[All delegate comments]

* Delegate comments were edited for spelling, but not for comprehension or grammar.

Barriers

  • lack of understanding about aboriginal cultural practices
  • inadequate orientations and onboarding. Not enough time to process and take on the information to include in how they think about how they should approach safety
  • knowledge
  • lack of knowledge
  • too much paperwork (administrative) knowledge
  • knowledge and training
  • leadership training
  • lack of leadership training
  • insufficient budget; retro fitting, training - being reactive rather than making it an integral cost of doing business
  • lack of education for new workers rights
  • stopping - why is a third party more credible than someone who works in the industry
  • senior management commitment
  • does the leader reflect the values or "lead" the values
  • walk the talk
  • consistent communication - regardless of organizational size
  • senior management buy-in
  • employer says "it" needs to be done for safety, but it creates more work or time for workers
  • insecure managers/employer (sometimes the workers have more knowledge than the employer representative)
  • no recognition for measure of soft skills (no credit for inspiring others)
  • workers are called to task for failures
  • poor communication
  • employers have no authority, very little control - top down approach
  • managers at first level have to manage up to corporate
  • lack of understanding by both parties (worker and management)
  • unequal voice
  • managers who are "voluntold" to be on JHSC; it's not a priority, it's inconvenient
  • silos or geographic barriers - issues in Vancouver may not be an issue in Ottawa so gets ignored
  • regional issues lose priority in national lens
  • lack of buy in from senior management leading to simple/inexpensive fixes
  • bad bosses - disconnected
  • checklist mentality
  • organizational brittleness (resistance to changes)
  • organizational blindness to silos
  • inadequate communications/transparency
  • cognitive dissonance - competing priorities
  • paralysis through analysis
  • measuring failure not success
  • reluctance and inability to change
  • lack of resources, time, money and people
  • egos
  • conflicting interest between capital and labour
  • poor leadership
  • leadership committement (including budget and resources)
  • What is stopping? False leadership promises when staff decie to leave
  • lack of OHS leadership at multiple levels and and thus lack of meaningful employee engagement and communication
  • adequate time/resources
  • good planning and staying on plan
  • everyone on same page/communcation (common vision)
  • sometimes workers have false sense of being safe (perceptions and attitudes)
  • safety can be seen as reactive vs proactive
  • fear of retribution for reporting (not willing to report for fear of times because of OHS laws)
  • stopping - organization changes and implementation of the changes (preparation and planning and training) roll out of "full" plans for implementation
  • barriers amongst workplace parties - one group may be progressive; one not (resistance)
  • gender balance, all new or old workers - diversity creates different cultures
  • "that's just how we do it" - hesitant to change, new suggestions are discarded
  • recognize that all workplaces are unique
  • we look at lagging, not leading indicators
  • complacency
  • Demographics - generation disparities as per Dr Duxbury's talk. Communications between generations
  • word "culture" is loaded - what we expect of our leaders - if not achieved can create barrier
  • Workload? Not spending time building relationships
  • assignment/projects that do not align with/or can't see line on sight; with organizations; goals/vision
  • personal viewpoints/opinions
  • different views on what "is" a good work culture education re: what "is"
  • literacy - issues with communicating culture
  • history of the organization - resistancy to change of concepts "never did it that way before"
  • history of the organization - resistancy to change of concepts "it's part of the job"
  • history of the organization - resistancy to change of concepts "the risk of injury is part of the job we do"
  • history of the organization - resistancy to change of concepts "Pride in battle wounds " (chef - burns)
  • health and safety is reactive (after something happens) because it's not a priority until something happens
  • adequate/appropriate equiment not available because 1) funds not available 2) other priorities for funding come first
