Safety MattersOur blog discussing workplace safety opportunities in Nova Scotia and around the world.https://www.worksafeforlife.ca/safetymattersblogUsing candy to reduce slips, trips and falls?https://www.worksafeforlife.ca/safetymattersblog/PostId/263/using-candy-to-reduce-slips-trips-and-fallsGeneralTue, 06 Mar 2018 15:21:57 GMT<p>That&rsquo;s what Convergys did to <a href="http://www.worksafeforlife.ca/Home/Injury-Prevention/Protecting-your-Body/Slips-Trips-Falls" target="_blank">reduce the risk of slips, trips and falls</a> at their call centre in Glace Bay, NS. </p> <p><span style="background-color: #f4f4f4;">With about 700 employees, there were several slip, trip and fall incidences during the inclement weather seasons even though they took good care to ensure their crosswalks and designated walking areas were salted and cleared of snow.</span></p> <div> <p><span style="background-color: #f4f4f4;">After taking a deeper look at these incidents from a risk perspective, the company determined they needed to increase awareness with employees around proper use of walkways.</span></p> <p><span style="background-color: #f4f4f4;">They started a campaign called "Does it matter where you walk? "designed to create a positive habit of entering and exiting the parking lot and building using designated crosswalks.</span></p> <p><span style="background-color: #f4f4f4;">&ldquo;The idea came to me during a WCB Nova Scotia partnership meeting with Kelly Johnston-Noseworthy, WCB Relationship Manager, and our senior leadership team," says Natalie Paris, HR Manager, Convergys. &ldquo;Our goal was to create a habit of safety awareness and get everyone aware of its importance. It will only work if everyone is on board - and it needs to be a constant and consistent practice of awareness.&rdquo;</span></p> <p><span style="background-color: #f4f4f4;">Signage was created and posted throughout the building to increase awareness of the initiative. As well, to reinforce the seriousness of the initiative, a document was developed and uploaded into their manager-employee coaching system so employees and managers could acknowledge the initiative by signing the document.</span></p> <p><span style="background-color: #f4f4f4;">T</span><span style="background-color: #f4f4f4;">o further support the behaviour change for this initiative, the JOHS Committee, donning brightly colored vests and armed with buckets of treats, lined up one morning at each entrance to the parking lot (see images below). They greeted employees and explained the importance of walking only on designated crosswalk areas and proceeded to guide employees to the safe areas and encouraged them to spread the word to their coworkers. A little candy treat helped with the dialogue.</span></p> <p><span style="background-color: #f4f4f4;"><img alt="" style="width: 400px; height: 464px;" src="/Portals/WorkSafeForLifeRedesign/Images/About%20Us/It%20matter%20where%20you%20walk%20Convergys%203.jpg?ver=2018-03-06-105036-507" />&nbsp; <br /> <br /> <img alt="" style="width: 400px; height: 450px;" src="/Portals/WorkSafeForLifeRedesign/Images/About%20Us/It%20matters%20where%20you%20walk%20Convergys%204.jpg?ver=2018-03-06-105742-583" /><br /> </span></p> <p><span style="background-color: #f4f4f4;">The awareness initiative was launched in November 2017 right before the start of messy weather.&nbsp;</span></p> <div> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> </div>263Sprains and Strains Most Common Workplace Injury in NShttps://www.worksafeforlife.ca/safetymattersblog/PostId/211/sprains-and-strains-most-common-workplace-injury-in-nsGeneralThu, 12 May 2016 19:57:43 GMTSprains and strains are the most common type of injury experienced by workers in Nova Scotia. In 2015, they accounted for a little more than 64 per cent of all injuries in which people needed time off from work to recover. <div><span style="line-height: 1.6;"><br /> </span></div> <div><span style="line-height: 1.6;">The healthcare workforce is impacted by these kind of injuries more than any other workforce in our province. Lifting and moving people in the healthcare industry is the greatest single source of time-loss workplace injury in Nova Scotia. As the largest sector covered by WCB Nova Scotia, it has more than twice as many time loss injuries as any other sector.</span></div> <div><span style="line-height: 1.6;"><br /> </span></div> <div><span style="line-height: 1.6;">The leading causes of soft tissue injuries in healthcare are related to safe patient/resident handling followed by slips, trip and falls.</span> <p>Sprains and strains represent over 80% of all injuries experienced by Nova Scotia&rsquo;s healthcare workers.&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.6;">If you were to combine the number of days people were off work in the healthcare industry in 2014, it would equate to 395 full-time employees for one year.</span></p> <p>Healthcare in our province faces a complicated culture and we will be working with our partners to improve safety in this sector, as part of the <a href="http://www.worksafeforlife.ca/LinkClick.aspx?link=https%3a%2f%2fnovascotia.ca%2flae%2fdocuments%2fWorkplaceSafetyStrategy.pdf&amp;tabid=327&amp;portalid=1&amp;mid=934" target="_self">Workplace Safety Strategy</a>.</p> <p>That is only part of the picture of time-loss injury in NS. Every year, more than 770,000 days are lost to workplace injury. That is about 2,400 working years. It&rsquo;s the population of Digby, off work, for a whole year.</p> <p>This is not in step with the Workplace Safety Strategy&rsquo;s vision of being the safest place to work in Canada.</p> <p>Our people are our most valuable asset. The best place for them to be is healthy, working and on the job.</p> <p>We&rsquo;ve made progress in reducing workplace injuries &ndash; in fact, a 30 per cent decline in the past 10 years &ndash; but there is so much more to do. Collectively, we must do all we can to keep each other safe at work. And when injury happens, we need to have measures in place to help people get back to the way things were.</p> <p>Work is a big part of our lives, and of the life story of each worker in this province.</p> <p>Not only is it about being able to come to work, it&rsquo;s about walking the dog, taking the kids to soccer, meeting friends for coffee, or unloading the dishwasher.</p> <p>Because the most important reasons for workplace safety, and return to work, are not at work at all.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.worksafeforlife.ca/LinkClick.aspx?link=http%3a%2f%2fwcb.ns.ca%2fPortals%2fwcb%2fSprains_and_Strains_Preventing_MSI_through_work_design.pdf&amp;tabid=327&amp;portalid=1&amp;mid=934" target="_self">Preventing Sprains and Strains</a>&nbsp;<br /> <a href="http://www.worksafeforlife.ca/LinkClick.aspx?link=%2fHome%2fsafety-initiatives%2fSlips-Falls&amp;tabid=327&amp;portalid=1&amp;mid=934" target="_self">Slips, Trips and Falls Prevention &ndash; Stories, Hazard ID, Tips, Resources</a><br /> <a href="http://www.worksafeforlife.ca/LinkClick.aspx?link=%2fHome%2fsafety-initiatives%2fback-protection%23%26panel1-1&amp;tabid=327&amp;portalid=1&amp;mid=934" target="_self">Back Protection Agents</a><br /> <a href="http://www.worksafeforlife.ca/LinkClick.aspx?link=%2fHome%2fAbout-Us%2fSafety-Matters-Blog%2fPostId%2f208%2fworking-to-recovery&amp;tabid=327&amp;portalid=1&amp;mid=934" target="_self">Working to Recovery Blog</a><br /> <a href="http://www.worksafeforlife.ca/LinkClick.aspx?link=http%3a%2f%2fwcb.ns.ca%2fPortals%2fwcb%2fDirect_access_to_early_assessment.pdf&amp;tabid=327&amp;portalid=1&amp;mid=934" target="_self">Direct Access for Sprains and Strains</a></p> </div>211