Survey – Ergonomics in the Workplace

1 Survey Ergonomics in the Workplace January 2005. National Seafood Sector Council 910 - 130 Albert Street Ottawa, ON K1P 5G4. This study was made possible due to the commitment from industry The Ergonomics in the Workplace project is funded by the Government of Canada's Sector Council Program. The opinions and interpretations in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada. 1. National Seafood Sector Council 2005. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. The National Seafood Sector Council would like to express sincere appreciation to the following industry representatives who offered their expertise and recommendations in the preparation of the document: Erin Gilbert, Englewood Packing Co.

2 , BC. John Hollohan, Fishery Products International, NL. Aline Landry, Cape Bald Packers Ltd., NB. David Lum, Canadian Fishing Co., BC. Linda Mackay, Ocean Choice PEI Inc., PE. Bruce Syme, Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation, MB. and to the NSSC coordination team: Murielle Roy, Project Manager Jennefer Griffith, Marketing &. Communications Officer A special thanks, as well, to the employers, employees, industry stakeholders, educational institute of the Canadian seafood processing industry who contributed valuable time by participating in the Survey . Without your contributions, this report would not have been possible.

3 Consultants: Ergonomics in Motion Port Alberni, BC. Carl Butterworth Tanja Yardley Brent Armstrong 2. National Seafood Sector Council 2005. Executive Summary This Ergonomics Survey and summary report have eliminate risk factors that lead to musculoskeletal been commissioned by the National Seafood Sector and other types of injury. Ergonomics training Council (NSSC), which defines itself as an evolution- can empower companies and individual workers ary organization which promotes a training culture and to identify potential sources of injury, prevent supports the development of a competitive and stable potential hazards, and optimize working conditions.

4 Industry through it's greatest asset, namely people . The primary objective of the Ergonomics Survey ( ).The NSSC implements strategies was to review current practices and demand for to meet the long-term human resource needs of training in the following areas: the Canadian seafood processing industry. s New employee orientation and skills training Since the retention of human resources is a key fac- tor in the competitiveness of Canadian companies, s Employee refresher training it is relevant to identify and address one of the major s Occupational Health and Safety training barriers to productivity, namely musculoskeletal injuries (MSI's).

5 These sprains, strains and overuse s Specific Ergonomics training injuries affect the joints, muscles and nerves and The results of the Survey were used to make recom- often result in consequences ranging from reduced mendations pertaining to Ergonomics training and productivity to significant time loss or long term support. disability with it's associated costs. In the Canadian workforce at large, it is estimated that time loss The results of the Ergonomics Survey indicated occupational injuries arising from MSI's resulted that most companies rely on their managers to take in a direct cost of billion dollars to the Canadian responsibility for health and safety issues.

6 A large economy in 1998 (Association of Workers' proportion of respondents (87 percent) also utilized Compensation Boards of Canada, Work Injuries a Joint Health and Safety Committee comprised of and Diseases, 1996-1998, Canada, 1999, p. 12-19). representatives from management and labour. In British Columbia alone, the WCB statistics for In terms of the make-up of the companies replying to 2002 indicated that the Fish Processing/Fish the Survey , the results indicated that most companies Reduction rate group had 478 accepted claims, employ less than 500 people at one time.

7 According costing a total or $11,299,890 in claims costs with to the Survey , which is consistent with the most an average cost per claim of $4402. This does not recent labour market assessment commissioned reflect the indirect costs associated with recruiting by the NSSC, there is a stable, long-term workforce and training replacement workers, nor the other (approximately 50 percent) co-existing with a tran- societal costs associated with short and long-term sient or new workforce (approximately 50 percent). disability. While MSI's typically make-up 40 This is due to the highly seasonal nature of the work.

8 Percent of time loss claims under the Worker's Compensation system, there is evidence that the According to the 2004 NSSC Labour Market seafood processing industry has an even higher rate Information and Comprehensive Market of MSI than the national average across industries. Assessment: In British Columbia, for example, the MSI rate was s In 2003, there were 1369 seafood processing estab- greater than 50 percent. Clearly, this is a significant lishments in Canada of which 1001 had employees problem with costly ramifications to both the ( were more than family businesses).

9 Of these, 84. employer and employee. Creating a safe, productive percent had less than 100 employees, 15 percent had and positive Workplace is critical to the success of between 100 and 500 employees and only 1 percent all stakeholders in the industry. had more than 500 employees.. Ergonomics is the study of human capabilities in s The labour force in the Canadian Seafood relationship to work demands. In simplistic terms, Processing industry as reported by the 2001 Census Ergonomics seeks to fit the person to the job and consists of about 46,000 people of which 30,000.

10 Vice-versa. ergonomic programs seek to reduce or 3. National Seafood Sector Council 2005. (65 percent) are actively working, 10,000 (22 percent) equipped. It was encouraging to note that 67 percent are unemployed and a further 6,000 (13 percent) are of the respondents met regularly regarding health and no longer actively looking for work even though they safety issues and 92 percent reported consensus and still self -identify as being fish plant workers. This implementation of recommendations most or all of labour force has been in steady decline over the pre- the time.