Health and Safety - Chapter 1

Question 1

Occupational health and safety (OH&S)

Answer 1

The identification, evaluation, and control of hazards associated with the work environment

Question 2

hazard

Answer 2

Any source of potential adverse health effect on or damage or harm to something or someone under certain conditions at work.

Hazards include chemical, biological, physical, and psychological agents

Question 3

occupational injury

Answer 3

Any cut, fracture, sprain, or amputation resulting from a workplace incident.

Question 4

occupational illness

Answer 4

any abnormal condition or disorder caused by exposure to environmental factors associated with employment. For example, a firefighter might develop cancer following exposure to chemicals in fire retardants

Question 5

Lost-Time Injury

Answer 5

A workplace injury that results in the employee missing time from work

Question 6

Brown Lung (byssinosis)

Answer 6

A disease of the lungs caused by excessive inhalation of dust; the disease is in the pneumoconiosis family and often afflicts textile workers

Question 7

Assumption of Risk

Answer 7

The belief that a worker accepted the risks of employment with he or she accepted the job

Question 8

Accident Proneness

Answer 8

The notion that some individuals are inherently more likely than others to be involved in accidents, as a result of individual characteristics

Question 9

Due Diligence

Answer 9

An expected standard of conduct that requires employers to take every reasonable precaution to ensure safety

Question 10

Internal Responsibility System (IRS)

Answer 10

The system of shared responsibility for health and safety that is the basis for most Canadian OHS legislation

Question 11

The Three Es

Answer 11

A traditional approach to occupational health and safety that emphasized engineering, education, and enforcement

Question 12

Three principal rights of workers

Answer 12

1. the right to refuse dangerous work without penalty  2. the right to participate in identifying and correcting health and safety problems 
2. the right to know about hazards in the workplace

Question 13

The World Health Organization defines a healthy workplace in terms of four elements:

Answer 13

1. health and safety, 2. the psychosocial environment, 3. personal health resources, and 4. enterprise community involvement.

Question 14

Direct and Indirect Costs of Injury

Answer 14

A construction worker falls 3 metres off an unguarded scaffold and lands on the main floor, breaking his ankle and forearm. The direct costs of the injury include the time spent in investigating the incident, damaged equipment, and the finding/training of a replacement worker, and are estimated at $2530. This estimate does not include the indirect costs, which include things like a potential increase in Workers’ Compensation Board assessment and the potential fines and legal costs associated with allowing an unsafe condition in the workplace. These indirect costs can be more than 10 times the direct costs of the incident. Note as well that these costs come right from the bottom line—every dollar in cost is a dollar lost in profit. The direct costs of this one incident will take 25 days’ profit from the firm.

Question 15

The internal responsibility system (IRS) is a “system” that is

Answer 15

1. based on people in the system interacting and

2. self-correcting.

Question 16

Self-correcting mechanisms

Answer 16

that are frequently enshrined in the legislation include procedures for work refusals or work stoppages and the institution of joint occupational health and safety committees.

Question 17

The employer is responsible for preparing a written OH&S policy and for ensuring that it is prominently displayed in the workplace. Employers are also required to:

Answer 17

 provide and maintain equipment, materials, and protective devices;  ensure that the manner in which the work is performed is safe and that the environment is free from hazards and serious risks;  monitor their workplace and report minor, critical, disabling, and fatal injuries, as well as occupational illnesses and toxic substances (and to maintain the records of these occurrences for many years);  establish health and safety committees with strong employee representation; alert employees to any known or perceived risks and hazards in the workplace; and  provide employees with health and safety training.

Question 18

Role of the employee in health and safety

Answer 18

employees are required to perform their duties and tasks in a safe and responsible manner and to wear protective equipment in compliance with company and legislative regulations. They are also required to report defective equipment and other workplace hazards to the occupational health and safety professional, the joint health and safety committee, or the manager. Any employees who believe that a particular
activity will endanger them or others have the right to refuse to carry out the activity.

Question 19

Role of the employee in health and safety

Answer 19

1. Perform duties and tasks in safe and responsible manner
2. Wear protective equipment in compliance with company and legislative regulations
3. Report defective equipment and other workplace hazards to safety professional, joint health and safety committee, or manager

Question 20

Goal of OH&S Programs

Answer 20

Reduce occupational injury and illness

Question 21

Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) legislation passed (1988; revised in 2015)

Answer 21

Reflects the fundamental right of workers to know about potential workplace hazards

Question 22

Indirect costs

Answer 22

Work stoppages, strikes, reduced morale, reduced productivity, employee turnover, and negative publicity

Question 23

Moral Considerations

Answer 23

1. Ethical arguments that safety is the “right” focus for employers
2. Workers have a responsibility to learn about and enact safety and health practices
3. Management commitment to health and safety results in higher levels of employee motivation to work safely and better organizational safety records

Question 24

Two main goals of workers’ compensation legislation:

Answer 24

1. Ensure injured workers received compensation and employers accepted liability, and
2. Prevent accidents and illness by establishing safe work environments

Question 25

Organized Labour

Answer 25

1. Take part in the joint occupational health and safety committee
2. Bring emerging problems and issues in health and safety to attention of government and employers
3. Pressure other stakeholders to take corrective action
4. Use collective bargaining process to incorporate health and safety provisions in many contracts

Question 26

Canadian Registered Safety Professionals (CRSP®) are recognized experts. CRSPs have training in:

Answer 26

1. Hazard identification and analysis
2. Incident severity evaluation
3. Development and communication of hazard control policies

Question 27

Safety is often managed under the human resources function in organizations for several reasons:

Answer 27

1. Safety is integrated into other human resource functions
   E.g., training , job design, scheduling
2. Safety requires legislative compliance
3. Safety decreases costs