Module 7 Chapter 9: OH&S Training

The Role of OH&S Training

There are three basic rights that apply to all Canadian employees:
1. The right to know about hazards in the workplace
- Workers have the right to know about the dangers associated with their work task
or activity. All these rights can be associated with worker training, in terms of
awareness and how to deal with the dangers of their work.
2. The right to refuse unsafe work
- Workers have the right to refuse unsafe work that they believe to be dangerous
to themselves or another worker. Workers have a right to refuse unsafe work if
they are asked to perform a task that they deem to be unsafe, or are asked to
use equipment that is not in good working order. There are some exceptions,
e.g., if the hazard is a normal part of the job and/or if the refusal would put
another life at risk.
3. The right to participate in keeping workplaces safe
- Workers have the right to actively take part in the protection of their own health
and safety. This involves reporting unsafe work practices and conditions to their
supervisor.

Instructional System Design

Instructional Systems Design (ISD) Model of Training
A general model of the training process incorporates three parts.
1. Needs analysis:
a. Organization analysis
b. Task analysis:
c. Personal analysis:
2. Training design and delivery
a. Training objectives:
b. Training content
c. Training methods
d. Learning principles
3. Training evaluation:
a. Evaluation criteria
b. Evaluation design
There are interdependencies among the three major parts of the training process.

Needs Analysis
This is the initial stage of the training development process. It is intended to identify employee
and organizational deficiencies that can be addressed with training. It is also intended to
recognize potential challenges to the success of a training program. This is where all the needs
are identified, and they are analyzed for how to effectively address them. The needs analysis is
a key starting point in any training intervention.
- If we consider the organizational analysis, this analysis considers the entire
organization’s needs and solutions to those needs that can be accomplished via training.
Organizational needs analysis examines resources, strategy, and environment in order
to assess the organization’s support for training.
- Another part of a needs analysis would be a job/task analysis. This is where jobs and
specific job tasks in need of training are identified and studied.
- Lastly, a needs analysis must investigate the training needs of individual employees
within the workplace. Personal needs analysis looks at individual employees’ behaviour
to identify gaps in performance and determine the most appropriate training as a
solution.

Training Design and Delivery

Training design and delivery is based on the needs analysis. Training is designed based on the
needs identified. The training is then delivered to the appropriate staff.
- Something else to consider is the location for the training to take place.
- Sometimes your only option may be to deliver the training offsite, as the equipment
required to deliver the training may be remote.
- Types of training delivery methods: on-the-job training, off-the-job training,
technology-based training,

Training objectives: Statements regarding the knowledge, skills, and behavioural changes that
trainees should acquire in the training program

Training Evaluation
Training evaluation is really assessing the effectiveness or the accomplishment of the training.
- The effectiveness, or accomplishment, or even the success of the training really
depends on what needs the training was meant to address.

Kirkpatrick’s 1994 evaluation model suggests four important training outcomes, and provides
an insight into the effectiveness of training programs by raising the following questions:

1. Did the trainees have positive reactions to the training?

2. Did the trainees learn the material covered in the training?
3. Did the trainees apply what they learned and realize a change in work behaviour?
4. Did the organization see positive organizational results following training?

Organizational Results Can Be Assessed

Organizational results can be assessed by looking at incident, injury, and fatality rates.
- One would anticipate experiencing a reduction in accident rates, injury rates, and
incidence of close calls.

Common Safety Training Initiatives

There are a number of common safety training initiatives that are applicable to organizations of
all sizes and sectors. Three of these initiatives include:
1. Safety orientation
2. WHMIS training
3. First-aid training

Safety orientation is a program that ensures employees are provided with a base level of
health and safety training.

