Sectoral Safety Associations:Discussions on Development and Sustainability
Sectoral safety associations often evolve from a need to address workplace accidents and injuries and escalating concomitant costs such as workers compensation premiums. At risk sectors are often characterized as small to medium-sized enterprises located in rural and remote locations and are organizations that generally lack the resources and expertise to establish effective occupational health and safety (OHS) programs. The principle mandates of sectoral safety associations are to identify training needs, create awareness of workplace hazards, prescribe best work practices, and promote and develop OHS resources. While most safety associations have demonstrated success in reducing risk and incidence of accidents and injuries, the context for development and organizational structures vary between jurisdictions and even within industrial sectors. Clearly, government-based workers compensation organizations would like to build upon the success of existing safety associations. However, current organizational models and funding schemes may not necessarily be the most appropriate for the development of future associations, particularly for precarious and seasonal industries operating in OHS resource-scarce environments. Factors such as sector size, economic stability, regulatory environment and current enforcement regime will impact upon the financial resources available to establish a functional and sustainable sectoral safety association. In these regards, it is important to understand those factors that have contributed to the success of existing safety associations. Success indicators can include the number of organizations within a sector that hold a “Certificate of Recognition, number of training courses and programs offered, demonstrable indicators of safety culture and compensation and claims histories. This paper will consider an institutional ethnographic approach to assess the initiation and development of the existing pan-Canadian construction safety associations. In general, these safety associations have succeeded across jurisdictions to a level in which they are not only self-financing but advise government on legislative needs. Often these proposed regulations go beyond establishing minimum standards and promote a best practices paradigm. Striving for continuous improvements in safety should result in the subscribing industries to be more competitive, often on a global stage, and assure long-term sustainability of both the company and the industrial sector.
Matthews, J.D. MacKinnon, S.N. Manuel, J. Bornstein, S.
Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, NL, Canada Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, NL, Canada SafetyNet Centre for Occupational Health and Sa Newfoundland & Labrador Construction Safety Association, NL, Canada
国际会议
17th World Congress on Ergonomics(第十七届国际人类工效学大会)
北京
英文
1-5
2009-08-09（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）