SPR Studies in Workplace Health & Safety (An abbreviated version of this paper was published in the May 2013 edition of Canadian Government Executive)

Transcription

1 SPR Studies in Workplace Health & Safety (An abbreviated version of this paper was published in the May 2013 edition of Canadian Government Executive) Managers' Accountability for Health & Safety Protecting Yourself, Your Workers, Your Organization & Productivity by Mr. Neil Gavigan and Dr. Ted Harvey (SPR Associates)* Introduction: This paper examines issues in Health and Safety (H&S) as they pertain to managers' responsibilities. It addresses these issues for federal government executives, as well as private sector employers in the federally-regulated sectors. The importance of H&S was strongly signalled for Federally-regulated employers and unions by The Cliff Central Heating Plant explosion of October, This event resulted in the tragic death of a worker, prosecution of Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC), and a subsequent guilty plea by PWGSC. This explosion -- close to the heart of government -- at the heating plant for Canada's Parliament buildings, illustrates how H&S can be an urgent matter for all managers. 1 Tragic events such as Ottawa's OC Transpo workplace shooting deaths in the 1990's also have lingering impacts in Ottawa and elsewhere. 2 Ongoing H&S losses: Such events are echoed by ongoing injuries and deaths in Canadian workplaces 3 -- some 1,000 deaths and 300,000 injuries each year. 4 These continuing losses tell us that managers need to realize the true costs associated with non-compliance or ignoring H&S laws and procedures. Common practice wisdom tells us that H&S compliance can promote greater productivity and that extreme disregard for H&S responsibilities can result in human loss, fines and criminal prosecution. Clearly, however, this wisdom is not well practised and managers need to pay more attention to and better attend to H&S issues in the workplace. We can do better: Considering the above, we began this paper with the view that too many managers reflect the view (regularly or occasionally) that "H&S risks and costs are inevitable" or, "not significant to our agency." This paper is designed to emphasize that lack of thorough and preventive vigilance contributes to a work culture which is unprepared to deal thoroughly with H&S risks. To address these concerns and complement common H&S best practices (management commitment, H&S programs, joint health and safety committees, training, etc.), a number of specific changes are recommended. Key among these is the need to acknowledge mental health as an H&S issue, incentives for managers to ensure quality H&S performance at their workplace, and the development of a stronger dialogue on H&S among managers and workers. * About the Authors: Mr. Gavigan is former Director General, Compliance and Regional Operations, Labour Canada. Dr. Harvey is President of SPR Associates Inc., which has an established 25-year track record conducting studies of workplaces and occupational health & safety (OHS), including the development of Ontario's OHS certification training which has reached 300,000+ managers and worker representatives to-date. For further details, see: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The authors would like to thank Mr. Kin Choi (Labour Canada); Dr. Katherine Lippel (University of Ottawa); Dr. Cam Mustard (Institute of Work and Health); Mr. Bill Wilkerson (Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health); and others who were interviewed or provided input to this paper --they bear no responsibility for the content of this paper. 1 This explosion has been an ongoing issue in the media, as seen in CBC reports in June 2013, "The Singing Plumber". See: 2 That event referred to by some as the OC Transpo massacre, occurred in 1999, when a worker who had been the subject of bullying, armed himself, shot and killed four co-workers in the transit company offices, and then took his own life. 3 See, for example: and 4 An approximate average over the past 10 years. 1

2 Terminology: In this paper, the term H&S injuries includes classic H&S injuries (falls etc.), workplace violence, as well as office-type impacts (carpal-tunnel syndrome), stress and other factors which reduce readiness for work, or result in H&S costs. In 2013, mental health has become a key issue in workplace H&S. The Urgency and Complexity of H&S: In 2013, Canadian employers and unions (public and private) have to deal with increasingly complex issues in H&S. They realize that workplace accidents, injuries and fatalities have a devastating impact on the workers who are injured, co-workers, friends and family members. As well, impacts on workplace productivity are significant -- in lost time due to injuries, direct costs, the loss of experienced staff, and reduced morale of the workforce at large. Addressing H&S issues is made more complex by existing laws, agency priorities, and gaps in available tools and training. There is also a question as to whether corporate