General orientation may include:

- Fire and emergency response
- Accident prevention and reporting policies
- Workplace hazards recognition
- WHMIS training
- Housekeeping
- General health and safety awareness

WHMIS training: Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) is the standard
for the communication of information about hazardous materials.
- A legislated training program in the handling of potentially hazardous chemicals in the
workplace that ensures Canadian workers recognize hazardous materials and are
knowledgeable in emergency procedures following a chemical spill

First-aid: Provincial health and safety legislation determines first-aid requirements based on the
numbers of workers per shift.

Re-study for final: WHMIS

The WHMIS (original 1988) program essentially consists of three key pieces:
1. Ensuring workers are trained in WHMIS, when they are actually or potentially exposed to
chemical hazards
2. The management of the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) and outlining a product’s
potentially hazardous ingredient(s) and procedures for safe handling of the product
3. The use of labels designed to inform the worker(s) that the container contains a
hazardous product

Two types of WHMIS labels:

- Workplace label: required when a product is removed from its original container and
placed in another container to be used or distributed. The new container must have a
workplace label placed on it containing the product identifier, instructions for safe
handling, and reference to the MSDS for more information.
- The supplier label: is more detailed than the workplace label. The label must be attached
to the container when it is delivered to the workplace, and is usually in a black and white
or red and white hatched border. Must contain product identifier, supplier identifier,
 appropriate hazard symbol(s), risk phrases, precautionary measures, first aid measures,
and a statement that the MSDS is to be referred to for more information.

Recent amendments to the WHMIS legislation:

- WHMIS as we currently know it (WHMIS 1988) was changed to GHS, or Globally
Harmonized System (WHMIS 2015)
- WHMIS 2015 was phased in on a scheduled basis, and was fully implemented on
December 1, 2018 in Ontario, Canada.
- This legislation changes included changing references from MSDS to SDS, the
introduction of risk phases, and the standardization of safety data sheets to 16 sections

WHMIS Classes
The WHMIS 1988 regulated product classes were changed to WHMIS 2015. The following are
the WHMIS 2015 classes:
- Exploding
- Bomb
- Flame
- Flame Over Circle
- Gas Cylinder
- Corrosion
- Skull and Crossbones
- Health Hazards
- Exclamation Mark
- Environment
- Biohazardous Infectious Material

Class Discussions:
1. Online training delivery has become popular over the years. Why?
- Pandemic, accessibility, lower costs, save time, flexible
2. What are some of the advantages and disadvantage for this delivery mode?
- A: flexibility, save money/time, easily accessible
- D: different learning behaviours and preferences; may prefer in person; could be
boring and skipped through; technology competence varies
3. Do you think online training is more effective than in-person training?
- Depends on occupation/industry, and content (first-aid: in-person, symbols:
online)

Module 8 Chapter 10: Behaviour-Based Safety

Motivating Safety Behaviour at Work
- Ensure employees utilize knowledge and skills gained during training and consistently
perform their work duties in a safe manner
- Facilitate the organization’s role in supporting employee safety efforts
- Focus on prevention
Safety Behaviour – Categories of Health and Safety Programs Include:
1. Engineering interventions
2. Administrative interventions
3. Behavioural interventions

Engineering Interventions May Involve:

- Changing the physical environment to reduce exposure to hazards (e.g., installing a
guarding system)
- Redesigning physical workplace (e.g. changing the layout of equipment in a warehouse
motivated by ergonomics solutions)
- Removing or eliminating hazards (e.g., installing a local exhaust ventilation system to
remove toxic contaminants away from a worker’s breathing zone)
Engineering controls may not always be possible or practicable, so we may need to explore
other controls or interventions, such as administrative controls.

Administrative Interventions May Involve:

- Written procedures (e.g., a written workplace inspection procedure)
- Job rotation (e.g., working on one production line with the left hand then switching to
work on a line with the right)
- Scheduling work during less hazardous periods (e.g., doing rooftop repair with
hazardous or unpleasant odour in the evening when the workplace is less occupied)
- Use of standard operating procedures (SOP) (e.g., following a SOP to install a electrical
equipment in a particular workplace)
Just like engineering controls, administrative controls may not always be possible or practicable,
so we may need to consider behavioural intervention as a possible control or intervention.

