Review Questions

Question 1

Who are the major stakeholders in OHS systems?

Answer 1

Workers, employers, and government

Question 2

What are workers’ rights, duties, and obligations?

Answer 2

To offset the power of employers under the IRS, governments have granted workers three safety rights:

Right to know

Right to participate

Right to refuse

Question 3

Right to know

Answer 3

Workers have a right to know about the hazards they face in their workplace. While many hazards are readily apparent, chemical and biological hazards may not be. The right to know has given rise to systems such as the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System discussed below, which provides workers with information about hazards materials and their safe handling.

Question 4

Right to participate

Answer 4

Workers have the right to participate in workplace health and safety activities. Participation most often occurs through joint health and safety committees (JHSCs) but can be through other means.

Question 5

Right to refuse

Answer 5

Workers have the right to refuse unsafe work. The right to refuse represents one of the few instances where workers can disobey their employer. A refusal requires employers to investigate and remedy unsafe work. Although the right to refuse sounds like a powerful right, it is one workers rarely use.

Question 6

What are employers’ rights, duties, and obligations?

Answer 6

Employers are obligated to take steps to ensure that workplaces are as safe as reasonably practicable. Employers are also required to advise workers of hazards and to require workers to use mandated safety equipment. The decision by governments to give employers the power to determine how to address workplace hazards bolsters employers’ broader management rights to control and direct work.

Employers are obligated to take steps to ensure that workplaces are as safe as reasonably practicable. Employers are also required to advise workers of hazards and to require workers to use mandated safety equipment. The generally accepted test is that of due diligence. It is assessed using a three-part (Due diligence) test:

Foreseeability

Preventability

Control

Question 7

Due diligence test

Foreseeability

Answer 7

Reasonable employers are expected to know about the hazards of their business. Injuries that arise from events that other operators in the industry expect might occur are foreseeable events.

Question 8

Due diligence test

Preventability

Answer 8

Reasonable employers are expected to take steps to prevent injury. The normal steps include identifying hazards, preparing and enforcing safe working procedures, training and monitoring worker safety, and ensuring compliance with safety procedures. Injuries that arise because an employer did not take these steps are preventable injuries.

Question 9

Due diligence test

Control

Answer 9

Reasonable employers are expected to take action on hazards that they can control. Injuries that arise from such hazards suggest the employer failed to control these hazards

Question 10

Why is OHS considered contested ground in the workplace?

Answer 10

Employers and workers have conflicting interests in the workplace.

Employers seek to maximize production while lowering or maintaining low costs

Workers aim to maximize wages and other benefits while minimizing the amount they are required to work, all while remaining safe. Safety procedures and protective equipment cost time and money for the employer

Question 11

What are the key principles and components of contemporary OHS?

Answer 11

Legislative framework that has emerged around workplace injuries. Governments stepping up to protect workers. i.e OEL

One of the key outcomes of OHS legislation is placing an obligation on employers to identify and control workplace hazards.

Canadian OHS is based upon the internal responsibility system (IRS)

Joint health and safety committees are an important mechanism by which workers exercise their right to participate in OHS matters. The “logic” of these committees is that they marry the job-specific knowledge of workers with the broader perspective of managers to identify and resolve OHS issues.

Question 12

What is the careless worker myth?

Answer 12

The notion that workers are accident-prone, careless, or even reckless in the execution of their duties and that these characteristics are the primary cause of workplace injuries.

Question 13

How does the careless worker myth affect the practice of OHS?

Answer 13

The careless worker myth developed during the late 19th and early 20th century as a way for employers to avoid financial liability for workplace injuries. After all, employers couldn’t be held liable if a worker contributed to his or her own injury.

The careless worker myth was also closely associated with the employer argument that workers chose the jobs they held, and thus the level of risk they experienced. This assertion is superficially true: workers did (and do) often choose the jobs they hold. But keep in mind that all events have proximate and root causes.

Focusing on workers’ behaviours (at work and at home) obscures the root cause of occupational cancer: employers designing work that exposes workers to carcinogens. The impression such cancer-prevention tips leave is that workers’ lifestyle factors cause cancer, rather than how employers have organized the production process.

Question 14

Social constructions

Answer 14

A social construction is a phenomenon that is determined (or ‘constructed’) by social or cultural practices.

In the case of workplace injuries, our individual experiences, media representations, and the operation of various systems help to shape what types of injuries we believe “count” as work-related injuries.

Question 15

In what way are workplace injuries social constructions, and how might their construction affect government efforts to prevent injuries?

Answer 15

The tendency of workers, employers, and governments to focus on acute physical injuries suggests that work-related injuries have a dual nature. On the one hand, work-related injuries are specific and concrete harms experienced by workers. On the other hand, work-related injuries are social constructions.

It can be difficult to grasp the notion that injuries are social constructions. The history of carpal tunnel syndrome is helpful to illustrate how this process works. Carpal tunnel syndrome is caused by compression of the median nerve in the wrist, sometimes due to repetitive bending and flexing, as when keyboarding.

