Canadian HR Reporter - Ontario

CANADIAN HR REPORTER October 2, 2017 2 NEWS Recent stories posted on www.hrreporter.com. Check the website daily for quick news hits from across Canada and around the world. WEB O N T H E ACROSS CANADA Culture, career progression outshine paycheque at work ree-quarters of Canadians willing to take pay cut for ideal job: Survey Two-thirds of Canadian households saving for retirement, suggests census Younger citizens prefer tax-free savings accounts Financial watchdog warns over 50,000 job cuts could result from wage hike Most affected groups in Ontario will be teens, young adults: Report Ontario to open up dozens of outlets to sell marijuana, say sources Federal government plans to legalize recreational use by July 1, 2018 PM defends small business tax changes as doctors complain of negative impact 'Rules which benefit the wealthy deserve a little tweaking': Trudeau About half of Canadians living paycheque to paycheque: Survey Mortgages, unexpected expenses partly to blame Dollarama testing self-checkout as it adjusts to minimum wage increases 'We just take a lot of time to test things to make sure we understand this correctly before implementing it': CFO AROUND THE WORLD Lawsuit accuses Google of bias against women in pay, promotions Company's 'treatment of female employees has not entered 21st century': Lawyer Target increases holiday season hiring to 100,000 workers 43 per cent increase from last year U.K. employers raise pay as Brexit skills shortage bites Companies struggling to fill vacancies, increasingly turning to recruitment agencies Immigrants sought for labour shortage in Harvey recovery 'Dry labourers' in high demand for storm cleanup work in U.S. Business leaders baffled Top American CEOs express disappointment in President Trump's choice to end 'Dreamers' program hrreporter.com FEATURED VIDEO LeNoury Law Proactive Advice to Management Employment Lawyer of The Year James LeNoury B.A. (Hons) M.A. LL.B 416-926-1107 • Toll Free 1-877-926-1107 • lenourylaw.com Canadians focus on safety with Singapore Accord Educational groups sign on to improve OHS capabilities BY SARAH DOBSON LOOKING to improve the safety of workers around the world, 40 organizations — including five from Canada — gathered in Sin- gapore on Sept. 3 to sign an im- portant agreement. Representatives of employers and employees, educational in- stitutions, policy-makers in gov- ernments and public authorities, occupational health and safety (OHS) professional organiza- tions, and experts in OHS joined the International Network of Safety and Health Practitioner Organisations (INSHPO) and its members to sign the Singapore Accord — a commitment to im- proving OHS professional and practitioner capabilities so they can more effectively guide and lead the creation of healthier and safer workplaces. "e global framework repre- sents the most significant initia- tive ever produced on the inter- national stage by the health and safety profession, across multiple countries and jurisdictions," said INSHPO president Eldeen Poz- niak, in a release. "It displays for the first time a common commitment to define the critical roles which are taken up by practitioners and profes- sionals to prevent workplace injury, illness and fatalities, in a language to be used commonly throughout the world." Signatories of the accord are committed to using the Occupa- tional Health and Safety (OHS) Professional Capability Frame- work — A Global Framework for Practice, a consensus-based tool developed to promote a high standard of capability for OHS professionals by defin- ing their role, functions and competencies. Framework origins e framework is based on an analysis of the practices of vari- ous professional associations, certification bodies and creden- tialing organizations, and pro- vides "generic guidance" that can be adapted and developed in more detail by each organization to take into account variations in regula- tions, histories and cultures when it comes to OHS practice. So, why is the framework needed? "e main reason is so that par- ents and kids come home safely at the end of the day, no matter what country you live in," said Don Roy, president of the University of Fredericton in New Brunswick, which signed the accord. "Unfortunately, some coun- tries don't have the same stan- dards and, in some cases, have very minimal standards, so this Singapore Accord is a drive to unite countries into having a… framework of safety competen- cies, so that whether you're a factory worker in Bangladesh or Toronto, you can expect the same level of safety standards." Individuals and groups have been working for 10 years on setting a standard framework of safety competencies the world can use, he said. "is ties in with the multina- tional corporations, when people don't want to buy a pair of Nike sneakers if they're made in an un- safe factory in China or wherever. So this ties in with 'Let's standard- ize the competencies.'" e establishment of a global framework for practice is an im- portant milestone, according to Paul Andre, chair of the Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals (BCRSP) in Missis- sauga, Ont., which also signed the accord. "is sets the stage for cer- tification bodies to align to this global framework, providing the foundation for a profession that will be recognized globally for its ability to support improved occupational health and safety outcomes." The framework defines the