CANADA Presents
An introduction to health and safety on the job for young and new workers Stayin’ Alive
Introduction
Starting a new or summer job can be an exciting time. You will meet new people, learn new things and take on new challenges. You have a lot to think about, and one of those things should be your own health and safety on the job. An estimated 1,000 Canadians die from work every year. Of that number, approximately 30 are young workers. What you can learn now about health and safety will protect you for years to come. That is what this booklet is about — an introduction to health and safety on the job and what you need to know to understand the big picture, see where you fit in and how and why you need to protect yourself. This booklet is just the beginning and would not make you safe. That is up to your workplace, co-workers and most of all, yourself.
Stayin’ Alive
Group Publisher: Paul Grossinger
Publisher: Peter Boxer
Authors: David Dehaas, Jean Lian
Media Designer: Mark Ryan
Copyright © Annex Business Media 2019
CANADA Presents
An introduction to health and safety on the job for young and new workers
Who Are Young Workers?
The Occupational Health and Safety Regulation defines a young worker as any employee under age 25. A new worker can be any age and includes those who are new to a workplace or location (typically for less than six months) or face new hazards from having been assigned to a new job.
Young and new workers are three times more likely to be injured during their first month on the job than at any other time due to:
• Inexperience;
• Lack of training, orientation and supervision;
• Limited understanding of their workplace;
• Exposure to more dangerous jobs;
• Hesitancy to ask questions; and
• Desire to prove themselves.
What is Safety?
Safety means the absence of unreasonable risk — the key word being “unreasonable”. There is some level of risk involved in everything we do, even if it is just walking down the street. We accept those risks, because we think it is reasonable. But risk at work is different. First, risk is the chance or possibility that an accident will happen. Risks or “hazards” can be very serious as they can and do result in injuries and deaths. Second, the level of risk considered acceptable at work is much lower than what you might decide to accept on, say, the ski hill, or in your other personal activities.
Every year in Canada, close to 1,000 people are killed in workplace accidents. Thousands more are maimed by injuries. Safety is about spotting, controlling, reducing or eliminating hazards. Making the workplace safe is essentially your employer’s job, but you have an important part to play in your own safety and that of your co-workers. You can do that by learning about hazards and how to avoid them, playing by the rules, using safety equipment and reporting problems. Because safety really is everybody’s business.
Young and new workers are three times more likely to be injured during their first month on the job than at any other time.
Then There’s Health
The word “safety” is often used as part of the phrase “occupational health and safety”. While accidents are extremely serious, the number of people who are affected by work-related health hazards that develop over the long term is much greater.
For example, asbestos can cause cancer 20 years after exposure, while others have become disabled by gradually accumulating damage to body tissues caused by musculoskeletal disorders — a group of painful disorders of the muscles, tendons and nerves due to overuse and repetitive movement.
So whenever and wherever there are procedures or equipment to protect you from work hazards, you must understand they are there to protect you. That is why there are programs like the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS), or rules for handling hazardous materials in the workplace and requirements for personal protective equipment.
Since December 1, 2018, WHMIS has been updated to incorporate GHS, which stands for Globally Harmonized System for the Classification and Labelling of Chemicals. Also known as global harmonization, GHS is a set of new international standards for classifying hazardous materials and providing information on labels and safety data sheets.
Why did WHMIS incorporate GHS? Previously, many countries have different systems for classifying and labelling chemical products. This made it difficult for governments to regulate hazardous materials and costly for companies to comply with different systems — not to mention confusing for workers like yourself to understand chemical hazards.
Today, GHS has been implemented in many countries, including Canada. WHMIS 2015 has replaced the original WHMIS requirements, generally referred to as WHMIS 1988.
It’s the Law
If you drive a car, there are laws and regulations dealing with vehicle licences and rules of the road. Safety at work has laws and regulations too that are a lot like the ones regulating traffic and vehicles.