culture aids effective responses to the challenges of ensuring healthy, safe workplaces. The impacts of H&S on productivity are clearly seen by some senior managers. For example, Kin Choi, Assistant Deputy Minister, Compliance Operations and Program Development, HRSDC-Labour, notes that there is a clear recognition that a healthy workplace contributes to organizational productivity -- not only through a reduction in lost work time, but also through the efforts of employees who are engaged in the creation of such a workplace. Changes to make healthy workplaces a reality are difficult to achieve, even though good H&S practices are known to have a positive impact on overall organizational productivity. Costs Indicate the Scope of H&S Problems: Concerns with healthy workplaces and productivity are underlined by the broader societal costs of H&S, as seen in lost time due to accidents and injuries, and disability compensation. Indeed, costs include many indirect outlays as well as long term liabilities. According to Art Deane, a safety consultant affiliated with the University of Alberta, the total [direct and indirect costs] costs of occupational injuries to the Canadian economy can now be estimated [at] more than $19 billion annually." This cost increases when mental health is included. According to the Mental Health Commission of Canada, "Mental health problems are the leading cause of both short and long-term disabilities in Canada, with the... cost estimated to be $51 billion, including almost $20 billion from workplace losses." Related cost issues are high in the minds of many Canadians, particularly as regards the public sector. For example, a recent CBC news report filed on June 20, 2012 refers to an internal Treasury Board of Canada report that " federal public servants are staying home an average of 18 working days a year, or almost a full month off the job." CBC noted that these absences included an average of 12 days of sick leave and 6 days of longterm disability costing Canadian taxpayers more than $1 billion a year in lost wages. Significantly, among those on long-term disability, "almost half were on leave for stress, depression..." Such reports on sick leave are at the "margin" of hard core H&S losses and a challenge to interpret. For example, we cannot assess the extent to which sick and disability days reflect higher risk levels in the workplace or to what degree they simply reflect the aging demographic of the federal public service and society generally. What we do know, however, is that these represent a huge cost and a major loss in productive capacity within the public service. The related private sector costs are also highly significant to the economy. Managers' Responsibilities and Opportunities: Federally-regulated employers are covered by H&S laws which complement H&S practice wisdom. 5 These laws all share objectives of ensuring a healthy and safe workplace, the prevention of accidents and injuries, and an enforcement regime to deal with practices which create or tolerate risks. Employers in the federal jurisdiction, including the federal public service, are covered by Part II of the Canada Labour Code. As Section of the Codes states: "The purpose of this Part is to prevent accidents and injury to health arising out of, linked with or occurring in the course of employment..." and Section 124 states that "Every employer shall ensure that the health and safety at work of every person employed by the employer is protected." 5 Widespread practice wisdom exists on how to achieve good H&S in workplaces. This practice wisdom is widely encouraged by governments and many safety associations, and includes key assumptions such as: senior management's commitment to H&S, reinforced from top to bottom by complete H&S monitoring systems and processes, including inspections, training, joint health and safety committees and employee engagement. Unfortunately, constant vigilance in implementing such practice wisdom is a challenge, thus resulting in "lapses" and preventable injuries and deaths. 2

3 Managers in the federal sector need to understand and respect the rights of their employees, to be informed and trained about possible dangers in the workplace, to participate in H&S committees, and the right to refuse dangerous work. The creation of safe workplaces also requires that employees adhere to H&S rules and report unsafe work practices. These rights and obligations are enforced by Labour Canada, through a regime of workplace inspections, complaints investigations and administrative reviews (with oversight by Labour Affairs Officers). Good H&S Practices Do Make a Difference: A longstanding tradition of research and practice in H&S demonstrates that workers' rights, and managers support for these rights and enforcement, result in reduced H&S losses. Research also demonstrates that those same efforts lead to gains in productivity. Unfortunately, continuing losses (deaths, injuries, illnesses) clearly indicate that more needs to be done to protect workplaces from H&S losses. This is especially