The existence of carpal tunnel syndrome was widely accepted by the 1950s. Despite this, carpal tunnel syndrome was not broadly accepted as work-related. Instead, it was deemed idiopathic (i.e., of unknown cause). Dr. George Phalen was a leading American authority on carpal tunnel syndrome. His rejection of the occupational basis of the disease rested, in part, on his assertion that many women had carpel tunnel syndrome and that these women (who sewed and did stenography) did no manual work.

Phalen’s view of the tasks traditionally performed by women in the workplace (such as writing and typing) and in the home (such as cooking and sewing) as not strenuous profoundly shaped his view that carpal tunnel syndrome did not have an occupational cause.

The information that Phalen thought was relevant to determining the occupational basis of carpal tunnel syndrome, and the way in which he interpreted that information, were both shaped by his views, beliefs, and experience. His act of social construction has had profound implications for workers. Phalen’s position as an expert on carpal tunnel meant that his view carried weight with governments and employers. Consequently, there was a decades-long delay in the acceptance of carpal tunnel syndrome as a work-related injury. This, in turn, precluded the prevention of and compensation for carpal tunnel syndrome—an injury affecting three times as many women as men because of occupation segregation

Question 16

HRAC process

Answer 16

Hazard recognition - (which is sometimes called hazard identification) is the systematic task of identifying all hazards present, or potentially present, in a workplace

Hazard assessment - (which is sometimes called hazard analysis) workers and employers determine which of the hazards needs to be addressed most urgently

Hazard control process sees preventive and corrective measures implemented to eliminate or mitigate the effect of the hazard(s)

Question 17

What are the major types of workplace hazards?

Biological hazards

Answer 17

organisms—such as bacteria, molds, funguses—or the products of organisms (e.g., tissue, blood, feces) that harm human health.

Question 18

What are the major types of workplace hazards?

Answer 18

There are five broad categories of hazards

Physical hazards

Ergonomic hazards

Chemical hazards

Biological hazards

Psycho-social hazards

Question 19

What are the major types of workplace hazards?

Physical hazards

Answer 19

typically (but not always) entail a transfer of energy from an object, such as a box falling off a shelf, which results in an injury. These are the most widely recognized hazards and include contact with equipment or other objects, working at heights, and slipping. This category also includes noise, vibration, temperature, electricity, atmospheric conditions, and radiation. All of these hazards can create harm in certain contexts.

Question 20

What are the major types of workplace hazards?

Chemical hazards

Answer 20

cause harm to human tissue or interfere with normal physiological functioning.

The short-term effects of chemical hazards can include burns and disorientation.

Longer-term effects of chemical hazards include cancer and lead poisoning.

While some chemical substances are inherently harmful, ordinarily safe substances can be rendered hazardous by specific conditions. For example, oxygen is essential to human life, but in high doses can be harmful.

Question 21

What are the major types of workplace hazards?

Psycho-social hazards

Answer 21

are social, environmental, and psychological factors that can affect human health and safety.

These hazards include harassment and violence but also incorporate issues of stress, mental fatigue, and mental illness.

Question 22

What are the major types of workplace hazards?

Ergonomic hazards

Answer 22

Occur as a result of the interaction of work design and the human body, such as work-station design, tool shape, repetitive work, requirements to sit/stand for long periods, and manual handling of materials.

Ergonomic hazards are often viewed as a subset of physical hazards. For the purposes of hazard assessment, it is useful to consider them separately because they are often overshadowed by more obvious physical hazards.

Question 23

What are the major types of hazard controls?

Answer 23

Some forms of hazard control are more effective than others, and, consequently, a hierarchy of controls (with five levels) has been established:

Elimination

Substitution

Engineering controls

Administrative controls

Personal protective equipment

Employers and workers sometimes have differing views about which hazard control options are optimal. Employers are more likely to prefer options lower on the hierarchy due to their lower cost and lesser impact on the work process. Workers, on the other hand, prefer controls higher on the hierarchy because they are more effective at keeping them safe.

Question 24

What are the major types of hazard controls?

Elimination

Answer 24

removes the hazard from the worksite. For example, relocating work performed at a height to ground level eliminates the risk of falling. This control is most easily implemented at the design stage, thereby preventing the hazard from entering the workplace.

Question 25

What are the major types of hazard controls?

Substitution

Answer 25

entails replacing something that produces a hazard with something that does not. For example, we might replace chemical-based cleaning solvents with plant oil–based solvents. Substitution is similar to elimination but is less effective because the new object or process may introduce different hazards or fail to completely remove the original hazard.

Question 26

What are the major types of hazard controls?

Engineering controls

Answer 26

are modifications to the workplace, equipment, materials, or work processes that reduce workers’ exposure to hazards.