Every province in Canada has a law, usually called the “Occupational Health and Safety Act” (OHSA) that sets out the legal framework for health and safety in the workplace. In addition to the acts, there are regulations that set out specific requirements for job safety, like standards for guardrails, who can drive a forklift and when to use personal protective equipment. Health and safety are required by law. Your employer will have a copy of the Act and Regulations posted on one of the employee bulletin boards. It is a good idea to browse through it some time to get an idea of what things are covered by the law. You may also come across the term “due diligence”, which simply means that your employer has a responsibility to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances to protect a worker and make sure that all regulations are followed. Employers and supervisors play a vital role in the safety of all workers. They are required by law to do the following:
• Make sure workers comply with workplace-safety laws;
• Inform, train and supervise workers about job hazards;
• Supply personal protective equipment and ensure workers know how to use the equipment safely; and
• Report critical injuries to the government department responsible for workplace safety.
Rights
Employers and supervisors have legal responsibilities for occupational safety. You as a worker, have rights and responsibilities too when it comes to your health and safety at work. These include the right to know, the right to participate and the right to refuse unsafe work.
• The Right to Know: Your employer has to tell, warn and instruct you regarding any possible hazards that you might be exposed to during the course of your work.
Example: If you are working with a cleaner that is harmful to your eyes, you have a right to be informed about the danger and be trained on how to use the product safely.
• The Right to Participate: You can ask or talk about safety and be a part of discussions on safety.
Example: You can be heard by members of the safety committee, and you could be a member of the committee.
• The Right to Refuse: You can refuse work that you think is unsafe to yourself or other workers. Your employer is legally prevented from pushing you in any way for acting on your reasonable belief.
Example: If you are assigned work that you reasonably believe is dangerous, you should express your doubts, like, “Hey boss, it doesn’t look safe to me.” Often, that will lead to the problem being fixed, or your boss will explain why it is safe. But that odd one time when you still believe that it is unsafe, you can refuse to work and trigger a process in which your concerns are examined by the safety committee and, if needed, by a safety inspector.
Responsibilities
As an employee, you have a number of distinct duties under health and safety laws:
• Obey All Safety Regulations: There are lots of them. Fortunately, you don’t have to know them all, but your employer and supervisor do have to know all the ones that apply to your workplace and your job. And it is their duty to tell you about them when they affect you.
• Raise A Red Flag: Report any risk or hazard that you reasonably believe is against safety laws.
• Protect Yourself: Use any personal protective equipment (PPE) your employer tells you to use. You also have a duty to not remove any safety device (like guards over moving parts or warning signs) or engage in any prank, contest, feat of strength, unnecessary running or rough and boisterous conduct.
You as a worker, have rights and responsibilities too when it comes to your health and safety at work.
The Inspector
Inspectors from the ministry or department of labour are the equivalent of traffic cops who enforce health and safety laws. They have the following powers:
• Investigate complaints or incidents involving injuries or deaths;
• Sieze evidence;
• Issue orders on the spot;
• Lay charges if there are violations; and
• Conduct random, unannounced checks, usually in high-risk workplace or those with poor safety records.
Charges under health and safety laws are no joke. Companies and even the people who work in them, like directors and supervisors who are found guilty of serious safety negligence, can be fined and sent to jail. In Ontario, a corporation can be fined up to $1.5 million for safety violations, while a person in a company who has flouted safety legislation can be fined up to $100,000 and/or up to 12 months imprisonment.
Charges under health and safety laws are no joke.
What is Workers’ Compensation?
Workers’ compensation is basically an insurance plan for which your employer pays the premium. Workers’ compensation boards or WCBs are run by government agencies established by provincial or federal laws. So what does workers’ compensation do for you?
