression used by the courts
2) Obsolete attitude toward accident prevention
3
Q
LO1: 2 safety in workplace models
A
1) careless worker
2) shared responsibility
4
Q
LO1: define careless worker
A
Early approach to safety in the workplace which assumed accidents were due to workers’ carelessness
5
Q
LO1: define shared responsibility
A
A newer approach to workplace safety that relies on the cooperation of the employer and employees
6
Q
LO1: 5 things that resulted in accident rates reduced
A
1) Management committed to safety in workplace
2) Employees informed about accident prevention
3) Consultation between employer and employees take place on regular basis
4) Trusting relationship between employer and staff
5) Employees have actual input into decision making process
7
Q
LO1: defect of workers comp
A
they are after-the-fact efforts
8
Q
LO1: how are accidents caused at work
A
Accidents caused by unsafe employee behaviour and unsafe working conditions
9
Q
LO1: cost of workplace accidents and illness
A
1) $8B annually in direct compensation
2) More than $19B including indirect expenses (does not include incalculable social toll associated with accidents)
10
Q
LO1: how many canadian workers die every day from accident and illness at work
A
3
11
Q
LO1: trend of injuries
A
of workplace injuries has declined and leveled off. But direct cost of injuries has not
12
Q
LO1: what does direct cost of injuries include
A
lost wages, first aid, medical treatment, rehab, disability compensation
13
Q
LO1: what does indirect cost of injuries include
A
lost production, recruiting, selecting, training new employees, damage to facilities and equipment
14
Q
LO1: national day of mourning for employees killed/injured on job
A
April 28
15
Q
LO1: 4 most dangerous industries when considering time loss rates
A
Fishing, construction, manufacturing, transportation
16
Q
LO1: 5 most common injuries
A
strains + sprains -> cuts -> contusions -> crushing -> bruises
17
Q
LO1: 5 most common body part involving work injuries
A
back -> fingers -> legs -> shoulders -> ankles
18
Q
LO1: what is overlooked for work injuries
A
professional sports
19
Q
LO1: list 3 health hazards
A
1) physical agents
2) biological agents/biohazards + chemicals
3) ergonomic related
20
Q
LO1: point to physical agents
A
Exposure to physical elements (eg noise, temperature, lighting, vibrations, radiation)
21
Q
LO1: 2 points to biological agents/biohazards + chemicals
A
1) Exposure to natural organisms (eg viruses)
2) Exposure to asbestos responsible for ⅓ workplace deaths each year
22
Q
LO1: 2 points to ergonomic related health hazards
A
1) Caused by work environment (eg repetitive strain)
2) Studies show workers whose jobs involve standing are 2x as likely to have heart attack or heart failure
23
Q
LO1: 4 points to young workers
A
1) Growing emphasis on the health and safety of young workers
2) 1 in 7 young workers is injured on the job
3) One-fourth of all workplace injuries involve workers aged 15 – 29 years
4) Most common types of injuries are electrocution and machine injuries
24
Q
LO1: explain laws for workplace health and safety
A
Each province and federal jurisdiction have detailed legislation addressing health and safety
25
LO1: what are most employees governed by for health and safety
provincial legislation
26
LO1: explain federal level law of health and safety
canada labour code (part 2) details elements of industrial safety program + provides regulations to deal with safety problems(3 fundamental employee rights)
27
LO1: list 3 fundamental employee rights in canada labour code part 2
1) The right to know about hazards in the workplace
2) The right to participate in correcting hazards
3) The right to refuse dangerous work
28
LO1: 5 federal + provincial safety regulations
1) workplace health and safety committee
2) hazardous products act
3) transportation of dangerous goods act
4) canadian centre for occupational health and safety act
5) workplace hazardous material info system (WHMIS)
29
LO1: define workplace health and safety committee
Group consisting of representatives of the employer and employees that meets regularly to reduce accident rates
30
LO1: when is workplace health and safety committee required
Usually required in every workplace with 20+ employees
31
LO1: 6 duties of workplace health and safety under federal jurisdiction
1) Meeting at least 9x per year and regular intervals and during regular working hours
2) Considering and quickly disposing of health and safety complaints
3) Participating in all inquiries pertaining to employee safety and health
4) Ensuring adequate records kept on workplace accidents, injuries, health hazards
5) Participating in implementation of changes that might affect occupational health and safety
6) Inspecting, each month, all or part of workplace so every part of workplace inspected at least once a year
32
LO1: 3 points to hazardous products act
1) Federal law
2) Protects consumers by regulating the sale of dangerous products
3) WHMIS included
33
LO1: 3 points to transportation of dangerous goods act
1) Federal law
2) Makes transport canada responsible for handling + transporting dangerous materials by federally regulated shipping + transport companies
3) Required goods be identified, carrier be informed, and classified
34
LO1: define WHMIS
Requires suppliers label all hazardous products and provide a (material) safety data sheet on each
35
LO1: 4 points to WHMIS
1) Now includes Hazardous Products Act
2) Each country has different requirements so problem with global trade
3) To standardize, globally harmonized system of classification and labelling chemical (GHS) introduced
4) Requires that employers provide training to enable employees to understand and recognize hazards
36
LO1: changes to canada labour code for health and safety
Many changes include removal of health and safety officers and replaced by ministers. Provincial laws provide similar powers to safety officers under their jurisdiction
37
LO1: explain nova scotia and use of fines
also fines and rigorously enforce safety in construction trades. Aimed at use of cheap labourers rather than skilled tradespersons on construction projects. Black market costs companies that invest heavily in safety, training, apprenticeship
38
LO1: explain who doesn't need a warrant
An occupational health and safety inspector can enter a business to carry out duties without notice or warrant.
