ENGAGEMENT to ACTION: A Prevention Strategy for Newfoundland and Labrador 2012-2014
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
Working Safely Together
OHS
OUR VISION HEALTHY PEOPLE IN SAFE AND PRODUCTIVE WORKPLACES
Engagement to Action: A Prevention Strategy for Newfoundland and Labrador 2012 - 2014
CONTENTS FOREWORD ................................................................................................................................. 1 The frequency of workplace injuries .......................................................................................2 The benefits of doing better ...................................................................................................2 Looking back .........................................................................................................................2 Developing the Strategy................................................................................................................ 3 Stakeholder Roles......................................................................................................................... 3 The need for a collaborative effort ................................................................................................ 5 Improving workplace culture ......................................................................................................... 6 A Prevention Strategy for Newfoundland and Labrador ............................................................... 6 VISION ..................................................................................................................................6 MISSION ...............................................................................................................................6 GOALS .................................................................................................................................6 APPROACH AND PRINCIPLES ............................................................................................7 STRATEGIC OUTCOMES AND OBJECTIVES ......................................................................7 INJURY PRIORITIES ............................................................................................................7 Occupational health hazards ..............................................................................................7 Soft-tissue injuries ..............................................................................................................8 Falls ...................................................................................................................................8 Vulnerable workers ............................................................................................................8 Sectors ..............................................................................................................................8 High-risk industries.............................................................................................................8 Key performance indicators ................................................................................................8 TARGET POPULATIONS ......................................................................................................9 .................................................................................................................................................... 10 STRATEGIC OUTCOME 1: Safety Leadership and Development ............................................ 11 Engagement to Action: A Prevention Strategy for Newfoundland and Labrador 2012 - 2014
Objectives and opportunities ................................................................................................ 11 STRATEGIC OUTCOME 2: Workplace Injury Surveillance, Research and Evaluation............. 13 Objectives and opportunities ................................................................................................ 13 STRATEGIC OUTCOME 3: Industry Leadership and Community Engagement ....................... 14 Objectives and opportunities ................................................................................................ 14 STRATEGIC OUTCOME 4: Safety Education and Training ..................................................... 15 Objectives and opportunities ................................................................................................ 15 STRATEGIC OUTCOME 5: Occupational Health & Safety Programs and Systems ................. 19 Objectives and opportunities ................................................................................................ 19 STRATEGIC OUTCOME 6: Community Partnerships and Collaboration ................................ 20 Objectives and opportunities ................................................................................................ 20 STRATEGIC OUTCOME 7: Regulatory Leadership and Practices ........................................... 21 Objectives and opportunities ................................................................................................ 21 Concluding thoughts ................................................................................................................... 23
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FOREWORD This Prevention Strategy is vital to the attainment of our vision of a healthier and safer Newfoundland and Labrador. The Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission is committed to promoting workplace safety in partnership with key stakeholders. This commitment also extends to advancing the acceptance of safety practices in all aspects of life, work, and play. This Prevention Strategy builds on fundamental safety principles and practices in our workplaces and challenges us to advance and adopt new ways to improve safety. While we have so much to be proud of regarding safety performance in Newfoundland and Labrador, we must continue to work together to increase awareness of occupational health and safety throughout the province, and ultimately towards a healthy, safe and productive society.
Implementation of this strategy requires commitment from the Commission’s Board and staff, as well as from employer and industry organizations, unions, workers, and safety organizations. The Commission will co-ordinate its efforts with Occupational Health and Safety Branch of Service NL. It is my hope that our partners will use the strategy as a basis for working together toward a shared vision of healthy people in safe and productive workplaces. The strategy requires leadership in health and safety at all levels, in the public and private sectors and through regulatory and program efforts aimed at safe and healthy workplaces. As we integrate the core concepts of this strategy, we must continue to support employers and workers who form the vital core of all health and safety systems in Newfoundland and Labrador. Together, we can build on our success and adopt a culture of zero harm in each and every workplace.
Leslie Galway Chief Executive Officer WHSCC
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Why develop a Prevention Strategy? The benefits of doing better The frequency of workplace injuries Without due attention to safe practices and procedures, work continues to be an activity that has the potential to be hazardous to the health and safety of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. While our province has attained significant improvement in safety performance over the past decade, we recognize and maintain that our workrelated disease and injury rate is still too high, and these diseases and injuries are preventable. Each year in Newfoundland and Labrador we have an average of: • 6,000 claims for work-related injuries; • 200 serious injuries at work; • 17 premature deaths from workrelated disease; • 12 fatal accidents due to workrelated injury; • 200 new cases of work-related disease; • 700 young workers injured. We must recognize that these deaths, diseases and injuries don’t just affect the individual worker. Family, colleagues and the community, all experience the loss from injuries and illnesses, often changing the entire course of their lives. To significantly reduce the current injury frequency, we need to address a range of issues, including: • the priority given to workplace health and safety; • health and safety education and awareness, particularly safety skill development in high risk industries and smaller workplaces; • the management of occupational health hazards; and • safety leadership in workplaces and industry.