For example, installing guards on machinery, building guard rails, installing ventilation systems, or purchasing ergonomically designed workstations all isolate workers from hazards, but they do not eliminate the hazard. These controls can be incomplete, become inoperative due to lack of maintenance, or be overridden and therefore are less effective than elimination or substitution.

Question 27

What are the major types of hazard controls?

Administrative controls

Answer 27

are changes to work process, policies, training, or rules designed to reduce exposure to hazards.

For example, policies restricting the time workers spend in contact with a chemical hazard, “no-go” zones that restrict workers’ movements in certain locations, mandatory training sessions, permit systems to control access to equipment or spaces, changes to schedules to prevent excessive shift work, or working-alone procedures that require regular check-in are all administrative controls.

Administrative controls do not actually control a hazard. Rather, they attempt (via rules and processes) to limit workers’ exposure to the hazard.

Question 28

What are the major types of hazard controls?

Personal protective equipment

Answer 28

(PPE) is equipment worn by workers that is designed to protect them should they come into contact with a hazard. For example, helmets, goggles, gloves, and fall protection systems are forms of PPE. PPE is considered the least effective control because it does not control the hazard or restrict workers’ contact with the hazard and is heavily reliant upon human action for its effectiveness. PPE places the burden of implementation on the worker. Workers may choose not to wear or be pressured into not wearing the PPE. Further, most PPE has been historically designed for a male body, which can compromise its effectiveness when worn by women.

Question 29

Often multiple controls can be combined to provide a higher degree of control. For example, receptionists may face harassment, violence, or other inappropriate behaviour from clients. A locked door that the receptionists can unlock remotely (an engineering control) can help exclude clients known to be a risk. This hazard control can be made more effective by combining it with other controls:

Answer 29

Engineering: A glass barrier that separates the receptionist from visitors reduces the possibility of physical violence.

Administrative: Policies regarding when and to whom to allow entry provides the receptionist with authority to deny an individuals entry. Policies against working alone, training on handling difficult people, and procedures for responding to perceived threats may also help control the hazard.

PPE: In addition to the security door, the receptionist could be provided with a panic button (with appropriate response procedures) to provide a last layer of defence.

Question 30

How can the major physical risks be controlled?

Noise and vibration

Answer 30

Controlling noise and vibration hazards is a complex undertaking. In both cases, the most effective way to control the hazard is elimination, substitution, or engineering controls. Such controls can be expensive, as they require replacing machinery, altering processes, or eliminating tasks from the workplace.

Controls along the path can also be implemented by erecting sound barriers to muffle noise or installing vibration resistant material on tool handles.

The most common, yet least effective, controls for noise and vibration are time restrictions and PPE. Restricting workers’ exposure to noise or vibration can reduce the effect of these hazards but does not address the full range of risk to the worker.

Question 31

How can the major physical risks be controlled?

Temperature

Answer 31

The most effective control for preventing thermal stress is to limit workers’ exposure to hazardous temperatures (admin controls). It can, however, be difficult to determine what temperature is too hot or cold for work to occur. Within the recommended maximum and minimum, the degree of exposure is dependent upon clothing and other factors, such as access to fluids and rest breaks to warm/cool. Thus the need to establish controls extends beyond the extremes to ensure workers are shielded from the effect of hot or cold temperatures. Other controls include relocating work, installing heating/cooling devices, work-rest cycles, preventing working alone, and minimizing manual effort.

Question 32

How can the major physical risks be controlled?

Radiation

Ionizing radiation

Answer 32

Ionizing radiation is radiation with enough strength to remove electrons from a molecule as it passes through. The electron loss causes the molecule to become positively charged (called an ion). Examples of ionizing radiation include X-rays, gamma rays, alpha particles, and neutrons.

Controls for ionizing radiation are quite expensive and technical, requiring significant engineering controls. Specialized training is also required, and exposure to ionizing radiation should never be taken lightly.

Question 33

How can the major physical risks be controlled?

Radiation

Non-ionizing

Answer 33

Non-ionizing radiation is unable to ionize molecules but may have other effects, and includes microwaves and radio waves as well as ultraviolet, visible, and infrared light.

Controls for non-ionizing radiation should include replacing radiating equipment, proper maintenance to prevent fugitive radiation (such as with microwave ovens), separating workers from the radiation source, reducing exposure time to low levels, and using UV-blocking PPE (e.g., hats, clothing, sunscreen).

Question 34

How can the major physical risks be controlled?

Ergonomics

Answer 34

Engineering controls are the best way to address ergonomic hazards. Wrist supports, rest breaks, and other controls-at-the-worker fail to address the root cause of the hazard and do not effectively prevent the onset of injury. Ergonomic principles require that the design of the work be altered to better fit the needs of the workers in question. What those specific controls look like is highly dependent upon the nature of the work and the demographics of the worker.

Question 35

How can the major chemical risks be controlled?