  • risk management more often driven from a corporate liability perspective instead of employee health and safety
  • smaller employers typically have fewer resources to fund safety initiatives
  • just get the job done - no respect for those doing the job
  • lack of vision - no clear, articulated vision
  • lack of resources - can't make change happen
  • resistance to change
  • creating an environment of respect
  • cutting through the red-tape "just keep your head down"
  • bureaucracy
  • what's stopping us? Being shot down, your thoughts don't matter, not being part of the in group, attitudinal; lack of collaboration, wear down - pushing the same point and nothing changes
  • sysiphids effect
  • productivity trumps everything else
  • inadequate measurement in general
  • bolt on solutions that don't fit
  • more and perceived work than worth
  • communications and lack of common language (ESL or generational differences) (culture)
  • funding/misuse of resource
  • production culture
  • money culture
  • drug testing creating a fear based culture
  • reactive culture rather than proactive
  • demographic/cultural differences
  • cultural differences (different safety approach related to cultural differences)
  • not just local culture or job specific culture but "country" culture (i.e perception of risk) length of time in position
  • reactive vs proactive
  • high staff turnover
  • trust/lack of trust
  • inertia - "this is the way we've always done it"
  • sex, gender, generational differences must be recognized - reconciled with policy and procedures
  • environmental barriers - behaviour changes tactics
  • blame and delicate balance of investigations (balancing worker accountability)
  • "what system failed" "was the procedure enough" "what was the worker role"
  • lapses and errors/mistakes
  • judgement
  • disobedience
  • prioritizing issues
  • lack of trust
  • poor communication
  • lack of engagement
  • fear of change
  • people adversly affected by change (the losers in the process)
  • complexity
  • work load/time pressure
  • ownership/accountablilty
  • indifference/complacency
  • commitment of key player/lack of champions
  • profit-marking goal outweighing human well being priority goal instead of being equal goal
  • red tape
  • Canada federal labour code is toothless - very grey
  • Provincial legislation has more substance
  • layers of obstacles in large organizations; lots of red tape
  • no teeth in the legislation - very little follow through in the workplace; representative is lacking; no training
  • inflexible regulations (prescriptive)
  • acroynms/language
  • lack of enforcement from regulators
  • regulatory compliance - keeping up
  • lagging nature of regulations/behind pace of change (regulatory cycle)
  • what's stopping us? Baby boomers, resistance, attitudes, fear of change, timelines/duration/impact, investment, outcomes
  • mental health issues - confidentiality issues - moving into forefront - still a lot of work to do
  • mental health - usually must be related to a specific incident
  • business case to show ROI
  • ideology = anti evidence approach - government and workplace e.g drug and alcohol

Issues

  • Environment – making link between mental health and precarious work – multiple focus – split – less desirable jobs have higher physical injuries
  • Mental health stigma
  • hard to define
  • lack of knowledge surrounding mental health issues
  • defining problems - hard to solve some problems and come up with a solution
  • PTSD/Cumulative stress
  • bullying and harassment
  • Violence
  • Threats from customers – violence
  • Working alone – remote areas
  • violence in the workplace - more needs to be done
  • Ergonomics – lack of understanding
  • Level of education – just to educate re: requirements
  • Lack of education and or training
  • No transfer of knowledge, dedication to sharing
  • Managers in roles without proper awareness (multiple hats – production and management)
  • trained personnel in H&S - hard to find
  • No training on basic H&S for new employers
  • Knowledgeable, competent supervisors
  • Not understanding root cause
  • Not understanding risk and hazard assessment
  • not being able to interpret information
  • disconnect with training on SUP - have SUPs but not training
  • baseline H&S training for entry level (rely on employers to training) - needs to model set up in Ontario
  • Solution - implement at high school level - need a certificate - like Service It Right/Smart Serve.
