It is now November! A month known for Remembrance Day, American Thanksgiving, Black Friday sales, Movember-Moustaches, and the countdown to the holiday season. As we approach the end of the year, the team at Kasa wants to provide a refresher on workplace violence and harassment prevention.

According to a 2020 survey conducted by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and researchers from the University of Western Ontario and the University of Toronto, 70% of workers have experienced some form of violence and harassment at work. Even more staggering than that statistic is the alarming fact that 88% of workers who experienced harassment and violence were “transferred, suspended, fired, or lost a shift” as a result of reporting their incidents.

It is vital to ensure that your company has a violence and prevention program that allows employees to feel safe in the workplace. It is also crucial that employees feel comfortable reporting these incidents with confidence that it will not cause negative repercussions for them moving forward.

What is Workplace Violence and Harassment?
According to Part II of the Canada Labour Code, violence and harassment is defined as, “any action, conduct or comment, including of a sexual nature, that can reasonably be expected to cause offence, humiliation or other physical or psychological injury or illness to an employee, including any prescribed action, conduct or comment.”

What are some examples of Workplace violence and Harassment?
• Aggressive or threatening behaviour
• Intimidation
• Verbal threats or abuse
• Physical assault
• Spreading malicious rumours or gossip about an individual or a group
• Socially excluding or isolating someone
• Damaging, hiding or stealing someone’s personal belongings or work equipment
• Persistently criticizing, undermining, belittling, demeaning or ridiculing someone
• Swearing at someone or using inappropriate language toward them
• Using the Internet to harass, threaten or maliciously embarrass someone
• Using the Internet to harass, threaten, or exploit someone sexually
• Abusing authority
• Conduct, comment, bullying or action because of someone’s race, religious beliefs, colour, physical or mental disability, age, ancestry, place of origin, marital status or family status.
• Making abusive or derogatory remarks or jokes about someone’s gender, gender identity or gender expression, sex or sexual orientation.
• Displaying offensive posters, cartoons or images of a sexual nature
• Sending inappropriate electronic communications (for example, sexually explicit emails)

Reporting, Investigating, and Preventing Workplace Violence and Harassment.
Every worker must work in compliance with their company’s policy and the supporting procedures. All workers are required to raise any concerns about harassment and to report any incidents to the appropriate representative.

Companies must investigate and take appropriate corrective actions to address all incidents and complaints of workplace harassment in a fair, respectful, and timely manner. They also have the responsibility to protect the privacy of all concerned as much as possible.

Companies should not disclose the circumstances related to an incident of harassment or the names of the parties involved (including the complainant, the person alleged to have committed the harassment, and any witnesses) except where necessary to investigate the incident, to take corrective action, to inform the parties involved in the incident of the results of the investigation and corrective action taken, or as required by law.

No workers should be penalized, reprimanded or in any way criticized when acting in good faith while following company policy and the supporting procedures for addressing situations involving workplace violence and harassment. The violence and harassment prevention policy should not discourage a worker from exercising their right under any other law, including the Alberta Human Rights Act.

To prevent workplace violence and harassment you should inform and instruct your employees about the policy. Everyone in the workplace, including the employer, must participate in training about harassment and violence. Ensure you are doing everything in your power to create a safe environment for your team!

You and your employees can help create a respectful workplace by:
•Listening and allowing others to speak
•Being supportive, cooperative, and inclusive
•Expressing differences of opinion constructively and professionally
•Respecting professional boundaries

If you have any questions on how to implement a strong workplace violence and harassment prevention plan or policy don’t hesitate to reach out to your Kasa Safety Advisor. We are always more than happy to help!

We have entered spooky season and the month of lots of candy and chocolate! Here is your reminder to check in on your loved ones’ mental health as we have World Mental Health Day every October. World Mental Health Day is recognized in Alberta and across the world each year on October 10th. It’s necessary to acknowledge and bring awareness of the importance of mental health and the negative effects of mental illness.

What is Mental Health?
Mental/psychological health is a state of well-being in which every individual realizes their own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to contribute to their community.

Psychological and psychosocial hazards are just as dangerous as physical hazards, as mental health issues at work also have serious effects on a workers’ health and safety.

• Psychological safety in the workplace is the absence of harm and/or threat of harm to mental well-being that a worker might experience.
• Psychosocial hazards are elements of the work environment management practices or organizational practices that pose a risk to mental health and wellbeing.

From 2016-2020 Alberta’s WCB claims for mental disease increased. WCB claims in this category included post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. All worksite parties have a role in creating and maintaining a psychologically healthy and safe workplace. Psychosocial hazards in the workplace should be addressed and included in hazard assessments, just like physical hazards.

What are some Examples Psychosocial Hazards in the Workplace?
• Exposure to harassment, violence, or traumatic events.
• Role ambiguity.
• Increased job demands, unequal distribution of work.
• Unclear expectations, disrespectful work environment.

What are the Benefits of Addressing Psychosocial Hazards in the Workplace?
• Increased productivity.
• Workers are more likely to be physically safe when they are mentally safe.
• Reduced sick leave.
• Increase in morale and job satisfaction.
• Decrease in turnover, interpersonal conflict, and WCB claims.
• Reduced legal risk.