Answer 35

Controlling chemical hazards begins by identifying worker tasks and environmental factors associated with the location. Subsequently, we must identify and list each chemical a worker is exposed to and the route(s) of entry for that chemical. The potential hazard posed by each exposure and the risk of exposure should be determined along with control strategies. Control strategies used should follow the hierarchy of controls, beginning with elimination (e.g., using non-chemical processes) and substitution (e.g., using a less hazardous chemical), then progressing to engineering controls (e.g., physically isolating workers from the chemical).

ss effective control approaches include administrative controls that minimize or standardize exposures and the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE). In addition, some workplaces provide special facilities (e.g., showers, lunch rooms) to minimize workers’ exposure to chemicals. Some organizations will also undertake extensive medical and environmental monitoring and record keeping. This can include monitoring the level of a hazard in a specific area (area monitoring), the dose experienced by a worker (personal monitoring), or the presence of a chemical or its metabolic residue in a worker’s blood, body fluids, or tissues (medical monitoring). While not hazard controls per se, monitoring and record keeping can provide data that can help to adjust administrative controls, assess the effectiveness of PPE, and identify early signs of health effects.

Question 36

How can the major biological risks be controlled?

Answer 36

Like all workplace hazards, control strategies for biological hazards should follow the hierarchy of controls. Historically, the provision of adequate washing and toilet facilities was an engineering control that significantly reduced worker exposure to many biological hazards. Recent technological improvements, such as automatically flushing toilets and automatic taps, soap dispensers, and towel dispensers, have further limited workers’ contact with bacteria in washrooms.

Providing workers with vaccinations is an administrative control that can reduce worker susceptibility to viruses. Mandatory vaccinations are, however, controversial.

Question 37

Why has workplace stress been under-recognized as a hazard?

Answer 37

Stress is a psycho-social hazard

There are two main challenges associated with recognizing workplace stress as a hazard

1. stress is often perceived as an individual’s response to a situation, and any two individuals can react differently to the same stressor. This perception can lead managers to identify the issue with the individual rather than the stressor itself. This response is an example of an employer blaming the worker for an injury and a variation on the careless worker myth
2. isolating workplace stressors can be difficult, especially chronic stressors. Non-work stressors do affect workers and can also be used by employers as an excuse to deny that stress-related health effects have workplace causes. Also, as with other types of ill health, individuals have different tolerances for stress, meaning the same stressors may affect one worker more than another. As a result, it can be difficult to have chronic stress recognized as a workplace hazard or the cause of a workplace injury or ill health. A workers’ compensation board, for example, is more likely to accept claims resulting in catastrophic or acute stress

Question 38

What are the arguments for working alone?

Answer 38

Usually employers cite economic efficiency as the reason for having workers work alone. It makes no sense (financially) to have two receptionists greeting customers or having a passenger with the truck driver. Nevertheless, in many cases, assigning two workers to perform a job has little effect on efficiency. For example, sending homecare workers in pairs adds safety, increases the quality of patient care, improves working conditions, and does not negatively affect the number of patients seen in a day.

Employers utilize working alone when it makes economic sense for them. Those considerations are valid, but for OHS practitioners, safety considerations must also be included in the calculation.

Question 39

What are the arguments against working alone?

Answer 39

The risks associated with working alone are diverse. Common concerns include the possibility of theft, assault, or attack by an outside party or a worker’s client or patient. This risk is increased by the presence of money, drugs, or other valuables. Women are also more at risk of assault when working alone in these situations. Other risks include uncontrolled hazards causing harm to a worker without others noticing and taking action.

Question 40

What are the health effects of precarious employment?

Answer 40

Repeated studies with different types of precarious workers have shown that they are more likely to get injured at work and their injuries tend to be more severe. Precarious work is associated with deteriorating health and safety conditions in the workplace, and precarious workers are found to be less aware of their safety rights and have more difficulty exercising those rights. Precarious employment has direct effects on workers’ health. Precarious workers report worse mental health, including increased stress-related illness, depression, and anxiety. Evidence for decreased physical health is more mixed, but precarious work is associated with higher levels of mortality among workers.

Question 41

Pressures, Disorganization and Regulatory Failure (PDR) model

Answer 41

explains how precarious work leads to poor health and safety outcomes. The model looks at three groups of factors that shape practices at precarious workplaces.

First, precarious workers experience economic pressures because of income insecurity and competition for work which lead them to accept work intensification and dangerous work while making them reluctant to report injury and ill health.

Second, the contingent nature of the work relationship breaks down structures that facilitate workplace safety, such as safety procedures, training, and communication.

Third, the effectiveness of government safety regulations is reduced because enforcement is more difficult, some forms of work are not protected by regulation, and some workers lack knowledge of their health and safety rights. The result of these factors is workplaces that are less safe

Question 42

Why do gender and race matter when considering OHS in the workplace?

