Canada Takes Mental Health Seriously

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Alison Grenkie

A new national standard for workplace safety was released today in Canada. The first of its kind in the world, the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (CSA Z1003) is a voluntary standard that addresses a growing concern in the workplace – mental health.

With the support of the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC), the standard was developed jointly by the Canadian Standard Association (CSA) and the Bureau de normalisation du Quebec (BNQ) and its goal is to guide Canadian employers in creating workplaces that are psychologically safe and healthy.

When it comes to the workplace, the implications of mental illness are complex and extensive. MHCC President and CEO, Louise Bradley, has stated that mental illness costs the Canadian economy an estimated $51 billion annually, and that almost $20 billion of that comes from workplace losses.

Mental illness accounts for almost 30 percent of disability claims in Canada, and that number is growing. This standard has been a long time coming, according to Bradley. “The requirements for an employee’s physical health and safety in the workplace are a longstanding concern for Canadian employers. Now it’s time to consider the mental wellbeing of the workforce the same way,” she said in a June 2011 press conference for the standard.

Canada’s occupational health professionals should be sure to read the new standard, which will be free to the public for the first five years of its release. The standard will be made available on the CSA and BNQ websites.

Get back to the meaning of Quality with 9001: A Quality Odyssey

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Paul Leavoy

Think quality is boring? That can only be attributable to human error.

Sure: bolt sizes, calibrations, documents, procedures, work instructions…yeah, there’s nothing particularly compelling about all that, on the surface, anyway. Dig a little deeper, however, and you’ll be surprised what you find.

If you missed our exclusive webinar, 9001: A Quality Odyssey, check it out whenever you like by heading over to our on-demand webinar library. This decidedly un-boring special presentation will open the pod bay doors of your mind by getting back to the meaning of quality management and turning to the very roots of standardization.

Far from a boring history lesson, A Quality Odyssey will link the quality standards of today to the very need for standardization and measurement in the first place, and look at the evolution of quality systems throughout the ages and what they mean for businesses today.

Sign up today to learn how to put your quality system to its fullest possible use…which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.

To integrate, or not to integrate… Part 3

Posted on June 20, 2011 by Paul Leavoy

For a company over-anxious to reconcile EHS and Quality processes and data, some complications may emerge.

For example, some integrated management opponents argue that strict adherence to one specific set of standards can be sacrificed in the name of integration. That is, in defining a broad-base of widely applicable standards to enforce across all EHS and Quality domains, some details are institutionally enabled to slip through the cracks.

Really, it all depends on what specifically a company is attempting to integrate. For example, getting managers across all departments to employ the same audit checklists and reports can be like mixing apples and oranges. However, leveraging the same auditing software that allows the importing of individual EHS and quality checklists can reduce costs.

The standards governing quality can be far removed from those governing environment, health and safety. However, this notion can be a very particular function of a particular corporate culture and which aspect (of EHS and Quality) has the greatest impact within that corporate culture.

Further, an old paradigm suggests some aspects of environment, health and safety are not tied intrinsically to aspects of quality, such as continual improvement in performance, legislative compliance and considerations of risks.

This has changed somewhat as businesses constantly try to improve their environment, health and safety performance. Historically these concerns have been dominated by legislation, and quality, by and large, has been customer-driven. Now environment, health and safety are being strongly influenced by brand impact, and quality is being influenced by new consumer protection legislation.

Some IMS critics a suggest integrated systems can actually make audits more complex. However, having an IMS places no demand on any company to fulfill a comprehensive EHS and Quality audit each time an audit is conducted. Rather, businesses need to asses where overlap exists and where it makes good business sense to combine elements. We’ll discuss more about this in our conclusion.

Sweeping OHS Bill passes in Ontario

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Paul Leavoy

After months of debate and consultation, Bill 160 has passed in Ontario, Canada after a 79-0 vote in the provincial assembly late last week. The Occupational Health and Safety Statute Law Amendment Act will take full effect when it achieves Royal Assent, as soon as next month.

The Act will create the position of a provincial Chief Prevention Officer as well as a Prevention Council to work with the Ministry of Labour to develop a comprehensive occupational health and safety strategy and determine training standards.

The act will affect almost all businesses across the province, so make sure you are up to speed with all the bill’s implications by checking out OHS Insider’s very handy and comprehensive Ontario OHS Reform Blog, which features detailed information on the nuances on Bill 160.

As the blog notes, establishing provincewide training standards will be central to the Act after it becomes law.

Prevention, training central to Ontario OHS reforms

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Paul Leavoy

Ontario is poised to dramatically rework how it manages occupational health and safety.

Earlier this month Bill 160 was amended by the province’s standing committee on social policy and is now headed to the provincial legislature for a third reading and vote, meaning it could be law by as early as June. The proposed bill flows from the work of an expert panel formed in the wake of a string of workplace-related deaths across the province.

Focused on training and prevention, some of the bill’s key elements are as follows:

Training standards: The bill would call upon the Minister of Labour to set training program standards and ‘approve’ compliant organizations accordingly.
Training provider: In addition to minimum standards for training programs, those who administer training would also be required to achieve “approved training provider” status, though those certified under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act would be automatically approved.
Prevention: Quite notably, the bill would establish both a Prevention Council and a Chief Prevention Officer (CPO). It would also take the responsibility of workplace safety away from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and hand it to the newly created CPO, who would report to the Minister of Labour and also be charged with the development of a provincial health and safety strategy. The Prevention Council, composed of provincial health and safety organizations, trade union representatives, employers, and other experts in the field, would provide advice to the CPO as he or she develops an province-wide strategy and prepares an annual report for the Minister.

Additional changes include adjustments to the number of trained health and safety personnel required for small businesses, altering how reprisals are referred to the labour relations board, and more.

According to convention, businesses across Ontario could be given up to 12 months to comply with the new rules, though the Ministry of Labour may ask employers to adhere to the act’s requirements on an expedited basis. Proactive businesses ought to begin determining how they will address the coming changes. For up-to-date news on Bill 160 developments, check out OHS Insider’s excellent blog on Ontario health and safety reform.