Take the Safe Pathway

The safe pathway leads to mitigating workplace hazards and preventing injuries. Choose the safe pathway and start by getting to know the acts and regulations for your area. There are fourteen (14) jurisdictions in Canada – one federal, ten provincial and three territorial. Each jurisdiction has its own occupational health and safety legislation, which outlines the rights and responsibilities of the employer, the supervisor, and the worker. 

Health and Safety is everyone’s responsibility, we should all participate in health and safety programs. When we do, workplace hazards are quickly identified, and injuries are less likely to occur. Secondly, look for a method of continuous improvement. 

in the 1950s Dr. William Edwards Deming developed a method of continuous feedback loop. This method can be used to improve a safety program. 

• Plan – identify problems. If a problem is identified, share it with supervisors, and upper management. 
• Do – implement solutions. Planning it on paper or digitally is the key to ensuring success. If you give a reasonable timeline for each task, it will keep you accountable. Since I discovered the agenda with hours per day, it  has been much easier for me to organize my time. After adding all the projects I need to work on, I look through the scheduled week to find some free time, and most of the time, I do find some extra time. 
• Check – analyze results. Communicate your plan to the teams to create a better experience. Thinking of new ideas for what did not work fine takes much work.
• Act – implement the best solution. Implementing the best solution is challenging but rewarding. 

Robert Collier says, “Success is the sum of small efforts – repeated day in and day out’’. When a plan is working, you will get great results. 

Sometimes you will need the energy to put the method into practice. Please remember there are moments of gratitude along the process. 

By Gabriela Mancas, Occupational Health and Safety Consultant

Gabriela Mancas – LinkedIn