Behavioural Intervention is about changing employee attitudes, knowledge, or behaviours

regarding OH&S

Types of Behavioural Interventions May Include:

1. Information campaigns (e.g., banners and posters in the workplace)
2. Hazard and risk awareness (e.g., a communication information in a electronic or paper
copy to affected workers)
3. Skills training (e.g., WHMIS training)

Safe Working Performance

According to Cohen and Colligan, there are eight categories of behaviour that contribute to safe
working performance.
1. Proper use of hazard control systems in the workplace
2. Development of safe work habits
3. Increased awareness and recognition of workplace hazards
4. Acceptance and use of personal protective equipment
5. Maintenance of housekeeping and maintenance standards
 6. Maintenance of accepted hygiene practices
7. Proper responses to emergency situations
8. Self-monitoring and recognition of symptoms of hazardous exposure

Safety Performance = Ability × Motivation × Opportunity

- Safety can be enhanced by increasing employees’ abilities, motivation, and opportunities
to work safely.
- All three components must be implemented for safety performance in the workplace to
be realized. You should note that if any of ability, motivation, or opportunity is lacking or
nonexistent, ultimate safety performance will not be realized.

QUESTION: Do you think the above definition of safety performance would be the same if
the multiplication signs were substituted with addition signs?
No, because you need high ability, high motivation, and then opportunity as a whole, as in
multiplication anything times zero would be zero, whereas addition would still be adding: this
idea enforces that all three components must be implemented for ultimate safety performance.

Motivating Safety Behaviour

In order to explore motivating safety behaviour, it is important to examine motivation theories.
Two major theories that will be outlined are:
1. Reinforcement theory (or behaviour modification)
2. Goal-setting theory

Reinforcement Theory
Reinforcement theory looks at the power of external rewards and punishment. The likelihood of
a certain behaviour being repeated will increase when current performance of that behaviour is
followed by reinforcement such as a reward, and is decreased when followed by punishment.
Let’s take the reinforcement theory one step further by using the “ABC model” of behaviour.

The ABC model of behaviour states that any behaviour that occurs because of events that
trigger the behaviour is called the antecedent, and the result that follows the behaviour is
called the consequence.
Antecedent → Behaviour → Consequence

Characterization of Consequence Can Be:

1. Positive or negative
2. Immediate or delayed
3. Contingent or non-contingent

Goal-Setting Theory
Goal-setting suggests behaviour is motivated by internal intentions, what we want to achieve.
For example, having all employees wear safety glasses when they enter the lab.
Goals serve as antecedents to behaviour in four ways:
1. Goals direct attention and action to the desired behaviour
2. Goals mobilize effort towards actions to achieve the goal
3. Goals increase persistence
4. Goals motivate the search for effective strategies to help obtain them

Five factors that augment the effectiveness of goal setting, by Locke and Latham:
1. Goals must be difficult and challenging
2. Goals must be achievable
3. Goals must be specific
4. Individuals must be committed to the goals
5. There must be feedback regarding the degree to which the goal is being met
These five factors are similar to the SMART acronym, which stands for:
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely

Health and Safety Program

A sound health and safety program is a managed health and safety system, which includes the
following:
1. Identified program objectives
2. Written policy
3. Accountability
4. Auditing process

Identified program objectives includes:

- Motivate, educate, and train all levels of management and employee groups in
recognition, reporting, and correction of hazards
- Provide controls for worker exposure to potential hazards
- Controls such as work practices, engineering controls, personal protective equipment
- Inspection and preventive maintenance for machinery, equipment, tools, facilities

Written policy should:

- Be written and signed by the most senior person within the organization, such as the
CEO or president, and posted in a conspicuous place in the workplace
- Outline the purpose of the program and define involvement and responsibilities,
authority, and accountability of all stakeholders. To refresh yourselves on stakeholders
you should revisit Module 1

