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| AWARE-NS News | October/2013 |
 SPOTLIGHTHome Care / Home Support
In May of 2012, a group of seven homecare & home support agencies signed a Leadership Charter launching the Community of Safe Practice (COSP) pilot program. The group then began the development of a shared provincial vision to establish a Health and Safety Management System (HSMS) for homecare & home support in Nova Scotia.
The need for the COSP pilot program in this particular sector stems from evidence showing the highest WCB premium rates within the health care sector. Reversing the trend in pilot employer organizations will assist in improving each participating organization's OH&S system and will in turn lead to safer employees and a reduction in WCB premiums. It is critical to ensure that the HSMS is in place in each of these agencies and functioning effectively.
The activities of the COSP pilot will serve as a roadmap for the others in the homecare & home support community in Nova Scotia, and ensure lessons learned, resources and best practices will be shared by all stakeholders. The dedication of the participating agencies and partners (the Canadian Red Cross, Cape Breton County Home Makers, Guysborough County Home Support, Lunenburg County Home Support Services, New Waterford Home Care Service Society, Northwood Home Care, VON and WCB) has resulted in a significant amount of work being completed to this point.
While the pilot program is continuing to work on the development of a Health and Safety Management System, we wanted to share with the larger home care & home support community and all of our stakeholders what has been completed to this point. This past year, much groundwork has been laid, including the creation of tools that home care / home support will find useful and beneficial:
Health and Safety Management System
Internal Responsibility System (IRS)
JOHS Committee Effectiveness
Hazard ID
Over the next several months we will be holding webinars on each of the components of the HSMS developed through the COSP pilot. We hope you can join us to learn more.
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Community Of Safe Practice (COSP) |
News, Updates, Resources |
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The Value Of COSP
Article By: Heather Matthews
 We all know that if you want to know the value of a product or service, it's always best to ask those who have bought it. When it comes to COSP, we asked those that "bought-in" what they saw as the value of the COSP pilot program.
Click To Read |
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Community of Safe Practice: (COSP)
Home Care/Home Support
 NEW Toolkit After several months of consultation with the Community of Safe Practice (COSP) Project Team, AWARE-NS developed a comprehensive "Best Practices" toolkit for Home Care / Home Support workers in Nova Scotia. Click To View |
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OHS Toolkits
Updated
 Over the past few months AWARE-NS has been steadily building a Toolkit Library for our stakeholders. The toolkits contain links to relevant information that workers in the healthcare and community services industries should know or have access to.
Please take a moment to review our recent toolkit updates and please let Heather Matthews know if there is a resource you think should be added. Click on the links below.
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E-Campus
Survey!
AWARE-NS is Nova Scotia's Health and Community Services Safety Association. Over 50,000 Nova Scotians work in some aspect of the community and health care sector in Nova Scotia. People working in this sector have a greater risk of workplace injuries, both physical and psychological, than any other occupational group.
As your safety association, we have developed a number of education platforms and training programs that address this issue. To ensure AWARE-NS continues to meet the educational needs of our stakeholders, we are inviting you to complete a short survey (5 questions) to help drive the future development of our education platforms and programs. Please click on the link to get started.
Click To Complete The Survey |
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All Industry Events
Save The Date
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6 Tips For Safe Driving: Home Care / Home Support Workers
Article By: Art Brown
A growing industry in Nova Scotia is at home health care. With an aging population, more and more extended care services are being provided in the home environment. Driving to and from clients homes or different workplaces is a necessary task that can be full of hazards that both employers and workers need to control. Click To Read
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Webinars
 October
Check out our exciting lineup of webinars this month! We'll be talking about safety culture and accountability as it relates projects currently underway in health and community services.
1. Soteria Strains 2. Community of Safe Practice (COSP)
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Twitter Events
October
AWARE-NS will be tweeting at two conferences in October. Follow us @aware_ns.
Ocean View Continuing Care Conference #OVCCC
On Friday, October 4th tune in to Twitter between 9am and 4pm for presentation highlights on the subject INFECTION CONTROL.
The Better Workplace Conference
#BWC
Two days of tips and insights on how to build a better workplace! Join AWARE-NS October 16 & 17 from 9am to 4pm for presentation highlights on the subject Organizational Health Challenges. We will also be recording speakers for viewing at a later date. Click to view agenda and speaker list.
Click to view the agenda and speaker list.
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New Team Member!
Communications and
Stakeholder Relations Specialist 
Jay Jacobson is AWARE-NS's latest addition to the communications team. He has worked as a communications consultant in Halifax, Ottawa and Vancouver for more than 25 years, helping elected officials, senior public servants and businesses further their goals and respond to new challenges. He has significant experience in Ottawa with many federal government departments, including; Health, Treasury Board, Citizenship and Immigration, and Revenue Canada. During his time in Ottawa, Jay served as an advisor to the Hon. Tom Siddon and the Right Hon. Kim Campbell.
Jay has a BA in Political Science from Dalhousie University and a Diploma in Public Relations from Algonquin College in Ottawa. Click To Contact Jay
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Call for OHS Writers
Next Month: Musculoskeletal Injuries (MSI)
 Are you a safety ninja with exceptional skills in MSI prevention? Want to share your passion for safety with others? Write for our blog! No experience required. Our online communications specialist, Wendy Hanlan, would be happy to work with you on subject matter and formatting. MSI prevention article deadline: October 18, 2013. |
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Offer Expires: OCT 31, 2013
Regular Price: $24.95 |
E-Campus Promotion
Staying Safe While Providing Community Based Care and Support in
Nova Scotia
Staying Safe While Providing Community Based Care and Support was designed to help community based workers in the Health and Safety Community Services to understand occupational health and safety hazards and controls.
Although the material in this course can apply to many community workplaces, it has been designed to help community based workers in Health and Community Services to be safe while working in communities in Nova Scotia.
Take 50% Off Your Purchase
Enter Promo Code 214253
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