The Potential Role of Standards and Guidelines in the MSD Prevention Approach for Ontario

June 18, 2013
Centre for Health and Safety Innovation, Mississauga

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Summary

A highly interactive and participative workshop, The Potential Role of Standards and Guidelines in the Musculoskeletal Disorder (MSD) Prevention Approach for Ontario, was hosted by the Center of Research Expertise for Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD) on June 18, 2013 and held at the Centre of Health and Safety Innovation in Mississauga. The workshop was well attended with participants that included representatives from employers, labour, workers, health and safety associations, the Ministry of Labour, private consultants, and the Chief Prevention Office.

Dr. Richard Wells, director of CRE-MSD, opened the workshop and set the stage for the day’s agenda. He introduced Mr. Brian Lewis, director of Strategy and Integration from the Ministry of Labour’s Prevention Office, who provided opening remarks. Mr. Lewis expressed his support of the workshop and the conversation around the importance of considering standards in MSD prevention. He mentioned that we must maintain focus on the health and safety priorities of Ontario including the prevention of MSDs which represent 45% of all lost time injuries in Ontario. He stressed the importance of research in this endeavour and the strength that the partnerships between CRE-MSD, our health and safety system partners, employers and labour play in prevention efforts. He noted that the Prevention Office is excited about the prevention transformation occurring in Ontario and believes strongly that working with health and safety professionals and organizations such as CRE-MSD have us on the right path to addressing the priorities identified in the Expert Advisory Panel on Occupational Health and Safety: The Tony Dean Report.

Jonathan Tyson, relationship manager, Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) Nova Scotia, then led the group through an historical perspective of the MSD Prevention Guideline for Ontario that was produced by the former Occupational Health and Safety Council of Ontario (OHSCO) with support from CRE-MSD. This series of MSD prevention materials have been widely used in Ontario workplaces for a number of years and continue to represent the prevention approach to MSDs. Anecdotal evidence indicates that the Guideline has been successful in increasing awareness and MSD prevention activities, and is widely promoted and used by ergonomics consultants and system partners working with Ontario workplaces. The Guideline is now due for a review which provides us with an ideal opportunity to discuss this approach in a wider context of standards and guidelines for Ontario.

Mr. Tyson’s presentation was followed by an overview of the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Z1000 Series, led by Mr. Ron Meyers. Mr. Meyers indicated that 70% of CSA Standards are directly or indirectly referenced in Occupational Health and Safety Law in Canada. The Z1000, System Model, has been widely accepted and adopted as a standard on which to create a health and safety management system approach to prevention. Each Standard is developed through the expertise of Technical Committees consisting of industry and knowledge subject matter experts. Every Standard must be reviewed at least every five years which keeps the Standards current and in a cycle of continual improvement. Mr. Meyers explained that the feedback obtained at this workshop will help CSA to understand the perspectives on the Standards, specifically Z1004 and will inform them how best to improve them and make them more acceptable and useful.

Following Mr. Meyers’ presentation, Dr. Richard Wells described in detail the CSA Z1004 Workplace Ergonomics Standard. Dr. Wells’ presentation was designed to introduce the workshop participants to Z1004-12, to summarize the Standard, Guidance, and the Reference tools and to show the relationship of Z1004-12 to the other MSD prevention approaches. Dr. Wells explained that a major goal of the workshop was to have the attendees complete a comparison of the Z1004-12 Standard and related MSD prevention approaches.

Group work then began at each of the tables to complete a comparative chart of the Standard and the Guideline to the elements within a Health and Safety Management System. The results of the groups’ work were aggregated and presented following the lunch break.

The afternoon portion of the workshop was devoted to group work to collectively address the following questions:

  1. What are the different features (new value) CSA Standards might bring to MSD prevention?
  2. What might be missing?
  3. What are the implications of having multiple sets of standards or guidelines?
  4. What are the implications of adopting CSA Z1004 as a Standard for MSD prevention in Ontario?
  5. What else do we need to be thinking about to advance MSD prevention in Ontario?

At a very high level, there were commonalities in the table group responses which indicated that the CSA Standard provides structure and credibility and is recognized as a sound framework to address MSD hazards within the Occupational Health and Safety Management System. Similarly, there were commonalities in identifying the need for the Standard to be more user-friendly to translate into practical application, and to provide more evaluation and implementation tools.

There was universal agreement across all groups that having multiple sets of standards or guidelines would lead to confusion and a lack of consistency. There was less concurrence in the responses around specifically adopting the CSA Z1004 for MSD Prevention. Although there appeared to be general support of the Standard, there were some concerns expressed related to the lack of legislated enforcement, the limited implementation guidance, and the ease of use, particularly for small businesses. However, it was agreed that it is important to consider a single approach to advance MSD prevention in Ontario and there was interest in exploring the possibility of using the CSA Z1004 Standard as a foundation.

Following the excellent participation and input throughout the day, Dr. Wells closed the workshop with his observations and a commitment to the next steps. A detailed report will be developed by CRE-MSD, with input from the Steering Group, based on the information provided throughout the workshop. This report will be available on the CRE-MSD website upon its completion, along with a video of the day’s live presentations.