  • Certificate must be required even an online certificate course
  • lack of knowledge transfer - succession planning/demographics
  • Small business – lack of knowledge, lack of time, no follow through
  • Time and resources are challeges
  • Small business - where do I start (daunting)
  • Lack of information - no access, pay to access
  • Lack of resources - money, HR
  • information sharing - doesn't reach appropriate audience - the worker/small business. Terminology barrier
  • technological change - not easy to adapt in real time
  • shortage of skilled professionals in health and safety field
  • lack of resources, increased workload, competing priorites, administrative burden
  • Health Care - not enough resources, management support
  • recruiting people
  • When you know better you do better
  • mental acuity compromised by stresses and mixed jobs – leads to fatigue, longer hours
  • Unclear responsibilities - restructuring
  • Generalists vs Specialists
  • Seasonal operations – no time to build infrastructure and make OSH a priority
  • Lowering standards because can’t fill jobs
  • Transient workforce
  • Transient workers
  • Turnover of staff (churn) - increase and decrease of workers
  • Automation makes for job shifts
  • Apathy
  • Blame the workers
  • Communications and build into all processes – inconsistency of communication and implementation
  • Systemic workplace safety
  • Conflicting expectations – get this done vs get this done safely. Example – ALCOA
  • Guest or client focused rather than employee focused (teach vs students) (patient vs care giver)
  • Cultural
  • workplace health and safety seen as a negative, nagging, impactful of bottom line
  • leadership change frequency - which includes a loss of safety leadership and not being included in long term goals/plans
  • underreporting of injuries, hazards
  • complacency/normalization
  • conflicting safety cultures within same organizations
  • process burden - not always risk based
  • change in management and or management priorities
  • The new aggression and assertiveness of clients and customers
  • reactive rather than proactive, time pressures
  • strong unions - militant, miserable, fight everything, mistrust and low morale, significant lost time = mistrust and or entitlement
  • promoting a culture of safety in a risky sector (like policing) - at all levels - management to front line officers
  • middle managers and line supervisors to engage with safety (and not just the bottom line)
  • treating the worker in a holistic manager with little on the job support (but benefits will kick in after an incident or accident)
  • Health Care - people are a challenge. Engagement from the employees
  • Health Care - much working against a safe culture
  • Engagement - specifically with H&S (participatory) worker/community engagement
  • increased workload leads to increased mental health
  • aging workforces 55+
  • generational effects
  • As workers age, more incidents, repetitive stress, longer recovery
  • 1 safety person for 4 provinces, scope resources, all a challenge. Different safety needs/requirements per province
  • Employer emphasis on compliance and not best practices. Want officer to come and meet minimum
  • H&S Act with no teeth - no enforcement, no people trained in it (Bahamas)
  • Complexity of understanding Act, Regulation - there's no translation to practical application
  • Information overload - what is applicable, cultural overload
  • make risk assessment meaningful, documentation work too much
  • part of how we think safely
  • not important for low-risk company (increase perspective for safety in)
  • multiple jurisdictions for large organizations
  • lack of compliance
  • breakdown of TC and ESDC
  • Underfunding of the labour program, safety officers
  • Rising disability injury rate in longshore sector
  • HPP is absent or not complete
  • Health Care not enough enforcement
  • lack of progression - in North America we rely more on ideology rather than facts. Maybe we know best syndrome
  • distracted drivers - driving by workers or working on road construction and being traumatized
  • merger (seemingly) of corporate and government in terms of monitoring and sharing date, regulatory systems, enforcement. Market will take care of everything

* Delegate comments were edited for spelling, but not for comprehension or grammar.

