SAFER Choices: Experience It!

Forest Industry Health & Wellness Conference - October 4, 2016
Mill Inspections - A SAFER.ca Video
Huffington Post: 7 Ways Sleep Affects Your Work
Family Ties: Coping with a Relative's Mental Illness

The SAFER Council believes trained and committed Joint Health and Safety Committee leadership is necessary to ensure committee’s function effectively. The SAFER Council therefore is pleased to offer an opportunity for Joint Health Safety Committee Chairpersons, or other union and management health and safety leaders to attend the SAFER Health & Safety Excellence Conference. Employees of SAFER member companies must register and may attend at no cost. The conference content has been designed to focus on the knowledge and skill sets that health and safety leaders require in order to maximize their committee’s efforts in making their workplace safe. This one day conference will cover the following: Leadership/Team Development – Ryan Walter Introduction to Positive Leadership – Paul Krismer Red Shirt Foundation Workplace Violence Research Current Health and Safety Initiatives The SAFER Council recommends and encourages member companies to send both the management and union chairpersons to this worthwhile conference.

The Conference will be presented on:

October 3, 2016 - Monday
8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Hilton Hotel - Metrotown
6083 McKay Avenue
Burnaby, BC

Find out more about this conference and on how to book rooms at the Hilton Hotel Metrotown on our registration page. Click here for the SAFER Joint Heath & Safety Leadership Conference registration page.

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Click here for the Forest Industry Health & Wellness Conference website.

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Mill Inspections - SAFER.ca

Join Bill Laturnus on a "journey" through one of Western Forest Products' sawmills. With more than 25 years of operational management experience and a passion for safety, Bill is an external safety auditor that encourages you to be aware of your surroundings using all five senses and vigilant in your safety observations every time you walk through the mill.

To view more safety videos, visit the SAFER.ca YouTube Channel.

Thanks to Western Forest Products Chemainus Sawmill Division.

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Recently, Huffington Post Publisher Arianna Huffington spoke on CBC Radio about the dangers of sleep deprivation and the effects that it had on a personal level. Arianna talked with The Current host Anna-Maria Tremonti about why the public need to understand the negative effects of sleep deprivation. The Huffington Post published about sleep deprivation below.

To listen to this CBC Radio audio clip, click here.   

Huffington Post: 7 Ways Sleep Affects Your Work
According to fatigue study, the more sleep-deprived you are, the slower you become at getting tasks done at work.

It goes without saying that it’s hard to get work done when you can barely keep your eyes open. But it turns out that getting inadequate shut-eye can affect you at work beyond just making you feel sluggish. Below, find seven ways sleep can affect you on the job — and even your company’s bottom line.

Getting too little (or too much!) sleep can mean more sick days
A recent study in the journal Sleep showed that sleeping fewer than five hours or more than 10 hours a night is associated with staying home sick for 4.6 to 8.9 more days than people who sleep between seven and eight hours a night. This link “remained even after health and other key factors assumed to affect the association between sleep and sickness absence had been accounted for,” study researcher Tea Lallukka, Ph.D., previously told HuffPost.

Sleep deprivation is hurting your employer — and the economy
In fact, sleep deprivation could be costing $63 billion to the U.S. economy each year due to lost productivity, according to a Harvard study reported by Health.com. People who experience some kind of insomnia — whether it be waking up in the middle of the night, or having trouble falling asleep — cost employers about 7.8 work days’ worth of productivity a year.

Getting enough sleep keeps you thinking creatively
Sleep is associated with innovation, and being deprived of it is associated with impairment in the mental ability, HuffPost’s Carolyn Gregoire previously reported.

A lack of sleep can make you less productive
The more sleep-deprived you are, the slower you become at getting tasks done at work, according to a 2012 Journal of Vision study. Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that accuracy and speed at a visual search computer task decreased the longer study participants were awake, Reuters reported.

Yes, sleep might have an impact on your wages
As The Wall Street Journal pointed out recently, research shows that for people who are already not getting enough sleep, one extra hour in average sleep over the long run is associated with a 16 percent increase in wages.