Answer 42

Men are more likely to be injured and to be more seriously injured than women. Racialized workers are also more likely to be injured among both men and women. This means that racialized men have the highest injury rates overall. Further, immigrants, in particular racialized immigrants, also possess disproportionately high injury rates. Even citizenship status can affect safety, as the lack of status of undocumented workers (i.e., workers who do not have a valid visa to work in a jurisdiction) undermines their safety at work and their ability to stand up for their rights.

In North America, there are clear power imbalances between men and women and between so-called “white” (or sometimes Anglo) workers and racialized workers. These imbalances do not work in isolation but cut across both race and gender. They are also reproduced in the workplace and thus will shape the health and safety experience of each worker. Those effects are complex but need to be integrated into our understanding of health and work. At the core, workers from groups that have less power in society will also have less power in the workplace to protect their safety. They will have less control over their choice of job. And they will have fewer options in navigating hazards in the workplace.

A second effect of gender and race is that groups of workers experience different kinds of hazards and risks. In part, this is due to occupational differences (e.g., construction entails different hazards than office work). But even workers doing the same job will experience the workplace from a different perspective, altering their health and safety. This can manifest itself in physical and psycho-social ways.

Question 43

What factors affect the effectiveness of training?

Answer 43

When the risk is caused by a lack of knowledge or skill. - Training is most effective at preventing injuries when the risk of injury is caused (or exacerbated) by a lack of knowledge or skill.

When safety knowledge is combined with information about worker rights.

When training is provided by a body or group that has some independence from am employer.

When training is reinforced by organizational rewards, penalties, and culture.

When workers’ interests are considered in the content and delivery of training. - For example, an organization may provide WHMIS training primarily to comply with legislative requirements. Workers may be more engaged by the training if it is presented as a way to reduce their risk of injury from hazardous materials and is delivered using training methods that are both practical and interesting.

When there are clear training objectives linked to appropriate methods and meaningful assessment.

Question 44

What are the key components of an emergency plan?

Answer 44

There are three major phases to any emergency plan:

Activation

Evacuation, rescue, or shelter

Ongoing management

Question 45

What are the key components of an emergency plan?

Activation

Answer 45

It is necessary for someone to recognize that an emergency is occurring, activate the emergency plan, and communicate the emergency to workers and any relevant authorities or other affected persons.

An activation protocol may identify the circumstances that create an emergency (e.g., triggering events or circumstances) and the steps to commence the emergency response.

Question 46

What are the key components of an emergency plan?

Evacuation, rescue, or shelter

Answer 46

Emergencies may require the evacuation of some or all workers. Evacuation routes (including alternative routes), muster points, and a means of determining whether an evacuation is complete are important components of an emergency plan.

Depending upon the circumstances, an evacuation plan may also direct the shutdown of certain work processes and the treatment or further evacuation of injured workers. Some hazards—such as chemical hazards in confined spaces—may require specialized rescue skills or equipment in order to evacuate workers before further harm occurs. Other hazards—such as extreme weather—may require workers to take shelter on site.

Question 47

What are the key components of an emergency plan?

Ongoing management

Answer 47

A protocol for managing an ongoing emergency is helpful once the initial phase of the emergency has passed. While we tend to think of emergencies as single dramatic events, an emergency may entail an ongoing set of events such as the pandemic.

Ongoing management might include

plans to secure equipment and information,

ensuring there is a means of communicating with staff and for staff to communicate with their families

a media relations plan

the provision of assistance to help employees cope with their reactions to the event

and a business-resumption plan.

Question 48

What is the purpose of an incident investigation?

Answer 48

Incident investigations are intended to uncover all of the key facts about how and why an incident occurred so that action can be taken to prevent it happening again.

Not conducting the investigation in a careful and thorough manner can undermine the results and create the risk of a repeat incident. Any incident where significant injury occurs should be thoroughly investigated, but there is value in investigating minor injury and near miss events as well, as they can reveal important insights that might prevent a future injury.

Question 49

What are the key steps in incident investigation?

Answer 49

1. Attend to any injured workers, evacuate any imperilled workers, and secure the scene
2. Gather evidence
3. Analyze the data to determine the causes

Question 50

What are the key steps in incident investigation?

Attend to any injured workers, evacuate any imperilled workers, and secure the scene

Answer 50

Once an incident occurs, the first step of incident investigation is to attend to any injured workers, evacuate any imperilled workers, and secure the scene. This step should correspond closely with the emergency response plan and be performed by the emergency responders. Securing the scene entails two actions. First, any uncontrolled hazard (e.g., leaking gas) needs to be eliminated to ensure the safety of the investigators and others. Second, the scene needs to be protected so that no evidence can be destroyed or altered (intentionally or unintentionally) until the completion of the investigation. Protection normally includes restricting access to the scene. In some circumstances, it may also require protecting the scene from inclement weather.

Question 51

What are the key steps in incident investigation?

