According to a study by the Institute for Work and Health (IWH), small businesses participating in health and safety incentive programs, such as the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) Health & Safety Excellence Program (HSEp), are better able to make positive health and safety changes in their workplace, despite facing challenges like limited time and resources. Participants in these programs achieve significant benefits, such as increasing health and safety awareness and effective implementation of occupational health and safety (OHS) policies. However, small businesses often require additional support due to resource constraints and limited OHS knowledge.

What is HSEp?

HSEp is a performance-based incentive initiative designed to help Ontario businesses enhance workplace health and safety. The program provides both financial and non-financial rewards and offers flexibility with over 40 health and safety topics tailored to each business’s goals.

Key benefits of the program include:

• Workplace injury and illness prevention
• Financial rebates
• Improved organizational health and safety culture
• Access to easy-to-use health and safety resources and solutions
• Assistance in maintaining progress towards health and safety program development and Occupational Health & Safety Act compliance
• Networking opportunities
• Introduction to Ontario’s health and safety system partners and programs
• Networking opportunities

Consultants play a key role in HSEp safety success

The study notes that health and safety consultants played a key role in helping smaller businesses successfully implement HSEp. Among other things, businesses appreciated getting no-cost expert advice on health and safety and topic implementation and having timely access and support from the consultants.

WSPS Consultant Pam Resvick worked directly with the small businesses in the study. She found that many participants had minimal health and safety knowledge. “We would start talking about simple safety topics like the Internal Responsibility System (IRS) and they were lost already,” explains Pam. “They needed an introduction to health and safety before they could even begin the program.”

Pam and her team developed a community website where HSEp participants could learn health and safety basics, such as the responsibilities of owners/senior management, supervisors, workers, and health and safety representatives, along with understanding requirements and best practices for first aid, various hazards, etc. In addition, they created easy to use resources to help them gain a better understanding of these issues.

“The WSPS HSEp team also found that small businesses needed ongoing support when it came to implementing their chosen topics,” says Pam. “They were unable to take it and just run with it.” With small business owners juggling so many different priorities and having little time or resources, it was hard for them to stay focused and motivated on their own. In response, Pam and her team performed regular check-ins to encourage them to stay engaged.

The team also advocated having short-term goals so that each business wouldn’t feel overwhelmed and could make steady progress. “We encouraged them to just take a little bit of time every week; 15 minutes to watch a video, for example, or half an hour to work on a template,” explains Pam. The HSEp community site can be accessed in the evenings or on weekends – whenever they could find time to watch webinars or instructional videos or read quick tip guides. Virtual meetings and open house events gave the small businesses the opportunity to interact, ask questions, discuss topics, and learn from each other.

Study findings show HSEp helps strengthen OHS programs

IWH concluded the study by interviewing the HSEp consultants and participating small businesses. Overall, the researchers found that the program experience was positive. “No matter what stage of their health and safety journey a business was in, there was always something to be learned and embraced,” notes Pam.

Even businesses that did not complete the program because of time constraints found value in it. One noted, “It’s made a huge difference here. We’ve implemented a lot.”

Beyond validating the HSEp program’s value, the study provided valuable insights to help shape future health and safety programs for small businesses. The following list of recommendations was developed by the researchers to support small businesses in their efforts to create a healthy and safe workplace:

• Provide small businesses with an introduction to occupational health and safety.
• Offer one on one support to ensure ongoing progress.
• Prioritize the training and involvement of the joint health & safety committee (JHSC) members or health and safety representative to increase OHS capacity and make a positive and sustainable impact in their workplace.
• Emphasize the role of senior leadership and safety culture in facilitating program engagement and occupational health and safety improvements.
• Help small businesses plan for resource limitations and business workflow to facilitate program implementation.

Register Today

Learn more about the WSIB’s Health and Safety Excellence Program. To join, contact excellenceprogram@wsps.ca.

The information in this article is accurate as of its publication date.