Investing our time, talent, and resources into workplace injury prevention will enable Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to improve their overall health and well-being. It will also limit the level of impairment in our society: each year, about five per cent of people who have work-related injuries are permanently impaired. Better workplace health and safety practices will also increase productivity and improve the quality of working lives. They will make workplaces more attractive, helping us retain our globally skilled workforce. They will also lower health costs and workers’ compensation. We recognize that the potential for economic gain is significant. Newfoundland and Labrador loses an estimated $150 million annually due to work-related diseases and injuries, and their indirect costs.
Looking back In 2011, the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission (the Commission) celebrated its 60th anniversary of the founding of the then, Workmens’ Compensation Board. Much has happened since April 1951, but through the decades, the organization has remained true to the historic compromise between workers and employers that created the nofault insurance system. Not too long ago, one in 20 workers in this province missed time from work each year due to injury. Throughout the 1990s, the incidence rate improved, but even still, on average, almost one in 30 workers were injured during that decade. In the last 10
Engagement to Action: An Prevention Strategy for Newfoundland and Labrador 2012 - 2014
3|Page years, that number has steadily declined to a historic low of 1.8 injuries per 100 workers in 2010. The significant decline in the losttime incidence rate since the 1990s represents the prevention of almost 18,000 injuries. It is thanks to the actions and efforts of this province’s employers, workers, unions, safety organizations and government that so many workers and their families and friends, have been saved from avoidable and unnecessary harm. Many are helping to build a culture of safety in this province, but at the same time, more has to be done to make the probability of zero harm a reality. Everyone in this province has a role to play in preventing workplace accidents. The Commission believes this strategy should focus injury prevention efforts in our workplaces for the next three years and set the stage to guide injury prevention in the province for the next decade.
Developing the Strategy A three-phase development plan was used for the creation of this Prevention Strategy. The first phase began with a formal review of other provinces and territories in Canada. In 2011, a review was undertaken of each board with a focus on injury prevention initiatives, educational programming and awareness activities that have had an impact on safety performance. The jurisdictional review provided an opportunity to critically review a large body of information regarding injury prevention in Canada and assess its relevance to Newfoundland and Labrador.
paper. The paper summarized some of the internal findings of the injury prevention initiatives, programs, and activities that have been successful over the past decade. The information contained in the report was provided for critical review to generate feedback that helped construct this strategy. The third phase was to summarize the views of our primary stakeholders and partners and incorporate them into this strategy. Many of our partners provided input through focus group sessions and via written submissions. We thank our partners for their time, collaboration, and efforts to make this strategy meaningful for workers and employers. This strategy was developed by the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission in association with OHS Branch of Service NL, and the Commission’s partners and stakeholders.
Stakeholder Roles Occupational Health and Safety Branch, Service NL, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador The OHS Branch regulates occupational health and safety in all provincial workplaces in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. A central role for the OHS Branch is to enact legislation that governs workplace health and safety and complete workplace inspections, which assess compliance with the OHS Act and Regulations. To date, there are approximately 17,600 employers employing about 230,000 workers in the province.
The second stage in the process was to share the findings with our primary stakeholders and partners via a discussion Engagement to Action: An Prevention Strategy for Newfoundland and Labrador 2012 - 2014
4|Page Newfoundland and Labrador Employers’ Council The Newfoundland and Labrador Employers' Council (NLEC) is one of two primary stakeholders of record for the Commission, representing employers. The NLEC provides advocacy, communication and training for its members in matters that affect the employment relationship. Established in 1982, the NLEC enables employers to present a collective point of view on employment issues, including areas such as labour standards, labour relations, employment law, human resource management, occupational health and safety, workers' compensation, and employment insurance. Its membership includes employers and employer associations from the public and private sectors in all regions of the province. Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour The Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour (NLFL) is the Commission’s stakeholder of record representing workers. The NLFL has a proud history of representing the interests of union members and workers since 1936. The NLFL is made up of nearly 30 affiliated unions, 500 locals and six District Labour Councils. They represent more than 65,000 working women and men from every sector of our economy.