Sleep strengthens the sort of memory that can help you on the job
In a 2011 study, Michigan State researchers showed that sleep seems to improve what is called “working memory capacity.” This form of memory seems to be associated with problem-solving, vocabulary, decision-making and reading comprehension.

Getting enough Zzs could mean less risk for job burnout
A 2012 study showed that getting fewer than six hours of sleep is a predictor of job burnout, as well as “difficulties detaching from thoughts of work during leisure time.” The findings suggest that it may not be stress itself causing burnout, but the recovery from stress — and that “interventions to enhance sleep and recovery in occupational settings could help prevent burnout,” the researchers wrote in the study.  

This article is courtesy of the Huffington Post online.

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Family Ties: Coping with a Relative's Mental Illness
Unfortunately, mental illness is a concern that is becoming more and more common amongst families everywhere.

Coping with a relative’s illness is incredibly challenging and something many people aren’t prepared to handle. Though you probably want to offer as much love and support as possible, defensive or unpredictable behaviour can be a challenge and you may find that caring for your loved one eats up much of your free time and energy. The result can be a physically and emotionally exhausting journey that may not only leave you feeling exhausted, but also exposed to the opinions and judgments of others.

Start by learning all you can about your loved one’s mental illness so you can understand the challenges he or she is facing. Then, learn to boost your coping credentials without the scenario absorbing your entire life by:

Acknowledging your feelings.  In the short term it may be easier to ignore the warning signs of a mental health issue in a loved one, but remember: the sooner a problem is addressed, the better the chances for a successful recovery.  Though you may worry about what others will think, accept these concerns and quickly move on to taking action. Your time will be much better spent ensuring your relative gets the help he or she needs.

Avoiding the blame game.  No one is to blame for your loved one’s mental illness. Though most of us would never dream of laying blame on someone for getting multiple sclerosis or cancer, the same cannot be said of mental illness. Remember that mental health illnesses are often caused by chemical imbalances in the brain rather than “weakness.” While it may seem easier for family members to find something or someone to point the finger at, this is a time when you will really need to pull together as a family. Alienation will only burden the family with more stress.

Accepting help.  Don’t try to single-handedly “cure” your loved one’s mental illness and don’t take on the whole responsibility of recovery by yourself.  You can’t be there all the time and if you try, you’ll not only burn out, but will ultimately end up hindering your relative’s recovery.  Accept help from others when they offer and ask them for help if they don’t.

Talking about it.  While it may be difficult to talk about your relative’s mental illness with other family members and friends, holding back can lead to emotional and social isolation at a time when you really need all the support you can get.  Giving yourself permission to talk about what is going on with a trusted friend, relative, support group or professional can help you work through stress and tension, leaving you feeling more open and patient when dealing with your ill relative.

Be realistic.  Keep an open mind about your loved one’s recovery and be sure your expectations are realistic.  Take a ‘one-day-at-a-time’ approach: it may take your loved one longer than you think for ‘normal’ life to resume. Remember that this is your relative’s journey, not your own, so don’t push too hard.  Give your loved one time and space to work through his or her own personal recovery road.

Set limits.  While your loved one may be unable to control certain behaviours, you need to set limits for what is and isn’t acceptable in your home.  If you feel that you or other family members are in danger, or that your ill loved one may be a threat to his or her own safety, get professional help immediately.Depending on the level of danger you perceive, this may mean calling 9-1-1 or looking at residential treatment options where your family and loved one will be safer.

Don’t forget about you.  If you aren’t taking care of yourself, then you can’t effectively care for another person.  Take time out to remove yourself from the situation and do things that need to be done to keep your daily life running smoothly and to help you keep things in perspective. Spending too much time with your loved one may actually make matters worse, creating a relationship where he or she depends on you for everything.  Be realistic about your relative’s needs and your own so that you can both effectively cope.

Unfortunately, mental illness is a concern that is becoming more and more common amongst families everywhere. The good news is that your family and your loved one are not alone: many people go through and recover from similar challenges in their life.  Stay open-minded, keep things in perspective and above all else don’t take the weight of the world on your shoulders: your own physical and emotional health depends on it.

This wellness article is courtesy of Shepell at workhealthlife.com.

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