Ergonomics in Canadian Workplaces "The Latest Regulations"

By Linda Sagmeister, CCPE, CRSP

In many provinces and even federally, Canadians have Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) regulations that include provisions for the prevention of soft tissue injuries, also referred to as musculoskeletal injuries (MSI) or musculoskeletal disorders (MSD).
Ergonomics, or human factors, is a broad field involving issues of safe and effective human interaction with the design and use of all aspects of the work environment including systems, organizations, equipment and tasks. As a result, it is difficult to create a comprehensive “ergonomics regulation.” In addition, application of ergonomics principles in physical, cognitive and design areas are more likely to take place in standards, guidelines and best practices documents within and outside of the OHS arena, depending on how ergonomics is being applied.
Currently, it is primarily physical ergonomics principles that are used in OHS regulations to prevent the onset of MSI in workplaces through regulating how physical work, such as lifting, standing and sitting, among others, can be accomplished.
Systems designed in the absence of ergonomics or consideration of human limitations and tendencies can result in human error.
Therefore, in addition to enforcing MSI prevention, it may be valuable for governments and other agencies, such as standard-setting groups and worker/employer representative associations, to consider the prevention of “human error” through accident investigation techniques or in the form of worker involvement in the design of systems and work organization of tasks (for example, participatory ergonomics).
A brief summary of current provincial ergonomics-related regulations is provided in Table 1. Note that regulations may be under review and are subject to change.
Federally, the Canada Labour Code II makes reference to Ergonomics regulations, which were passed federally late in 2007.
These amendments to the Hazard Prevention Program require federal employers to incorporate prevention of ergonomics-related hazards in the program. This includes hazard identification, assessment, developing preventive measures and employee education on ergonomics. Visit the following website: http://laws.justice.gc.ca/.

Linda Sagmeister is an Ergonomist with the Government of Newfoundland & Labrador.
Taken From http://www.ace-ergocanada.ca/

How Does Overtime Impact Workers?

When management is faced with personnel shortages or the need to meet peak production demands and schedules, overtime is often the solution.

But is it a wise decision?

Although management may view overtime as a temporary solution, it often becomes a standard way of managing work demands. In many instances, the extended overtime hours approach the same hours worked in a 12-hour shift system; however, the use of overtime is applied with little consideration to its consequences.

The health effects of extended work hours are well documented and include:
• Increased risk for cardiovascular disease
• Sleep disorders
• Depression
• Ulcers
• Gastrointestinal dysfunction and disorders
• Breast cancer
• Complications of existing medical conditions such as diabetes and epilepsy

In addition to these health effects, working overtime:
• Reduces the amount of quality time to spend with family members and meet family care demands, leading to increased levels of stress, irritability, and feelings of isolation.
• Increases the risk of substance abuse as workers resort to caffeine, stimulants, and tobacco to stay awake and alcohol and depressant drugs to fall asleep.
• Increases worker concern about their health and longevity.
• Increases absences for sickness and accidents.

Productivity and performance costs are often not apparent to management—but the truth is these costs can far exceed the direct costs of overtime. Just using the example of worker fatigue caused by extended hours—and resulting increased errors and accidents, decreased concentration, slower reaction time, failure to perceive and react to critical signals, impaired motor skills and coordination, decreased ability to handle stress, reduced problem-solving and decision-making abilities, and increased risk-taking behavior—reveals overtime is often not a smart solution.

Finally, and perhaps the strongest argument against extended work hours, productivity levels and work output do not increase in proportion to the hours worked. In fact, extending the workday often causes the tempo of work to slow down and the hourly output to decrease, especially in physically demanding jobs.
Taken from Issue 29, March 2004 http://www.ergoworkinggroup.org/