39
LO1: do fines result in better action?
some disagree
40
LO1: punishment for not following safety
Companies can be fined and supervisors can be jailed for not following safety
41
LO2: traditional thinking for health and safety
Historically it was seen that responsibility for health and safety rested primarily on employer. This is changing.
42
LO2: what part of recruitment is neglected for health and safety
orientation
43
LO2: 4 points to occupational health and safety now
1) Legal requirements – should be seen as the minimum requirements for employers
2) Canada’s top 100 employers in 2015 place considerable attention on safety
3) Responsibility for health and safety is shifting from employers to employees (joint committees)
4) Workers on shift work may experience high stress + prone to increase accidents from fatigue.
44
LO3; 3 people with responsibility for health and safety
top management, employees, supervisors
45
LO3: 1 points to responsibility for top management
1) Can outsource some health and safety needs to experts
46
LO3: 3 points to bill c-45
1) Bill C-45 to criminal code imposed duty on individuals and orgs, anyone who has authority to direct how person does work is under legal duty
2) Criticism of c-45, few cases have resulted from legislation (20). One of them is r v metron construction
3) Greatest value of act may lie in statutory offense called corporate manslaughter
47
LO3: 9 ingredients of effective safety training program
1) Accident investigation + analysis
2) Communication + report writing
3) Overview of legislation requirements
4) Meeting with management and objective setting
5) Org and responsibility of joint health and safety committee
6) Team problem solving
7) Audits + inspections
8) Principles of occupational health + safety
9) Ergonomics
48
LO3: 2 pressing workplace issues
worker compliance + managing safety with fewer workers
49
LO3: 4 points to employee responsibility
1) Progressive discipline for safety rules
2) Need to consider females
3) Typical OHS training session involves in-class lessons with several hundred slides
4) Employers have duty to ensure everyone, not just employees are safe in workplace
50
LO4: 5 implications for HRM
1) Ensure consistent enforcement
2) Best defence to a health and safety offence is “due diligence”
3) health and safety audit
4) safety climate
5) downsizing and safety
51
LO4: requirements for employees under OHSA
complete 1 hour training program designed to inform parties of rights + responsibilities in creating culture of safety
52
LO4: explain employees who refuse unsafe work
Employee with reasonable cause to believe work is unsafe will not receive any loss in pay for refusing work
53
LO4: explain due diligence
company took all reasonable steps to avoid event
54
LO4: what may health and safety audit include
May include tour of workplace, review of documentation, interviews
55
LO4: 2 antecedents of safety
1) work environment
| 2) individual
56
LO4: 2 points to work environment antecedents of safety
1) Safety climate - perceptions of value of safety in org
| 2) Org factors (eg supervision, work design)
57
LO4: 2 points to individual antecedents of safety
1) Attitudes eg commitment
| 2) Individual differences eg conscientiousness
58
LO4: steps in safety climate
1) work environment + individual antecedents
2) determinants of safety performance (knowledge + motivation)
3) components of safety performance
4) results of safety performance (outcomes)
59
LO4: 2 group dimensions of safety
1) org
| 2) work group
60
LO4; list 3 org dimensions of safety
management commitment to safety, HR management practices, safety systems
61
LO4; list 5 work group dimensions of safety
supervisor support for safety, internal group process, boundary management, risk, work pressure
62
LO4: 2 points to downsizing and safety
1) Low job satisfaction related to safety motivation (motivation to perform job in safe manner) and safety knowledge (understanding of safe operating procedures). This causes safety compliance to be low (carry out work in safe manner). Which can cause workplace accidents.