Ideas

  • psychosocial hazards - toxic workplaces
  • implications for trust, engagement, recognition, fears
  • leadership - walk the talk, turnover - inconsistent
  • legislation - ineffective laws, non compliance and enforcement
  • make ohs priority - education
  • engagement and consultation
  • appropriate resources (safety officer)
  • leadership demonstrating ohs priority
  • commitment (resources)
  • understand nature of barrier
  • KPI - performance
  • understand who you are talking to
  • employee engagement
  • colloborative environment
  • communicate benefits to stakeholders
  • leadership - training
  • champions for change
  • appropriate to training and qualifications
  • emotional intelligence
  • engagement
  • mentorship
  • active listening
  • champions
  • more than just compliance
  • health and safety foundation
  • education
  • recognition of compliance but importantly the shift in activities
  • make safety fun
  • leadership training
  • time for change - continual improvements
  • physical and psychosocial health and safety
  • knowledge activism - education - multiskills
  • celebrate successes - safety manager hired
  • be real
  • partnership between workers and employers
  • relationships
  • culture
  • determined by funders - senior management leads change
  • focus on PHS in the workplace, not just physical
  • recognition of good practices (not just the negatives)
  • showing respect and compassion
  • acknowledging inspirational leadership
  • be nice
  • authentic culture
  • consultation
  • communcation a vision of the future
  • adequate time
  • inclusivity - front line management part of process
  • personal and meaningful relationships between layers
  • need to know you care; empathy
  • further communication between safety and residents/leaders
  • understand audience and how to communicate with them
  • differentiate education vs training
  • operationalizing their training
  • differing generalizations - "eating your young" or "we have always done it this way" shutting down new ideas
  • always aim for a better practice versus a "best" practice - continuous improvement
  • when using practices from other sites ensure they fit your culture
  • organizational memory - prepare now for changes coming so "organizational memory" is established mentoring and coaching going both ways between new and experiences staff (look at future planning)
  • mentorship of things beyond the job eg have to speak, what to wear, how to succeed in the company
  • communcation - sincere, purposeful, meaningful
  • management - non management
  • trust at all levels in organization
  • understand your audience - generation (gaps) and their needs
  • social differences
  • involve the workers before decision are communicated
  • clear language
  • workers involved in the discussions in finding solutions
  • context of the changes
  • relevant, impact, effectiveness
  • what's in it for me - engage the workers
  • feedback
  • walk the talk
  • resolve/overcome - education
  • resolve/overcome - safety committee - visibility - also given by management leadership
  • make safety committees more effective
  • engage the workers in the change process
  • barrier - lack of trust
  • engagement of all players
  • future planning into public health (eg demographics within organizations)
  • highly effective organizations - how do we get there and actually use survey results
  • turnover of leaders, new leader doesn't embrace change focused on by last leader
  • not enough resources, cutbacks
  • legalized world
  • increased bureacracy
  • not enough enforcement
  • laws don't do enough
  • workers don't know how to exercise rights
  • accountability, fundamental knowledge base
  • not enough commitment
  • better/more effective performance reviews
  • no reprisals to workers for reporting
  • leaders don't act responsibily
  • no consequences for government
  • strategic planning
  • management buy in
  • employee buy in
  • having a good safety management framework
  • continuous improvement
  • education, outreach
  • collaboration
  • open communication to improve understanding
  • effective mentorship
  • tricky because you need to understand how to work between generations
  • create dynamic, give resources to ensure uptake and success
  • prioritize it
  • identify appropriate metrics, standardize across juridsctions
  • sincere, demonstrable commitment to OHS
  • build on what is working, go from good to great
  • understanding what change means - 20 degree vs 180degree
  • keeping osh in the product not an afterthought
  • produce it well vs produce it safely and well
  • branding OHS
  • get rid of the old times that perpetuate this culture - theat everyone with fairness (fair vs equal)
  • accountability needs to increase - workers taking responsibility for their behaviour and choices (regulatory issues)
  • so as a result we have more rules and regulations which aren't working
  • celebrate excellent work
  • celebrate champions
  • improve the rules
  • rules need to accurately reflect what is currently happening
  • be real - efficiency and thoroughness trade-off
  • continue this trade off all the time (task switching)
  • greater participation with all parties
  • communicate among workplace parties
  • respect and trust
  • mutual gain
  • continuous improvement
  • compassionate engagement
  • listening
  • sharing sucesses
  • recognition
  • leverage positive change
  • innovation recognition
  • participatory ergonomics
  • mental injury
  • knowledge activism
  • education - investment into knowledge
  • recognition of value to workplaces
  • change
  • engaging and equipping senior leaders
  • mid-management, training, coaching, mentoring
  • support involved employee employee JHSC employer worker reps
  • stakeholder engagement have the engagement
  • workers know the buisness best
  • openess without consequence
  • increase communication between all parties
  • decision makers/decision makers
  • employer reps not budget controllers
  • safety champions - identified "safety" flag waivers
  • safety champions - always attention on "safety"
  • safety champions - accountability "prevent in all conversations"
  • empowered workforce
  • increased participation on JHSC
  • transference of knowledge, build on strengths
  • problems and solutions
  • determined by founders - senior management leads change
  • educate the leaders - specifically their knowledge, process skills
  • leaders perception of safety
  • leaders do not understand "what safety is" - doesn't just happen, more than compliance
  • do we have to do it
  • link safety awareness to senior leaders bonuses
  • financial reward positive safety behaviours collectively and individually
  • if we reward manager worker reward "behaviour based safety" union against
  • how is the system daily engagement "how do you participate"
  • look at system - why was the burner how
  • empower the worker
  • process change
  • stop the killing (hiding) enforce the law federal/provincial/territory
  • increase participation - ask aspects
  • digest ideas (give time)
  • create a cultre of openness transparency
  • regulatory enforcement - healthy regime
  • right to refuse
  • deal with unsafe work situation; work stoppage
  • Educate! Educate! Educate!
