As the awareness of the costs of workplace injuries and violence increases, workplace safety becomes an increasingly important topic for HR departments. Below are a number of sites, some of which touch on the subject of disciplinary action against employees who violate health and safety policies.
Behaviour-based safety
www.essential.org/monitor/mm2000/00november/corp1.html
For those that have a disciplinary process in place for health and safety infractions as well as for those considering introducing one, “Blame the Worker” is a must read. Behind this article is the finding that “providing rewards for fewer injuries chills employee reporting of injuries rather than improving workplace safety and reduces the reliability of the data on injury logs.” This is not to say that such programs should not be considered, but rather when considered, it should be done with the full appreciation of potential pitfalls of the approach.
Healthy workplace excellence
www.nqi.ca/english/CAE_recipients.htm
The National Quality Institute is a not-for-profit organization that provides strategic focus and direction for Canadian organizations to achieve excellence, enabling Canada to set the standard for quality and healthy workplace practices throughout the world. NQI manages the Canada Awards for Excellence, which includes a Healthy Workplace trophy. The company summaries are somewhat brief but may give practitioners a starting point for further research.
Healthy indicators
www.clbc.ca/engdocs/reports/healthy-01.htm
The Canadian Labour and Business Centre offers this survey of more than 4,000 business leaders on the subject of “the healthy workplace”. The survey identifies “Healthy Workplace Indicators (HWI).” Consistent in the view of management and labour is the finding that the presence of good working relationships is the primary HWI. The full 36 page report is available for download as a PDF (Adobe).
Workplace health systems
www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hppb/ahi/workplace/resources.htm
Health Canada has made a number of publications available in pdf (Adobe) format. Included here are topics such as absenteeism and juggling home and work.
www.canadian-health-network.ca/customtools/homee.html
The Canadian Health Network is a Web portal sponsored by the Federal Government. On the left hand banner are links relating to a number of topics including Workplace Health, which takes users to a multitude of additional links on topics as diverse as air quality and smoke-free workplaces to mental health and infectious disease.
Hostility free workplaces
www.bullybusters.org/home/twd/bb/employer1.html
While this is a U.S. site, Bully Busters claims to be focused on Canadian and U.S. employers. The site offers a “blueprint for a hostility-free workplace.” This blueprint includes consideration of institutionalizing the commitment and coaching and re-invention for identified aggressors. While the site is somewhat of an advertisement for the books and services of the authors, it nonetheless provides a useful outline for HR leaders when considering the development or redevelopment of any harassment policy.
Joe Nunes is an actuary and president of Actuarial Solutions Inc. in Oakville, Ont. He can be reached at (905) 257-2038 or [email protected].