true for broader workplace culture and priorities which often hinder improvements to H&S. Changes need to take place in workplaces in order for managers and workers to act proactively, in a cohesive manner, to improve workplace H&S. Most of these changes are "scripted" by current practice standards in H&S which are well-developed, but need to be observed more fully. A Game-Changing Issue -- Mental Health and Safety: H&S laws in Canada, as noted earlier, were originally focused on physical health and safety (e.g. the traditional "meat" of H&S falls and other accidents, injuries and occupational diseases). Today, however, there is increasing concern with emerging issues such as workplace violence and mental health. A milestone in this area was the January 16, 2013 release of Voluntary National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety, which recognized the immense costs of mental illness to workplaces and society. This new voluntary standard provides systematic approaches to develop and sustain psychologically healthy and safe workplaces, including: The identification of psychological hazards in the workplace; The assessment and control of the risks in the workplace associated with hazards that cannot be eliminated (e.g. stressors due to change or reasonable job demands); The implementation of practices that support and promote psychological health and safety in the workplace; The growth of a culture that promotes psychological health and safety in the workplace; The implementation of measurement and review systems to ensure sustainability. Workplace Violence: Initial steps responding to mental health issues are evident in existing H&S regulations aimed at the prevention of workplace violence and bullying (the 1999 Ottawa OC Transpo shootings are a tragic reminder of the potential impacts of bullying). Regulatory and advisory measures to prevent physical violence have the opened door for dealing with the broader impacts of the work environment on the mental health of workers. Many relevant guidelines and tools are already available to managers. For example, at the Federal level, regulations under Part II require employers to: assess and evaluate risk and potential for workplace violence; develop policies to prevent bullying, teasing or abusive behaviour; provide training for all workers who are exposed to, or who are at risk of workplace violence; put controls in place to prevent workplace violence; investigate acts of violence; and assess the effectiveness of policies and measures at least every three years. 3

4 Recognition of 'bullying, teasing or abusive behaviour' as workplace hazards is seen as a key step towards ensuring healthy workplaces. These behaviours are often linked to employee stress levels. They can have a direct negative impact on psychological health and can also exacerbate the ill-health of employees who may already feel stress from job insecurity or personal circumstances. While recognition of bullying is widespread, according to Lippel and others, mental health issues are only partly being addressed by provinces and territories, with the strongest treatment being in Saskatchewan and Quebec. 6 Significant Changes Are Needed in H&S: Costs, ongoing losses, and research on all types of workplaces point to a need to significantly improve H&S management in the federal and other sectors. Given the tremendous costs associated with sick and disability leave, all managers should be motivated by the potential improvements in productivity that better workplace environments (healthy workplaces) can offer. Benefits include reduced work time losses and productivity gains through improved employee engagement. Managers Need to Change the Way That H&S is Implemented: Actions should include design of ways to improve work environments, preventative actions to minimize risks, and stronger application of existing Part II standards supporting worker rights and participation. Culture must also be redesigned to aid the reduction of risks, with improved workplace dialogue playing a key role. This need is recognized by senior federal managers, for example, Kin Choi (ADM, Labour Canada) noted that "we need to promote more conversation/dialogue about this." This, it was noted, needs to take place at all levels, among managers and between managers and their employees. How Can Workplaces Help to Find Solutions? Managers can be assisted in their H&S work and accountability by improved top-down policies. There is a need to change the workplace culture and cascading accountability for H&S as well as rewards, both up and down "the chain of command." Related steps should include incentives for performance in H&S, as outlined below: Strengthen Accountability: Performance Management Agreements can be an important aid. Performance pay and other types of incentives could be used to reward executives who demonstrate efforts to engage in dialogue/conversations with their employees and who require their managers to do so also. New key commitments for managers should include an assurance that executives hold