corporation committed to providing effective and affordable safety training and related services to the province's construction industry. The NLCSA, through programs like the Certificate of Recognition (COR), is setting a standard for building safer, more productive workplaces throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. Forestry Safety Association of Newfoundland and Labrador The Forestry Association of Newfoundland and Labrador is dedicated to the health and safety of forestry workers in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Association was started in 2009 to advance safety standards within the forestry sector. Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission Prevention has been an integral part of the Commission for close to 40 of its 60-year history. More recently, since 1998, an important part of the Commission’s legislative mandate has been to promote health and safety in order to prevent and reduce workplace injury, illness and disease. One of the Commission’s lines of business is to foster commitment to workplace health and safety among employers, workers and others by: • •
Newfoundland and Labrador Construction Safety Association (NLCSA) Founded by 16 construction-related organizations in November 1996, the NLCSA is an industry-driven, not-for-profit
•
promoting public awareness of workplace health and safety issues; educating employers, workers and others about workplace health and safety; providing services to health and safety committees and representatives;
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•
• •
setting standards for certification requirements under the Occupational Health and Safety Act; working with the OHS Branch, Service NL, with respect to workplace health and safety; funding for workplace health and safety research; and partnering with industry associations, government departments, unions and health and safety coalitions across the province to reduce workplace injuries and diseases.
The need for a collaborative effort Injury prevention is a collaborative effort, involving many workplace parties and community partners, as well as a wide range of professionals representing many disciplines. This Prevention Strategy links with other injury prevention work that has already been completed or is in progress. Strategies to mitigate risk and reduce workplace injuries must, therefore, include a wide variety of interventions, involving a large variety of disciplines (health, education, enforcement, etc.). The most meaningful way to improve workplace health and safety is through a concentrated and co-ordinated effort on injury prevention. By definition, injury prevention is an effort to prevent or reduce the severity of bodily injuries caused by undesired events which result in injury, before they occur. An integrated injury prevention approach aims to incorporate the fundamentals of traditional injury prevention into all facets of a worker’s life – physical, social, economic, environmental, and educational. Integrating
health and safety early in life will create an advanced safety culture in the province. The Commission and its partners have developed this Prevention Strategy. It will guide our work for future years with the aim of reducing the number of workplace injuries and illnesses in Newfoundland and Labrador. To provide clarity of purpose, the Prevention Strategy includes vision, mission, commitment, and value statements. To maintain momentum and to add new impetus for prevention, the new plan adopts an overall goal of reducing the provincial lost time injury rate. The plan also adopts the goals of significantly reducing the number of traumatic fatalities and the number of serious injuries over the next three years. To better reflect the most common types of injuries and the industries in which those injuries are most likely to occur, the new plan adopts targeted demographic, injury and industry priority areas, while maintaining its focus on firms that generate the highest risk of workplace injuries. The Commission’s primary role in workplace injury prevention is promoting safety education, creating public awareness of OHS, motivating employers, assisting workplaces, analyzing data, and forming partnerships with industry. The OHS Branch, Service NL, has the primary role in worker protection, through inspection and enforcement. The Commission and the OHS Branch have distinctly different but complementary mandates. The Commission and the OHS Branch will work together to leverage each agency’s expertise without duplicating efforts. Over the next three years, the Commission and
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Improving workplace culture We believe in a workplace culture that has a shared set of values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours, and supports the prevention of injury and illness to people at work. It emphasizes the proactive management of hazards to eliminate them wherever practicable – and, if this is not possible, it then focuses on isolating and minimizing the hazards. Workplaces with positive health and safety cultures have a strong management commitment to health and safety, effective health and safety management systems, involvement of workers and their unions, communications based on good faith, and a willingness to learn from past mistakes. These cultures have health and safety fully integrated into everyday business practice.
A Prevention Strategy for Newfoundland and Labrador
The Strategy envisions a healthy workforce in safe and productive workplaces. ‘Healthy’ encompasses our risk and exposure to occupational health hazards, and includes our physical health. ‘Safe and productive’, means having workplaces that function well, and do not cause harm to the people in them. This is primarily the responsibility of employers, but the people who work in these workplaces also need to be actively engaged in working safely and productively. The vision is realistic and achievable at a workplace level, and some workplaces have already demonstrated this. To be fully realized, however, it needs the participation of all stakeholders. Employers, contractors, workers and families, health and safety committees and representatives, unions, government agencies, industry safety associations, and training organizations must all become involved. Together with our partners, we will prevent workplace injuries and illnesses through promotion, protection and education.
VISION To successfully pursue a goal, everyone involved needs to share a vision, and have a common understanding of the task at hand. Clarity of vision and understanding what you want to achieve motivates and creates momentum. To that end, the Commission and its stakeholders have adopted common statements of vision, mission, and values to focus the combined efforts of all those involved in creating safe and productive workplaces.
MISSION Our mission is to create safe and injury-free workplaces throughout Newfoundland and Labrador by engaging stakeholders in making injury and disease prevention a priority.
GOALS This strategy has the following attainable goals to: • reduce the risk of workplace injury, illness, and disease; • reduce societal costs of workplace injury;
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•
change safety attitudes and behaviours to advance a safety culture; and, promote an understanding of the importance of compliance with legislation.