• Covers you for work-related accidents and illnesses regardless of whose fault it is that caused the accident;
• You do not have to sign up for it; neither do you have to qualify for it in any way, or pay premium to be covered (unless you are self employed);
• Pays for your medical treatments or rehabilitation therapy for injuries sustained on the job; and
• Pays most of your normal wages while you are off work due to a work injury or illness
But it is not a free ride by any means. You have duties under the workers’ compensation legislation, such as reporting a workplace accident immediately (even if they seem minor at the time) and cooperating in getting back on the job as soon as possible. You also cannot sue your employer for damages arising out of your injury or illness. But it is nice to know that a workplace accident would not cut you off from your income.
Reporting Injuries
Let’s say something happens on the job, and you hurt yourself. A lot of people, especially young or new employees like yourself, will feel embarrassed and do nothing, or think that it is not serious enough to make a fuss about it. But you should go and report it for several good reasons:
• First Aid: You may need to get first aid, such as a bandage for that cut or a cold pack for the bruise. It would be a good idea to talk to a first aider just in case the injury is more serious than it seems that you are not aware of at the moment.
• Administrative Duties: It may be necessary to fill out a form for the workers’-compensation system in case the injury gets worse and ends up requiring time off work.
• Inform Your Supervisor: Your supervisor needs to know about every injury so that he or she can do something about it to prevent it from happening again and hurting other workers when they do the same task as you did.
People wear PPE when there is a real danger of injury.
It is no accident that people who work at many different kinds of jobs wear special equipment to protect themselves from being hurt if something goes wrong. Some of the common PPE includes hard hats, safety eyeglasses, safety boots, a harness and hearing protection.
You may not want to wear your PPE because you don’t like the look of it. You may even find that it feels awkward or makes you feel self-conscious. But the fact is that people wear PPE when there is a real danger of injury.
A lot of people suffered head injuries on the job before hard hats became mandatory. A lot of people stepped on rusty nails on construction sites before they passed a law requiring safety boots. The same goes for every other job where PPE is required. Experience has shown that it is needed.
Your boss will tell you what PPE is needed, how to wear it, how to adjust it and how to make sure it is in good shape. You will get used to it very quickly, and that “awkward’” feeling will disappear soon. Then it is up to you to use it all the time, because you never know when an accident might happen and when that protective equipment will pay off — or even save your life.
Protecting Your Hearing
If you work in a noisy environment, you will probably notice that other workers wear hearing protection — earmuffs that cover the entire ear or earplugs that fit into the ear canal. There may also be signs that say “Hearing Protection Required” and your boss will probably have mentioned the company policy about hearing protection for certain jobs or parts of the workplace, and explained how and where to get muffs or plugs.
So what is this all about? If you are exposed to loud noise over a long period of time, you will suffer hearing loss. The louder the noise and the longer you are exposed to it, the worse the effects will be.
Hearing loss is something that creeps up on you gradually. Almost everyone suffers some hearing loss as they get older; but if you are exposed to loud noise, the damage will all add up. Then one day, you will start to notice you are having a hard time following the conversation when there are people talking all around you, or someone will tell you that you have got the television turned up way too loud.
If your job requires hearing protection, wear your ear plugs or muffs and save your hearing. You will need it for the rest of your life.
Hearing loss is something that creeps up on you gradually.
WHMIS
WHMIS (pronounced as “wim-iss”) is the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System. As the name implies, it is a system or a set of laws and regulations across Canada that make sure all workers have the information they need about any hazardous products that they may have to work with.
Hazardous products under WHMIS are broken down into the following six classes:
• Class A: Compressed gases, usually in cylinders;
• Class B: Flammable and combustible gases;
• Class C: Oxidizing materials that can promote fire;
• Class D: Poisonous and infectious materials;
• Class E: Corrosive materials such as acids and bases; and
• Class F: Dangerously reactive materials.
WHMIS protects you from the hazards of these materials in three ways:
• Labels: The controlled substance must have a WHMIS label that identifies the materials so that you know what you are dealing with, and includes a hazard symbol and other information.
