BEYOND THE WRENCH PAGE | 4
RISK ASSESSMENT WORKSHOP
The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training, and Skills Development's (MLITSD)
risk assessment and root-cause analysis workshops provide a transparent and
collaborative approach to tackling occupational health and safety issues.
This proven methodology focuses on leading indicators, rather than lagging indicators,
and leverages the knowledge and insights of front-line workers and managers. It
involves two workshops: the first focuses on a risk assessment to identify high-risk
events. The second focuses on isolating the root causes of a selected high-risk event
and generating recommended actions.
The first step towards changing health and safety conditions for vehicle service and repair workers was
holding a risk assessment workshop. Worker and management representatives from a diverse group of
companies, from large corporate-owned firms to smaller family-owned businesses, participated in the
workshop to identify and address the health and safety hazards that are harming workers in the sector.
"What stood out to me the most during the workshop discussion was the difference in opinions of what
was a top risk. Every company, ranging from a big car dealership to a small independent shop, deals with
various risks each day. However, there are similar issues that come up frequently for all of us," said Andrew.
"There was good communication and great reflection from
both workers and employers in the room. The workshop
was a great opportunity to identify areas for continuous
improvement," said Jessica Poworoznyk. Jessica is the
Health and Safety Manager at Heffner Lexus Toyota.
She participated in the workshop as a management
representative. "I left with a lot of good ideas to enhance
what we are already doing," she said.
After participants candidly shared their personal
experiences and engaged in passionate discussion, they
narrowed down the top ten risks affecting workers in the
vehicle service and repair sector. Noise exposure topped
the list, with MSDs from manually handling objects coming
second, and MSDs from awkward postures in third.
Airborne debris causing eye injuries and contact with falling
objects, came in at number four and five on the list, while
dispensing and handling chemicals was sixth. Contact with
high voltage systems, such as EV batteries, contact with
pinch points, and poor walking conditions (i.e. slips and
trips) were in the seventh, eighth, and ninth spots. Mental
harm and burnout from workload demands rounded out
the list at number ten.
"
"
"It's tough when you are
trying to prevent long-term
issues that are typically not
immediately noticeable.
We need to preserve the
longevity in the career
and make it not so painful.
We need to communicate
effectively and have better
conversations with our
workers about change."
—Scott Eccles, Owner, Eccles
Auto Service
