Crisis Management

Effective Response to a Critical Workplace Situation

Agenda

Introduction

Reports & Investigations

Critical/Fatal Injuries

Steps to Take

Media

Social Media

Internal Responsibilities

Public Relations

Introduction

The correct handling of a crisis situation is imperative for the well being of the injured person.

It is also extremely important for the survival of your business.

There are a number of situations that can occur at your workplace and as a business owner or manager you need to have a system in place train your management team and workers how to deal with each type of incident if they occur.

Having an easy to follow system up and running is a key component to your organization. We will look at each of the potential scenarios and consider your responsibilities as per Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, and other regulations, along with sound business advice.

Workplace Injury Requiring Treatment

If one of your employees has suffered a minor injury

requiring First Aid, followed by additional treatment from

a health care professional, you are required to complete

and submit a Form 7 to WSIB.

This can be done electronically online and takes little

time to complete.

It is important to reassure your workers that reporting all

injuries is a requirement and please do not punish

workers for doing so!

Workplace Injury Requiring Treatment...

We have seen it happen where workers were afraid to

report an injury to their employer, then sought treatment

from their Family Doctor, Chiropractor an Emergency

Department.

All of these medical channels are required to submit a

Form 7 to WSIB if the injury occurred in the workplace.

WSIB will then contact the employer wondering where

their Form 7 submission was.

Workplace Injury Requiring Treatment...

You need to remember that WSIB automatically conveys

all such information to the Ministry of Labour.

If the MOL see multiple injuries occur at a workplace

within a short time period, then the likelihood of an

unannounced visit from an MOL Inspector goes up

exponentially, sometimes catching the employer

completely off guard.

Driving injuries underground seldom results in anything

positive. For these reasons, we strongly recommend you

encourage employees to report all injuries.

Workplace Injury Requiring Treatment...

We also suggest you perform an Accident/Incident

investigation report internally to learn how the injury

happened and what can be done to prevent similar

injuries from taking place in the future.

Try not to assign blame during this process as doing so

will serve to keep injuries from being reported.

Critical/Fatal Injury

Dealing with a critical injury is different from a simple First Aid treatment case. In Regulation 834, a critical injury is defined as: “critically injured” means an injury of a serious nature that,

(a) places life in jeopardy,

(b) produces unconsciousness,

(c) results in substantial loss of blood,

(d) involves the fracture of a leg or arm but not a finger or toe,

(e) involves the amputation of a leg, arm, hand or foot but not a finger or toe,

(f) consists of burns to a major portion of the body, or

(g) causes the loss of sight in an eye.

Critical/Fatal Injury…

Under Section 51 of the OHS Act, as an employer, here

are your responsibilities.

Notice of death or injury

51. (1) Where a person is killed or critically injured from

any cause at a workplace, the constructor, if any, and the

employer shall notify an inspector, and the committee, health

and safety representative and trade union, if any, immediately of

the occurrence by telephone or other direct means and the

employer shall, within forty-eight hours after the occurrence,

send to a Director a written report of the circumstances of

the occurrence containing such information and particulars as

the regulations prescribe.

Critical/Fatal Injury…

What most employers don’t understand is that this

section of the OHS Act applies to any person who is

critically or fatally injured at their workplace.

Employers have been fined up to $20,000 for not filing a

report on time.

There is an additional requirement in the next section of

the Act in regards to preserving the wreckage at the

scene.

Critical/Fatal Injury…

Preservation of Wreckage

(2) Where a person is killed or is critically injured at a

workplace, no person shall, except for the purpose of,

(a) saving life or relieving human suffering;

(b) maintaining an essential public utility service or a public

transportation system; or

(c) preventing unnecessary damage to equipment or other

property,

interfere with, disturb, destroy, alter or carry away any wreckage,

article or thing at the scene of or connected with the occurrence

until permission so to do has been given by an inspector.

Critical/Fatal Injury…

Not following these guidelines has resulted in fines and

even jail time for some employers, managers or

supervisors.

This is why it is so important to be aware of your

responsibilities.

It is vital to determine if the injury is a critical injury or

not as employers have been charged by the MOL after a

non-critical injury has been reported.

Critical/Fatal Injury…

Fatal Injury

If a person is fatally injured at your workplace, you must

follow the same guidelines as for a critical injury.

Obviously this situation is much more serious and will

have a traumatic effect on your staff and customers.

Ensure that the crisis is handled professionally and

correctly.

We will review some steps to take when a critical or fatal

injury occurs.

Steps to Take

Whenever a person at your workplace suffers an injury of

any kind, here are some steps to take and some tips on

what you can do to be prepared for an injury ahead of time.

Always have a well-stocked First Aid kit(s) available that contain

the items required by WSIB Regulation 1101. Reputable safety

supply companies such as Fast-Rescue will have fully stocked

kits available.

According to this regulation, you are required to have

someone trained in First Aid on site when ever you are open.

We suggest posting the list of those trained in First Aid on or

beside each kit.

Include CPR training with First Aid certification.

Steps to Take…

As part of your employee orientation, include showing each

employee where the First Aid kits and eyewash stations are

located. Remember to clean and flush your eye stations weekly

and to document it.

At this time, you are not required to have a defibrillator on site

but it is good customer service to do so.

Get First Aid treatment to the injured person as quickly as

possible. If further treatment is required, offer to provide

transportation to the nearest emergency department. If the

injury is of a more serious nature, call for an ambulance

immediately and administer First Aid and/or CPR as is needed.