• Material safety data sheets (MSDS): MSDS give more detailed information on the hazard, the protective measures and equipment needed and what to do in an emergency. MSDSs must be available in the workplace for all WHMIScontrolled substances.
• Training: You employer has a legal duty to train you in WHMIS if you work with or around hazardous materials. You should not work with or near any WHMIS substances until you have had this training.
First Job, Summer Job
First jobs and summer jobs often mean odd jobs — doing many different things that involve lots of uncertainty about what to do, and numerous opportunities to run into just about every hazard in the workplace.
A big part of the problem for a new employee is that the experienced workers and supervisors know the hazards so well that they seem too obvious to mention, or that they are so used to the hazard and the associated safety precautions that they just assume that everyone knows about them.
But they may not be obvious at all to someone who has just started work. That is why you have to ask your boss or your coworkers and do not assume anything.
Another problem is that first jobs and summer jobs are often not well-defined. Then there is training and supervision. As a new employee, you obviously need training, but what about those first few days and weeks before you are fully trained, when you may not even know what training you need? That is why you have to protect yourself by asking questions.
Questions to Ask:
• How do I do it?
• Can you show me?
• What do I have to watch out for?
• If you are not sure, stop. Go and ask. Protect yourself by asking questions.
Confined Spaces
A confined space is basically any space not design for human occupancy and where there may be life-threatening hazards. Dangers associated with a confined space include the following:
• Suffocation from lack of oxygen;
• Being overcome by a poisonous gas;
• Being burned in a fire or explosion when a flammable gas is ignited; and
• Being buried in granular material.
Examples of confined spaces include:
• Tanks, tank cars and tank trailers;
• Vats, drums and silos;
• Boilers, mixing tanks and reactor vessels;
• Sumps, cellars and drained pools;
• Sewers, tunnels and pipelines;
• Transformers and utility vaults; and
• Caves, mines and excavations.
There are detailed regulations on how to enter a confined space safely. The atmosphere inside has to be tested with a gas meter to detect oxygen levels, poisonous gases and explosive gases or vapours. No one can do the job alone — there has to be a person posted at the entrance. In some cases, the worker going in is attached to a cable via a body harness so that he or she can be pulled out if anything goes wrong.
But the biggest hazard for new workers is trying to rescue a co-worker in trouble in a confined space. Two out of three people killed in confined spaces are would-be rescuers who went in without protective equipment.
If you find someone in trouble in a confined space, don’t go in. Go get help.
Barriers
The law says moving parts, energized equipment and live power sources have to be guarded in such a way that no one can touch them. There are different kinds of barriers set up between dangerous equipment and the people at a job site:
• Walkways with guardrails (often painted yellow) that desginate the “safe” place for people and separate them from the equipment;
• Individual machines with covers over the moving parts;
• Shields erected between production equipment and walkways to prevent flying particles from hitting anyone;
• Electrical equipment, such as switches and fuses, is normally in locked cabinets; and
• Electrical wiring are guarded by distance or high up where no one can reach it from the ground.
If all the barriers are in place as required by law, no one will be injured by contacting moving parts, live wires or other sources of energy. But some of the worst injuries in industry happen when people cross barriers and contact energy sources.
So the first thing to remember is to never cross a barrier. Stay on the walkway even if you drop something in the danger area and want to get it back. Don’t take shortcuts. If something needs fixing, adjusting, unjamming or attention of any kind, report the problem so that the equipment can be properly deenergized before anyone touches it.
The second thing to remember is to make sure the barriers are in place. If someone leaves a cover off a machine or takes off a guard, do not touch it; report it.
Entrainment
Entrainment means getting pulled in by moving or rotating parts, such as gears, wheels and shafts. Most moving parts tend to move very fast, so you can be drawn into the gears in a flash with zero reaction time. Even smooth shafts, including slowly rotating ones, can and do entrain loose clothing.
A scarf, a loose shirt front and dangling sleeves or even long hair run the risk of being pulled in when a moving part catches the loose or dangling item and starts to pull it in or wind it up. Jewelry like necklaces and rings have been known to get caught.