APPROACH AND PRINCIPLES The strategy maintains the following principles: • development of partnerships to encourage collaboration, build on existing successful initiatives, and activities to avoid duplication and maximize use of resources; • best research and best practice information; • a majority of workplace injuries are predictable and are, therefore, preventable; and • injury prevention plans should be comprehensive, including responses for the entire population, and will emphasize assets and capacity building for sustainable change.
STRATEGIC OUTCOMES AND OBJECTIVES The Strategy identifies seven interconnecting strategic outcomes that support its vision: 1. Safety Leadership and Development 2. Industry Leadership and Engagement 3. Workplace Injury Surveillance, Research and Evaluation 4. Safety Education and Training 5. Occupational Health and Safety Programs and Systems 6. Community Partnerships and Collaboration 7. Regulatory Leadership and Best Practices
The Strategy targets 11 strategic objectives that provide a focus for action over the next three years. The objectives were chosen based on evidence indicating they will have significant effects on the outcomes. They also represent a coherent and balanced framework for action that will involve all key parties in working toward the Strategy’s vision.
INJURY PRIORITIES The provincial priorities outlined in this section will help to focus the Strategy’s objectives more sharply and target resources more effectively. These priorities account for a significant proportion of all work-related diseases and injuries in Newfoundland and Labrador. The priorities also reflect a need to focus on emerging issues, and to help businesses and groups of workers who have particular needs or are at more risk. They are: • occupational health hazards; • soft-tissue injuries; • falls; • vulnerable workers; • sectors; and, • high-risk industries. Particular industries will need to develop their own list, although it is very likely that there will be an overlap between an industry’s priorities and provincial priorities. Each priority is outlined below. Occupational health hazards Occupational health hazards include fumes, dusts, chemicals, vapours, viruses, and bacteria that cause occupational cancers, respiratory diseases (including occupational asthma), and other work-related illnesses. Specific examples in the workplace include asbestos, wood dust, welding fumes, and solvents. Occupational health hazards are a priority for this Strategy because they are the leading cause of premature death from
Engagement to Action: An Prevention Strategy for Newfoundland and Labrador 2012 - 2014
8|Page occupational disease in Newfoundland and Labrador. Soft-tissue injuries Slips, trips and falls result in significant numbers of lost-time claims for work-related injury. Many of these injuries occur due to poor manual handling in the workplace that requires a person to lift, lower, push, pull, carry, or otherwise handle an object. Examples include lifting boxes, packing and moving materials, cleaning tasks, operating machinery, using hand tools, and lifting in clinics, long-term care or nursing homes. Poor manual handling practice can lead to musculoskeletal diseases and injuries including sprains and strains, overuse disorders, and damaged spinal discs. These account for a large proportion of claims registered with the Commission. Falls Falls from heights are a major cause of death and serious injury in the workplace, and they are a major issue for industries such as the construction industry. The incidences of these types of injuries led to the development and implementation of a new Fall Protection Certification Training Standard in 2012 for our province, the first of its kind in Canada. We must work diligently to enforce this Standard, provide expert training, and ensure the Standard meets its objectives. Vulnerable workers Some workers are at increased risk of workrelated disease and injury. Such vulnerable workers may include young workers, new workers, older workers, new migrants, people with low literacy or impairments, and those exposed to hazardous activities and environments.
High-risk industries Some industries, including oil and gas and mining, have a potential risk of catastrophic failure. While these types of events are rare, they can claim many lives and severely damage the economy, vital infrastructure or the environment. In other industries, the hazardous nature of work leads to high rates of injury across the workforce. Examples of high-risk industries include construction, agriculture, forestry, mining and fishing sectors. More work needs to be done to identify industries and sectors that are high risk in terms of occupational disease and health hazards. Key performance indicators The Commission will identify a set of valid and reliable indicators for measuring progress towards the Strategy’s vision and outcomes. Where appropriate, these indicators will be aligned with indicators developed for other injury prevention strategies. Key performance indicators for the Prevention Strategy will include workrelated disease and injury statistics, and ‘positive’ performance indicators relating to workplace practices. For example: • • • • • •
• • •
Sectors Through strategic targeting of sectors, the Commission and its stakeholders can design programs and initiatives to advance the recognition, evaluation, and control of workplace hazards at the industry level.
•
lost-time incidence rate; soft-tissue injury rate; all incidence rate; the rate of work-related deaths per 100,000 workers; the rate of serious injuries per 10,000 workers; the rate of work days lost due to work-related illnesses and injuries per 100,000 workers; stop-work orders; other enforcement measures; health and safety-related awareness and attitudes of business owners and senior managers; and, the number of trained occupational health and safety committee members and health and safety representatives/designates.
