Health and safety in the workplace
©Kathy Smith: Feb 1995 - Health Care News

As the workplace of the 90s becomes more sophisticated, health and safety policies are changing dramatically. Providing health care in a variety of work settings can be challenging, but for BC's Occupational Health Nurses, it's just part of the job.

"As professionals, we are here for our employers to make the workplace the best it can be," says Carol Bailey, president of the BC Occupational Health Nurses Group. "We can help reduce absenteeism and promote employee health and fitness while meeting required safety standards at the work site."

"Traditionally people think nurses come in once there is a health problem, but prevention is the key," says Bailey. "The role of the occupational health nurse is to put a picture of all the problems together. We make on-site assessments, then make recommendations to the employer in cooperation with unions, safety groups, and administrators."

For example, many mechanics on the job can be exposed to lead, requiring their blood levels be checked periodically. Also, workers in the construction field need to be taught how to properly use equipment on the job to minimize health risks, as repeated exposure to a variety of high pitched noises can frequently require testing for hearing impairments.

"The more generations of people we produce, the more environmentally sensitive they can be," says Bailey. "As a professional nurse, you need to know potentials of problems tailored to the workplace." The occupational health nurses group provides services to a variety of workplaces, including government, private industries, and hospitals.

"The focus is on the well-being of the worker," says Elaine Kilpatrick, vice-president, who heads the occupational nursing group for government employees. "A lot of our time is spent on education for the individuals and groups in the prevention of health problems such as back pain and cancer awareness, etc."

Kilpatrick finds education can go a long way to intercepting potential health risks, "and it helps to have people trained in first aid," she says, pointing out the ratio of occupational health nurses to government employees. With the federal government sector, there is approximately one occupational health nurse to 1,200 to 1,400 employees, and 1.5 nurses to 13,000 provincial employees.

But the main clientele for occupational health nursing are hospitals. Besides known health risks in the health care profession, ergonomics in the hospital setting is also of concern. May Geach, president of the Victoria group of occupational health nurses (OHN's), works as a resource person for occupational health and safety support services. She is involved in developing pilot projects to see what kind of workplace health care support is effective. "I utilize an occupational therapist with ergonomics training to help review work sites and work processes," she says.

And as health care is being brought closer to home, occupational health nurses are preparing to make themselves better known to the community by developing a portfolio reflecting their expertise and the many roles they can take on as health care providers. "People are realizing OHN's do more than just give immunizations," says Geach.

Occupational health nursing is a vast and varied profession. The nursing background and technical knowledge required is extensive. Practice standards, responsibilities and objectives are constantly being reevaluated in order to meet current needs for health care in the workplace. Says Bailey: "The goal is to keep everyone at work."