Gather evidence

Answer 51

The second step in an investigation is to gather evidence. There are a number of techniques for collecting the relevant information. They will be used in various combinations depending on the nature of the incident and the workplace. Gathering might begin with a walk-through, which is an inspection of the incident scene to get an overall picture of the environment. A walk-through may also clarify which additional evidence-gathering techniques are appropriate. These further techniques should include recording the scene through photos or video or drawings (if photos or video are not practical) to create a visual record of the scene.

Investigators normally prioritize interviewing witnesses, including the injured worker(s). Witnesses should be interviewed as soon as possible after the incident while their memories are fresh and uncontaminated by discussing the event with others.

Another investigative technique is a re-enactment of the incident, which is a simulation designed to recreate the circumstances that led to the incident. A re-enactment might entail asking witnesses to act out the events that took place before the incident, or re-establishing a set of conditions relevant to what occurred. The value of the re-enactment is that it can identify how circumstances, events, or behaviours interacted to cause the incident.

Question 52

A few principles should be followed in interviewing to ensure accurate information and the well-being of the witness:

Answer 52

Ensure the witness is physically and emotionally well. Witnessing an incident can traumatize people and assistance, such as counselling, may be necessary before an interview takes place.
Be clear about the purpose of the interview and the investigation, highlighting that it is not about laying blame.
Interview witnesses separately and in a neutral location. A worker representative should be provided if the witness requests it or if the union agreement requires it.
Allow witnesses to describe what happened in their own words. Do not lead or put words in their mouths.
Ask only questions that elicit more information or clarify answers. Do not ask the witness “why” they think something happened.
Be an active listener. Ensure you have correctly heard them by repeating or summarizing what they said.
Record the interview in some fashion—either with detailed notes or (if appropriate) audio recording.
Be aware of power relations. Interviews can be distorted by unrecognized power imbalances, such as the interviewer being the supervisor of the worker, or the worker who was injured being under the witness’s supervision. These dynamics can be a barrier to accurate reporting of the incident.

Question 53

What are the key steps in incident investigation?

Analyze the data to determine the causes

Answer 53

Once all the information has been gathered, the next step is to analyze the data to determine the causes. This is a crucial step, and is often where investigations go wrong. The immediate reasons for (or “proximate cause” of) the incident will be the first to appear. These causes will usually be worker error or some factor that may appear to be uncontrollable. Stopping the investigation at this point will lead to an incomplete analysis and the investigation will likely fail at one of its key goals—preventing future incidents. Additional analysis of the data will reveal underlying reasons for (the “root cause” of) the incident. A simple way to think about probing data for root causes is to keep asking “why?” Asking why something happened allows the investigators to get past their initial understanding of the incident

Question 54

Why can identifying root cause in an investigation be difficult?

Answer 54

It is the goal of investigations to establish root cause. Unfortunately, too often investigations only identify proximate causes. The core principle of root-cause analysis is that no incident is ever caused by a single action or factor but, instead, occurs as a result of a combination of factors, many of which may have appeared long before the incident itself. Also, injury and ill health are caused by a broader spectrum of factors than is generally accepted, including the work relationship, gender, and race. The data analysis phase of incident investigation must include techniques that reveal all causal factors and their interconnection to the incident.

The issue of root cause is more complex than first imagined, as it is easy to fall into the trap of predefining what causes the investigation is looking for. It is important to adopt a systemic perspective when analyzing the information gathered, in order to ensure no relevant cause is overlooked.

Question 55

What conflicts underlie disability management programs?

Answer 55

Like most aspects of workplace injury, disability management entails both converging and conflicting interests. Workers can indeed benefit from disability prevention accommodation and recovery programs. Nevertheless, the greater power of the employer, coupled with the financial incentives employers have for returning workers to work as quickly as possible, creates the possibility for abuse.

This analysis suggests that employers have socially constructed return-to-work as a broadly beneficial component of disability recovery programs. In fact, RTW primarily benefits employers and has mixed outcomes for injured workers. For example, the possibility that RTW programs will harm workers is usually ignored. Unmasking this social construction allows us to see that there is more to disability management than simply a series of interconnected disability prevention, accommodation, and recovery programs. Stakeholders—primarily employers and workers, but also governments, unions, and medical practitioners—seek to advance their own interests. To the degree that these interests clash, disability management can be marked by conflict. The asymmetry of power evident in the employment relationship, combined with the situational vulnerability of injured workers, means that practitioners should be aware of the potential for injured workers to acquiesce to demands that may not be in their best interests.

Question 56

Disability management is

Answer 56

A set of employer practices designed to prevent or reduce workplace disability and assist workers in recovering normal functioning as quickly as and to the maximum degree possible. There are three interrelated aspects of disability management:
Prevention: Employers may seek to prevent injuries and illnesses that give rise to disabilities through injury prevention efforts as well as employee assistance and wellness programs.
Accommodation: Workers who have disabilities may require accommodation. This may include assistive technologies and modifications to work, work processes, and the workplace.
Recovery: Some disabilities are temporary in nature. Sick leave, modified work, disability benefits (including workers’ compensation), and return to work programs can assist workers during the period of time required for them to recover.