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The Commission will work closely with key stakeholders to facilitate the routine reporting of key statistical indicators relating to workplace health and safety.
TARGET POPULATIONS Targeting and identifying populations that are at a greater risk of injury and coordinating intervention efforts based on evidence and best-practices will optimally generate the best outcomes. Priority populations have been identified including: •
Supervisors and managers
•
Workers ¾ Young Workers ¾ New and Returning Workers ¾ Older Workers
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Sectors
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High-risk Occupations
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Figure 1: Workplace Injury Prevention Framework Healthy people in safe and productive workplaces
To create safe and injury-free workplaces in Newfoundland and Labrador, by engaging stakeholders in making injury and disease prevention a priority.
• • •
To change attitudes and behaviours regarding health and safety. To reduce the risk of workplace injury. To reduce societal costs of injury.
Key Settings School
• • • •
Comprehensive population health approach. Multi-sectoral partnerships and shared responsibility. Evidence-based programming. Injuries are predictable and preventable.
Workplace Community Business
• • • • • • •
Safety Leadership and Development. Industry Leadership and Development. Workplace Injury Surveillance, Research and Evaluation. Safety Education and Training. Occupational Health and Safety Programs and Systems. Community Partnerships and Collaboration. Regulatory Leadership and Practices.
Soft-tissue Injuries Falls Vulnerable Workers
Occupational Health Hazards High-risk Industries Sectors
Industry
Target Populations Workers Youth
• • •
Supervisors Increase the training of workers in fall protection to reduce the incidence of falls in the workplace. Educate workers and employers on the risks of exposure to musculoskeletal injuries. Educate workers on known health hazards that contribute to occupational disease.
Activities will be developed in each of the Strategic Pillar areas. Injury specific frameworks will be developed to address leading causes of injury and to achieve targeted reductions.
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Sector Councils Governments High-Risk Occupations
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STRATEGIC OUTCOME 1: Safety Leadership and Development Effective leadership in health and safety is essential to the operation of a successful business. While the safety benefits to a business positively impact the bottom line, managers and supervisors have high legal obligations to protect the health and safety of their employees. Developing safety leaders in your business can mean the difference between marginal and world-class results. It long has been accepted that successful programs push the responsibility for safety down into the organization, utilizing the power of many to foster a safe work environment. This requires front line supervisors and all employees to take on additional responsibilities in an otherwise engaged workforce. With additional responsibilities, supervisors and employees sometimes struggle to prioritize and complete safety tasks. Without the proper understanding of how and why it is important to become a safety leader, a gap in management expectations and employee perceptions develops. We must continue to close this gap, leading to a workplace where safety is everyone’s expectation, not just another task that has to be completed.
Objectives and opportunities Objective 1.1
Increase awareness among business owners, directors and senior managers that health and safety benefits their business.
By 2014, the Commission and its partners will have implemented the CEO Safety Charter Program to increase the engagement of senior leaders in safety. Strategic Opportunities: 1. Promote the Prevention Strategy and encourage key stakeholders to build it into their strategic and business planning processes.
2. Develop literature on business benefits of a positive approach to workplace health and safety.
3. Develop and promote practical tools to help workplaces identify and quantify business benefits on top quartile safety performance such as person hours, injury free, workforce productivity, claim cost and PRIME incentive. 4. Implement the CEO Safety Charter Program and recognize senior safety leaders for their commitment to a positive safety culture.
5. Communicate the benefits of workplace health and safety to business owners, directors and senior managers through industry networks and business leaders.
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6. Promote more extensive reporting of health and safety performance in public documents to enable benchmarking and encourage best practice.
7. Provide practical guidance and tools to support the systematic and effective management of health and safety.
8. Build the capability of managers and supervisors to manage effectively health and safety systems, particularly in small businesses and high-risk industries.
9. Raise managers’ awareness about the benefits of workplace health and safety, and about employers’ legal obligations to provide safe working environments.
10. Promote the systematic and effective management of health and safety through industry certification programs and industry training programs. 11. Acknowledge excellence in health and safety management systems through the CEO Safety Charter Program.
Objective 1.2
Increase the safety awareness of workers, OHS Committee members and WH&S Representatives/Designates.
By 2014, the Commission and its partners will have implemented awareness programs to increase the engagement of workers in safety.
Strategic Opportunities: 1. Develop a safety awareness program for OHS Committees and Worker Health and Safety Representatives/Designates.
2. Work with unions, associations, and certification agencies to promote safety to its membership. 3. Profile workers demonstrating safety leadership in the Commission’s publications and social marketing ads.