2) In downsizing, employees more concerned with productivity over safety
63
LO5: explain workplace stress
Harmful physical and emotional responses that can happen when there is conflict between job demands of employee and amount of control employee has over meeting those demands
64
LO5: 3 points to workplace stress
1) High stress levels usually associated with poorer job performance but not all stress is harmful. Moderate levels may increase performance.
2) Women are more likely to quite a job for stress reasons
3) Employees can sue employers for stress resulting from poisoned work environment
65
LO5: 2 points to stress management
1) Now part of manager/employee vocabulary
| 2) Ways of dealing with the problem of stress
66
LO5: 5 symptoms of stress
1) Nervousness; chronic worry; easily provoked
2) Unable to relax
3) Stress-related physical ailments (e.g., stomach) upsets, cardiovascular disease
4) Musculoskeletal disorders (e.g., back injuries)
5) Psychological disorders (e.g., depression)
67
LO5: define stressor
stressful working conditions that can directly influence the health + safety of employees
68
LO5: 5 causes of workplace stress
1) factors unique to job
2) role in org
3) career development
4) relationships at work
5) org climate
69
LO5: examples of factors unique to job as stressor
workload/pace, autonomy shift work, physical location, isolation, relationships at work, variety, meaningfulness of work, hours of work/shift work
70
LO5: examples of role in org as stressor
Role conflict, role ambiguity, level of responsibility
71
LO5: examples of career development as stressor
Includes under or over promotion, job security, overall job satisfaction, career development opportunities
72
LO5: examples of relationships at work as stressor
Includes supervisors, coworkers, subordinates, threat of violence or harassment
73
LO5: examples of org climate as stressor
Participation in (or not) in decision making, management style, communication patterns
74
LO5: define acute stressor
occur infrequently but are extremely stressful events (like major org change)
75
LO5: define chronic stressor
ongoing, daily problems and hassles that occur at work
76
LO5: 2 types of stressor
acute, chronic
77
LO5: most stressful jobs
military personnel, firefighter, airline, pilot, police officer, event coordinator
78
LO5: least stressful jobs
diagnostic medical sonographer, hair stylist, audiologist, university professor, medical records tech
79
LO5: general and widely recognizes cause of stress
change of any type because it required adaptation by employees. Especially when major, unusual, frequent.
80
LO5: define burnout
Condition of mental, emotional, and sometimes physical exhaustion that results from substantial and prolonged stress
81
LO5: define and explain presenteeism
employee who is able to come to work but inhibited from achieving optimal levels of productivity due to ongoing health issues
Ie body here, mind is at home
82
LO5: what does HR need to do about burnout
be proactive (train supervisors, counselling)
83
LO5: relationship between no stress and job performance
When there is no stress, job challenges are absent and performance tends to be low
84
LO5: 3 types of stress management
1) curative
2) preventive
3) stress audit
85
LO5: explain curative methods
Try to correct the outcomes of stress (e.g., availability of exercise, counselling services)
86
LO5: explain preventive measures
Attempt to change the cause of stress (e.g., stress management training, EAP assistance, improve working conditions)
87
LO5: explain stress audit
Identifies the causes of stress
88
LO5: 6 questions asked in stress audit
1) Do individuals demonstrate physiological symptoms
2) Is job satsifiaction low, is job tension, turnover, absenteeism, strikes, accident proneness high?
3) Does org design contribute to symptoms described?
4) Do interpersonal relations contribute to symptoms described?
5) Do career development variables contribute to symptoms?
6) What effects to personality, socio-cultural influences, nonwork environment have on relationship between stressors and stress
89
LO5: 8 HR actions to reduce stress
1) Compatible workload with employee capabilities and resources
2) Define roles and responsibilities
3) Prove workers opportunity to participate in decisions
4) Increase social interactions among employees
5) Appropriate work schedules
6) Provide training for employees and managers to be sensitive to stress
7) Improve communications process
8) Establish stress management policy
90
LO5: 4 mental health statistics
1) Mental health costs the Canadian economy about $50 billion a year and $6 billion annually for lost productivity resulting from mental health absenteeism
2) Approximately 6.7 million Canadians have a mental health problem or illness
3) About half a million Canadians are absent in any given week as a result of mental health issues
4) Around 30% of disability claims and 70% of disability costs are attributable to mental illness
91
LO5: changes to DSM (diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorder)
new diagnostic criteria, greater attention to culture and gender, developmental focus
92
LO5: workers compensation and stress
Sask: workers compensation act - all psychological injuries presumed to be work related. This is because half of claims were declined because employee unable to establish link to employment or establish nature of injury.
