160. CCA Study Notes: Workplace Safety, Hazardous Materials, and Personal Security

The Big Picture

Support workers face different safety risks while doing their jobs. An unsafe workplace, hazardous materials, and threatening behaviour can put workers at risk of injury.

Workplace safety involves shared responsibilities. Employers, supervisors, and workers each have duties, and workers need to follow safety rules, report hazards, use protective equipment, and know how to protect themselves in facilities and community settings.

Look for Nova Scotia CCA Notes throughout this page for current provincial guidance.

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Course Notes: Key Ideas You Need to Know

Occupational Health and Safety

Each Canadian province and territory has occupational health and safety legislation. The exact name and details vary by location, but the basic purpose stays similar.

OH&S (occupational health and safety) legislation protects employees from injuries and accidents at work. It also identifies rights and responsibilities for employers, supervisors, and workers.

Everyone in the workplace has responsibility for health and safety. Workers have responsibilities for their own safety and duties that help protect others.

Reducing Risk When a Client’s Behaviour Starts to Escalate

Support workers should take specific precautions when a client shows signs of increasing agitation or anxiety.

• Follow the client’s care plan ⓘ. If the care plan requires two-person care, do not provide that care alone.
• Watch for verbal and nonverbal signs of agitation or anxiety.
• If these signs appear, stop what you are doing, change your approach, and call for help when necessary.
• Stay aware of the environment and remain close to an exit when behaviour begins to escalate.
• Explain each step you perform to the client.

Employer and Supervisor Responsibilities

Employers and supervisors must take every reasonable precaution to protect worker health and safety.

The employer is responsible for:

• having written safety policies
• training and educating workers about those policies
• creating a health and safety committee that identifies hazards and investigates accidents
• responding to reports of workplace hazards
• warning workers about hazards and correcting hazards whenever possible
• promptly reporting accidents to the government department responsible for occupational health and safety
• making sure necessary equipment is available and kept in good working order, including personal protective equipment such as gloves and masks

Employee Responsibilities

Workers also have clear safety responsibilities.

You are responsible for:

• following safety policies and procedures
• using recommended protective equipment and clothing
• reporting safety hazards and concerns immediately to your supervisor or a health and safety committee representative
• completing an incident report, also called an occurrence report, when an accident, error, or unexpected workplace problem occurs

An incident report is submitted to the employer. The exact form may differ between agencies.

The Right to Refuse Unsafe Work

OH&S legislation gives workers the right to refuse unsafe work in both facility and community settings.

There is an important restriction. You cannot refuse the work when both of these conditions apply:

1. The danger is a normal part of the job.
2. Refusing the work would endanger the client.

For example, fear of catching a communicable disease does not by itself support refusing to care for a client with that disease. If protective gloves, masks, and gowns are unavailable, the worker could refuse to provide that care.

Hazardous Materials

A hazardous material is a substance that creates a physical hazard or health hazard in the workplace.

Physical hazards can cause fires or explosions.

Health hazards are chemicals that can cause acute or chronic health conditions. Supported examples include burns, kidney or lung damage, and cancer.

Support workers may work with or around hazardous materials such as:

• drugs used for cancer therapy
• gases used to sterilize equipment
• oxygen used in oxygen therapy
• certain disinfectants and cleaning solutions

Understanding WHMIS

Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) provides health and safety information about hazardous products used in Canadian workplaces.

WHMIS includes:

• hazard identification and product classification
• labels on containers
• material safety data sheets
• worker education and training

The Canadian system is aligned with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling for chemicals, or GHS.

Health care employees must understand the risks of hazardous materials and know how to handle them safely.

Supplier Duties Under WHMIS

Suppliers are organizations that sell or import hazardous products.

When a product qualifies as hazardous, suppliers must:

• classify it appropriately
• label the product or its container
• provide the required MDS to customers

The MDS provides more information about the product.

The supplier label identifies the product, supplier, hazards, and precautions. Staff must know about this information and know how to access it in the workplace.

Employer Duties Under WHMIS

Employers must:

• educate and train workers about hazards and safe product use
• make sure hazardous products have proper labels
• prepare workplace labels when needed
• prepare safety data sheets, or SDSs, when necessary
• give workers access to up-to-date SDSs
• put appropriate control measures in place to protect worker health and safety

Worker Duties Under WHMIS

Workers must:

• participate in WHMIS education and training
• take necessary steps to protect themselves and co-workers
• participate in identifying and controlling hazards

Consumer Products at Work

Consumer products are products normally bought in stores for home use. Examples include cleaning products, adhesives, and lubricants.

These products use labels required by other legislation rather than WHMIS.

A complete workplace chemical-safety program includes hazardous products covered by WHMIS and other products workers might encounter. Workers should receive education and training about the safe use of all these products.

WHMIS Labels

WHMIS labels give essential information for safely handling controlled products. Hazard pictograms show the type of danger a product presents.

A container must have a label. The label must not be removed or damaged.

If the warning label is missing or damaged:

1. Do not use the product.
2. Take the container to your supervisor.
3. Explain the problem.
4. Do not leave the container unattended.

Supplier Labels

A supplier label contains:

• product identifier
• hazard pictograms
• signal words
• hazard statements
• precautionary statements

Workplace Labels

A workplace label contains:

• product identifier
• safe-handling precautions
• a reference to the SDS

Workplace Violence

Workplace violence means physical assault or threatening behaviour that happens in a work setting.

