Canadian Safety Reporter - sample

4 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 CSR | May 2018 | News It's a trend Spencer says she's seen with increasing frequency in her industry. "The two areas, if they're not merging, they're cer- tainly working far more closely than they ever did in the past." Prioritizing psychological health big driver of change Federally, Bill C-45, which be- came law in 2004, puts a legal duty on all people who direct others at work to take reason- able steps to ensure the safety of workers and the public. With the publication of The National Standard of Canada for Psy- chological Health and Safety in the Workplace in 2013, there's an understanding that mental health is an element of worker safety. Some provinces, includ- ing Ontario and Alberta, have now included in their OHS regulations that employers have a responsibility to proactively protect employees from mental injuries that could specifically occur because of psychologi- cal bullying, sexual harassment and workplace violence. "Up to this point, respectful workplace policies typically fell under HR," says Howatt. Now, with mental health defined as a safety issue, there's a window of opportunity open for collaboration. Bringing HR and OHS closer together can mean playing to each area's particular strengths. In terms of psychological safety, for example, an HR department may already have programs in place that can be enhanced and adapted. When it comes to OHS, says Bill Howatt, chief research and development officer of work- force productivity with Morneau Shepell in Toronto, and president of Howatt HR Consulting. "Most groups will have a ro- bust management and reporting system in place that can be adapt- ed to facilitate a psychological health and safety management system, says Howatt. "If your or- ganization hasn't integrated OHS and HR functions, you might want to consider doing so." In some industries, that col- laboration is already well un- derway. "For the last 10 years, our credit union has sponsored a mental health conference in Vancouver and the conversa- tions there have evolved tre- mendously," says Spencer. "At least half the attendees are health and safety professionals or union representatives who are also the health and safety rep- resentatives." She adds, "They may be having some conversa- tions about physical health and safety issues, but they're talking more and more about the men- tal health implications of safety concerns, as well as PTSD." Areas of natural overlap Having OHS and HR work more closely together means compa- nies keep an eye out for areas of overlap and work to find effi- ciencies. "For example, an orga- nization might want to integrate mental health, respectful work- place and wellness initiatives un- der one function," says Howatt. "It might be called something like 'Total Health' and would have one strategy with aligned goals, metrics and reporting." In addition to making the most of resources, says Howatt, "This kind of integration makes it easi- er to align and integrate total risk with total health." Pairing or integrating the two areas can have other benefits, too. "Those might include fos- tering a workplace safety culture in which employees and super- visors work together to ensure workplace safety," says Tallar Chouljian, occupational health and safety specialist, Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety. She adds, "An organi- zation can also establish admin- istrative procedures to encour- age employees to report unsafe conditions and unsafe practices to their supervisors without fear of being disciplined." At First West Credit Union, Spencer has found that many el- ements of health and safety have a natural relationship with HR. In addition to ergonomic assess- ments and accommodations, Spencer says her area ensures employees have counselling and support through the employ- ee family assistance provider around potentially challenging — or even dangerous — situa- tions that could include branch robberies or active shooter sce- narios. "It's the aftermath that really needs attention, and that's where HR expertise can help." Spencer's organization is also in the process of deploying au- tomatic external defibrillator (AED) devices to its locations. "It's not just about putting the AED in the location, and tell- ing people how to use it, It's about removing the fear and the stigma," says Spencer. "The HR perspective can help take it to the next level and make sure we've enabled people to find the resources they need, and to feel confident in the situations they may be placed in." She adds, "We're looking at that whole psychological health and safety aspect and what that means." With Canada's marijuana laws about to change, Spencer sees both a safety responsibility and an opportunity to renew conver- sations in the workplace about addiction issues. "We have lots of individuals who might re- turn to work from some sort of medical leave and they may be taking some type of medication, whether that's medically pre- scribed marijuana or some type of antidepressant," says Spencer. "There are always going to be side effects, so HR's influence might be to ask how we can bet- ter prepare people to have those conversations. How do we en- sure managers ask what some- one is able to do and what work will look like, rather than asking about limitations?" Heads up on potential pitfalls In some organizations, there's less of a collaboration and more of an expectation that HR will handle OHS. "In many cases, the HR professional is now required to also be the health and safety practitioner for the company," says James Donato, consultant with Workforce Law Consulting. That's not always a winning situ- ation. "Some HR professionals may not be equipped or prepared to deal with complex health and safety issues," says Donato. Donato trains many HR pro- fessionals who need to brush up on that element of their job duty. "It comes with experience and education; in most HR pro- grams the health and safety com- ponent is a one-course elective, and that's nowhere near enough training if you're solely respon- sible for health and safety." Additional education can help cover the basics. "In organiza- tions where there might not be a health and safety professional but might only be the HR pro- fessional, the training should also include basics of health and safety legislation, risk manage- ment, and hazard assessments and control," says Chouljian. Aside from potential safety hazards, a lack of training and knowledge can introduce legal risk as well. "I would caution or- ganizational leaders who expect an HR professional to handle all of their health and safety is- sues," says Donato. "Don't expect that person to know everything when it comes to this large field, or it could put the organization in a position of liability." "It's really important for the professional responsible for health and safety, whether it's the HR professional or the OHS specialist, to be competent through education, training and experience," says Chouljian. She adds, "But they should also know when to seek help from other specialists to ensure the health an safety of their other workers is maintained." Working in partnership "If an HR person has the luxury of having a health and safety co-ordinator who reports to them, then things go much more smoothly," says Donato. "There's a good check and balance there." Even with a dedicated health and safety specialist on board, Chouljian says there's still a need for an HR professional to learn about the field, including OHS legislation, the company's OHS policy and informing employees. For the OHS professional, Spencer points out the benefit of working with HR — and other departments, too — to gain a better sense of the big picture. "It's the future of work: Break- ing down silos of departments and bringing together cross- functional teams," says Spencer. "I would say take that mentality and apply it to your OHS, un- derstand how each area of the business will play a role in your whole safety culture, and it will certainly serve you well." The reality < pg. 1 Develop efficiencies in areas of potential overlap

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