roles, skills, knowledge and quali- fications recommended for OHS professionals and practitioners, he said. "(ere was) a need to provide greater clarity around an occu- pational health and safety role, whether that's at a professional level or practitioner level, by de- fining the differences between those two levels of practice," said Andre. "It's about what capabilities do they need, what knowledge, what education, what skill sets should they have to be effective? So that was really the impetus for put- ting the framework together, that nothing really existed, at least at a global level. I think individual organizations or individual coun- tries had elements of what you would consider a framework, but something that could be adopted globally didn't exist." Setting the foundation e Singapore Accord is a call to action, according to Lisa McGuire, CEO of the Manufacturing Safety Alliance of BC in Chilliwack, B.C., which also signed the agreement. "It is affirmative action by the leading OHS professional and practitioner organizations from around the world, supported by INSHPO, to commit to the global vision of prevention through the adoption of a global framework for practice. Such a framework seeks to uphold high standards of competence of health and safety professionals and practitioners in creating healthier and safer workplaces." e goal of the framework is to help define OHS standards in the OHS profession, she said. "Industry needs to be able to employ health and safety person- nel who have the skills and educa- tion to support them." In British Columbia, for exam- ple, the association has worked with industry partners and gov- ernment to identify the needs of manufacturing workplaces for OHS professionals, and the types of industry-specific skills required, she said. "Consultations underscored the future need for systematic, standardized training of OHS professionals who not only pos- sess a detailed understanding of the manufacturing context, but also have the technical and 'soft' skills required to lead the sector's employers in the development of effective injury prevention and health and safety promotion ini- tiatives," said McGuire. "Workplaces are changing in process (digital/robotics) and ex- pectations (psychological health). To address the new needs, a ba- sic foundation of competence is needed." Global workforce Given the diversity of OHS ap- proaches across countries, IN- SHPO created an overarching structure designed to encompass all of them, said Andre. "ere are differences around the globe in terms of what is re- quired to practise in the health and safety field, so you have some countries that actually regulate what is required of an OHS pro- fessional in terms of educational requirements, experience re- quirements, whereas others do not, so there's quite a range." For countries like Canada and the United States, this framework aligns well to current certification schemes that are in place for occu- pational health and safety profes- sionals, he said. "In developing countries, the same level of regulation that sup- ports occupational health and safety is not necessarily there, so (the framework is) perhaps something they use as the basis for what they need to aspire to within the occupational H&S profession, particularly if it's a fledging profession within a par- ticular economy." e new framework will allow for greater mobility among occu- pational health and safety profes- sionals, said Roy. "If (for example) there's a safety professional in India that has gone through the program and wishes to immigrate to Canada, they'll be immediately employable because they meet the global safety stan- dard and it'll be very recognized, as the years pass, as having met the competencies." e University of Fredericton is committing to use the framework to develop and review its OHS ed- ucation programs to ensure they comply, he said. And it's hoped many more uni- versities will take part because ed- ucation is key to delivering these competencies. "e awareness is increasing but what's encouraging is the governments are now getting in- volved and making it a priority, and people are realizing what the costs to employers, to countries, are for industrial accidents, so it is actually now becoming a priority," said Roy. And if you're an employer, a re- cruiter or in the human resources field, said Andre, "this particular framework helps inform, essen- tially, what you would recruit for, what you should expect in terms of skill sets and capabilities and education around a generalist in the occupational health and safety field." In addition, if an HR or safety professional follows the program, she can then promote it to the C- suite in saying it's not only good for the people but for the bottom line, said Roy. "It really does save money, so part of the competency frame- work is actually communica- tion skills, soft skills, leadership skills that allow safety managers — typically who are just on the floor doing what they need to if an accident happened — (to) go up and sell a strategic plan for the organization, so this is upping the game." e two other Canadian orga- nizations signing the Singapore Accord in September were the Canadian Society of Safety En- gineering and Minerva Canada Safety Management Education. "e global framework represents the most significant initiative ever produced on the international stage by the health and safety profession."

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