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STRATEGIC OUTCOME 2:
Workplace Injury Surveillance, Research and
Evaluation Workplace injury surveillance involves characterization of injury occurrence, identification of risk factors, and the evaluation of injury prevention programs. We know that injury research has led to the development of numerous interventions (e.g. seatbelts, helmet use, ergonomic designs, personal protective equipment, workplace safety programs, automobile safety design, and transportation regulations) that have achieved significant workplace safety improvements. Although injuries are often described as “accidents� or other terms that imply a random nature or unavoidability, most injuries show clear non-random patterns and have identifiable risk factors. We must translate our understanding of injury data into information that can have a positive impact on prevention initiatives.
Objectives and opportunities Objective 2.1
Establish measures of safety performance at a provincial level.
By 2014, the Commission and OHS Branch will have identified safety performance indicators that reflect safety in the workplace.
Strategic Opportunities: 1. Develop performance indicators and targets for workplace health and safety performance at a provincial level, and track progress against these using improved measurement systems.
2. Develop more effective processes for sharing data and information between stakeholders.
3. Identify and analyze the data necessary to enable better targeting of high risk occupations.
4. Develop a registry for all certification training required under the OHS Act and Regulations.
5. Enhance the OHS Committee Report Form to include safety and health hazards reporting.
6. Develop a comprehensive and co-ordinated prevention information system.
7. Establish leading and lagging safety performance measures for monitoring progress.
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STRATEGIC OUTCOME 3: Industry Leadership and Community Engagement Other workplaces, trade unions, employer organizations, safety industry associations, and training organizations are the vehicles for helping individual workplaces improve their health and safety. They can often work together in providing advice, information, industry standards, training programs, and best practice examples. Community engagement is also an important part of this outcome – with greater community awareness and concern about health and safety issues creating a positive and supportive climate for improvements in workplace health and safety. This can be a two-way flow of influence, as workplace health and safety issues can also have a positive effect on community and recreational safety practices.
Objectives and opportunities Objective 3.1
Develop and implement industry-led initiatives to improve workplace health and safety.
By 2014, the Commission and its partners will have strengthened and supported the formation of safety industry associations. Strategic Opportunities:
1. Establish working groups with stakeholders to set standards and raise awareness of certification training. 2. Create and strengthen industry health and safety associations and business/union partnerships as a means of directing and coordinating industry initiatives. 3. Provide effective support for industry-led educational initiatives. 4. Develop and deliver industry-based educational initiatives. 5. Produce and promote industry-specific publications and guidance material for significant health and safety issues. 6. Use industry networks to spread best-practice information and examples. 7. Develop and modify industry programs for training and certification, to achieve an increased focus on health and safety. 8. Strengthen the competency of occupational safety and health professionals and practitioners through specialized education and training, and certification and professional development programs.
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STRATEGIC OUTCOME 4: Safety Education and Training It is important to remember that safety training in the workplace is an employer’s responsibility. As such, safety education and training are tools that help us mitigate the risk for workplace injury and illness while at work. While the merits of safety education and training are well understood, they must be carried out on a continual basis to ensure adequate worker protection from hazards systematically identified in the workplace. However, for workplace safety education to be effective and sustainable, it has to go beyond the mandatory requirements, and give workers a real learning experience. We have to make workplace safety education engaging for all employees as it results in a greater retention of the information. Safety training should be treated as a critical business issue rather than as a compliance issue.
Objectives and opportunities Objective 4.1
Increase workplace education of known occupational disease and illnesses.
By 2014, the Commission and its partners will have delivered targeted educational initiatives on occupational hazards and exposures that cause known occupational disease. Strategic Opportunities: 1. Deliver targeted educational initiatives that address the prevention, evaluation, and control of known occupational disease hazards through the following: a) Educating workplace parties in techniques that can identify and control exposure to hazardous substances at the source, along the path and at the receiver; b) Enhancing knowledge exchange capability and capacity between workplaces; c) Organizing and co-ordinating efforts of stakeholders at the various levels in the delivery of the targeted, collaborative, multi-disciplinary participatory approach. 2. Target workplaces that require training in the use of controlled products (WHMIS). 3. Align educational initiatives with priorities. 4. Target and increase training of workers regarding occupational health exposures. 5. Improve accessibility and penetration of Commission education by expanding the Prevention Workshop Series to include webcasts and online resources for occupational disease. 6. To strive to continuously improve the quality and availability of resources for prevention of occupational disease.