Accountability means that:

- Individuals must first be aware of and understand their role in enacting the health and
safety policy
- Accountability for program elements is ultimately assigned to senior management
- Responsibility for OH&S in performance evaluations at all levels of supervision
 - Employees should be held responsible for safe work practices

Auditing the program means that:

- Periodic reviews or audits are necessary to ensure the program is working as effectively
as planned

Module 9 Chapter 11: Emergency Planning & Response Information

Organizations must deal with unexpected events that can happen at any time. These events
may and can be disastrous.
- Organizations will need to have the ability to respond to these events in a timely and
effective manner.
- in Canada, emergency response is generally left up to individuals to decide what to do in
an emergency. Organizations must consider the possibility of a disaster and realize that
the potential for loss is very high.

Examples of Emergencies:
1. The 1998 ice storm in Ontario and Quebec
2. The events on September 11, 2001
3. The blackout in August 2003
4. The 2013 Lac-Megantic rail disaster
5. The 2014 worldwide Ebola virus outbreak
6. The 2015–2016 Zika virus outbreak
7. The 2019 COVID-19 pandemic
8. Hurricane Fiona, that hit Atlantic Canada in 2022

Emergency Planning
Safety programs need a planned response to the threat of disaster. Two central aspects of
emergency planning in organizations are:
1. Emergency preparedness
2. Response to emergency

Stages of an Emergency
An effective emergency plan needs to consider issues and concerns at the pre-contact, contact,
and post-contact stages of any emergency.
1. Pre-contact stage: Assessing hazards and planning potential responses
2. Contact stage: Evacuation, caring for the injured, and ensuring emergency response
3. Post-contact stage: Dealing with emotional trauma of an emergency and issues
regarding the orderly return to work

Fire Prevention and Suppression

Fire: a chemical process in which fuel, oxygen, and heat are combined (Refer to Figure 11.1 –
Fire Triangle & 11.2 – Fire Tetrahedron).
Four stages of fire:
1. Incipient stage: A source of ignition and fuel come together
2. Smouldering stage: Fuel, oxygen, and heat are present and are causing the heat to
rise through limited chain reaction
3. Free-burning stage: Stage at which flames first appear
4. Uncontrolled fire stage: Fire is out of control and major property damage is under way

- Once a fire starts, it is perpetuated by the ongoing (or chain) reaction of the other three
elements
- The products of fire = gases, flame/heat, smoke
- The typical gases include CO, CO2, SO2, HCL, HCN

Emergency Preparedness
Being prepared to respond to an emergency, in order to minimize or mitigate losses to people
(workers), property, or processes.
- It is also to restore the organization to its normal operations.
- To understand emergency preparedness, we must first understand the emergency.

Emergency is a sudden situation that generally demands immediate action. Emergencies can
either cause or threaten to cause the loss of, or damage to, people, property, or processes in
organizations.

Emergencies can be:

1. Naturally occurring – e.g., disease outbreak (animal, human, and plant), weather
conditions (snow storm, tornado, hurricane, earthquake, or floods)
2. Caused by humans – e.g., explosions, accidents, fires, chemical spills, riots, terrorism,
and acts of workplace violence which include the following types of violence:
a. Type I: Criminal intent
b. Type II: Customer/client committing the violent act
c. Type III: Employee-on-employee
d. Type IV: Personal relationship impacting the workplace violence

Emergency planning involves:

- Anticipating and planning for emergencies
- Putting plans into action as needed
- Getting back to work
- Refining plans in light of new learning

The Five-Stage Crisis Management Process to deal with any kind of emergency, by Pearson,
Clair, Misra, and Mitroff, (an effective technique to follow):
1. Stage 1: Signal Detection
 - Targeted prevention begins with the recognition that an emergency is possible or
imminent
2. Stage 2: Preparation
- Senior management adopts a crisis management mindset
■ Creation of a response plan
■ Introduction of response training
3. Stage 3: Damage Containment
- Consumes most of an organization’s crisis-management resources
- Literature on organizational communication, organizational support, employee
and family assistance programs (EFAPs), and stress interventions focuses
largely on activities at this stage
4. Stage 4: Recovery
- Involves developing short and long term plans to resume normal business
5. Stage 5: Learning
- Assessing the incident with a view to improving operations and procedures

