Running head: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY 1

Occupational Health and Safety

Name

Institution of Affiliation
Occupational Health and Safety 2

Introduction

Summary of the Company

XYZ enterprises is a company that specializes in providing environmental services. It

possesses offices throughout Canada and has around 2500 employed staff partaking several

roles which include:

 Field positions- this role involves driving in all manner of roads and weather, record

keeping and running of equipment’s.

 Laboratory positions- in this role employees work in a chemical laboratory where they

use equipment’s and chemicals to test samples.

 Office position- here the auxiliary staff and customer service personnel work with

electronic devices such as phones and computers.

Employee’s conditions and laws applying to these situations

There are safety policies and work instructions that embrace every safety-sensitive

procedure in the company and the workforce is properly trained on these procedures during

the weekly meetings. This is according to the Health and Safety at work etc Act 1974 which

requires the company to ensure that training, information and supervision is provided to

workers to safeguard their safety and health at work (Coulson, 2018).

In this company, all the safety guidelines are very significant. Any injured staff is

taken to the medical facility immediately after the incident and the report is submitted to the

Workers Compensation Board. This is per the work Injury Benefits Act, 2007 which requires

the company to provide the employer report of injury in a time limit of 72 hours after

learning about the injury of the employee (Bonaccio et al., 2019).

The return to work process in this company after an employee has been injured is not

clear on who should undertake it and this brings a lot of misunderstanding on allocation of

modified duties. This situation is against the Accidents Compensation Act 1985 which
Occupational Health and Safety 3

demands the company to assist a worker return to their modified duties as soon as they can

and appoint a return to work facilitator who will manage the return to work process (Drake et

al., 2017)

Part 2

Disability Management

Category

1. People-focused climate

- Organization is present. The XYZ Company possesses work guidelines and safety policies

that encompass every safety-sensitive measure in the company.

-Employees is present. The workers are skilled in safety measures and policies when they

join the company.

-Education/intervention is not present. This can be implemented by assigning rights and

responsibilities to the relevant stakeholders to improve the process. This will bring a positive

outcome as each stakeholder will fully carry out their responsibilities.

2. Prevention focus

-Organization is present. The XYZ Company conducts audits on safety annually which gives

updated information on the safety practices. The company's safety director discloses the

statistics of the company on safety matters and the award that has been received if any.

-Employee is not present.

This should be implemented by holding any employee-centered acts is geared towards safety

contests and awards as a cultural practice requirement in this field. The employees will then

fully participate in the safety improvement processes.

-Education/intervention is present. The workers have trained on the safety procedures and

policies updates through meetings that are held in the company every week.
Occupational Health and Safety 4

3. Early Intervention and Education

-Organization is not present. This should be implemented by training properly training the

supervisors to deal with the process. This will bring a positive outcome as there will be no

delays in the process.

-Employee is not present. This should be implemented by taking the necessary measures to

give the worker positive experience. The worker will experience an overall positive

experience in the process.

-Education/Intervention is not present. This is can be implemented by properly training the

supervisors on the process therefore the process will experience no delays.

4. Return to Work Case Management

-Organization is not present. This can be implemented by assigning duties and

responsibilities to improve the efficiency of the process.

-Employee is present. The injured employee is immediately taken to a medical facility and

the necessary paperwork is filled out.

-Education/Intervention is not present.

This should be implemented by taking proper measures to assign roles to relevant

stakeholders to make process more efficient.

5. Integrated Claims Monitoring and Management System

-Organization is not present. This can be implemented by assigning roles to relevant

stakeholders to avoid confusion and delays in the process.

-Employee is present. The case is immediately submitted to the workers' compensation board.

-Education/Intervention is not present. This can be implemented by doing analysis of data

system this will the give the worker a positive experience in the whole process.
Occupational Health and Safety 5

Part 3

Return to Work Plan

a. Anna is currently undergoing a mental health condition which is depression due to the

loss of her mother. The best modification strategies would be to assign her light-duty

work, supported and sheltered work plan.

b. The worker has a mental condition such as stress and depression and because of this,

she cannot be able to handle a lot of work. She, therefore, needs light duties as well as

a supported and sheltered work plan.

c. The stakeholders involved are:

1. Worker-She should make every effort to go back to work and perform the

modified work she is given and also make honest communication with employer

to help her consider the best modification for her mental health.

