Why employers should consider a Certified Occupational Health Nurse COHN(C) for their company

What is Occupational Health?
Occupational Health is a service that assists employers to understand how an employee’s health is affected by the workplace environment.

What are examples of Occupational Health Nurse’s Services?
There are many services that you can offer to your employees. These include but are not limited to Well-being programs, compliance with worker’s compensation and safety regulations, carrying out health surveillance duties, disability management, and return to work planning and maintenance.

Can a COHN(C) help manage absences?
Yes, we can support employees who are off on leave and facilitate early and safe return to work.

Can an employer be taken to an employment tribunal over Occupational Health issues?
Occupational Health isn’t a legal requirement, however, not keeping your employees safe from harm can lead to claims being raised against employers. A COHN(C) can offer both quality and expert advice on Occupational Health matters, which will ensure that your employees are supported in the best way possible.

Eileen White BSc. RN. LNC-CSp. COHN COHN(C) CCWS CCAC CPHSA FACLNC

WorkSafeBC Exploratory Research Grant

Do you have a research idea that may lead to scientific or applied breakthroughs in the workplace to improve health and safety?

We are pleased to announce a brand new grant opportunity opened to academic researchers on December 19, 2023!

Exploratory Research

Exploratory Research is a new funding stream within Innovation that encourages exploration of occupational health and safety and work disability challenges through a new lens, bringing together non-traditional disciplines to create bold and lasting effects. This stream is designed to welcome novel tools, applications, methods, programs, or knowledge that can revolutionize occupational health and safety for workers, employers, and workplaces.

Academic researchers based in (or formally affiliated with) a Canadian university or a Canadian research institution are encouraged to apply to Exploratory Research as the principal applicant. All applicants must propose research topics that align with our research priorities.

  • Researchers are encouraged to form multi-disciplinary teams, including workers and employers, to address the research topic. Applicants are asked to carefully consider the composition of the research team to ensure that there is sufficient expertise and resources to conduct the project, perform effective knowledge translation and exchange, and obtain ethics approval as needed.
  • Awards are up to $125,000 for a duration of 24 months.

The 2024 Exploratory Research grant competition is now open. Applications are due March 8, 2024, at 4:00 p.m. PST.

We can help!

Visit our website to learn more and apply today. We encourage applicants to reach out to Research Services by email at resquery@worksafebc.com with any questions about the application process or to discuss research ideas.

WorkSafeBC Grant Opportunities

Do you have a research idea that could improve workplace health and safety? We are pleased to announce new grant opportunities are now open to workers, employers, students, academic researchers, and others who are interested in conducting research related to our research priorities and improving workplace health and safety.

Applied Innovation

Letter of Intent due: January 26, 2024, at 4:00 p.m. PST
Any Canadian resident may apply.

  • Supports research projects that are practical and applicable to the workplace. These projects develop or apply knowledge and insights to address workplace health and safety issues and/or engage in knowledge transfer and exchange activities.
  • Grants are up to $50,000 for a duration of 12 months.

Proof of Principle and Prototyping

Letter of Intent due: January 26, 2024, at 4:00 p.m. PST.
Any Canadian resident may apply.

  • A funding stream within Applied Innovation for research that may lead to novel tools, products, and technology that can be implemented in the workplace and made available to workers, employers, and workplaces.
  • Grants are up to $100,000 for a duration of 24 months.

Research Training Awards

Applications due: February 16, 2024, at 4:00 p.m. PST.
Open to master’s and doctoral students, including international students, in B.C.

  • Designed to foster the development of OHS research in B.C. through enabling graduate students to undertake full-time research training with a focus on occupational illness, injury, and disability.
  • Awards are $22,500 for one year for master’s students and $40,000 per year for two years for doctoral students. Recipients can apply to renew their award for an additional year. 

Ralph McGinn Postdoctoral Fellowships

Applications due: February 16, 2024, at 4:00 p.m. PST.
Open to researchers within four years of completing their Ph.D. holding a postdoctoral position at a Canadian university or research institution.

  • Designed to foster the development of OHS and work disability research in B.C. and across Canada through supporting doctoral graduates who are training for careers as academic researchers.
  • Awards are $50,000 annually for two years. Recipients can apply to renew their award for an additional year.

We can help!

Visit our website to learn more and apply today. We encourage applicants to reach out to Research Services by email at resquery@worksafebc.com with any questions about the application process or to discuss research ideas.

Have your say on working conditions for Canadian nurses | Donnez votre avis sur les conditions de travail des infirmières(ers) canadiennes

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed many historic challenges faced by nurses, including unsafe and untenable workloads, and was accompanied by an emerging urgency to confront and tackle injustices such as racism and discrimination within nursing and across health systems.

What has been your experience over the past few years? Complete this survey to help CNA examine the Canadian nursing landscape.

The survey represents an excellent opportunity for you to help shape the future of the nursing profession. The findings will help inform the development of strategies to address the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including racial discrimination, and ultimately to improve patient outcomes.

Why was this survey created?

CNA has had a longstanding interest in the conditions of nurses’ practice settings, including the basic working conditions, professional practice issues, and inequities confronting nurses. This survey is the result of collaborative efforts in this area.

With an intent to make a difference in dismantling traditional equity barriers, CNA applied for, and was awarded, funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research to better understand the conditions of the regulated nurse workforce during and before COVID-19. The funding included surveying all regulated nurses across Canada to understand the impact of COVID-19 on the provision of nursing services, and experiences of racial discrimination and other injustices in all the domains of nursing.

This is the first study of its kind to examine the pan-Canada landscape of nursing with particular attention to racial discrimination experiences by all regulated nurses.