Module 10 Chapter 12: Incident Investigation Process

Rationale for Incident Investigation
- Investigation of incidents to determine the root cause of the accident
- Important component in a hazard recognition, assessment, and control (RAC) program
- Integral part of a health and safety program

According to Laing, the benefits of incident investigation:

1. Determines direct causes
2. Identifies contributing causes
3. Prevents similar incidents
4. Creates a permanent record
5. Determines cost
6. Promotes safety awareness among employees

Critical Factors in the Investigative Process

Incident investigations are influenced by:
1. Timing
- Delays in an investigation can result in memory loss by witnesses, changes at
the incident site, and removal or loss of key evidence
2. Severity
- Due to time and cost, companies tend to investigate only the incidents that have
the most serious consequences
3. Legal requirements
 - Depending on whether or not there is an injury and the laws where the incident
happened, there may be legal requirements of the employer (first aid, medical
aid, lost time injury (LTI), fatality)

Types of Information Collected

When investigating an incident, the HR or safety specialist should concentrate on:
1. Human factors
2. Situational factors
3. Environmental factors

Investigation
Who Investigates?
There are a number of individuals who could lead an investigation:
1. Supervisor
2. Health and safety officer
3. Joint health and safety committee or representative

Investigative Methods
1. Observations or walkthroughs
- These are usually done at the beginning of the investigation, and provide an
overall picture of the total environment.
2. Interviews
3. Re-enactments
- Simulations designed to recreate circumstances leading up to the incident

Some basic rules for conducting an interview:

- Interview witnesses on the spot as soon as possible after the event, while their
memories are still fresh
- Interview witnesses separately in a neutral location
- Put the witness at ease
- Let the individual recall the event in their own way
- Ask necessary questions at appropriate times, without interrupting the speaker’s train of
thought
- Ask open-ended questions
- Make sure that critical information is recorded in a timely fashion
- End the interview on a positive note

Guidelines for conducting a re-enactment:

- A qualified observer is necessary
- Shut down every energy source and lock them out, e.g., the electrical energy from an
electrical outlet
 - Carefully act out the events. Consider videotaping to capture the details for future
reference and analysis

The Swiss Cheese Model

- An updated version of the domino theory
- Presented by J. Reason
- The model is a series of dominoes with holes in them
- Focuses on series of events that must occur for an incident to occur
- Unsafe acts cannot be viewed in isolation; they are a product of:
○ Organizational culture
○ Level of supervision
○ A variety of other contextual factors

Bow-Tie Analysis
- The image looks like a bow-tie
- In the centre is the incident or event
- On the left of the incident is the fault tree with the potential hazards and the controls to
prevent the hazards
- On the right of the incident is the event tree with the measures to mitigate the
consequences of an event and the results of the consequences
Factors:
1. Human Factors
Studying the worker as a source of incidents does not mean that the investigator is looking to
place blame. The intent is to collect facts, not assign blame.
- Questions to ask when investigating human factors (as indicated in your textbook) may
include:
- Did the worker perform the work according to the established procedure?
- What was the employment status of the worker?
- How much experience did the employee have?
- Did the worker’s unsafe act contribute to the event?

2. Situational Factors
Analysis of unsafe conditions that led to the incident is a critical step in an incident investigation.
It is important that equipment and tools are examined.
- Questions to ask when investigating situational factors include:
- Was the machine operating in a satisfactory manner?
- What tools, equipment, or objects were involved in the incident?