It includes:

• threats, obscene phone calls, harassment, being followed, being sworn at, or being shouted at
• robbery
• rape
• kidnapping
• beating, stabbing, or shooting
• murder

Workplace violence is not limited to one building. It can happen anywhere an employee performs a work-related task, including buildings, parking lots, field locations, homes, and travel to and from work assignments.

Why Home Care Has Personal Security Risks

Home care workers have specific security risks because they may:

• work alone
• work in unfamiliar and uncontrolled environments
• work early or late hours
• encounter threatening behaviour from clients, family members, or other people in the home

When a worker provides services in a client’s home, that home is considered a workplace and the home care agency is considered the employer. The agency has the same obligations to protect employees that apply in facilities.

Follow the personal safety measures all the time. Most of these measures apply to support workers in both facilities and community settings.

Electronic Safety

Protecting personal information is part of personal security.

• Do not put personal information online that gives strangers access to you.
• Treat an electronic threat as seriously as an in-person threat.
• Report an electronic threat to local police.
• If a co-worker or client sent the threat, notify your supervisor.
• Do not respond to the threat.
• When possible, print or electronically save the threat as proof that you received it.

Safety When Driving to and From Work

Plan Before You Travel

• Learn the area and plan your route ahead of time.
• Choose well-travelled streets and routes you know.
• Know where nearby police stations, gas stations, and other public buildings are located.
• Tell your supervisor and a family member which route you will take.
• Keep the phone number of a reliable tow-truck company with you.
• Keep maps or a global positioning system, or GPS, in the car.

Keep the Vehicle Ready

• Keep your vehicle in good working order.
• Always wear a seat belt.
• Prepare for winter conditions with a survival kit, booster cables, a shovel, extra clothing, a blanket, sand, and road flares.
• Keep cash available for gas or a phone call.
• Carry a cell phone for road emergencies and program emergency numbers into it.
• Do not use the phone while driving. Pull off the road before making a call.

If the Vehicle Breaks Down

Pull over to a safe place away from traffic. Turn on the hazard lights and call for help when you have a cell phone.

Keep the doors locked and windows up until help arrives. Never leave the vehicle and walk away alone to find help.

Choose Parking Carefully

Choose a well-lit, busy parking area.

In a parking garage:

• park near entrances or exits
• choose a lower level
• stay near the parking attendant when possible
• watch for people sitting inside parked vehicles
• avoid parking beside those vehicles when possible

Lock the vehicle when you leave it.

Ask for an escort back to your vehicle after work when one is available. In a home setting, ask a family member to escort you.

Before Getting Into the Vehicle

Have your key ready before you reach the vehicle. If necessary, use your house or car key as a weapon. Carry it in your strong hand with one key extended. If you are attacked, slash at the attacker’s face with the key.

Check the front and back seats for a possible intruder before getting inside.

Lock the doors after entering and keep the windows up.

Keep purses, backpacks, and other valuables out of easy view. Do not bring valuables into clients’ homes. Leave them at home or in the vehicle trunk.

If an attacker demands an item you have, give it to them and report the crime to police.

If You Think Someone Is Following You

Cross the street or change direction. Move toward a public building or a lighted house.

If you are scared, yell for help.

Personal security measures described for workers also include carrying a whistle or shriek alarm ⓘ.

Carry a travel-size can of aerosol hairspray and aim it at an attacker’s face. If someone tries to force you into a vehicle, resist being pulled in, even if you see a weapon. The supported actions include yelling, kicking, and pushing your thumbs into the attacker’s eyes. The guidance states that you are at greater risk if you are forced into the vehicle.

The safety guidance also directs a worker to resist being forced into a vehicle.

Safety When Visiting a Client

Arriving and Moving Through the Building

• Call your supervisor when you arrive at the client’s home and when you leave.
• Stay cautious in hallways, elevators, and stairwells.
• Do not enter an elevator with a stranger who makes you nervous.
• Stay in the centre of hallways and avoid hidden corners.
• If someone threatens you in an apartment building, knock on doors and yell to attract attention.
• If you are attacked, pull the fire alarm.

Check the Home Before Settling In

Pause briefly when you enter the home and assess the surroundings.

Look for possible threats such as:

• used syringes
• strange odours
• clutter
• unfamiliar people
• household items that could be used as weapons
• blocked exits

Notice where the phone is located.

Keep your shoes on so you are ready to leave quickly if necessary. During winter, bring indoor shoes.

Protect Your Exit Route

Let the client lead when moving through corridors or going up staircases.

Keep an exit route available or position yourself between the client and the exit. Never let yourself become cornered.

Decide whether a door should stay open or unlocked. Tell the client not to close or lock a door when that makes you uncomfortable.

Choose a Position That Lets You Leave

Sit in a hard-backed chair rather than a soft chair or sofa because you can stand more quickly.

Sit with your strong leg back and your other leg forward. This position helps you rise quickly without using your hands.

Ask for pets to be restrained or kept out of the room when you feel nervous about them.

When You Feel Threatened in a Client’s Home

Leave when a client or another person becomes abusive or makes sexual comments or suggestions.

If you feel uncomfortable or threatened:

1. Go to a safe place.
2. Call your supervisor immediately.

If a client or family member becomes angry and begins screaming, stay calm.

Report unusual incidents to your supervisor as soon as possible.

Common Mix-Ups

Wrong Idea	Better Idea
Refuse care because you are afraid of catching a client’s communicable disease.	In the supplied example, refusal is allowed when protective gloves, masks, and gowns are unavailable.