To prevent entrainment injuries:
• Do not wear loose or dangling clothing or jewelry anywhere near moving parts;
• Tie up your hair or use a hair net (just stuffing hair in a cap or a hard hat is not good enough);
• Look out for any exposed moving parts that could catch clothing, hair or jewelry and report it to your boss. It is a hazard that should be properly guarded.
Entrainment means getting pulled in by moving or rotating parts.
Pinch Points
A pinch point is a point between the moving and stationary parts of a machine where an individual’s body part may get caught. New workers are particularly at risk of pinch-point incidents that can lead to horrific injures, due to their inexperience and lack of familiarity with prevailing hazards in a job site.
Some types of machines in factories have moving parts that go through a cycle. A given part may move only once for every cycle, perhaps every 10 seconds or every minute. It looks perfectly safe until it moves.
By law, pinch points have to be guarded so that no worker can be in the wrong place at the wrong time, although staying well clear of any equipment is still the best precaution.
In-running nip points are somewhat similar. Wherever there is an exposed gear driving another gear or shaft, or a pulley driving a belt, there is a danger of being caught.
People have been caught in pinch points and nip points while greasing, cleaning or doing other maintenance work around moving parts. The solution is to stay away from moving parts unless they are turned off and the power switch has been locked to prevent anyone from starting it.
No one should ever work on or near energized equipment if it has not been locked out.
Lockout/Tag Out
Normally, all moving or energized parts of an equipment at work are out of reach, separated from workers by guardrails, covers, shields and guards. But sometimes, it is necessary to work on the machines to make adjustments, oil certain parts or repair something. That is when the danger or accidental contact with moving parts or energy sources is the greatest.
To prevent anyone from being injured by moving or energized parts, the law says the parts have to be de-energized and prevented from moving before anyone can touch them. It is called lockout and tag out.
Lockout means:
• No one works on the equipment while the power is still on;
• The machine has to be shut off, and the electricity has to be turned off; and
• Moving parts, including hydraulic and pneumatic or air-powered equipment and pressurized lines, have to be turned off and/or depressurized.
Once everything has been turned off, you have to put a lock on the power switches so that no one can turn the power back on while you are working. If you are doing the work, you have the key to the lock. Sometimes, you also fill out an information tag to tell others whose lock it is.
Lockout is a complex procedure; no one should attempt without proper training for the machine and power sources in question. And no one should ever work on or near energized equipment if it has not been locked out.
Ladders and Elevations
What goes up must come down, including people who work at heights. The risk of falling seems to turn up in every industry and almost every job. It is often young workers who are most at risk for several reasons.
First of all, many tasks that require someone to work at a risky height are unusual, just-this-once jobs like cleaning outside windows, patching a leaky roof or changing light bulbs. Second, young workers are often willing to improvise in ways that end up being fun and exciting, or to put it in another way, risky.
The law says that if you work more than three metres or 10 feet above the ground or floor, you have to have fall-protection equipment and you have to know how to use it.
There is passive fall protection like guard rails and safety cage, and active fall protection such as fall restraint or arrest systems that use a full-body harness connected to a lifeline or a rope that prevents you from coming close to the edge, or catches you and holds you up if you should fall.
So if you are working on a roof, you need either a guardrail or a harness and lifeline. If you are painting the second-storey window, you need a scaffold with a proper guardrail or a lifeline. Any time that you are asked to work at elevation, always ask about fall-protection system.
Protect yourself any time if you work with electrical tools or equipment.
Electrical Hazards
There are two main ways in which workers get injured or killed by electricity: the first is to come into contact with relatively small amounts of current while you are well-grounded, and there is a clear path for the electricity to flow through your body. Examples of such contact include the following:
• Touching a faulty extension cord with the insulation worn off, especially near the plug;
• Working with electrical tools, especially if they are connected with extension cord;
• Working with tools or cords on which the “third prong” or ground connection has been removed;
• Working with faulty electrical tools on a metal ladder; and
• Any work outside or in wet conditions if the electrical supply does not come from a special “ground fault circuit interrupter” outlet designed to turn off the power if there is leakage.