Question 57

Why might return to work sometimes be detrimental to an injured worker’s health?

Answer 57

There is some evidence that workers with back pain recover more quickly when they remain active. On the surface, this correlation might seem to suggest that RTW can, in fact, be rehabilitative. It is not clear, however, to what degree work is analogous to the more generalized term activity. Work differs from other activities (e.g., going for a walk) because it occurs in the context of a power relationship designed to maximize productivity. Consequently, some employers will promise, but not truly provide, suitable modified work. When this occurs, workers face pressure to work in a manner that can be contrary to their medical restrictions, thereby creating the risk of re-injury.

More troubling is that there is no evidence to support the notion that activity aids recovery from injuries other than lower back injuries. That is to say, proponents of RTW are not only misstating the benefits of RTW but are also overstating the medical benefits of activity in general.

Workers who resist employer pressure to do things contrary to their rehabilitative best interests risk being labelled uncooperative and having their workers’ compensation benefits reduced or terminated. This reflects the fact that pain is difficult to quantify and, therefore, difficult to factor into adjudicative decisions. This lack of quantification raises the spectre of moral hazard (i.e., there are incentives for workers to exaggerate the extent, nature, or duration of their injuries for financial gain). The fear that workers will malinger harkens back to the negative views about workers

This analysis suggests that employers have socially constructed return-to-work as a broadly beneficial component of disability recovery programs. In fact, RTW primarily benefits employers and has mixed outcomes for injured workers. For example, the possibility that RTW programs will harm workers is usually ignored. Unmasking this social construction allows us to see that there is more to disability management than simply a series of interconnected disability prevention, accommodation, and recovery programs. Stakeholders—primarily employers and workers, but also governments, unions, and medical practitioners—seek to advance their own interests. To the degree that these interests clash, disability management can be marked by conflict. The asymmetry of power evident in the employment relationship, combined with the situational vulnerability of injured workers, means that practitioners should be aware of the potential for injured workers to acquiesce to demands that may not be in their best interests.

Question 58

What are the main criticisms of Canada’s OHS system?

Answer 58

Some critics of the IRS argue that the creation of a formal structure and location for airing safety grievances delegitimizes other informal forms of worker expression (e.g., on the shop floor, at union meetings) and thus undermines the ability of workers to act outside of the internal responsibility system.

Canada’s health and safety system prioritizes procedural issues (i.e., did the worker refuse correctly) over substantive ones (i.e., was there a legitimate OHS hazard).

In professionalized OHS, safety becomes another tool with which the employer can control how the worker will perform their work. Safety becomes a monologue by the employer, rather than the dialogue between workers and employers that was envisioned by Sass and others

Another consequence of professionalized OHS is that the safety role of unions is diminished. When safety is seen as part of the employment relationship, the union has a legitimate role to play in safety (e.g., training workers, inspecting workplaces, raising issues on JHSCs) and safety is a condition of work that can be negotiated. Indeed, many unions appoint or elect a safety representative who engages with the employer to negotiate appropriate safety provisions

Question 59

What dynamics have undermined the use of the three worker OHS rights?

The right to refuse

Answer 59

1. Most legislation and its interpretation have narrowed the instances when workers can legally refuse. They cannot refuse simply because a hazard exists. There must be some degree of immediacy to the risk of injury, which effectively precludes refusing work on the basis that the work puts the worker at risk of occupational disease. Also, the danger must not be “normal” for the worker’s occupation.
2. The rules around the right to refuse only require the employer to investigate the refusal and preclude the employer from punishing the worker for their refusal. No other action is required. Employers are allowed to assign a different worker to perform the same task. Or the employer can make minor changes to reduce the risk just enough that the worker will agree to do the task. Or they can do nothing at all and say everything is fine. If the worker continues to refuse, the resolution process is lengthy and legalistic. Further, pursuing the matter requires the worker to confront their employer, possibly over a period of weeks, in a direct manner that can be intimidating for many
3. Employment is a relationship of power, and workers’ three safety rights do not adequately mitigate employers’ greater power in the workplace such that workers can protect themselves. A recent study found that one third of Ontario workers expected that raising a health and safety concern would have a negative affect their future employment.

Question 60

What dynamics have undermined the use of the three worker OHS rights?

Right to know

Answer 60

1. Whether the worker is informed about a hazard depends on the employer’s ability and willingness to provide information. Training has been found to be one of the most effective methods for creating safety awareness and behaviour. In practice, employers often don’t provide safety information to workers and this employer decision (or, less charitably, this employer strategy) cannot help but hamstring workers’ ability to participate and refuse.
2. The employer controls what information it gives workers and can use this power to highlight (or downplay) certain hazards and control measures. For example, an employer has an interest in focusing attention on hazards that are within the workers’ control or that can be controlled by worker vigilance (such as physical hazards) because these hazards are relatively cheap to control.

