What is the Internal Responsibility System?

A culture is a group’s shared attitudes, beliefs, and values. When you consider this definition; a safety culture is a shared attitude and belief that
safety is a value guiding an organization, meaning safety influences every decision made by an organization while pursuing the best care for the
residents and their families. One important way that safety culture is established in an organization is thru the implementation of what’s known
as the Internal Responsibility System .

The internal responsibility system puts into place an employer-worker relationship that ensures a safe and healthy workplace. Your site health and safety (HS) committee is the best way for this relationship to be fostered for the purpose of improving workplace health and safety.

 

How does the Internal Responsibility System work?

The internal responsibility system is the underlying philosophy of occupational health and safety legislation across Canada. Its foundation is
that everyone in the workplace, both workers and employers are responsible for his or her own safety and for the safety of their co-workers. Acts and regulations do not always impose or prescribe specific steps for compliance. Instead, it holds employers responsible for determining such steps to ensure the health and safety of all workers.

The internal responsibility system does the following:
• Creates collaboration and sharing of information
• Promotes safety culture and communication
• Promotes best practice
• Helps develop self-reliance
• Ensures compliance

Each person or group in the workplace shares the responsibility for health and safety at the site and works collaboratively to solve issues and make improvements. Bethany is responsible for maintaining policies and procedures to ensure a safe workplace, while employees are responsible for following safe work practices and reporting safety hazards to their supervisor and/or site HS rep.

Health and safety is a shared responsibility. Reporting incidents and hazards is an important first step. Volunteering for your site’s health and safety committee is another. Be part of the solutions and have a say!

 

Additional Resources:

Article – The Basics of a Strong Culture

Video – Working Together to Make the Workplace Better

Video – Organizational Culture

 

For more information, please contact:

Lesley MacKinnon
Manager, Safety
Lesley.Mackinnon@BethanySeniors.com

Or

Site OHS Committee Chair or RepresentativeLifeWorks supports employee health and well-being.

Bethany employees have access to a wide range of resources such as:

• LifeWorks Blog
• Webinars and Events
• 24/7 Specialist Counselling

Bethanycaresociety.lifeworks.com
username: bcs
Password: eap
Phone: 1-877-207-8833
Phone App: LifeWorks WorkAngel

March is nutrition month and a great time to focus on making healthy food choices that contribute to your overall health and well-being.

One easy concept to follow is what some experts refer to as the “80/20 rule.” If 80 percent of what you eat is healthy—with a healthy mix of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains- you can eat what you crave for the other 20 percent. Here are some additional tips.

Try to fit in two to three nutritious snacks throughout the day in addition to well-balanced main meals. This will give you energy throughout the day, even during a mid-shift slump.

Drink water throughout the day. Avoid soda and sports drinks, which are often high in sugar. Limit caffeinated beverages. Sugar and caffeine may make you feel great for a while, but when they wear off, you may feel even worse than before.

Eat lots of fruits and vegetables and include some fish in your diet. Try to build fruits and vegetables into your diet every day. Snack on apples, oranges, berries, dried fruit, carrot sticks, and other fruits and vegetables.

Keep an eye on portion size. Research has found large portions cause people to keep eating after they’re full. Using a smaller plate for meals will help to curb your food intake.

If junk food is your downfall, don’t buy it. Shop with a list to avoid impulsive buys. The healthiest foods are usually around the outer perimeter of the grocery store, so stay away from the aisles where the processed foods tend to be.

Track your intake. When you keep a food diary (on paper or through an app), you will think twice about eating and snacking. Make yourself accountable for all that you eat.For more information, please contact:

Lesley MacKinnon
Manager, Safety
Lesley.Mackinnon@BethanySeniors.com

Or

Site OHS Committee Chair or RepresentativeLifeWorks supports employee health and well-being.

Bethany employees have access to a wide range of resources such as:

• LifeWorks Blog
• Webinars and Events
• 24/7 Specialist Counselling

Bethanycaresociety.lifeworks.com
username: bcs
Password: eap
Phone: 1-877-207-8833
Phone App: LifeWorks WorkAngel

Habits to Boost Your Psychological Wellbeing

The concept of happiness has been explored for centuries from Socrates to the present day. Its exploration has come to mean many things to many different people. But we now know that positive emotions, such as happiness, contribute largely to the concept of well-being. On the flip side, feelings of stress and overwhelm can sabotage our best efforts to stay positive and happy. There are several strategies we can use to boost our level of happiness the antidote to stress, such as:

Identify your unique “flow states.” In his book Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
describes flow as the “sweet spot” between challenge and skill. To identify when you are in flow, ask yourself: What am I doing when I…

• am at my most creative?
• lose all sense of time?
• feel most alive?

By using our flow states, we can renew and recharge, positioning ourselves for greater happiness, life satisfaction, and optimal performance.

Practice “gratitude spotting” and journaling. Being mindful of and reflecting on the things we are grateful for by finding a quiet time and place during the day to write down at least three things we’re grateful for can enhance our feelings of happiness.

Savouring life’s pleasures. According to Martin E.P. Seligman, savouring is an awareness of pleasure and deliberate, conscious attention to the experience. Focus on the following steps:

• Be in the moment and tell others how much it means to you.
• Take a mental or physical souvenir to build a memory, like a shell from the beach where you took your last vacation.
• Sharpen your perception by zeroing in on the “good stuff,” like closing your eyes while you enjoy a piece of music.
• Afterward, absorb and marvel in how you lost yourself in the
moment.

Make laughter a happy habit. Laughter releases endorphins, also known as the “feel good” hormones, the natural substances released by the brain that improves mood. Whether you watch comedy TV shows or a funny movie, sing karaoke with friends, or view some funny animal antics on YouTube, make it a habit to add a regular dose of laughter to your life.

Research shows that there is a positive, cumulative effect when we increase our happiness, decrease our stress levels and boost our resiliency in the long term.

Lesley MacKinnon MHFA

Manager, Safety

Lesley.Mackinnon@BethanySeniors.comFor more information, please contact:

Lesley MacKinnon
Manager, Safety
Lesley.Mackinnon@BethanySeniors.com

Or

Site OHS Committee Chair or RepresentativeLifeWorks supports employee health and well-being.

Bethany employees have access to a wide range of resources such as:

• LifeWorks Blog
• Webinars and Events
• 24/7 Specialist Counselling

Bethanycaresociety.lifeworks.com
username: bcs
Password: eap
Phone: 1-877-207-8833
Phone App: LifeWorks WorkAngel