There are many ways to inadvertently contact electrical transmission lines and receive a shock:
• Putting up a metal or a wet, wooden ladder and touching the wire;
• Working on scaffolding and touching an overhead wire; and
• Installing things on roofs, such as satellite dishes.
Protect yourself any time if you work with electrical tools or equipment. Look up, look around and look out for damaged cords and equipment.
Heavy Equipment
Many summer jobs involve working around heavy equipment such as dump trucks, bulldozers, lift trucks, graders and earthmoving equipment used on construction sites. And that involves specific hazards like getting run over or crushed. There are rules for communication between people on foot and equipment operators. But never assume that a driver sees you, or rely on them to follow the rules. Below are some safety precautions when working around heavy equipment:
• Keep a Lookout: Keep a constant lookout for moving equipment and be ready to get out of the way.
• Eye Contact: If you can’t see the driver either directly or in his mirror, then he can’t see you.
• Desensitization to Alarms: A lot of heavy equipment has back-up alarms that make a beep sound when the machine is in reverse, but at a busy worksite where you may hear back-up alarms all day long, people start to ignore them. The driver may think it is okay to back up as he thinks the back-up alarm has warned people.
• Beware of Blindspots: Equipment operators often have a very poor field of view, blind spots around their equipment and dirty windows. You have to watch out and be ready to get out of the way.
Trenching and Shoring
Another serious hazard that seems to affect young and new workers more than other types of work is trenches and cave-ins. A trench is a long, narrow excavation dug in the ground sometimes by hand, more often by machines such as backhoes, excavators or special trenching equipment to access underground pipes to place drains and so on.
They are also very dangerous if not handled properly. If you are working at the bottom of an eight-foot-deep by three-footwide trench, it is easy to picture what happens when the sides cave in. Trenches do cave in with alarming regularity even if the sides look to be rock solid — often with no warning at all.
There are specific laws about trenches if the trench is deeper than it is wide and if it is more than 1.2 metres or four feet deep:
• Before anyone goes into such a trench, it has to be shored or supported by walls inside, or the sides have to be sloped back so they cannot cave in.
• All workers have to be in a trench box that can withstand the force of a cave-in to prevent the workers from being buried.
• If you are not protected by shoring, sloping or a trench box, do not go in the trench.
• If someone insists that it is safe to do so and tells you to go in, refer to the “right to refuse” section in this booklet.
Lift Trucks
Lift trucks or forklifts are commonly used in factories and warehouses where there are people around. The following are dangers associated with lift-truck operators:
• They often have a very poor field of view, especially if they have a load on the forks and have trouble seeing past it, or they have to back up and look over their shoulders.
• The trucks steers with their rear wheels, which means that the back of the machine swings out when they make a turn.
If you are standing beside it or between the lift truck and a wall or a post, you could be knocked down when it turns.
• Lift trucks can sometimes go too fast and make fancy turns.
Look out for yourself by:
• Staying on walkways and pedestrian routes;
• Stop and look around corners;
• Do not stand beside a lift truck;
• Make eye contact with the lift-truck operator if you see one coming. Stop and wait until they acknowledge that you are there; and
• Remember: Lift trucks always have the right of way.
Repetitive Strain
Ergonomists, or the people who study the science of adapting work to the people who do the work, have many different names for repetitive strain injuries (RSIs).
What these terms simpy mean is that if you perform a certain set of motions over and over again enough times, the affected part of your body could end up with a serious, chronic condition, especially if you have to work in an awkward posture and/or use a lot of force.
Like athletes in the professional sports world, assembly-line workers could suffer similar injuries like tennis elbow. People who spend a lot of time keyboarding could end up with carpal tunnel syndrome, a painful condition of the hand and wrist, and many other such conditions.