3. Environmental Factors
Environmental factors (e.g., light, noise) may increase the likelihood that an incident will occur.
For example:
- The setting sun may blind a delivery truck driver
- Machine noise may mask an approaching vehicle
- Equipment vibration may dislodge another tool
- Questions to ask when investigating environmental factors include:
- Was it noisy in the room?
- What were the lighting conditions?
- Was there an obvious smell in the room?

Incident Reports
Once information has been gathered, incident/accident reports must be completed.
These reports should consider:
 1. Factor(s) most closely associated with the cause of an incident, referred to as the
agency
2. Incident type, which attempts to categorize the nature of the incident
3. Personal factors (e.g., lack of knowledge, fatigue, restricted vision) should also be
included on the incident investigation form to assist in entry, record-keeping, and
analysis
Though the intent is to identify unsafe acts and conditions, additional factors may be associated
with the cause of the incident/accident such as agents like equipment, tools, machines, and
materials.

Incident Analysis
Once all the information has been collected, the next step is to analyze information to identify
the cause. Analytic models and techniques available for use in assessing the cause of incidents
include the domino theory, Swiss cheese model, and bow-tie analysis.

Domino Theory
- Theory that every incident results from a series of events
- Was developed by H.W. Heinrich
- Incorporates the five factors (or dominos) in an accident sequence
- Based on a set of five dominos
1. Background
2. Personal defects
3. Unsafe acts and conditions
4. Incident
5. Injury

These factors/dominos in order

a) are in accident sequence
b) injury caused by action of preceding factors
c) removal of a factor may prevent the accident/dominos from happening

Which domino is the most critical to remove to control the accident?

Background because dominos go in sequence, and removing the first domino stops the rest
from going down. Background works as the leadership. Thus, controlling background like
policies, training, etc is most critical to remove.

Scenario 1 Answers
Human Factors:
1. Young Worker: The worker carrying the hot oil may have been inexperienced or
insufficiently trained, leading to mishandling of the pot.
2. Neglect to Clean Up: Employees failed to promptly clean up the spilled oil, indicating
potential issues with awareness, communication, or responsibility.
Situational Factors:
 1. Busy Kitchen: The high activity level in the kitchen might have contributed to the initial
spill and the subsequent failure to address the hazard promptly.
2. Carrying Hot Oil: The task of carrying hot oil itself is hazardous and may require
specific safety protocols and equipment that were not followed.
3. Slip and Fall: The presence of oil on the floor created a slipping hazard, directly leading
to the injury when an employee slipped and fell.
Environmental Factors:
1. Kitchen Layout: The physical arrangement of the kitchen could have made it difficult to
navigate safely, especially while carrying hazardous materials like hot oil.
2. Floor Surface: The type of flooring in the kitchen may have contributed to the severity of
the slip once the oil was spilled.
3. Lack of Immediate Clean-Up: The environment lacked effective mechanisms or
procedures for immediate hazard mitigation, such as cleaning supplies readily available
or clear protocols for spill response.

Module 11 Chapter 13: Disability Management and Return to Work

Disability Management
A proactive employer practice with the goal of preventing or reducing workplace disability.
- It is important to intervene early, and provide coordinated management and rehabilitation
functions to promote workers’ recovery and safe and timely return to work.
- The best approach to manage disability
- There is a need for a lot of coordinated effort to execute this. The effort must begin with
the employer wanting to bring this worker back to work, and ends with the worker
wanting to return to their pre-injury job.

What does coordinated management and rehabilitation functions consist of?

This essentially means that the management team will work with the various agencies such as
Workplace Compensation Board if it is a work-related disability, or perhaps a private insurance
for non–work-related disability, as well as with the worker to identify their limitations and suitable
work.