Addressing psychological health and safety can help employers ensure that they are complying with the OHS laws. After doing a hazard assessment to identify psychosocial hazards that could affect a workers’ health and safety, make sure they are either being eliminated or controlled. All personnel must be aware of the potential for psychosocial hazards and continually strive to control them and improve the work culture. Psychologically safe workplaces have a number of health, legal, and financial benefits for all work site parties. Ultimately, we want to see everyone go home safe and to their families at the end of the day!

How is it already September?! The hot days are becoming fewer and far between, and soon it will be time to pull our winter coats out.

This month’s update is all about the Traffic Safety Amendment Act, roles, and duties of OHS officers and what to expect in an OHS inspection.

Alberta Traffic Law Update
Starting September 1st, 2023, drivers must slow down when passing all roadside workers, police, ambulances, fire trucks and tow trucks.

Under the changes, when passing an emergency or roadside maintenance vehicle with flashing light on, drivers would be required to slow down to 60 km/h or the posted speed limit (whichever is lower) in all lanes going in the same direction on divided highways and when traveling in either direction on single lane roadways.

Roles and Duties of OHS Officers
OHS officers play an important role in keeping Alberta’s work sites safe and healthy. They have the authority to monitor and enforce Alberta’s OHS legislation in several ways, including:
• Conducting inspections and investigations
• Issuing orders, tickets, or administrative penalties

By law, work site parties must cooperate with OHS officers, and cannot interfere with or hinder them in their work.

What to expect in an OHS inspection
OHS officers have a duty to carry out inspections to assess compliance with OHS laws. When an officer arrives at a work site to conduct an inspection, standard practice is to arrange for an employer representative to accompany them on a walk-through of the site. The officer will then:
• Look at various types of records.
• Take photos.
• Inspect Equipment
• Ask workers questions.
• Other activities to check with compliance.

Welcome to Spring!
Longer days are here, but that doesn’t necessarily mean winter weather is behind us. The joy of
spring is the variety of conditions we are lucky to see on any given day. This month’s update
includes some reminders for spring driving safety, an overview of ESG, and a reminder to review the
most recent Alberta OHS Code updates.

Spring Driving Safety
Did you know that 28% of fatal collisions in Alberta occur between April and June? To prep your
vehicle, and yourself, for the coming months, here are some tips to follow:
• Ensure tires are properly inflated and have sufficient tread.
• Make sure your windshield wiper fluid is topped up.
• Leave your winter tires on until temperature stays above 7 degrees Celsius on average. Winter
tires provide greater traction than summer tires if temperatures are colder than that.
• Watch for more pedestrians and cyclists as fair weather arrives. Additionally, with longer days,
people may be outside later in the day. Be diligent in school and playground zones.
• Obey posted speed limits and construction signage. Road construction and maintenance ramps up as
the weather becomes more favourable.
• Never use cruise control on wet or slippery roads.
• Keep your eyes peeled for animals:
o Animals will become more active as the weather warms up and food sources wake up.
o Animals tend to be most active at dawn and dusk, when visibility is challenging.
o Animals tend to move in groups. If you see one animal, slow down and keep a lookout for more.
For more information and resources: Automotive Resources

ESG – What Is It?
ESG, or Environment, Social and Governance, is a framework of factors that are related to the
performance of an organization and reflect its contribution to sustainable development.
Examples of factors that fall into each of the categories include:
Environment: carbon emissions, waste management, energy use
Social: working conditions, health and safety program, diversity, and equal opportunities
Governance: board and management diversity, risk management, compliance, and
corruption

Depending on the nature of your organization, you may have seen communication regarding some or all
of these factors from clients or customers. Larger organizations tend to have the resources to
establish an ESG framework; however, all contributors to that organization’s business feed into the
overall ESG performance, and all aspects of an organization contribute to ESG information. At Kasa,
health and safety is our area of expertise. However, there is crossover with other aspects of
business. Examples of collaborative data that can be gathered include information regarding
employee rights, responsibilities and safety procedures (HR), regarding waste management and spill
prevention (Operations), as well as costs associated with fuel consumption, emissions and materials
usage (Project Control/Management).

Moving forward with this knowledge, and with ESG factors becoming more commonly requested and
reported (although not yet mandatory), it is advisable to begin identifying information that is
relevant to operations, reasonable to collect, and meaningfully contribute to either ESG
information from your own organization’s perspective, or those of your clients/customers that
contribute to the bigger picture.
More information on ESG frameworks

Alberta OHS Code Updates
A reminder to ensure that you are up to date with the recent updates to the Alberta OHS Code, which
are now in effect. Visit the link below to access bulletins which review the changes, and
familiarize yourself with those that are applicable to your business and scope of work. Updates
have been made to apply to various sections of the code, including oil and gas, confined spaces,
fall protection, noise exposure, managing controls in hazard energy, cranes, hoists and lifting
devices and first aid.
• OHS Publication. Legislation changes (alberta.ca)
Please contact your Kasa representative for assistance in implementing these changes to your health
and safety program, ensuring your company is up to date with the changes and new
requirements.