  • OHS system, orientation
  • expedite correction of action items
  • audit quarterly
  • hire a safety manager
  • the right senior management
  • committed leadership
  • walk the talk
  • worker participation at all levels - meaningful
  • involved in investigation
  • proper trypes of training
  • programs, educate
  • engage the training all levels
  • include management
  • training - include communication employer and workers at the same time
  • building time and resources into training leadership
  • psychosocial hazards
  • open respectful communication at all levels; active listening
  • build into work processes
  • integrations, lifestyles change
  • celebrate succeses
  • fit for work
  • fit for safety

Good Stuff

  • engagement - participation at all levels (right people)
  • cooperation, participation, engagement, respect
  • opportunity to engage leadership - in area of mental health - to signal a change in approach
  • employee engagement - in participating in investiagtions and hazard assessment
  • better communication - more opportunities for engagement
  • well trained leadership - having conversation with all "engagement"
  • global benchmarking - finding solution together - learning from each others "engagement:
  • compationate, authentic care "engagement"
  • stakeholders engagement
  • engagement, empowerment
  • tripartitie engagement
  • employee engagement
  • people on committee, value understood
  • co-operative, collaborative environment on committees
  • get engagment faster/lasting
  • worker participation - conceptualization and planning and procurement on going process
  • perceived benefit from collaboration
  • good communication
  • good listening
  • taking ownership
  • identifying gaps
  • worker involvement
  • worker input into practices and procedures to ensure work is as safe as it needs to actually be
  • worker involvement in programs (increase worker voice)
  • increase in systematic management of safety (inclusion at more/all levels - with more stakeholders)
  • inclusion for implementation
  • workers taking more ownership (increase in last 20 years due to legislation)
  • worker participation - involvement in the OHS program
  • daily huddles, talks to include workers (allow two way communication)
  • worker participation
  • Employment involvement - they own it (ownership)
  • participation by all levels in OHS activities
  • having rank and file employees involved
  • engaging the work force in the process
  • incorporating health and safety into daily conversation
  • communication between all levels regarding OHS
  • compassionate, competent leadership makes a difference
  • strong good committed leadership
  • walk the talk/leadership
  • vision - committee has value and strong leadership
  • strong leadership on health and safety - deliver on promises made
  • authentic commitment from management through training
  • leadership - we understand need to see commitment from top down
  • genuine focus on keeping workforce safe
  • hiring experts and accepting advice - suggestion from several groups to strengthen consequences for non compliance - push engagement
  • demonstrated - deliver on promises
  • recognizing stresses
  • follow through of good practices
  • being visible and approachable within workplaces - talk the talk, walk the talk, talk the walk
  • leaders showing health and safety is important
  • walking the floor/understanding reality
  • not being afaid of (making and having) hard decisions and discussions
  • incorporate wellness - sustainability of your employees - asset
  • work on climate of workplace
  • effective and clear communicaiton
  • distillation to key messages
  • two way communication
  • communication is tailored to audience
  • walking the talk at all levels
  • engaging the work force
  • relevance
  • identifying and supporting worker
  • face to face to build relationships - trust/understanding/indicates valuing
  • effective and clear communicaiton
  • learning from incidents inside and outside the organization
  • follow through on resolving issues (action)
  • continuous improvement at workplace
  • shift from reactive to proactive response to issues
  • identify hazards/issues before (hazard identification) and then implement preventative measures
  • learn from accident/near miss investigations and take it back to prevent recurrence
  • training and education flagged by most groups as critical to progressive inclusive safety culture. As new issues evolve get the eduation to deal with them
  • training and education for employees and employers
  • BC federal training
