Aboriginal Safety and Health Awareness Initiative

Agency:

Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre Inc.

Funding:

$94,055

Purpose:

This project will identify barriers and hazards to workplace safety in the urban Aboriginal community.  It will deliver culturally appropriate workplace safety and health information to urban Aboriginal communities, and will be implemented through four facilitators representing a cross-section from the Aboriginal community.

Information on current workplace safety and health issues in selected Aboriginal communities will be compiled.  A survey of Aboriginal organizations will be conducted in order to review their health and safety policies and document practices.  As well, an Aboriginal Safety and Health Awareness Committee will be set up to provide guidance and direction for a culturally appropriate framework on workplace safety and health. 

The project will promote and enhance safety, health and rehabilitation programs in Manitoba workplaces, while enhancing the WCB’s understanding of complex workers’ compensation issues involving Aboriginal workers.

Injured and Disabled Workers’ Centre

Agency:

Injured Workers Association of Manitoba Inc.

Funding:

$100,481

Purpose:          

This centre provides support to injured workers and their families once their WCB benefits are terminated, or after the decision that an injury is not compensable.  

The centre helps injured workers and their families understand, cope and adapt to injuries and post-injury issues.  This includes client counseling and referrals to appropriate community programs, as well as help to those who wish to appeal the WCB’s decisions by empowering them to present their own appeals. 

The centre helps injured workers make informed decisions, take control of their situation and foster a healthier return to work. Ultimately, these services aim to improve an injured worker’s sense of healing and self-worth.

Management Commitment to Workplace Safety

Agency:

Institute of Work & Health, Department of Public

Health Services,  University of Toronto

Funding:

$93,258

Purpose:

The Institute for Work and Health (IWH) will study CEO commitment to workplace safety by performing the following:

• A web survey of 150 CEOs and senior managers in Manitoba; 
• A safety climate survey of supervisors and leaders in sampled companies; and
• A safety climate survey of 2,500 front line workers. 

The safety climate surveys will validate the responses from the management survey by obtaining more information from supervisory and line staff on their perception of managerial commitment to safety and health in the presence of operational and financial demands. Objective safety data, such as record of injuries, injury rates, loss of workdays and safety inspections, will also be analyzed.

A half-day workshop will provide feedback and explore the preliminary results.  

This study will provide better understanding about:

• How to obtain and enhance senior management’s commitment to occupational health and safety in Manitoba; and
• Factors that drive executive commitment to workplace safety and health.  

Language, Culture and Literacy Needs of WCB Clients

Agency:

Prairie Research Associates, Inc.

Funding:

$124,906

Purpose:

This project will analyze the language, cultural and literacy needs of WCB clients, including both injured workers and employers.  The study will develop a demographic profile of WCB clients, assess clients’ understanding of the WCB, and determine clients’ experiences with the WCB. 

This research proposal will involve:

• A mail-out questionnaire to 1,500 WCB covered employers and a telephone survey of 1,000 workers who have had a WCB claim in the last two years.  The questionnaires will address the demographic profile of firms’ employees, accessibility to WCB services and programs, and their experiences with the WCB.
• Four focus groups with workers in Winnipeg and rural Manitoba. 

This study will help the WCB better understand the impact of language, culture, and literacy on the accessibility of its services.

Managers’ and Supervisors’ Role in Enhancing the Safety and Health Climate for Healthcare Providers

Agency:

Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba

Funding:

$53,996

Purpose:

This study will improve understanding of management’s role in establishing the health and safety climate within healthcare facilities.  This study will involve a multi-perspective survey of the attitudes and perceptions of managers, supervisors and healthcare providers about health and safety in Manitoba healthcare facilities.  Fifty top managers, 200 supervisors and 750 employees from healthcare facilities across Manitoba will be surveyed. 

The management and supervisor questionnaire will address health and safety policies, practices, organizational supports and perceptions of the current level of health and safety risks within the facility.  The questionnaire for non-supervisory staff will focus on perceptions of management and supervisory support for health and safety, its importance to the organization, perceptions of major health and safety threats, level of group support, health and safety practices, and perceptions of the safety climate of the organization.

In the short term, this project will:

·         Identify gaps in the management of health and safety in Manitoba healthcare facilities;

·         Enhance the understanding of management and supervisor attitudes on the health and safety climate within Manitoba healthcare facilities; 

·         Provide information on healthcare providers’ perception of health and safety threats;

·         Recommend programs within healthcare settings to correct the gaps;

·         Provide information about healthcare providers’ perceptions of management and supervisor support for a positive health and safety environment; and

·         Clarify the relationship between the health and safety climate and injuries and illnesses within healthcare facilities.

In the long term, this project will help to improve the health and safety climate within Manitoba healthcare facilities and improve WCB experience rates within healthcare facilities.