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7. Promote and distribute occupational health assessment tools for workplaces. 8. Enhance the content of the WHSCC website to include current information relating to occupational health hazards. 9. Work with OHS Branch to develop hazard alerts for known hazards of occupational disease. 10. Design and publish new fact sheets regarding known hazards and exposures that cause occupational disease. 11. Disseminate information on the latest research that links exposures to causal agents and the formation of known occupational diseases. 12. Measure the impact of prevention and understanding of occupational disease and its sources of exposure by: a) strengthening the collection of consistent and reliable environmental surveillance, exposure assessment and tracking protocols; b) improving data links between the detection of occupational disease and prevention; and, c) completing a formal evaluation of the strategy to prevent known occupational diseases. 13. Explore next steps to meet challenges of the future by: a) continuing to support connections among stakeholders involved in understanding and preventing occupational disease; b) continuing to learn about occupational hazards, exposures and prevention solutions; and, c) identifying emerging occupational health trends and related prevention priorities.
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Objective 4.2
Increase the safety education and training of young workers.
By 2014, the Commission and its partners will have delivered targeted educational initiatives to increase the knowledge and awareness of workplace safety among young workers. Strategic Opportunities:
Engaging Educators 1. Develop a network of educational stakeholders and partners to promote workplace health and safety. 2. Integrate new learning technologies into Workplace Safety 3220, Career Development 2201 and the Skilled Trades curriculum. 3. Provide support to teachers delivering Workplace Safety 3220, Career Development 2201 and Skilled Trades curriculum as well as students by delivering occupational health and safety workshops to schools in the four districts. 4. Offer an annual in-service training session to teachers delivering Workplace Safety 3220, Career Development 2201 or the Skilled Trades. 5. Continue to promote the “Most Occupational Health and Safety Oriented” Teacher Award. 6. Continue to collaborate and partner with the Department of Education to promote and deliver “SAFE Work NL’s - Who Wants to Save a Life?” to schools across the province. 7. Explore the integration of a workplace orientation learning segment in the Grade 9 “Take Our Kids to Work” program prior to students visiting workplaces. 8. Explore and identify Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation (CDLI) opportunities for the development and promotion of health and safety learning packages that can be incorporated into health, safety and career exploration related courses as well as real-time broadcast opportunities to deliver activities such as the game show and youth workshops.
9. Continue to partner with Skills Canada to promote and heighten awareness about workplace health and safety at all provincial Skills Canada competitions.
Engaging Youth 1. Revise the Commission’s website to enhance its accessibility as well as attraction to students and young workers. 2. Increase the number of secondary school students exposed to safety-and-health information.
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3. Actively seek youth advocates who can raise awareness about workplace accidents by sharing real stories about their work and injury experience. 4. Promote and deliver SAFE Work NL’s - Who Wants to Save a Life? to schools across the province. 5. Continue to promote SAFE Work NL’s Radio and Video Contest and award annual prizes to students. 6. Promote SAFE Work NL’s Radio and Video Contest winners through various media outlets, social media, and select speaking engagements and conferences. 7. Work with student councils to identify and develop a project designed to raise awareness about workplace health and safety and workers’ rights, which uses current youth networking technologies such as: You Tube, Twitter, My Space or Facebook. 8. Raise awareness about workplace health and safety and worker rights, using social media.
Engaging Employers 1. Explore and identify opportunities to ensure information about workplace health and safety requirements is available to career counselors and career centers. 2. Review and enhance existing occupational health and safety documentation targeting employers of young workers. 3. Explore and identify opportunities to ensure information about workplace health and safety requirements is available to career counselors and career centres. 4. Identify and work with a select group of employers who hire young workers to develop an online occupational health and safety tool kit with workplace orientation, safe work practices, and health and safety program information for use when hiring and training young workers.
Engaging Parents 1. Identify and work with select parent-teacher groups to explore and find opportunities to dialogue on ways and means to increase young workers’ knowledge about health and safety as well as their rights and responsibilities. 2. Incorporate messages directed at youth and their parents pertaining to staying safe and healthy at work, into core Commission presentations.
Engagement to Action: An Prevention Strategy for Newfoundland and Labrador 2012 - 2014
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STRATEGIC OUTCOME 5: Occupational Health & Safety Programs and Systems Our vision is healthy people in safe and productive workplaces. We can achieve this by creating a culture of safety at work. Every Newfoundlander and Labradorian must understand that workplace injuries and illnesses are not inevitable. Together, we can ensure every injury and illness is prevented. Over the next three years, the Commission and OHS Branch will use a variety of tools to turn this concept into a core value, and look to the community for help.
Objectives and opportunities Objective 5.1
Ensure that workers participate effectively in processes for improving workplace health and safety
By 2014, the Commission and its partners will have implemented initiatives to increase the engagement of workers in health and safety. Strategic Opportunities: 1. Raise awareness about the benefits of employee participation, and also about employers’ legal obligations to involve workers in workplace health and safety. 2. Provide practical guidance for workplaces on employee-participation systems and practices to support effective involvement of workers in health and safety matters. 3. Recognize the role that health and safety committees, representatives and designates play in the workplace, and provide them with support, resources, and practical tools. 4. Build the capability of health and safety committees, representatives and designates through training. 5. Promote and recognize effective, productive OHS Committees in the workplace. 6. Target public awareness of safety based on evidence. 7. Further develop safety and health information on the web that engages workers. 8. Maintain and promote an ongoing social marketing program that will create a demand for safe workplaces and change the belief that injuries are inevitable, and bring together safety champions in priority sectors. 9. Educate workers on the benefits of PRIME as an incentive to improve workplace health and safety. 10. Promote a health and safety social media network for information sharing.