We invite and encourage you and your colleagues to take the survey today. The findings will help inform our advocacy work and if we can recruit many nurses to participate, we will be able to create an historic document.

The survey takes roughly 45 minutes to complete. After you start the survey, you can stop and come back to it if needed.

CNA is working with Dzifa Dordunoo (University of Victoria), Josephine B. Etowa (University of Ottawa), and Lisa Bourque Bearskin (University of Victoria) on this survey. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact dzifa@uvic.ca.This research has been approved by the Human Research Ethics Board at the Office of Research Services, University of Victoria. The research ethics protocol number is 22-0151.


La pandémie de la COVID-19 a révélé de nombreux défis historiques auxquels sont confrontées les infirmières(ers), notamment des charges de travail dangereuses et insoutenables, et a été accompagnée d’une urgence croissante pour affronter et combattre les injustices telles que le racisme et la discrimination au sein de la profession infirmière et des systèmes de santé en général.

Quelle a été votre expérience au cours de ces dernières années? Complétez cette enquête pour aider l’AIIC à examiner le ‘’paysage’’ infirmier canadien.

Cette enquête représente une excellente occasion pour vous de contribuer à façonner l’avenir de la profession infirmière. Les résultats contribueront à orienter l’élaboration de stratégies visant à remédier aux impacts négatifs de la pandémie de COVID-19, y compris la discrimination raciale, et en fin de compte, à améliorer les résultats pour les patients.

Pourquoi cette enquête a-t-elle été créée?

L’AIIC s’est depuis longtemps intéressée aux conditions dans lesquelles les infirmières(ers) exercent leur profession, notamment aux conditions de base, aux questions liées à la pratique professionnelle et aux inégalités auxquelles elles/ils sont confrontés. Cette enquête est le résultat d’efforts collaboratifs dans ce domaine.

Dans le but de faire la différence en démantelant les barrières traditionnelles en matière d’équité, l’AIIC a sollicité et obtenu un financement des Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada pour mieux comprendre les conditions de travail du personnel infirmier réglementé pendant et avant la pandémie de la COVID-19. Ce financement obtenu, comprenait l’administration d’une enquête auprès de l’ensemble du personnel infirmier réglementé à travers le Canada afin de comprendre l’impact de la COVID-19 sur la prestation des services infirmiers, ainsi que les expériences de discrimination raciale et autres injustices dans tous les domaines de la profession infirmiers.

Il s’agit de la première étude en son genre visant à examiner le paysage pancanadien de la profession infirmière, en accordant une attention particulière aux expériences de discrimination raciale vécues par l’ensemble du personnel infirmier réglementé.

Nous vous invitons et vous encourageons vivement, ainsi que vos collègues, à participer à cette enquête dès aujourd’hui. Les résultats obtenus contribueront à ‘’orienter’’ notre travail de plaidoyer et si nous parvenons à ‘’recruter’’ de nombreuses infirmières(ers) pour y participer, nous serons en mesure de créer un document historique.

L’enquête prend environ 45 minutes à compléter. Une fois que vous l’aurez commencée, vous pouvez la mettre sur ‘’pause’’ et y revenir à tout moment si nécessaire.

L’AIIC travaille en collaboration avec Dzifa Dordunoo (Université de Victoria), Josephine B. Etowa (Université d’Ottawa) et Lisa Bourque Bearskin (Université de Victoria) sur cette enquête. Si vous avez des questions ou des préoccupations, veuillez contacter dzifa@uvic.ca.Cette recherche a été approuvée par le Comité d’éthique de la recherche sur les êtres humains de l’Office des services de recherche de l’Université de Victoria. Le numéro de protocole d’éthique de la recherche est le 22-0151.

National Study on the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Registered Nurses in Canada toward Climate-Driven Vector-Borne Diseases

Shannon Vandenberg, a PhD student at the University of Lethbridge, is conducting a national study on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Registered Nurses in Canada toward climate-driven vector-borne diseases. The title of the study is: An analysis of the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of registered nurses toward climate-driven vector-borne diseases. Practicing Registered Nurses across Canada who hold valid registration with a designated provincial/territorial professional licensing body and can read English are invited to participate in this study. The study consists of an online anonymous Qualtrics survey, which will take approximately 10-15 min to complete.

Please see the invitation to participate for the link to the survey.

Health Canada – Information kit on Wildfires / PVI : Trousse d’information sur les feux de forêt

Hello,

Canada is warming faster than the global rate, providing ideal conditions for more frequent and longer wildfire smoke events. In Canada, wildfire season typically runs from early April to late October.

Health Canada has developed the information kit attached to help support the work of public health professionals at all levels, as well as communications to the general public, so that people in Canada can take appropriate action when wildfire smoke levels are high. Best practices from across the country were collected to be included in the information kit.

Information Kit on Wildfires

Regards;

***************************

Bonjour,

Le Canada se réchauffe à un rythme plus rapide que le reste du monde, fournissant des conditions idéales pour des épisodes de feux de forêt plus fréquents et plus longs. Au Canada, la saison des feux de forêt s’étend généralement du début avril à la fin octobre.

Santé Canada a élaboré la trousse d’information ci-jointe pour aider à soutenir le travail des professionnels de la santé publique à tous les niveaux, ainsi que les communications au grand public, afin que les personnes au Canada puissent prendre les mesures appropriées lorsque les niveaux de fumée des feux de forêt sont élevés. Des pratiques exemplaires de partout au pays ont été recueillies pour être incluses dans la trousse.

Trousse-information_Feux-de-foret

Cordialement,

Innovation and Partnerships Directorate / Direction de l’innovation et des partenariats
Strategic Policy Branch   / Direction générale de la politique stratégique  
Public Health Agency of Canada / Agence de la santé publique du Canada