Motives for Disability Management

1. Financial motives
- It must be noted that disabilities are very costly to organizations
- The cost of workplace absenteeism cost the Canadian economy more than $16
billion per year.
- There is great suspicion that various costs of workplace injury and illness will
continue to increase due to the aging workforce and labour shortages and one
would also suspect that COVID-19 is also a contributing factor.
2. Moral and social motives
3. Legal motives
- Duty to accommodate
- Undue hardship
Assessing Disability Management Programs
Two primary values of disability management programs are:
1. safe and productive employment for individuals, including those with disabilities;
2. reduced incidence

How to measure the success of a disability management program, financial and social
indicators to keep in mind:
1. The rates of safety incidents and occupational illness
2. Duration of the work disability
3. Associated costs
4. Sustained return to work
5. Quality of life

Best Practices in Disability Management

1. People-focused climate
2. Prevention focus
3. Early intervention
4. Education
5. Return to work case management
6. Integrated claims management and monitoring systems

How Organizations Manage Disability

- Organizations manage disability by ensuring an early and safe return to suitable work by
the injured worker. This helps both the injured worker and the employer. It would be ideal
for the injured worker to return to his or her full income as quickly as possible, which
would minimize the cost on the employer and the relevant jurisdiction’s Workers’
Compensation Board (WSIB or the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board).
- It is also important to note that for non–work-related disabilities, depending on the
insurance coverage of the employer, the worker may be off on long-term or short-term
disability. Typically, short-term disability coverage is about six months where there is
some income replacement after an non–work-related injury or illness. This is usually
supported by a medical evaluation and endorsement. Long-term disability usually kicks
in after the short-term period to further sustain income replacement if the individual
needs to be off work for a period of time longer that the short-term disability period. The
organization minimizes costs associated with replacing employees and retains the
valuable skills of current employees.

Key Stakeholders in Disability Management Program (344-350)

The key stakeholders in a disability management program are the injured or ill employee and
the employer.
- The employee must be willing to return to work and the employer must be willing to
accept the worker to early and safe work.
 - If there is a breakdown in communication or willingness to work together, it is very likely
the injured worker will be delayed in returning to their pre-injury job which will in turn be
more costly to the employer.
- Return to work may manifest itself in various forms, e.g., a worker may return to work
with modified duties meaning they are allowed to do some aspect of the pre-injury job
but not necessarily all. This modified duty may include the individual working their usual
work shift but not allowed to lift more than 30 pounds unlike their preinjury limit which
was limited to 75lbs.
- Another way return to work can manifest itself is by having the worker work modified
work hours. This may be a situation where the advising medical professional restricts the
length of time the worker can work in any given workday or work week. The worker that
used to work a eight- to twelve-hour work shift may be restricted to work four to six hours
per day as per the functional abilities instructions and or medical direction.

Barriers to Successful Disability Management Programs

While employers generally benefit from early and safe return-to-work provisions, employees
may resist their implementation. Some of the reasons may include:
1. Fear of losing their original job due to doing some other job while someone else may be
doing their pre-injury job perhaps more efficiently.
2. Concerns about stigma and threats of being untruthful about the injury
3. The fear of re-injury to themselves again.

Module 12 Chapter 14: Workplace Wellness Information

Throughout the 1990s, the concept of wellness at work emerged as an occupational health
concern. The major motivators of this trend in the U.S. include a desire to:
1. Reduce healthcare costs
2. Improve productivity
3. Build a supportive organizational culture

Active attempts should be made to ensure a healthy and safe work environment.
- 90% of mid-sized American companies offer health-related programs, while 64% of
Canadian companies offer wellness programs.
- In Canadian organizations, 59% of employees report they are expected to work a regular
day with little flexibility in terms of scheduling or work location.

