4. Considering Key Issues: Violence, Pain & Surveys

May 22, 2024
10:30am - 12:00pm ET

Violence & Harassment + Opioid Harm are key workplace issues and therefore targets of Ontario's Prevention Works Program + Survey success

A. Workplace Violence Risk Assessments – New and Improved Tools

The MLITSD Prevention Works Committee focusing on work-related mental harms and workplace violence and harassment has decided that a new tool is required to effectively support Ontario workplaces to assess the risk of violence. With a focus on small businesses, WSPS is taking the lead to develop a user-friendly tool that will help meet legislative requirements and decrease harms associated with violence at work. During this interactive session, you will be given the opportunity to share what you would like to see included in this tool and what’s coming down the pipeline.

Speaker: Kristy Cork, CRSP, Specialized Consultant – Healthy Workplaces, Workplace Safety & Prevention Services (WSPS)

B. Pain/Management role in Opioid Harm Reduction Program

Did you know the WHO recognizes chronic pain as a disease of it’s own? However, many people still believe in the “suck it up” approach, relying upon self-treatment or self-medication, which we know is problematic, -- in particular if illicit drugs like opioids are involved. Chronic pain can be difficult to control and some days can be better than others. Good pain management supports at the workplace help workers manage their situation to not just function at work, but to also avoid the all too common trap of seeking illicit market opioids to “cope”. Learn how opioids, chronic pain and pain management intersect when addressing opioid related harms and workplace accommodations.

Speaker: Kathy Martin, Coordinator, Research, Stakeholder & Public Relations, Mental Health and Wellness Specialist, Infrastructure Health & Safety Association (IHSA)

C. How important is it to use a “valid” questionnaire to measure workplace stress?

In the HR field there are all kinds of surveys available to workplaces – surveys that claim to measure engagement, job satisfaction, workplace culture, burnout, etc. Very few of authors of these commercially available surveys have published any evidence regarding their validity and reliability of their instruments. There are also disagreements about the need to establish the validity of questionnaires: some saying its “overkill”. What does it mean to use a “valid” questionnaire? This session will review these questions and explore the implications for the use of surveys in the workplace.

Speaker: John Oudyk, MSc, CIH, ROH, Occupational Hygienist, OHCOW