Canadian Safety Reporter

March 2015

Focuses on occupational health and safety issues at a strategic level. Designed for employers, HR managers and OHS professionals, it features news, case studies on best practices and practical tips to ensure the safest possible working environment.

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7 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2015 News | March 2015 | CSR Gamification < pg. 4 Nutrition < pg. 2 Mentoring, culture key to safety Programs must be realistic, practical should expect a diminished right to their own privacy." There are times when it's im- portant to identify the snooper if it may help a victim to take pro- tective action, said Dickson, such as a spouse feeding information to his lawyer. "In lots of other cases, where there's not that kind of relation- ship, I think the important thing is to say that there's been an in- vestigation…. but I'm reluctant to name the offender in every case. And partly because the is- sue is that it's the organization that has to be responsible for it." It's a remarkable suggestion, that the employee should be re- vealed, said Michaluk. "A lot of hospitals are going to be uncomfortable with that because it opens a whole range of consequences to the named individual," he said, adding it's "a little aggressive from a human resources/labour relations norm view. There is an element of dis- cretion that's normally applied and I think the IPC is trying to push hospitals beyond that." Audits are also a huge part of the equation to curtail privacy breaches, according to Beamish. "That is becoming a best prac- tice — certainly we've stressed the importance of audits, creat- ing an audit trail and having the ability to go back in an audit. Now you can't audit every patient's re- cords but there certainly can be spot audits done… so it's defi- nitely critical that staff know that there will be audits performed and if they get caught, there will be significant discipline." It's also important to have clar- ity around the concept of the "cir- cle of care," said Dickson, when it comes to implied consent to collect, use or disclose personal health information for the pur- pose of providing health care. "People in health-care settings seem to be very comfortable with it but it's proven… to be hope- lessly unhelpful, it's been confus- ing," he said. "When we found people who snooped, they would say, 'Well, it's not a big deal because I'm a health-care worker, I'm part of this amorphous circle of care.' Well, in fact, what the law says is you only get to look at a patient's personal health information if you have a 'need to know.'" orne. "In a lot of cases, we see that people have read a policy and that's it. But it's not really what constitutes violence, what con- stitutes harassment, where does bullying come in — so that's got to be a big part of the orientation process so at least new and young workers under- stand exactly what it is, so they understand what is acceptable behaviour and what happens when behaviour is not accept- able — what the process looks like, what the consequences are." Ongoing safety culture Even with all the other pieces in place, it's important that safety is an ongoing part of the culture — repetition and reinforcement of good safety practices should be embedded in the its culture and values, said Kells. "An orientation shouldn't be a day, it should be an every day for the fi rst 30 days. A young worker needs mentoring or supervision or both. A supervisor can't al- ways be hanging over some- one's shoulder every day on the job, but an experienced worker, who willingly takes on the re- sponsibility to mentor that kid, and stand on guard, and oversee (them) is just as eff ective, and probably more so." e onus has to be on the cul- ture, said McIntosh. "We see young workers as fu- ture leaders, supervisors, owners of companies, so if we can instill that long-term safety culture in these very young workers, then we think long-term we're going to see the results of that kind of a culture being acted out and lived on a day by day basis." done to improve nutrition among the remote workforce, whether they are at a camp or not, it all starts with education. A poster campaign is a great way to raise awareness. For ex- ample, posters with pictures of healthy foods explaining their nutritional value and diagrams of proper portion sizes can be helpful. Employers may want to bring in a nutritionist to explain to workers the principles of good nutrition and exactly what food is, says Castle. ey need to know what is a carbohydrate, protein and fat and what they do for the human body. ey also need a clear under- standing of what vitamins and nutrients their bodies require. For example, the B-complex vi- tamins found in meats and whole grains are needed for tissue repair and conversion; vitamins A and C, found in vegetables, are need- ed for immunity; and vitamin D, found in fatty fi sh, is needed for calcium absorption. Workers in heavy labour in extreme conditions, such as the bitter cold common to many North American drilling opera- tions, typically need upwards of 4,000 calories per day, found the Target report. Most workers will burn more than 300 calories per hour. Fast food or diets high in car- bohydrates can leave workers hungry or weak after just a few hours on the job. In general, the body in manual labour requires 1.2 grams to 1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, found the report. To gain remote worker buy- in for healthier eating on camps or off , it is crucial the program is realistic and practical for the workers. "Kale chips, quinoa, yeah it's good to have some of those things and to educate and say, 'Hey, here is this week's idea for something to try' but it has to be realistic for them," says Castle. One way to get worker buy- in is simply through the natural peer pressure that occurs, says Meehan. "If a program is inviting and interesting and some people fi nd value in it, the health and safety professionals should focus spe- cifi cally on targeting that group of people and have them become peers to those who eat not so healthy." Fuel for the future Health and safety professionals with remote workers should be taking a look at the demograph- ics of their workforce. As more mature workers enter their 60s, they are very respon- sive to improving their overall health because they want to live a long retirement life, says Meehan. ere is also an infl ux of much younger workers coming on- site and some of them are very health-conscious and interested in wellness, while others are from the "hamburger and fries genera- tion," says Meehan. "If we don't do anything about their nutrition, we could end up with an epidemic much worse than you have seen in the baby boomer generation who was used to meat, potatoes and veg- gies," she says. Nutrition programs cannot just improve worker health, they also yield a signifi cant return on investment, found the report. For example, Husky Injection Molding Systems in Bolton, Ont., reported $8 million in yearly savings from a $4-mil- lion investment in wellness, which includes many healthy food options. e Canadian government es- timates that wellness, which in- cludes better nutrition, amounts to a $2 to $6 return on investment. "It make sense that anytime you can perform a task effi ciently, without an incident and without error you can perform more prof- itably," says MacLean. "As we look at nutrition, we're looking at a healthy, en- gaged, attentive worker and that gives the best possible op- portunity to achieve heightened productivity." Amanda Silliker is the editor of Canadian Occupational Safety, a sister publication of Canadian Safety Reporter. Health records < pg. 6

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