Canadian Experiences in Workers Health Promotion

1
Canadian Experiences in Workers Health Promotion

• Presented by Len Hong
• Canadian Centre for Occupational
• Health and Safety
• March 2000

2
Background

• 30 million people
• 14 million workers
• 700,000 workplaces
• 6.4 unemployment

3
Demographics

• 800 fatalities/year1 in 16 workers are injured
• illnesses (disabilitiy claims 8 payroll costs)
• 4 billion direct workers compensation costs
  (mostly safety-related)
• 10 billion total impact of workers compensation
  costs
• 20 billion for workers health direct and
  indirect costs
• 12 stress related

4
Employment Trends

• Increases in
• service sector, knowledge work
• health care, transportation
• flex work, self employment
• Decreases in
• extracting natural resources
• heavy manufacturing

5
Governments in Canada

• 1 federal
• 10 provincial
• 3 territorial

6
Legal governmental authority

• Resides with all 14 jurisdictions
• Each jurisdiction sets their own standards and
  legislation
• Education, training, health, workers compensation
• Occupational health and safety
• No uniform laws/standards

7
Workers Health Surveillance

• Workers Compensation Boards (all public sector)
• Departments of Health

8
Social Safety Network

• National health care system
• National pension system
• Welfare system
• Employment insurance and training programs

9
Occupational Health and Safety System

• Internal responsibility system
• Employee/employer are the stakeholders
• Joint occupational health and safety committees
• Hazard/ risk based
• Clear responsibilities and duties

10
Occupational Health and Safety System (contd)

• Government role of setting statutes, policy,
  enforcement
• Support for prevention and training programs
• Some support for research and education

11
Significant Barriers for Workers Health Promotion

• Clear definition of workers health
• Unified policy/legislation
• Authority/accountability for workers health
• Standards
• Full stakeholder participation
• National vision linked to results based on
  accountability

12
Health for All Framework

• 1. creating health, at the roots of health and
  disease at work, including social and
  environmental determinants
• 2. improving health over the entire working
  lifecycle
• 3. improving health in the settings which give
  them context i.e. at work, and related to work

13
Health for All Framework (contd)

• 4. taking action across sectors and in
  partnerships that go beyond those boundaries
• 5. measuring the success of health strategies
  and actions at all levels, in terms of health
  outcomes

14
Health Considerations in Canadian Workplaces

• 1. Physical
• 2. Psychosocial
• - Emotional, mental, social, spiritual,
  intellectual

15
Lifecycle considerations

• Employee assistance programs
• Family work balance
• Family burden
• Continuous learning

16
Leadership

• Guidelines
• Health Canada-Workplace Health System for small
  businesses, corporations and schools
• Small business
• needs assessment-employees health survey
• Workplace health profile-general report
• Special report stress, health and safety
  concerns at work, physical activity, weight,
  smoking, drinking, medication use

17
Leadership (contd)

• Guidelines (contd)
• Small Business (contd)
• Health plan
• one to three years involving a community (5)
• Action plan
• programs, policies and activities

18
National Quality Institute Canadian Healthy
Workplace Criteria

• Annual award to recognize good to best practices
• Partnership of Health Canada, health and safety
  professionals
• Jointly sponsored by the Health, Work and
  Wellness Institute of Canada

19
Initiatives

• Use of Canadian Healthy Workplace System
• Community plan (5 provinces)
• Issue based - pregnancy
• School health program for students, staff and
  teachers

20
Partnerships

• Multisectoral
• eg Ottawa Carleton Workplace Health System
• public health (regional government), safety
  association (NGO), community group, labour ,
  business (large and small), professional, federal
  and provincial government, health care,
  management/research

21
Partnerships (contd)

• Safe Communities coalitions (gt 30)
• Curriculum development
• Resources for educating teachers
• Teaching resources
• Youth OSH Conference
• Minerva Canada

22
Business Case

• Annual conference and awards for workers health
  programs
• Provincial best practices database in OSH

23
Resources

• labour, management, government, NGO,
  professional, trade associations, business
  organizations, schools, academics, researchers
• training/ training materials
• staff
• funding
• case studies and reports
• academic research
• planning

24
Advocacy

• Labour unions
• Business leaders
• Professional/health/injury prevention interest
  groups
• Parents

25
Enhanced public profile

• Social marketing
• New Brunswick
• Ontario
• British Columbia

26
Evidence-based

• Institute for Work and Health
• Canadian Research Institutes
• Workers Compensation Boards

27
Future

• Accountability
• Social policies
• National programs
• Redirect resources
• Best evidence
• Capacity and capability building