If a worker makes mistakes when performing safety sensitive work, people can get hurt.

Safety sensitive work is tasks or procedures that are part of a job which can cause harm to people if done incorrectly. Many businesses provide specialized services that require their employees to perform tasks that can put the worker, co-workers, customers or the general public at risk of being harmed. Employees performing safety-sensitive work must follow specific work procedures to keep themselves and the people around them safe.

Safety sensitive jobs can be found in many workplaces.  High risk work tasks  include working with dangerous machinery or chemicals at industrial worksites or being exposed to infectious disease or violent situations in a social or health services work environment.  Examples of positions that involve safety sensitive work include drivers, machine operators, health care workers, police officers, and industrial labourers.

A key management responsibility is to carefully plan the work procedures and train and supervise staff. The Plan-Do-Check-Act method is a simple way to approach and maintain high quality safety sensitive work procedures.

Plan – Employers should review the work procedure, planning so the work is designed to have safe outcomes.

Do – The next step involves employee training.  Workers and supervisors must understand the hazards, risks and know how to correctly do the work.

Check – Supervisors must monitor employees performing the work to confirm that it is done correctly.

Act – Retraining, re-design of work procedures and possibly re-assignment of employees not capable of safely performing the work are potential outcomes of supervision activities.

Many factors lead to safety sensitive work incidents such as poor work design, poor supervision or employees unable to competently complete the work. It is important to remember that previously safe work methods may change and become unsafe. If equipment degrades, it can cause safety incidents.  The skills of individuals previously capable of doing the work may change.   Personal or health issues including illness or alcohol or drug use are common reasons why an employee’s may be unable to competently perform their job.

It is a manager’s responsibility to identify and correct situations where work is being performed dangerously.  Since safety sensitive work can cause major injuries including fatalities, it is a good management practice to focus supervision efforts on these high risk work procedures.

To read more about this topic, consider this list of safety sensitive occupations.

An annual HS policy review is a great first step for setting safety program quality improvement goals.

How should a small business manager approach identifying OHS quality improvement priorities?   An annual review of the business HS policy and program is a good place to start.

Smaller businesses often have difficulty achieving high quality safety programs. This can lead to not meeting legislated workplace health and safety requirements or workplace injury incidents. Issues related to lack OHS knowledge and human resource, time or budget constraints all affect the decisions small business managers make about safety program quality improvement.

Quality expectations develop from the demands of the business’ stakeholders. Stakeholders, such as employees, customers, vendors, local community members and government organizations, have various expectations regarding the safety standards of a business’ products, services and work practices. Meeting stakeholder safety expectations is important.  Safety focused businesses save money with fewer injuries and illness costs, improved profits due to satisfied customers and improved employee retention.

The OHS expectations that stakeholders have can become HS quality improvement goals.  Common quality expectations for small businesses include:

• Low incidence of workplace injuries and illness;
• Safe, efficient work practices using proven procedures, techniques, modern technology and training;
• Easy to manage HS program including clear communication to stakeholders;
• Minimal use of resources, such money, time and people, to administer the program;
• Achievement of legal and moral due diligence.

Small business owners must commit the time necessary to learn about and innovatively develop affordable, easy to manage OHS procedures within their resource-limited operations. The first step is to identify OHS quality improvements goals based on the unique demands of the business’ stakeholders. Diligently and creatively working on safety program quality improvement will result in satisfied stakeholders and optimize business success.

Workplace safety best practices are developed based on occupational health & safety research findings.

A large body of OHS knowledge, originating from research, exists about how to maintain worker health. Occupational health & safety research results are used to improve workplace safety programs and keep workers safe.

It is useful for employers to learn about OHS studies and their results. Workplace health researchers often have difficulty getting news of their research discoveries to end-users, employers and employees in workplaces. Valuable research findings that could improve the quality of business operations are often slow to be implemented in workplaces.