  • assess tactics well, lots of training (job specific) - hazard assessment and identification is better
  • more education and training
  • management putting aside time for training, inspections, investigations
  • education and training to workers about policies, programs and include middle managers
  • strong formal education/training in house
  • education - people with deeper understanding of heath and safety is establish/maintain need for integrating safety culture
  • safety officers in organizations with certifications
  • choosing safety as an occupation - not just because of an injury
  • clear perimeters, educated supervisors and union reps
  • no stigma attached to issues (education/awareness)
  • joint learning - management and employee trainers
  • greater awareness of workplace rights to reporting safety by workers and management
  • workers coming better educated on OHS
  • working at communication - at all levels or all levels dialogue with unions and all committees - respectful
  • environments that focus on "prevention" of incidents therefore are looking for course not who to blame
  • safety is intregral - safety culture becomes a natural part of workplace dynamic
  • it is the new standard in the workplace
  • good communcations in the workplace to solve problems
  • effective communcation
  • key message
  • giving resources to the program - time, people
  • figuring out what collaboration looks like
  • interest in improvement (not just because "we have to")
  • empowering young workers - safety culture is the "new norm"
  • recognizing that things actually can change (i.e people wearing seat belts)
  • cultures can change
  • shared information with workers - social media is helping internet
  • ongoing discussion/consultation with unions and communities
  • holistic approach
  • eliminating bureaucracy
  • incorporating health and safety into daily conversation
  • culture of prioritizing health and safety from top down through management
  • accountability for safety performance
  • safety is integrated as part of standard work in organizations - become part of daily work - proactive mindset
  • create dialogue for open honest communication
  • need to know that confidentiality exists - leads to blame free environment
  • peers looking out for each other - trust - look out for each other
  • due diligence model for regulations
  • terms that workers can identify with (and management)
  • joint health and safety commitments in place
  • workplaces that adopt bullying harassment legislation - using BC tool kit
  • OSH management systems
  • regulators doing surveys and questions leads to fact driven decision making
  • Liberal government elected - is this follow promises
  • good practices - input from workers, needs of people
  • transparent policies, open communications
  • focusing resources for effective implementation
  • examples - return to work - could use social media, radio and news media, dedicated team to do face to face work to help build and understand program and benefits
  • highly functional health and safety committees, investment in health and safety training, positive attitudes, clear and consise policy
  • good collective agreement language
  • joint effective committees
  • job hazard analysis process
  • terms of reference - functional health and safety committee with leadership support
  • Canadian Labour Code - for dealing with health and safety issues
  • active/presence of JHSC - involve other employees to raise awareness i.e monthly inspections done by JHSC member and another staff member
  • OHS management system
  • stronger health and safety committees
  • stronger participation in committees
  • strong functioning JHSC
  • JHSC - cooperative
  • JHSC - meeting schedule - legislated and regularly
  • JHSC - regular, written recommendations
  • follow up on those recommendations - actions items with accountability
  • inclusion of committee on issues
  • make it easy to report issues so all can report easily - simple
  • effective and functioning health and safety committees
  • what's working - safety bbq, naosh week activities, office clean up day, recognition of good safety practice
  • increased attention to mental health issues (as healthy and safety practicioners)
  • prevention
  • accept new realitites i.e. mental health
  • greater awareness of mental health in the workplace
  • companies embracing health and safety - bringing in external help or hiring someone to oversee safety
  • business recognizing that strong OHS program is good for business
  • access to relevant health and safety research allows organizations to get information to create and improve workplace programs (eg mental health)