Engagement to Action: An Prevention Strategy for Newfoundland and Labrador 2012 - 2014
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STRATEGIC OUTCOME 6: Community Partnerships and Collaboration The overall goal of community partnerships and collaboration is to work toward safer communities by building on community skills, abilities, and knowledge of injury prevention. We recognize that safety at work, home and play is a community concept, interconnected to building an advanced safety culture. Community partnerships in safety involve improving all aspects of community life and sharing control of injury prevention initiatives.
Objectives and opportunities Objective 6.1
Encourage and enable industry and community leaders to promote workplace health and safety to their networks and communities.
By 2014, the Commission and its partners will have engaged community leaders to be champions of safety. Strategic Opportunities: 1. Identify industry and community leaders to act as champions or spokespersons for improved workplace health and safety. 2. Support industry and community leaders by providing them with information and communication resources that will be relevant to their networks and communities. 3. Establish and provide forums in which industry and community leaders can communicate messages about health and safety to their networks and communities.
Engagement to Action: An Prevention Strategy for Newfoundland and Labrador 2012 - 2014
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STRATEGIC OUTCOME 7: Regulatory Leadership and Practices The OHS Branch of Service NL is dedicated to ensuring that enforcement functions are carried out in an equitable, practical and consistent manner. The effectiveness of legislation in protecting employees is crucially dependant on the compliance of those regulated. The OHS Branch recognizes that most employees and employers want to comply with the legislation. OHS Branch will, therefore, take care to help individuals and businesses meet their legal obligations without unnecessary expense and provide information in an open and transparent manner. However, where warranted, firm action including prosecution will be taken against those individuals and businesses who fail to co-operate and irresponsibly contravene legislative requirements. Regulatory leadership involves the implementation of good enforcement management practices. Enforcement management practices are demonstrated through the principles of proportionality in applying the law; consistency in approach; openness to the provision of information internally and externally; standards that communicate the desired course of action; and monitoring that provides accountability for enforcement action. All these factors contribute to securing compliance. Further to support the prevention framework, the OHS Branch and the Commission will collaborate and coordinate to work effectively with employers, union organizations, employer and industry associations, trade unions and other key stakeholders, to ensure that enforcement resources are best used to improve health and safety in the workplace and to minimize the resources required to facilitate stakeholder compliance.
Objectives and opportunities Objective 7.1
Work with stakeholders to establish, promote and enforce safe workplace practices, standards and procedures.
By 2014, the OHS Branch will have enhanced its enforcement management practices to focus on the work activities with the highest risk for injury, including employers with the poorest safety performance. Strategic Opportunities: 1. Develop and implement industry specific enforcement initiatives aimed at poor performing employers and industries as well as industries that have been identified as having the greatest risk of serious injury.
2. Develop and implement an enforcement strategy for repeat offenders and priority employers, emphasizing the internal responsibility system and a safety management systems approach for continued improvement.
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3. Continued cooperation with the Commission to identify opportunities to improve the collection and exchange of information to further enhance the enforcement program. 4. Develop and publish hazard alerts and educational materials for identified high risk hazards to ensure stakeholders are aware of the risks and have current knowledge and information to reduce accidents and incidents.
5. Strengthen the Branch’s proactive inspection program by formalizing its inspection prioritization protocol to improve inspection activity based upon risk. 6. Educate stakeholders on changes to the OHS Regulations, as it relates to the new requirements for mining. 7. Explore the development of a certification training standard for supervisors in the workplace. 8. Enhance the Branch’s programs and resources in the prevention of known occupational diseases.
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Concluding thoughts In order to keep workers safe, and to control hazards in the workplace, we must advance and formulate a clear, evidence-based strategy that encourages stakeholders to take action. While few people would argue with the safety performance over the past decade, we recognize that advancing health and safety over the next decade will require increased commitment, investment, and best practice programming. There are no simple solutions, but stakeholders must seriously consider the future direction of prevention in our province. This Strategy must be implemented in cooperation with stakeholders and respond to the current health and safety climate, while ensuring that all stakeholders fully accept their responsibilities to prevent injuries. The Commission looks forward to working with our stakeholders to advance occupational health and safety in our province.
Engagement to Action: An Prevention Strategy for Newfoundland and Labrador 2012 - 2014
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