The thing to watch out for is any highly repetitive task that requires the same motions over and over again. If you find your back, neck, arm or hand is stiff or sore after a day at work, you may have a problem.
When your job tasks are uncomfortable and make you feel sore, talk to your boss. There are things that can be done before the situation gets worse, such as adjusting your workstation so that you are working in a better posture, or giving you better tools or equipment — even modifying the job.
Lift trucks always have the right of way.
Slips, Trip and Falls
Slips, trips and falls are a significant risk because they happen so often. One in five lost-time injuries in Ontario results from falls. First of all, if you are walking along and you slip, or almost slipped on a patch of ice, wet area or tile or on some spilled oil, you have essentially just discovered a hazard that could get the next person. This would be a good time report the problem to your boss.
The second thing you can do is help prevent anyone from tripping. In other words, don’t block walkways or stretch cords along the floor where people walk. Block off walkways where you will be working and pick up your tools and equipment when you are done. Lace up your boots all the way and tie them with a nice, tight bow.
One in five lost-time injuries in Ontario results from falls.
Lifting and Carrying
Lifting and carrying loads from one place to another — a task common in many jobs — is also the cause of many injuries. For young and new workers who are eager to prove that they are worth their salt, it is important to avoid doing the following:
• Lift things that are too heavy, too difficult to get a good grip of or too big and bulky to be lifted safely by one person;
• Carrying loads that are too heavy or big that you cannot see where you are going;
• Moving loads that are too heavy for two persons. Instead, you should get the right tool for the job, such as a forklift or other lifting device.
Watch out for your posture while lifting. Do not twist while lifting a weight; the same applies to repetitive work involving small loads. The act of twisting while bearing a load may transfer all the strain to just a few small muscles of your spine, and you could easily strain your back. Once you have hurt your back, it is much easier to hurt it again the next time.
Harassment
Harassment refers to behaviour in which someone says and does things that make you feel uncomfortable or threatened. It can be a single incident of name-calling, off-colour jokes, racist remark or insulting comments, or it can be a long-term pattern of justslightly offensive comments, question, innuendo and references. And there is unwanted attention. It could come from a co-worker who comments suggestively on your appearance or wants to have a personal relationship when you have made it clear that you do not.
It becomes much more serious if the person harassing you is in a position of power, such as your boss or supervisor. It becomes a crime if the “invitations” to a personal relationship are accompanied by any kind of threat if you refuse, or promise of reward if you go along.
If you find yourself in such a situation:
• Politely and firmly tell the person that the comments, invitations or behaviour are making you uncomfortable.
• If that does not work, talk to the next person higher up in authority like your boss, or the boss of the harasser, the personnel department or the person who hired you, your union steward, a member of the joint health and safety committee, company president, a family member or a counsellor whom you trust.
Policies and Procedures
The words “policies and procedures” are often used in many workplaces. A policy is a standing decision made by management, or an order telling workers what to do in a given situation. Take an eye-protection policy as an example. Instead of trying to decide whether a worker should be wearing safety eyeglasses before embarking on a task, management can make that decision and require all workers to wear eye protection at all times. A procedure is a set of instructions on how to do a job. For any given task, there are safe and risky ways to go about doing it. What people who write procedures do is to look at the task at hand, talk to the people doing it and work out the best, safest and most efficient way to do it. Then they write down the instructions and train everyone to do it the same way. Those instructions are called “procedures”. The policy tells you what you have to do, while the procedure tells you how to do it.
To do any job done safely, you need training. It is the employer’s job to provide training in general and safety training in particular. This job usually falls on your supervisor. Training can vary from a half-day course to on-the-job instruction.
