[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)