Health & Safety Resources
Protecting your health and safety at work requires being able to access information that can help you identify actual and potential dangers on the job, understand hazardous chemicals in the workplace, and know your legal rights and obligations as a worker.
UFCW Canada’s Health & Safety Resources section offers a wide range of tools and resources – including fact sheets, posters, and answers to frequently asked questions - that can enable you and your co-workers to minimize risks, address hazards, and ensure that your workplace is a healthy and safe environment for everyone.
Our Health & Safety Resources section covers several different aspects of health and safety at work, from the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for hazard classification and communication, to workplace violence and stress, to strategies for preventing accidents and injuries on the job, as well as many other topic areas.
Below is a summary of the online Health & Safety Resources that are available to all UFCW members, family members, and allies free of charge, and a brief description of how these resources can empower you and your colleagues to build a healthier, safer workplace.
Antimicrobial Resistance
Antimicrobial Resistance happens when bacteria change and become resistant to medications used to treat the infections they cause. Workers on farms and in slaughterhouses - many of whom are UFCW Canada members – are at a higher risk of exposure to drug resistant bacteria.
This page explains how antimicrobial resistance can develop and spread in a workplace. It also provides answers to questions such as:
What is antimicrobial resistance?
What can employers do to address antimicrobial resistance?
What can workers do to combat antimicrobial resistance?
Behaviour-Based Safety
Learn more about behaviour-based safety (BBS) programs, the threats that these initiatives pose to workers’ health and safety, and the steps that can be taken to counteract BBS programs and ensure that workplace health and safety policies are centredaround prevention – not blaming the worker.
Better Notetaking
Understand the importance of notetaking in improving health and safety in the workplace and achieving positive outcomes in meetings, health and safety matters, and workplace disputes.
Find answers to frequently asked questions such as:
Why is notetaking important?
When should I take notes?
How do I know what to write down in a meeting?
Cold Stress
Gain insights on the symptoms of cold stress and the dangers posed by cold work environments.
Find answers to questions such as:
What is cold stress?
What are the health effects of cold stress?
How is cold stress prevented?
Day of Mourning
Read about the history and objectives of the national Day of Mourning, April 28, and download UFCW Canada’s printable resource for the day.
Find answers to common questions such as:
Why is April 28th the Day of Mourning?
How do unions improve workplace health and safety?
Dealing with Customer Rage
Learn ways to prevent incidents of customer rage and help ensure your safety. Watch UFCW Canada’s video outlining effective strategies for dealing with aggressive customers.
Globally Harmonized System
Access information and downloadable resources for the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of Classification and Labelling of hazards and chemicals, which came into full effect across Canada in December 2018.
Health & Safety Laws
Explore our union’s database of federal and provincial health and safety laws in Canada.
Heat Stress
Understand the symptoms of heat stress and the factors, temperatures, and work environments that can lead to it.
Find answers to frequently asked questions such as:
What is heat stress?
What are the health effects of heat stress?
What can be done to prevent heat stress?
Mental Health
Read about effective approaches to developing a workplace mental health strategy, issues that can negatively affect mental health, and steps that employers can take to support a mentally healthy workplace.
This section also features resources on mental health as it relates to LGBTQI2S identities, workers’ compensation, and persons with disabilities, among other topic areas.
Patient / Client Lifting
Access information on patient lifting in the health care sector, with tips on patient lifting training, techniques, programs, and policies.
Find answers to commonly asked questions such as:
What are the problems surrounding patient / client lifting?
What are the risks of patient / client lifting?
What controls are available for patient / client lifting?
Pesticides
Explore the health and safety risks of pesticides and the practical alternatives to these harmful chemicals.
Find answers to questions such as:
What are pesticides?
What are the health effects of pesticides?
How are children affected by pesticides?
Prolonged Standing
Read about the health consequences of prolonged standing and the body’s response to it.
Find answers to frequently asked questions such as:
What type of working conditions can aggravate prolonged standing?
What legislation is available to deal with prolonged standing at work?
How can I minimize the risks associated with prolonged standing?
Protect Your Hearing
Did you know that prolonged exposure to noise can result in irreversible hearing loss? In this section, you can gain insights on common workplace hazards that can lead to permanent hearing loss.
You can also find answers to commonly asked questions such as:
Does noise bother everyone?
How can I tell if my workplace is too loud?
What can be done about noise in the workplace?
Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI)
Learn more about repetitive strain injuries (RSIs), the most common type of workplace injury that affects 1 in 10 workers in Canada. Download UFCW Canada’s resource for RSI Awareness Day and discover how you can prevent RSIs at work.
Toxic Receipts – What You Need to Know
Understand the unassuming the toxic chemicals, including bisphenol A (BPA) and bisphenol S (BPS), that are found on thermal paper cash register receipts.
Find answers to common questions such as:
Why are BPA and BPS harmful to our health?
What can consumers do to protect themselves from BPA and BPS?
What can cashiers do to protect themselves from BPA and BPS?
Watch UFCW Canada’s videos explaining everything you need to know about BPA and BPS and the health effects of toxic cash receipts.
West Nile Virus
Explore the definition, symptoms, and risks of West Nile Virus, the ways in which the virus can spread, and how to combat West Nile Virus without using harmful chemicals like pesticides.
Find answers to questions such as:
What is the West Nile Virus?
What are the symptoms of West Nile Virus?
What is DEET and is it safe for humans?
Working in Cold Environments
Access information on the dangers of working in cold environments and learn more about the benefits of using personal protective equipment (PPE) for working in the cold.
Find answers to common questions such as:
What are the warning signs of hypothermia?
How does cold affect work performance?
Can people become acclimatized to cold?
Workplace Stress
Gain insights on the warning signs of and coping mechanisms for workplace stress, defined as the harmful physical and emotional response that can happen when there is a conflict between job demands on an employee and the amount of control the employee has over meeting those demands.
Find answers to important questions such as:
What is workplace stress?
What are the signs of too much workplace stress?
How can I manage workplace stress?
Workplace Violence
Everyone should be able to work in a safe and healthy environment, but workplace violence is a growing concern for employers and workers alike, particularly workers in the health care sector.
Learn more about workplace violence, violence in the health care sector, and the steps that you and your colleagues can take to deal with the threat of violence in high risk workplaces.