Question 61

What dynamics have undermined the use of the three worker OHS rights?

Answer 61

The right to participate gives workers a process for addressing safety issues, usually via a JHSC. While JHSCs can be effective at improving safety outcomes, not every worker has access to a JHSC.

1. n most jurisdictions, only employers with more than 10 or 20 employees are required to have JHSCs—meaning about a third of workers have no access to JHSCs—and Alberta and the Territories do not require any employer to have JHSCs. Even if an employer voluntarily creates a JHSC, there are no requirements for equal participation by workers, appropriate investigative powers, or even regular meetings. What this means is that workers at smaller employers, which tend to both employ more vulnerable workers and have higher rates of incidents and injuries, have basically no right to participate
2. In workplaces with JHSCs, the committees often struggle with employers ignoring recommendations, agendas dominated by minutiae and pro forma processes, lack of safety knowledge among committee members, inadequate resources (both time and money), and, not surprisingly, worker disengagement. Non-functioning JHSCs fundamentally limit the right to participate. There are ways workers can improve the effectiveness of JHSCs. These efforts are most likely to be successful in unionized workplaces where the union can train and empower workers

Question 62

What are the qualities of an effective OHS representative?

Answer 62

Historically, workers made advances in health and safety when, armed with information, they mobilized collectively and politically. While this mobilization was not sustained when OHS energies were channelled into the structures and processes of the IRS regime, this history is informative. Specifically, it identifies the components of effective OHS advocacy, for workers, OHS activists, and safety professionals:

Education and information: Research has shown that, when workers are armed with information about the hazards they face and options for controlling them, they act upon this knowledge to the degree to which they are able.

Increasing power: Power in the workplace is essential to ensuring accurate and complete information is available and that workers can meaningfully act upon it. By recognizing the importance of power in OHS, we acknowledge that OHS advocacy must extend beyond technical arguments about safety and requires political action to create power.

Using the IRS: While the IRS has many shortcomings, effective advocates learn how to work within the IRS system as it exists and then supplement those actions with pressure from outside the system (e.g., via government enforcement, outside expertise, mobilization of workers).

Question 63

How can the major physical risks be controlled?

Psycho-social (Fatigue)

Answer 63

While an employer cannot control how well a worker sleeps, they can adjust the workplace to mitigate fatigue. Shift scheduling is one of the most important administrative controls of fatigue: employers can ensure shifts are not too long or too close together as well as avoiding dramatic shift rotations

Question 64

How can the major physical risks be controlled?

Psycho-social (Bullying and Harassment)

Answer 64

There are several ways to address harassment and bullying in the workplace. First, an employer should (and, in some jurisdictions, must) develop policies regarding harassment in the workplace. The administrative controls should outline acceptable and unacceptable behaviours and actions, indicate employer and worker responsibilities, and create a process for investigating and resolving complaints.

Workplace policies are important, but they are only as effective as the degree of their implementation and enforcement. Effective policy implementation requires the employer to train all workers, including managers, on how to prevent and address harassment. Training for managers is particularly important. It can help managers spot possible harassment and teach them the difference between legitimate management discretion and bullying management techniques. Training workers around respectful interactions and cultural sensitivity can help distinguish between legitimate interpersonal conflict and bullying and harassment.

Finally, research shows that the leading indicator of workplace bullying and harassment is the organization’s climate. In workplaces where workers feel unsafe, incidents of bullying and harassment are more frequent. Conversely, creating a safe and respectful climate increases workers’ sense of safety and lowers the negative consequences of bullying and harassment.

Question 65

How can the major physical risks be controlled?

Psycho-social (Working alone)

Answer 65

There are two basic ways to control the hazard posed by working alone. The first approach is to eliminate it by ensuring workers are never in a situation where they are out of contact with other workers. Policies that require a minimum of two workers to be on shift at a time, or prohibiting late night overtime, can administratively control working alone. Prohibiting working alone is a central practice of emergency first responders (i.e., police, fire, ambulance). Keep in mind that eliminating working alone does not eliminate other hazards, which may require other controls. For example, two workers in a remote location will still require some communication strategy in case something happens to either or both of them.

The second approach to controlling working alone is to establish a two-step communication process with workers working alone. First, the worker needs a way to communicate to another person if they are in need. Radios, telephones, or panic buttons can all work as outgoing communication devices. Second, there needs to be incoming communication on a regular basis in case the worker is unable to communicate (e.g., they are unconscious). This incoming communication can take the form of a regular check-in to the worker or an automatic response if the worker fails to complete a periodic check-in. The frequency of check-ins is determined by the nature of the hazards to which the worker is exposed.

The choice between hazard elimination and communication controls is controversial. Employers argue that prohibiting working alone is too costly and inefficient.