Steps to Take…

When it has been determined that the injury is critical or fatal, call for an ambulance immediately, provide First Aid and/or CPR, and cordon off the scene.

Determine if there is potential danger to those around the injured person and if so eliminate that danger if it is safe to do so.

Move all bystanders away from the area, shut off any equipment, call CEsafety if you are a client, get guidance from Bill and then contact the Ministry of Labour (1-877-202-0008).

Be ready to start an investigation of the incident, including interviewing any witnesses, as soon as possible.

File the report with the MOL within 48 hours, contact your legal department or attorney, and meet with all employees to discuss what has just happened and how it will be dealt with.

Steps to Take…

Interact with the Police, First Responders and the Ministry of Labour

professionally and be honest with them.

If orders are issued by the Ministry of Labour, make sure you

understand what is to be done and review them carefully with the

Inspector before they leave.

Again, if you are a client of CEsafety, call Bill back after speaking to

the MOL. He will then speak with the Inspector to see what can be

done from our end.

Contact your attorney. If they are not well versed in these matters

then we recommend contacting Jeremy Warning at Mathews

Dinsdale. He is one of the leading attorneys in Ontario in regards to

legal matters involving occupational health and safety.

Call your insurance company so they can assess the situation.

Steps to Take…

Obey all of the orders to the letter; ensure you complete them

by the date and time indicated on the orders. Stay in touch

with the Inspector and let them know when you have

completed the orders.

Conduct your internal investigation as quickly as possible.

Interview all witnesses and file the report within the 48 hours’

time frame.

Complete and submit a Form 7 to WSIB.

Make notes and document everything thoroughly. Give a copy

to your attorney in the event of potential civil litigation.

Remember that CEsafety can assist you with every aspect of

this situation.

Media

Controlling what information gets to the media can be very difficult, especially in today’s world where everyone has a smart phone and instant access to the internet.

Designate a specific person/persons in your organization to be your spokesperson to the media.

When an event is under investigation by the Police or the Ministry of Labour, never comment on what has taken place. If necessary, you can contact an outside organization to do this for you; if the media contacts your business, simply refer them to that organization. We recommend using John O’Brien of Fresh Set of I’s.

Damage control needs to start happening right away to get on top of this and stay on top of this.

Any press releases need to be reviewed by ownership, management, and your attorney to ensure that nothing damaging is accidentally revealed.

Social Media

People with smart phones have even extremely quick

access to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc.

You may not be able to control what a non-employee

posts, but we suggest you have a social media policy in

place signed by every employee which spells out what

they are allowed to post regarding the business.

Utilize a phrase such as:

Never post information or photos to social media in regards to any

incidents that occur at our workplace including accidents, incidents,

injuries, or disciplinary actions.

Internal Responsibilities

Meet with your management team, safety committee, safety representative, and all employees to review exactly what steps are to be taken in the event of a crisis. Ensure that everyone clearly understands their individual role, responsibilities, and what is to be done by whom, when, and in what order.

Rainy days are great for safety training so why not organize a mock injury and go through the process to make sure every person knows what to do when the time comes.

Remember that all it can take is one incident to cause serious damage to your business. Be prepared.

Offer grief counselling for your employees. A critical or fatal injury amongst workers can cause serious emotional issues with your staff for years to come after the incident. The last thing you need is to lose key members of your staff after you may have just lost one.

Public Relations

One of the keys to having a positive public image is to do your best to make sure that an injury or incident does not happen in your workplace.

Having an active safety culture in place is your first line of defence. If you have invested in creating a safety culture, advertise it!

Post health and safety notices in public areas such as washrooms, offices, reception areas, and your website. Include it in mail outs.

Your customers will feel better knowing that they are visiting a workplace that is not only appealing to them, but is also safe for their family and friends to enjoy.

Checklist

Get First Aid treatment to the injured person as quickly as possible. If further treatment is required, offer to provide transportation to

the nearest emergency department. If the injury is of a more serious nature, call for an ambulance immediately and administer First Aid

and/or CPR as is needed.

When it has been determined that the injury is critical or fatal, call for an ambulance immediately, provide First Aid and/or CPR, and

cordon off the scene.

Determine if there is potential danger to those around the injured person and if so eliminate that danger if it is safe to do so.

Move all bystanders away from the area, shut off any equipment, call CEsafety if you are a client to get guidance from Bill, and then

contact the Ministry of Labour.

Be ready to start an investigation of the incident, including interviewing any witnesses, as soon as possible.

File the report with the MOL within 48 hours, contact your legal department or attorney, and meet with all employees to discuss what

has just happened and how it will be dealt with.

Interact with the Police, First Responders and the Ministry of Labour professionally and be honest with them.

If orders are issued by the Ministry of Labour, make sure you understand what is to be done and review them carefully with the

Inspector before they leave.

Again, if you are a client of CEsafety, call Bill back after speaking to the MOL. He will then speak with the Inspector to see what can be

done from our end.

Contact your attorney. If they are not well versed in these matters then we recommend contacting Jeremy Warning at Mathews

Dinsdale. He is one of the leading attorneys in Ontario in regards to legal matters involving occupational health and safety.

Call your insurance company so they can assess the situation.

Obey all of the orders to the letter; ensure you complete them by the date and time indicated on the orders. Stay in touch with the

Inspector and let them know when you have completed the orders.

Conduct your internal investigation as quickly as possible. Interview all witnesses and file the report within the 48 hours’ time frame.

Complete and submit a Form 7 to WSIB.

Make notes and document everything thoroughly. Give a copy to your attorney in the event of potential civil litigation.