Pic Mobert First Nation Presents

Top 10 responses you might get when introducing a health and safety culture in your organization.

10.That’s not how we do it here. That’s not how it used to be done, but its different now: We are responsible for keeping our community, staff, Council, visitors safe And we will be held accountable: Health and safety & criminal laws, regulations Civil law Personal sense of responsibility

9.We are already wearing work boots – what else do you want? That (PPE) is still an important consideration, but we need to consider a broader definition of health: Repetitive strain injuries – e.g. carpal tunnel Stress – workplace & personal Harassment & abuse (gossip, rumours, undermining, verbal & physical threats and attacks)

8. Give us a break – we are already too busy! Yes you are, so lets figure out how you are going to make time to: Understand the health and safety aspects of your job Carry out related tasks (training, inspections, etc.) And its time well spent – think about the extra work, disruption when someone is away due to illness and injury

7.I thought that guy in the health department was taking care of this. Well, he/she isn’t. It’s actually a core responsibility of all of our employees and needs to be imbedded in: Core competencies Job descriptions/accountabilities However: A senior manager needs to have overall accountability (CEO) If you are lucky (we are), you can find funding to hire someone to dedicate to health and safety programming

6.Isn’t INAC supposed to care of that? Probably, but they don’t In the meantime, people are getting/could be injured and ill We are a Nation, our own government and we are ultimately responsibility for our own well being

5.That probably doesn’t apply on reserve. Yes it does Provincial & federal laws reach into the reserve have no prejudice – they are universal And beyond legalities, everyone deserves to be healthy and safe

4.No one will do it anyway. Well if they don’t, they will be held accountable, just as they would be for neglecting any other of their duties To keep this top of mind we need to build a true health and safety culture comprised of: Carrots – incentives /rewards Sticks – disincentives/discipline

3.We don’t have any zhooniyya for this. Beware of the bookkeeper! She’s right, but we do have money for other things – so we will need to prioritize In the end, this is not about spending, its about investing And if you want to deal with it in accounting terms, investing in health and safety will: Be much cheaper than responding to a charge, incident, loss or lawsuit Improve productivity & results – healthy people who are work … do work

2.Give it a rest – it’s the rez’ Yes, we are a small community and organization, but everyone deserves to be healthy and safe And we are subject to the same laws and liabilities that apply off-reserve And more and more of what we do occurs outside of the reserve So while it may seem that we might be getting too stiff or bureaucratic, this is our new reality – NO APOLOGIES

1.Nothing’s gonna’ happen anyway. Maybe, hopefully, but what if it does? Beyond legal & financial liabilities, how would you live with yourself knowing that you could have made a difference?

All kidding aside….we are doing some good things. Our leaders have heard and stand behind our health & safety initiatives Overall accountability for health and safety is delegated to the CEO Negotiated funding for a part- time person dedicated to health & safety (through an IBA)

We have established and now trained, certified our health and safety committee We have a draft health and safety policy + zero tolerance policy And we are making time to take advantage of training, learning opportunities. Much done…much more to do, but we have momentum!