93
LO5: problems with presuming psychological injuries work related
psychological injury not defined + org with large claims could have higher premiums and bogus claims could drain employer resources
94
LO5: what results in fewer mental health problems
living with partner, living in households with young children, living with higher household incomes, living with fewer work family conflicts, living with greater access to social network support away from work
95
LO5: barriers to adopting wellness initatives
lack of budget, lack of staffing, lack of ability to quantify benefits, little knowledge of wellness, lack of conviction of cost savings
96
LO5: 6 benefits of wellness initiatives
1) Improve employee health
2) Decrease health care costs
3) Improve employee satisfaction
4) Decrease absenteeism and turnover
5) Improve corporate image
6) Reduce disability claims
97
LO5: 4 ways to evaluate wellness initiatives
1) Positive feedback from participants
2) Good participation
3) Improved employee morale
4) Reduced absenteeism
98
LO5: unions and wellness programs
skeptical about motivations, concern employee info may be collected + tracked to be used in attendance management. They have been strong supporters of health + safety initiatives however.
99
LO5: 5 other contemporary safety issues
1) workplace security
2) sick building syndrome
3) workplace violence
4) ergonomics
5) AIDS
100
LO5: explain workplace security
Includes terror, preparations for natural disaster, access to workplace by intruder
101
LO5: explain sick building syndrome
Employees experience acute health and comfort effects that appear to be linked to length of time spent in a building but no specific illness or cause can be identified
102
LO5: define building related illness
symptoms of diagnosable illness are identified and attributable directly to airborne contaminants in building
103
LO5: measures to prevent workplace violence
anti-violence/zero tolerance policy, self defence training, safety + security measures
104
LO5: 3 contributors of workplace violence
consumption of drugs/alcohol, lack of management authority, poor morale
105
LO5: common ways cyberstalking escalates
facebook, phone, texts, twitter
106
LO5: how to improve workplace violence
Should look at situational factors + poor management over selection of new hires/worker problems, but still consider selection of new hires
107
LO5: 3 points to workplace bullying
1) No well-established definition of bullying
2) Envy is at root of all bullying and nice, effective people frequently targeted
3) Bully’s goal is to take something away from victim like praise or relationships
108
LO5: common injuries reduced by ergonomics
1) overexertion and lower back injury 2) repetitive strain injuries, can include cumulative trauma disorder, overuse syndrome and musculoskeletal injury
109
LO5: most frequent time loss injury
repetitive strain injury
110
LO5: treatments for RSI
physical treatments, postural treatment, relaxation, exercise, stretching, acupuncture, CBT
111
LO5: 3 points to ergonomics
1) Aka human factors engineerings
2) Ensures physical + behavioural characteristics of employee are compatible with work system
3) For open office, workers complain about no privacy and noise spillover
112
LO5: aids policy
1) Protect employees right to policy
2) Guarantee employee will not be isolated
3) Keep those diagnosed productive
113
LO6; 4 points of health and safety and top management
1) Top management’s involvement in setting health and safety policies is essential
2) Clearly assign responsibilities for plant safety and health programs to ensure that the company’s policies are carried out
3) An occupational health and safety committee with enforcement authority is very helpful
4) Info system should monitor for patterns of accidents or health problems
114
LO6: who should make up health and safety committee
Should be made up of management and employees, with balanced representation
115
LO5: common incidents of workplace violence
screaming/yelling, destruction of employer property, throwing office object
116
LO5: what does aids stand for and what is it caused by
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
117
Lecture: case we looked at
1) staff member at school tested positive and worked while waiting for test results
2) 6 classrooms told to self isolate for several weeks
3) has implications for health and safety, employee relations, unionization
118
Lecture: moderating factors of workplace covid
age, race/ethnicity, gender, family status, personality, cultural differences
119
Lecture: Daniel case study
In most cases, if you refuse to come into work you can be fired. But in this specific case no because manager had to talk to daniel about his mental health because he had panic attack at work and cried.
120
Lecture: groups of hazards
chemicals, ergonomic, health, physical, psychosocial, safety, workplace