Work-Family Conflict
- Role pressures experienced in the work and family domains are incompatible
- Associated with reduced work performance and absenteeism
- Work and family are two of the most central elements of many people’s lives, which can
lead to:
1. Work-to-family conflict
2. Family-to-work conflict
Causes of Work-Family Conflicts
A number of elements of work and family roles contribute to work-family conflict, including:
1. Time spent in the role – more family or career oriented
2. Psychological involvement in work or family roles

Family-Friendly Policies
Flexible work arrangements:
- Modifications to traditional work schedule
- Compressed workweek: Employees work full-time hours in fewer days per week
- Job sharing: Two employees share the responsibilities of a single position. This may
have an impact on compensation or employment status such as full-time/part-time
status.
- Job splitting: Two employees divide the responsibilities of a single position. This may
also have an impact on compensation or employment status such as full-time/part-time
status.
- Flex-time: Permits employees to have variable start and finish workday times
- Telecommuting: Employee uses of telecommunications technology to complete work
assignments away from the office, usually at home

Personal Leave Systems

Broad categories of family-friendly policies involving the provision of leave time for employees:
1. Maternity leave
2. Parental leave
3. Personal days
4. Family leave
5. Sick leave

Family Care Benefits

Category of family-friendly policies involves family care benefit programs:
1. Daycare benefits
2. Eldercare benefits

Research of Flexible Work Arrangements

- Despite their growing availability, little systematic research has been conducted on the
effectiveness of the family-friendly policies.
- Additional research on the organizational and individual impact of work family policies is
certainly warranted.
- It is no secret that people in today's work are attempting to juggle the demands of work
and family responsibilities.
- This is not an easy task. As a result, it is critically important for the employer to consider
the various ways their employees can be supported by examining flexible work
arrangements, family care benefits, and personal leaves.
Health-Promotion Programs
Overview
These programs are the active attempt to improve employee well-being through worksite
intervention.
- It is a combination of diagnostic, educational, and behavioural modification activities
designed to support the attainment and maintenance of positive health, such as
employee and family assistance programs (EFAP), stress management, and healthy
lifestyle.
- Health promotion programs may have been slower to develop in Canadian companies,
due to our public healthcare system.
- The health of employees impacts their performance at work. Therefore, companies
should be interested in promoting worker health. See Figure 14.1 in your textbook.

Employee and Family Assistance Programs (EFAPs)

These are designed to help employees and their family members with problems that may
interfere with worker productivity, including:
- Alcohol and other drug abuse
- Emotional or behavioural problems among family members
- Financial or legal problems

Stress Management Programs

1. Cognitive-behavioural skills training
○ Helps people to think about events in new ways and to be aware of how they are
viewing stressful events
○ Provides skills for coping with stress
2. Relaxation training and meditation, e.g., martial arts, aerobics
○ Relaxation training focuses on relaxing the physical body
○ Meditation focuses on quieting the mind
3. Increasing social support
○ Provides a more supportive working environment, e.g., caregiver support
programs

Worksite Health Promotion (WHP) Development

Worksite Health Promotion: Focus on Lifestyle Changes
Worksite health promotion programming is classified into three categories:
1. Screening
2. Education
3. Behavioural change

The most common programs are designed to affect an employee’s health practices or physical
lifestyle:
 - Physical fitness
- Nutrition and weight control
- Sleep patterns
- Alcohol and substance abuse
- Smoking cessation

Worksite Health Promotion (WHP) Programs: Three Steps

1. Step 1: Physical or psychological assessment
2. Step 2: Counseling concerning findings and recommendations about personal health
promotion
3. Step 3: Referral to in-house or community-based resources

Developing a Successful Worksite Health Promotion Program

Essential EFAP elements can be extended to WHP programs:
- Clear, written policy regarding assistance
- Management support
- Onsite program coordinator
- Supervisory training
- Employee education about program benefits
- Counseling
- Union support

Unintended Consequences of WHP Programs

Potential consequences:
1. Participation in fitness programs may cause work disruptions, increase fatigue, lower
performance, and increase accidents among those who are beginning such a program
2. Health promotion can cause friction among workers
3. Diagnosis of previously unknown risk factors may contribute to absenteeism (e.g.,
doctor’s appointments)

Overall Evaluation
- There is a lack of research on various categories of WHP programs to reach a definitive
conclusion about efficacy
- Management support is vital to the success of WHP initiatives