regular meetings with members of H&S Workplace Committees as well as H&S Policy Committees. Need for Broader Action: Our thinking and actions in the field of H&S also needs to be expanded to reflect the increased complexity of psychological health and safety (as indicated by the recentlyreleased voluntary National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety). Over time, we have seen some successes in reducing accidents and injuries, now we must learn to apply the same effort to mental health. In this area, a number of important challenges will need to be addressed by managers. Need for Broader Dialogue to Affect Change in Workplace Culture: Open dialogue on H&S topics is difficult to achieve because of limited resources (dialogue takes time) and the need for innovative forums for manager-employee engagement. Bill Wilkerson, Co-Founder and CEO of the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health suggests that managers can contribute to stress reduction by communicating openly with employees about such topics as performance expectations, workload management, priority setting and, of course, budget reductions. This means a coherent strategy for employee engagement. Efforts at improving workplace dialogue and employee engagement should be rewarded and should cross all organizational divides. Changes are needed to bring employees at all levels into the discussion and to build better mechanisms for collaboration of management and bargaining units. 6 See: Katherine Lippel, "Law, Public Policy and Mental Health in the Workplace, Healthcare Papers, Vol. 11, May 2011; and Katherine Lippel and Annette Sikka, "Access to Workers' Compensation Benefits and Other Legal Protections for Work-Related Mental Health Problems: A Canadian Overview." Canadian Journal of Public Health, March/April,

5 Available Tools for Managers: Treasury Board of Canada has produced a Handbook for Managers to assist Public Service Managers in interpreting and implementing the requirements of Part II of the Canada Labour Code (the Code). The federal government has also recently published an on-line tool kit for public service managers, dealing with disability management in the public service. Disability management "focuses on absences from work as a result of illness, injury or disability and on preventing the risks that cause these absences." 7 The Mental Health Commission of Canada has another important tool entitled, Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace: An Action Guide for Employers. Clearly, many tools are available, however, their use may be hindered by limitations faced by managers, such as workplace culture, with many competing priorities -- and resulting instances where H&S is often ignored or taken for granted by both managers and employees. Summary and Conclusion: Major H&S issues remain a prominent issue for employers, unions, and workers, as we are reminded by the Cliff Central Heating Explosion and the OC Transpo shootings. However, other challenges must also be faced. Managers need better tools to prevent workplace violence. As well, psychological health and safety as a key workplace issue creates new challenges and these are challenges for which new tools are also required. The legal framework of Health and Safety and Human Rights laws is catching up to this new reality, providing better enforcement and a better framework for management responses. However compliance-enforcement efforts alone, while vitally important, will not be sufficient to deal with the challenges. Federal managers and those in federally regulated sectors need to engage in greater dialogue with employees and each other, strengthening the ways in which internal responsibility addresses H&S issues. The tools which are now available should be used more effectively to create healthy, productive working environments. Managers should be accountable (and should be rewarded) for their efforts (performance bonuses for good H&S). Additionally, H&S performance should be measured and included in annual reports for all agencies on the premise that "what gets measured gets dealt with." Accountability should also include rewards for employees as well as managers, to aid a seamless collaboration between managers, bargaining units and employees. As well, enforcement and penalties for negligence, as in the Cliff Heating Explosion, should be firm and determined (including criminal prosecution, where warranted) with the expectation that the result will be healthier, and more productive working environments. To provide feedback on this paper or to obtain further information from SPR Associates, please Dr. Ted Harvey at: ted.harvey@spr.ca, citing the subject line MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTABILITY Some may say that there is no need to hype management accountability issues that it is common sense that regulations and existing systems are enough that there is no need to "preach to the choir." However, persistent lapses and resulting deaths, injuries and costs clearly call for much greater vigilance. 7 See: 5