Corporate

2 WSIB Report Builder  Workplace Safety & Prevention Services  | 8 Preventing falls from heights in greenhouses Greenhouse and other agriculture workers are at great risk — experiencing higher lost-time injury rates than any other Schedule 1 sector over the last six years, according to a WSIB report[i]. Since 2015, WSPS has been partnering with the industry and the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development to reduce injuries. The plan centres around identifying the areas of greatest risk so prevention efforts can be targeted and realize more effective results. In a series of workshops with industry representatives, falls from heights was determined to be the highest risk faced by these workers. After conducting a root cause analysis, participants agreed on the top causal factors for injury and listed plausible controls. In 2019, WSPS worked with the industry to rank causal factors and identify controls that would have the most impact in managing the risks. These efforts included researching solutions and best practices from across the prevention system, within the greenhouse industry and beyond. WSPS' solutions development team then consolidated the findings. In 2020, industry partners will review the proposed control solutions, with the goal of selecting and introducing intervention strategies. A new way to assess workplace chemical hazards Despite WHMIS legislation, many workers do not have a good understanding of workplace chemicals. That's according to researchers involved in a 2019 study completed by Ryerson University, in partnership with five national and provincial unions, Workplace Safety & Prevention Services, Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, and Public Services Health & Safety Association. The goal of the "Setting Priorities in the Workplace" study was to create a tool that could help prioritize workplace chemical hazards based on impact to health. The partners recruited Joint Health and Safety Committees from sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare and municipal government to participate in the project. In early 2020, a draft version of the Chemical Hazard Assessment and Prioritization (CHAP) tool, which gives workplaces the ability to rank their chemicals by hazard level, was piloted. The project team also created a training program to build understanding of chemical hazards. Ryerson University has since launched a webpage to host an electronic version of the CHAP tool. Trials of this version will continue into the fall of 2020. RESEARCH

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