Safe Work for an Aging Workforce

Agency:

Andrew R. Dolhy Ergonomics Consulting

Funding:

$32,300

Purpose:

This project will help workplaces recognize the effects of different types of work on older workers and how their physical and cognitive capabilities relate to safe work practices.  This project will:

• Hold a two-day symposium on the aging workforce for academics, health and safety professionals, committee members, managers, supervisors and labour representatives. An action plan developed by the participants will form one project outcome;
• Provide ergonomic resources to workplaces that use the action plan to reduce the risk of injury to older workers; and
• Develop a best practices guide on job accommodations for older workers using information from the action plan and on-site observations.

The long-term benefits from this program will be increased awareness about the aging workforce, greater consideration to musculoskeletal injuries and the reduction of these injuries among older workers.   

SAFE Workers of Tomorrow Health and Safety 2007/2008 Program

Agency:

Workers of Tomorrow Safety Centre Inc.

Funding:

$153,276

Purpose:          

This program’s primary focus is to educate students and young workers on their rights as Manitoba workers, and to help them prevent workplace injuries and illnesses by assessing risk and recognizing hazards.  Numerous presentations and training programs will be made to high school students by a volunteer speakers’ bureau consisting of health and safety experts and young workers who have experienced workplace injuries.

Welding Exposures in Small Business

Agency:

OHG Consulting

Funding:

$48,925

Purpose:

Welders are exposed to welding fumes which place them at an elevated risk for cancer, kidney disease and lower reproductive capacity. This project will measure fume exposure among 200 welders from 40 small welding shops in Winnipeg.  The study will:

·         Measure the exposure in small businesses which typically have five welders on staff;

·         Provide each business surveyed with a report on the exposures to their workers and options for corrective action; and

·         Share the findings of the study through a final report and a pamphlet on welding safety.

The sampling data will be immediately compared with legislated health and safety standards.

The project will help reduce occupational cancers and other diseases among welders in Manitoba.

Young Workers, Learning Disorders and SAFE Work

Agency:

Twin Valley Co-op Ltd.

Funding:

$90,000

Purpose:

This project targets workers (youth and adults) with learning disabilities working in entry-level positions at the Twin Valley Co-operatives located in Rossburn, Russell, Birtle, Miniota and Elkhorn.  This project will develop training tools for the employer to instill safe work practices and retain workers with learning disabilities.  The project will:

·         Undertake a job and task analysis for each entry-level job in the food, general merchandise, and petroleum departments of the Co-op;

·         Identify risks and develop training and safety measures; and

·         Create an orientation and safety program for entry-level positions, customized to the specific needs of the target group. 

The expertise of the stakeholder group, consisting of teachers, counselors, home economists, occupational therapists and management, will be used in the entry-level job analysis exercise.

In the long term, this project will raise safety awareness among employers hiring workers with learning disabilities.  The project will become the catalyst for more work on employing individuals with learning disabilities, especially in rural communities.

Young Worker Responses to Workplace Hazards

Agency:

Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba

Funding:

$55,232

Purpose:

This project will study the responses of teenaged workers to workplace hazards.  It will investigate what factors predict whether young workers will quit hazardous work, speak up about potential hazards, engage in hazardous work out of fear of being disloyal, or ignore potential hazards altogether.  The study will also explore the relationship between the different responses and their link to injury exposure.

The study will be undertaken in four stages: 

First, the study will hold focus groups with teenage workers in a variety of jobs common to young workers. 

Second, participant feedback will be captured about attitudes, emotions, or behaviors in the workplace. 

Third, a longitudinal field study will survey 400 employed young people aged 15-18 years about their workplace working conditions, incidents or near misses, the behavioral factors in response to workplace hazards, safety training experience, supervision and their commitment to the employer. 

The fourth stage will communicate the study results to teenagers, educators, employers and others.  These results will be useful for supervisor safety training, safety management and other educational programs promoting safety among young workers.

The study will produce a tool for measuring young worker responses to workplace hazards. This tool will help enhance existing and future educational safety programs resulting in fewer injuries and a reduction in long-term social and economic costs associated with injuries among young workers. 

Ningwanuk Meshquajese Wings of Change

Agency:

MFL Occupational Health Centre

Funding:

$121,236

Purpose:

The project will help Workplace Safety and Health committees deal with workplace issues through the use of Sharing Circles.  The seven traditional Aboriginal teachings and three workers’ safety and health rights will be applied.  The project targets workplaces outside of Winnipeg and intends to work in partnership with the Ma Mawi Chi Itata Centre, MFL unions (including the United Steelworkers Union) and Safe Workers of Tomorrow.

This project will create a bridge between Aboriginal culture and Workplace Safety and Health committees.  The project seeks to better engage Aboriginal workers with non-Aboriginal workers when dealing with workplace health and safety issues.  It will build on the earlier Wings of Change project, which conducted Sharing Circles primarily within Winnipeg and developed Sharing Circle Guides.

In the short term, this project will give many workplaces outside of Winnipeg an opportunity to participate in a program designed to address workplace safety and health within Aboriginal culture.

In the long term, the project will empower a vulnerable group of workers on workplace safety and health using a culturally appropriate approach.  In addition, the project hopes to sensitize non-Aboriginal workers to Aboriginal cultures.