Canadian Employment Law Today

loss-control measures. e outcome is assurance that the employee is fit to work, as opposed to being impaired due to illness or injury. Managing the substance-induced state OHNs are qualified to plan and provide em- ployee-centred, goal-oriented care involving: • Assessment (of organization/employee's needs) • Diagnosis (of human response needs) • Planning (of organization/employee's care) • Implementation/intervention • Evaluation (of the implemented care). is problem-solving process enables OHNs to determine the degree to which a substance- induced state impairs employee performance. Knowing the physical and cognitive demands of the employee's "own" job, the OHN can de - termine the degree of dissonance between the work demands and the employee's capability. If deemed impaired, the OHN can activate corporate policies to eliminate the risk of an impaired employee in the workplace. Sec - ondly, the OHN can assist the employee to obtain appropriate medical and psychologi- cal assessment and treatment. When deemed recovered, the OHN can determine if the em- ployee is indeed fit to work. Managing the diminished capacity state OHNs can address worker fatigue through: • Management/union education on the nega- tive impacts of sleep deprivation • Employee education on the negative im- pacts of sleep deprivation • Employee health surveillance and assess- ment of fitness to work • Early intervention • Employee referral and treatment • Evaluation of the outcomes, in terms of the employee's fitness to work. Regarding shiftwork, OHNs are well-versed on the health impacts of shiftwork. A combi- nation of governance, stewardship, education and health surveillance can be used to protect employees and organizations from the nega- tive health effects of shiftwork. An aging workforce is a new phenomenon. To effectively manage the related-health ef- fects of impairment, OHNs can intervene by providing: • Management/union education on aging and how to counteract the related impacts • Employee education on aging and how to protect against the related body changes • Employee health surveillance and assess- ment of the older employee's fitness to work • Early intervention • Employee referral and treatment • Evaluation of the outcomes regarding em- ployee fitness to work. Employee impairment can be addressed re- gardless of cause. By promoting and main- taining workplace and employee health and safety, and mitigating health losses, OHNs can contribute to organizational business strategies and profits while reducing legal and safety risks in the workplace. Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2017 December 6, 2017 | Canadian Employment Law Today ABOUT THE AUTHOR DIANNE E. DYCK Dianne E. Dyck is an occupational health nurse and OHS specialist with Progressive Health & Safety Consulting in Calgary. She can be reached at (403) 282-9330 or degdyck2@gmail.com. CREDIT: OCSKAY BENCE/SHUTTERSTOCK rial function like standard OH&S hazard iden- tification and loss-control practices, but more sophisticated and focused on potential risk. A DMP serves a risk management function; it controls the human and economic costs of injury and illness, conveys a message that em - ployees are valued, and demonstrates legisla- tive compliance. It is a risk management and risk-communication approach designed to integrate corporate resources, minimize as- sociated losses and costs, and prevent future occurrences. Managing employee impairment Employee impairment is concerning. Organiza- tions are advised to combine risk management approaches — uphold their legal duty of provid- ing a safe and healthy workplace while meeting their business strategies and obligations. Employers must have policies and proce- dures to address employee-impairment situ- ations — an OH&S policy and program; safe work procedures; and enforcement. Employ- ers need to ensure the health impacts of work conditions, like work hours, demands, pace, shiftwork, and travel requirements, are evalu- ated. If deemed hazardous, employers must remedy the situation and adequate resources and expertise must exist to identify and man- age employee impairment. OHNs can help, as they are qualified to un- dertake the management of employee impair- ment by: • Ensuring employees are fit to work • Ensuring the worksite is free of uncontrolled hazards • Medically monitoring employees exposed to hazards • Conducting health-risk assessments • Communicating risk nature and severity • Conducting ergonomic assessments and identifying remedial action • Participating in emergency preparedness planning • Facilitating critical incident stress debriefings post-incident • Assisting with OH&S strategic-issues man- agement. Managing the disease state OHNs are educated, skilled, experienced and can be positioned to facilitate the management of employee absenteeism and injury or illness. ey liaise with external individuals and agen - cies to advocate for the employee and organi- zation as well as: • Mitigate workplace illness/injury through timely response and referral for medical treatment • Determine employee fitness to work • Manage injury/illness cases • Co-manage insurer responsibilities and actions • Co-ordinate disability management assistance • Assist employees to return to work in a safe and timely manner • Negotiate service provider contracts and ac- tivities • Evaluate service outcomes and determine re- turn on investment • Conduct trend analyses aimed at illness/in- jury prevention and introduction of suitable

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