2. Human Resource Practitioner- He/she is needed to manage the whole coordination

process by communicating with the worker to establish a suitable plan for them

that is up to her capabilities.

3. Employer- The employers' responsibility is to ensure that the worker has been

provided with the necessary rehabilitation as part of her recovery to ease her

process of returning to work.

4. Health provider-Their role is to ensure that appropriate medical advice and

attention is given to the worker and the roles assigned to her fit her capabilities.

5. Supervisor-The role of the supervisor is to assist in the transitioning of the worker

back to the team and solve the challenges that have been identified.

d. The barriers to the return to work process are:

Occupational Health and Safety 6

 Stigma-To overcome this barrier the company should make sure there is effective

communication between the relevant stakeholders and seek opportunities where the

worker can best fit in.

 Physiological factors- To overcome this barrier the health providers should provide

the necessary medical advice and ensure that the roles allocated to the worker fit her

capabilities (MacEachen et al., 2020).

 Administrative- This barrier can be overcome by the company through training the

supervisors on the factors supporting the disability management programmed and

return to work process (Premji, 2014).

e. The risk factors in this return to work process include:

 Mental health condition of workers such as depression and stress (Cancelliere et al., 2

016).

 Poor attendance and performance record.

 Poor attitude of the worker towards returning to work.

 Lack of income during the bereavement leave (Neimeyer, 2019).

Part 4

Summary

Employers have a legal responsibility to help workers return to work with ease.

Returning to work is beneficial to the worker as it helps to reduce the emotional and financial

stress on the worker and their family (Pink et al., 2016). The company is required to provide

safety and health policies to its employees both the new and the current workers (Carson & A

bbott, 2012). Workers are encouraged to be actively involved in safety concerns and air their

concerns. Analysis of the system should be made regularly to ensure that workers have a

positive experience throughout the process (de Rijk et al., 2019).

Occupational Health and Safety 7

References

Bonaccio, S., Connelly, C., Gellatly, I., Jetha, A., & Martin Ginis, K. (2019). The Particip

ation of People with Disabilities in the Workplace Across the Employment Cycle:

Employer Concerns and Research Evidence. Journal Of Business And Psychology.

Cancelliere, C., Donovan, J., Stochkendahl, M., Biscardi, M., Ammendolia, C., Myburgh,

C., & Cassidy, J. (2016). Factors affecting return to work after injury or illness: be

st evidence synthesis of systematic reviews. Chiropractic & Manual Therapies, 2

4(1).

Carson, C., & Abbott, M. (2012). A review of productivity analysis of the New Zealand c

onstruction industry. Construction Economics And Building, 12(3), 1-15.

Coulson, N. (2018). The role of workplace health and safety representatives and the creep

ing responsibilisation of occupational health and safety on South African mines. R

esources Policy, 56, 38-48.

de Rijk, A., Amir, Z., Cohen, M., Furlan, T., Godderis, L., & Knezevic, B. et al. (2019).

The challenge of return to work in workers with cancer: employer priorities despit

e variation in social policies related to work and health. Journal Of Cancer

Drake, C., Haslam, R., & Haslam, C. (2017). Facilitators and barriers to the protection an

d promotion of the health and safety of older workers. Policy And Practice In Hea

lth And Safety, 15(1), 4-18.

MacEachen, E., McDonald, E., Neiterman, E., McKnight, E., Malachowski, C., & Crouc

h, M. et al. (2020). Return to Work for Mental Ill-Health: A Scoping Review Expl

oring the Impact and Role of Return-to-Work Coordinators. Journal Of Occupati

onal Rehabilitation.
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Neimeyer, R. (2019). Meaning reconstruction in bereavement: Development of a research

program. Death Studies, 43(2), 79-91.

Pink, S., Waterson, P., Dainty, A., Cheyne, A., Haslam, R., & Gibb, A. et al. (2016). Inter

disciplinary research for occupational safety and health knowledge. Policy And Pr

actice In Health And Safety, 14(1), 22-33.

Premji, S. (2014). Barriers to Return-to-Work for Linguistic Minorities in Ontario: An A

nalysis of Narratives from Appeal Decisions. Journal Of Occupational Rehabilita

tion, 25(2), 357-367.