But supervisors are usually very busy. As well, new employees are often shy to admit that they do not understand. Instead, many will nod their heads even if they do not understand or understood only partially, and try to figure things out along the way after the supervisor leaves. Bad plan. Here is what you need to do:
• Ask the supervisor to explain what you are supposed to do;
• Request for a demonstration; and
No one should suffer harassment in silence. Find someone you trust and bring it out in the open.
• Ask the supervisor to see how you do it a couple of times to make sure that you have got it right.
The Committee
Most workplaces have a joint health and safety committee made up of a group of people, usually half management and half worker representatives, who meet to talk about safety. Different committees have different mandates. Depending on your workplace, some of them may be quite large with eight or more members who meet monthly, or small with just two to four members who meet every three months or so.
It is their job to review health and safety and the systems to make it work. They do workplace inspections, talk to workers and bring issues to the table for discussion. That way, any problem that management has not picked up can be brought to their attention and rectified.
If you have a problem or question about safety, you have a legal duty to tell your supervisor, and he or she has a legal duty to take care of it.
But some problems are not all that clearly defined, you might not be able to make a straightforward case to your boss or you might not be totally happy with the result. That is when you should talk to a health and safety committee member who can take your concern to the committee for discussion.
If you have a problem or question about safety, you have a legal duty to tell your supervisor.
Protect Yourself
Every workplace has potentially dangerous jobs and situations. Fortunately, the people you work with will be familiar with the hazards in your job. It is their duty to tell you about them and train you in the methods required to deal with them. And it is your job to learn, apply your training, ask questions, report problems when you see something that does not seem right and make suggestions when you have ideas about health and safety. Because it is part of everyone’s job — the big word for this is “internal responsibility system” — to protect everyone else on the job. The way you work can affect the safety of others.
The key to staying safe at work is:
• Make sure you understand the hazards before you begin any task;
• Ask questions to make sure you understand and talk to experienced co-workers and ask for help;
• Do not strike out on your own, undertake a task that you do not understand or take on any job for which you have not been trained and instructed sufficiently; and
• Never put your safety in the hands of others.
Impairment
Recreational marijuana may be legal in Canada, but that does not mean workers can show up at work impaired. Impairment is the inability to perform duties due to physical or mental unfitness. Impairment is not only caused by substance use like drugs and alcohol, but includes the following external influences:
• Side effects from medication (like antibiotics causing nausea);
• Fatigue from long hours at work, holding more than one job or doing shift work;
• Distraction by an important event, such as an exam;
• Experiencing shock or insecurity after a workplace incident;
• Facing conflict with an employer or employees; and
• Exposure to extreme temperatures that can reduce mental alertness or cause loss of concentration.
Employers consider two factors to decide if a worker is impaired:
• Does the worker have the ability to perform the job safely?
• Is there an impact on the worker’s cognitive ability or judgement?
As a worker, it does not matter whether you are hired on a short or long term basis. It is your responsibility to come to work fit for duty, which simply means that you are in a physical, mental and emotional state that enables you to do the job safely.
What Parents Should Know
For many parents, your first or new job is a miletone. They are proud so see you being “initiated” into adulthood by taking on paid employment, but they might also be worried about how you would fare in the workplace given your youth and inexperience. Your parents can play a vital role in keeping you safe. If you share with them the following information, they can guide you through those vulnerable first days when you know the least about your job and are the most anxious to please your new employer.
What Your Parents Should Know:
• What is the nature of your work?
• Have you been given workplace-safety orientation training?
• Do you need protective equipment at work, and do you know how to use it?
• Do you work with chemicals? If so, have you been trained in their proper use?
• Are you tired at work juggling work and school commitments?
• Does your supervisor work near you, or provide on-the-job safety feedback?
• Do you know how to report safety concerns and injuries?
• Do you know your rights and obligations under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act?
It is a good idea to let your parents know that temporary employees generally have the same rights as other employees under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 or ESA, which sets minimum standards for things like pay, work hours and time off. And that it is ok to say “No” to unsafe work. Most importantly, assure your parents know that you will go to them for help if you have concerns about safety at work.