Occupational and health management

Occupational and health management Please read the file Module 6 first and then write responses for Journal 3, Journal 4 and discussion forum. Journal 3 WCB In this journal, use the WCB of Alberta's website to explore the answers to the following questions. Please add your answers below and contact the instructors with any questions you have regarding the WCB. 1. What are the guiding principles of the Alberta workers’ compensation system, and, in your own words, what do they mean? 2. What are workers' rights under Alberta WCB legislation? 3. Who is covered? 4. Identify six industries that are not covered. 5. What injuries need to be reported to WCB? 6. When does an injury need to be reported? 7. Identify which types of injuries are not considered work-related? Please write 2 pages on his topic Journal 4 Disability Management Read the case study below and answer the associated questions in your journal. Case Study An employee approaches his supervisor and says that his doctor has advised him to take eight weeks of sick leave to recover from "stress and burnout." The employee hands his supervisor a doctor's note to confirm this advice and explains that he needs to be away from work starting right away. The supervisor notes to himself that this employee has had a troubled history with the organization. The employee has been disciplined on several occasions and has, in turn, filed a number of grievances against the supervisor and various co-workers. He has made no secret that he would prefer to transfer from his current night shift to a day shift or to a different location, but he doesn't have the seniority to successfully apply for any of these positions. With this new request for leave, the supervisor is concerned that the employee and the doctor randomly requested a lengthy absence. Nonetheless, since the employee presented a valid doctor's note, the supervisor grants the employee's request. The supervisor schedules the start and end dates of the sick leave. A few days before he is supposed to return to work, the employee delivers another doctor's note saying he should be transferred to the day shift immediately. (Canadian Human Rights Commission, 2007) 1. As supervisor, would you have to grant the employee's transfer immediately, based on the doctor's request? 2. As supervisor, list three things you'd like to follow up on prior to granting the transfer to the day shift. 3. If the employee granted you consent to contact his/her doctor, what additional information would you like to gather? 4. What additional steps could the supervisor or company take in figuring out what to do next? Please write 2 pages for this Journal 4 And for the last discussion forum please write 1 page Discussion - Workplace Wellness The final chapter of this module introduced you to a variety of workplace health and wellness programs, the purpose of which are to enhance productivity and reduce absenteeism. In this forum, list additional benefits of promoting health and wellness in the workplace. Identify one benefit to the employer and one benefit to the employee and provide an explanation as to why you see these as benefits. Do not use the same examples as do your classmates. Once you have provided your example, comment on at least one other post either providing additional explanation of the benefit or explaining why you think it's not a benefit. You may find it useful to do some more research on CCOHS. Occupational Health Management Introduction Managing employee health is becoming a significant business expense and is increasingly integrated into the Occupational Health and Safety Management System. This module focuses on key occupational health and wellness programs. By the end of the module, you should be able to explain and justify the benefits of an integrated approach to managing employee health and wellness. Objectives: 1. Describe and discuss key occupational health and wellness programs. 2. Identify and explain the purpose and role of workers' compensation programs. 3. Identify legislated reporting requirements. This chapter provides an overview of legislated requirements for reporting occupational illnesses and injuries and describes the common health and wellness programs offered by employers. To successfully complete this module, study the readings in the following three chapters, along with the linked information. Following that, complete the forum and two journaling activities for the module. Workers' Compensation The evolution of workers' compensation in Canada began shortly after the development of occupational health and safety acts. Historically, an injured worker had to sue his or her employer to receive any financial compensation for a workplace injury. This process often had negative consequences as workers had to prove that the employer was directly at fault. In 1913, the Meredith Report was completed which made recommendations for workers' compensation programs in Canada. The main result of the commission was to set up a no-fault insurance system operated at arm's length of the government and funded through employers. In Alberta, worker's compensation is administered through the Workers' Compensation Board of Alberta (WCB) . To familiarize yourself with the role of the WCB and the associated reporting requirements, complete the questions in the Journal 3 Activity using the WCB website. Disability Management In Canada, disability management is governed through the human rights acts and commissions for the prevention of discrimination. Disability management is an integrated process by which the effects of a disability—whether physical, mental, or cognitive—are minimized by ensuring equal access and accommodations in the workplace. A disability management program is the supportive infrastructure necessary to carry out the overall goals and objectives for disability management at a given workplace. Two of the key components of a disability management program are early and effective return to work. The return-to-work process following an injury or other diagnosis can take many forms; however, it's in the employee's and employer's best interests for the employee to return to work as soon as he/she is medically fit, with appropriate accommodations in place. The employee may require a temporary reduction in the number of hours worked or may require alternate, lighter duties as determined by the person's medical condition. The benefit of early return to work is the protection of the occupational bond, or the mutually beneficial relationship between employer and employee. Three key legal principles guide the disability management program and the return-to-work process: • protection from discrimination • duty to accommodate • privacy rights. Every employer, supervisor, and worker involved in the return-to-work process needs to be familiar with his/her legal obligations. These