The Institute of Work & Health (IWH) regularly reports OHS studies worth considering for application in workplace safety programs.   Interesting examples of recent occupational health & safety research studies include:

1. Strong evidence shows workplace-based resistance training exercise programs can help prevent and manage upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and symptoms.
2. In a patient lifting study, a peer coaching training program led to 34 % reduction in lost time injury rates during the study & 56 % drop after the study ended. This research suggests peer coaching may be an effective OHS training strategy.
3. Health and safety inspections with penalties reduce work injuries.
4. Employee vulnerability to work injury and illness differs based on worker experience of three factors: inadequate policies and procedures, low awareness of their health and safety rights and responsibilities, and/or lack of empowerment to voice their health and safety concerns.

Occupational health & safety research scientists are expected to communicate their research results to educate employers, workers, government and industry experts about effective, research based practices that can improve employee safety. By transferring useful research  findings from research to work settings, the quality of workplace safety can be improved leading to less occupational injury and disease.

Read about other interesting OHS research findings. http://www.iwh.on.ca/5-things-we-think-you-should-know

Managers should maintain open communication with sick employees when professional case managers are not available to help with disability management.

Open communication with sick employees can be difficult. Managers usually have more experienced dealing with business issues than disability cases. A sick employee often seems fragile. Employers worry about doing or saying something that may upset the employee or increase costs related to down-time.

Effective communication between employer, sick employee and stakeholders such as health and insurance professionals, helps a worker’s recovery and return to work. It is important to remember that everyone is on the same team. Spending time listening, understanding and acknowledging the issues that the sick employee is experiencing helps plan return to work strategies.

Even though they are not expected to be counsellors, managers should understand that sick employees are affected by many issues that complicate recovery and return to work. A sick employee may be coping with:

• reduced physical abilities due to current illness, treatment or flare-up of pre-existing health problems;
• anxiety about slow or incomplete recovery;
• frustration about inability to manage daily life, including returning to work;
• miscommunications, confusion and lack of understanding about treatment, prognosis and return to work options;
• financial stress and worry;
• difficulty connecting or communicating with key stakeholders causing uncoordinated health care, financial and return to work planning;
• lack of empathy from employers, co-workers, family and even health care professionals, especially with prolonged illness;
• workplace procedures such as modified work that is not meaningful or physically manageable; and,
• decreased confidence and self-esteem.

Communicating openly with sick employee helps both the employee and employer gain information and effectively plan and be involved in the rehabilitation process. Actively participating in rehabilitation is known to help individuals recover better and quicker. This is why returning to work as soon as possible with appropriate modified work is considered a best practice in disability management.

Initially, a sick employee may have difficulty answering questions or making decisions. Regular engagement with an empathetic and honest manager can help sick workers feel supported and empower them with the information they need to plan recovery and return to work.  Similarly, open communication with sick employees gives managers important information that they can use to make business decisions.

Disability management is challenging for small business managers without support staff. The sick employee is the central figure in the disability management process. Open and non-judgemental communication with sick employees is a key strategy to help employers manage employee disability and return to work.

October is Healthy Workplace Month in Canada, a time to think about workplace health promotion. 

Workplace health promotion is described by the World Health Organization as the combined efforts of employers, employees and society to improve the health and well-being of people at work.  Workplace health promotion activities include business procedures and programs that support employees at work and educate them about how to work productively while remaining healthy and happy.   

How does developing a healthy workplace help organizations and their employees?  Health promotion at work develops  employee knowledge, skills and resilience.  These activities teach workers how to do their jobs well and safely.  Safe work training, micro-breaks to stretch and lunch and learn sessions about working effectively with others are all examples of workplace health promotion activities. 

Employees at healthy workplaces want to be physically, mentally and socially capable of working productively.  This benefits organizations, workers and communities.

Employee benefits include:
• a safe and healthy work environment
• enhanced worker self-esteem
• reduced stress
• improved morale
• increased job satisfaction
• increased skills for health protection
• improved health
• improved sense of well-being.

The business case for workplace health promotion includes:
• a well-managed health and safety program
• a positive business image
• improved staff morale
• reduced staff turnover
• reduced absenteeism
• increased productivity
• reduced insurance and health care costs
• reduced risk of fines and litigation

Even communities benefit from healthy workplaces through improved local employment, decreased poverty, better worker and family health, and pollution reduction. 

Employers and employees influence workplace health and happiness with their choices and attitudes.  Shared interest among employees about workplace health promotion initiatives will lead to a more productive and healthier workforce. 

Learn more about workplace health promotion.