Unit 8 - Health, Wellness, and Safe Workplaces Flashcards
Due Diligence
Requires all employers to take every reasonable precaution to prevent workplace accidents, incidents or illness.
Bill C-45
An amendment to the criminal code that established new rules for attributing criminal liability to organizations, including their executives and operational managers. If found negligent when it comes to complying with health & safety regulations, they can be personally fined and/or imprisoned.
H&S Management Responsibilities
- Ensuring compliance with the law
- Creating, communicating, and upholding safety policies
- Maintain equipment, materials and protective devices
- Ensure proper work procedures
- Provide a hazard-free environment
- Monitoring, reporting and maintaining records
Incident
Events that could have lead to an accident.
An unwanted event that causes harm to people, property or processes.
Accident
Events that caused harm
Hazards
Conditions that have the potential to cause harm
Occupational Injury
Work-related injuries
Lost-time injury
Work-related injuries that result in the employees missing work time
Occupational Illness
Abnormal health conditions or disorders caused from working
H&S Supervisor Responsibilities
- Advising employees of potential workplace hazards
- Ensuring workers use safety equipment and devices
- Ensuring workers wear protective clothing
- Providing written work instructions
- Complying with due diligence protocols
Health & Safety Committees responsibilities
Supporting safety collaboration Conducting safety inspections Investigate work refusals and work stoppage Investigate accidents Respond to concerns
Committees include union, management and employee representation.
Health & Safety Representative’s responsibilities
All the same responsibilities as the H&S Committee • Regularly inspect the workplace • Identify workplace hazards • Be consulted about workplace testing • Make recommendations to employer • Investigate work refusals • Respond to concerns • Maintain up-to-date records
Employees rights include the following 4
- Right to know
- Right to participate
- Right to refuse
- Right to stop
Workers’ Compensation
Provides workers with compensation when they are unable to work
What determines the premium an employer pays for workers’ compensation?
Industry Rating x Employer Experience Rating x Size of Payroll
What are the workers compensation benefits that cover employees?
- Benefits to cover loss of earnings
- Benefits to compensate for non-economic loss
- Loss of retirement income
- Benefits for future economic loss
- Health care benefits, equipment and supplies
- Occupational disease and survivor benefits
- Benefits for seriously injured workers
- Compensation for survivors
Causes of hazards include
Human
Environmental
Situational
Environmental Factors
Condition of the work environment like loud noises or cold temperatures; conditions that are integral to the job and can’t be fixed or changed.
Situational Factors
Include operations, equipment, or materials that contribute to accident situations.
Methods for identifying hazards include:
- Walk-through surveys
- Safety/behavior sampling
- Task and job inventories
- Historical safety records
- Incident investigations
- Safety audits
- Employee complaints
What is the most common form of hazard analysis?
Analytical tree
Includes positive and fault tree
Positive Tree
Shows the proper way of doing a job
Fault Tree
Shows things that can go wrong
Risk assessments include what 3 factors
Frequency
Severity
Probability
Frequency
Measures how often someone is exposed to the hazard as a normal part of their job
Severity
Projects the consequences of the hazard
Probability
Estimates the likelihood of an accident occurring given the hazard and its frequency
Standard Safety Tracking Formulas - Frequency track record
of injuries X 200 / Total Hours Worked
Standard Safety Tracking Formulas - Severity track record
days lost to injuries X 200 / Total Hours Worked
Sound Pressure Level Meter
Measure gross noise levels in decibels
Octave Band Analyser
Measures noise frequency range
Dosimeter
Measure employee exposure to noise as a percentage of work time.
Audiometer
measures employee hearing sensitivity
Vibration can be measured in terms of
- Intensity
- Frequency
- Duration
Ionizing Radiation
x-rays, gamma rays, alpha particles, beta particles, neutrons.
Non-Ionizing Radiation
ultraviolet radiation, visible radiation, infrared radiation, microwave radiation, radio waves.
Chemical Reaction Category includes _______.
Vapours
Physical Action Category includes __________.
Airborne particles
Chemical States include __________.
Solid, liquid and gas.
Chemical Contaminants include __________.
dust, fumes, smoke, mist, vapour gas and liquid
Controlling Chemical Hazards can be:
- Inhaled
- Ingested
- Absorbed through the skin
- Penetrated through direct contact with a cut or injected through a needle
WHMIS - Labels
- Product identifier and Supplier identity
- Reference to Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)
- Hazard Symbols and Risk Phrases
- Precautionary measures and First Aid measures
WHMIS - Material Safety Data Sheets
- Harmful ingredients
* Guidelines for use, storage, disposal, treatment
Cumulative Trauma Disorders
Includes repetitive strain injuries (RPI)
Causes of trauma repetitive strain injuries
- Unnatural joint position or posture
- Application of force to hinge joints
- Repetition
- Pre-existing conditions
Ergonomics is a good preventative measure
Workplace Violence - Type I + protective acts
Random – usually associated with a criminal act
- Protective screens
- Barriers
Workplace Violence - Type II + protective acts
Committed by clients or customers
- Surveillance cameras
- Effective lighting
- Presence of security personnel
- Card-controlled entrances
Workplace Violence - Type III + protective acts
Committed by co-workers
Unfair treatment –> Management training
Abusive supervision –> Open environment
Role stress –> Conflict resolution processes
Interpersonal conflict –> Employee training
Job insecurity –> Non-tolerance policy
Lastly, a comprehensive workplace violence program needs to be implemented.
Workplace Violence - Type IV + protective acts
Committed by family member
- Employee and Family Assistance Programs
- Temporary accommodation as required
Eustress
Positive stress that is usually accompanied with excitement and higher productivity
A health and safety frequency rate is calculated as:
Number of accidents divided by total number of hours worked
To increase the effectiveness of medical surveillance programs, it is important to:
Establish baseline and ongoing records of employee health.
The degree to which a substance can cause harm to human skin or tissue is measured in terms of:
Toxicity
The transactional model of stress indicates that:
Different employees will respond differently to the same stressors.
Psychosocial Model of Stress
Details the paths and processes through which personality (e.g., optimism, mastery, social support perceptions) and social (e.g., time, money, gender, status) resources influence stress levels and psychological and health outcomes.
E.g., self esteem, exposure to violence, and family situation.
Walk-through survey
Used to determine the types and possible exposures to hazards in the workplace.
Safety Audit
Is used to ensure compliance with safety policy and safe work practices.
Hazard Analysis
Process is used to assess hazards and risk in the workplace. The likelihood of an incident, injury, or accident is determined commonly via the analytical tree.