three legal principles are summarized in the Canadian Human Rights Commission's Guide for Managing the Return to Work. Go to this link now to read the overview. The link above also contains pertinent information on the step-by-step process for guiding the return-to-work process. If you're interested, you can read this supplementary information. It's time to complete the Journal 4 Activity for disability management. Occupational Health Programs In addition to Worker's Compensation, which is mandatory, many employers offer additional benefits to assist with income replacement and promote health in the workplace. This chapter briefly reviews the various types of benefits programs available. Disability benefits plans provide income and other supports to employees who are unable to attend work for a variety of reasons. Benefits plans can include sick leave plans, short-term disability plans, and long-term disability benefits plans. These plans are made available to employees to ensure they are not left without income should they become ill or injured. Each of the plans differs in the amount of income replacement available and the length of time they're accessible. Unlike WCB benefits, these plans are intended for use for non-occupational illness or injury. In addition to these formalized programs, many employers also offer health promotion and wellness programming within the workplace. These programs can take a variety of forms and should be tailored to the needs and culture of the workforce. For example, if 90% of the workforce are non-smokers, then offering smoking cessation programing may not be suitable. However, if you have an aging workforce with many employees approaching retirement, it might be suitable to provide programming to assist the aging workforce stay on the job. Because the variety of workplace wellness programming is so diverse and should be targeted to a specific workforce, the success of the program is dependent on the information gathered at the beginning. For more information on getting started developing a wellness program, read the following overview from the CCOHS: Workplace Health and Wellness Programs, Getting Started. Once you collect the information you need (as outlined in the CCOHS reading), you're ready to develop specific programming. In the following sections, we'll look at some of the common elements of an occupational health and wellness program. Employee Assistance Programs An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) is a short-term confidential counselling program offered to employees and family members of employees to assist with resolving personal issues that might be affecting their work. EAPs are typically operated on a third-party agreement with the employer to offer confidential services. In most cases, the costs of services are free to the employee, and the employer is not aware of who or why the service was accessed. For further information on EAPs, read the CCOHS summary of Employee Assistance Programs. Flexible Work Arrangements Flexible work arrangements (flexwork) are becoming increasingly more common as a result of an ever increasing conflict between personal lives and work lives. The term work-life balance has been used to describe the balance or lack of balance between the demands of work and the demands of personal roles. The conflict between work and life can take many forms but is often broken down into: • Role overload: Having too many demands on your time as a result of the multiple roles that you play (employee, mother, wife, caregiver, coach, etc.) and not having the time or resources to fulfill those roles. • Work-to-family interference: When the demands of work interfere with time or activities normally dedicated to family. • Family-to-work interference: When the demands of family interfere with time normally dedicated to work. • Caregiver Strain: The burden of having to provide care to someone who requires it and can involve children, aging family members, or a family member with a disability. As a result of these common conflicts, employers are recognizing that they need to make their workplaces more amenable to flexible work scheduling to attract and retain highly skilled employees. A flexible work arrangement is simply an alternate work arrangement from the traditional work day and week. It can take a variety of forms such as flextime, compressed work hours, telework, job sharing, banked time, etc. For a complete description of each of these types of work and the supportive policies needed for a flexible work program, go to the CCOHS overview on Flexible Work Arrangements. Bullying and Violence Bullying and violence prevention are also often included in workplace health promotion programs. While workplace violence is covered under Part 27 of the OHS Code, as well as in the criminal code, bullying is not directly addressed, so employers need to be aware of the various forms that bullying, harassment, and violence can take and take steps to prevent them. This can be done through policies, procedures, and educational programs. For more information on Bullying and Violence, please refer to the links from CCOHS. Workplace Stress All of the items listed above are also associated with stress, a negative response in the body when physical or psychosocial demands are greater than the individual's ability to meet them. Stress can have a variety of negative results, many of which result in absenteeism. Therefore, it is in an employer's best interests to reduce and control stress in the workplace. For an overview of the negative consequences of workplace stress and a list of tips to reduce stress, go to the CCOHS summary Workplace Stress - General. Health Surveillance Health surveillance is a systematic program for collecting health status information of employees. Typically, health surveillance is based on the specific health hazard exposures that employees experience. The intention of health surveillance is to detect signs or symptoms of disease in order to prevent further exposure and a disease state. For most exposures, health surveillance is not mandatory; however, in Alberta, as in other jurisdictions, there are specific exposures for which health surveillance is required. The hazard that most of us are familiar with (for which surveillance is mandatory) is noise. Noise-exposed employees are required to have their hearing tested annually to detect any signs of noise-induced hearing loss. In addition to noise, the OHS Code specifies mandatory health surveillance for asbestos, silica, coal dust, and lead. In summary, the overall goal of workplace health promotion programs is to reduce absenteeism and enhance the productivity of workers. These goals are in the best interests of both workers and employers. Now that you've been introduced to workplace health and wellness programs, it's time to join the Forum on Workplace Wellness.