Disability Institute gets boost from MLA Efforts to create a new Forest Industry Disability Management Institute have been underway for sometime now and it looks like there could be some light at the end of the tunnel. Under a proposal from the Disabled Forest Workers of Canada, (DFWFC) some early commitments have been made to see such a project through its early stages. In recent months the DFWFC, a joint management labour organiza- tion, has received a commitment from the North Island Community College (NIC) Board of Directors and Execu- tive Committee, to lobby for a new Disability Institute on its Port Alberni B.C. campus, when new col- lege facilities are built. To date the city of Port Alberni has guaranteed 22 acres and an access road to the future site of the NIC expansion. For Wolfgang Zimmerman, an Executive Director of DFWFC, who was himself permanently disabled in a forestry accident 14 years ago, the new developments are encouraging. However he says that many steps must be taken to see the Institute's proposal become a reality. “So far there’s a commitment from labour, management, the North Island College administration and pol- iticians to make it all happen,” says Mr. Zimmerman. Such a jointly (labour-manage- ment) administered Institute would specifically examine disability man- agement issues in industrial work- places according to Zimmerman. “Our objective is to be in the fore- front of looking at innovative ap- proaches that would provide guide- lines and counselling to employers, unions and other educational insti- tutes right across Canada and else- where,” says Zimmerman. In its proposal the DFWFC sug- gests that the Institute will address a variety of disability management issues in a joint labour-management environment. Such a proposal will take time, effort, and most importantly, funding and financing. Zimmerman says that disability management will apply to workers hurt on or off the job because the impact on a worker's life is the same in both instances. There is an urgent need for such an Institute to be developed because now “no one is responsible for re-integrat- ing injured workers,” says Zimmer- man. “Individuals are shuffled through a system which basically leaves them desperate for help.” Sven Frederickson, the DFWFC's secretary-treasurer, says that if such a curriculum ever gets into place that “it will bring a lot of the disabled out of the woodwork, who don’t have any- thing available in terms of re-employ- ment and re-education.” Mr. Frederickson is himself a quadraplegic injured in a falling acci- dent in 1975 and has experienced the first hand frustrations of being disabled. “Many workers don’t believe they can be educated and put back to work after they’ve been injured,” adds Mr. Frederickson. “But that most often is not the case. Injured workers can be brought back into the mainstream of society.” The DFWFC and NIC are getting the full support of local politician Gerard Janssen, recently re-elected NDP member of the B.C. legislature. Prior to the provincial election, Janssen made the Disability Institute part of his official platform. Appoint- ed as party whip by Premier Har- court, Janssen remains as committed today as he was before the election. Continued on page eleven » 8/LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER, 1991 © At the constituency headquarters of MLA Gerard Janssen and M.P. Bob Skelly in Port Alberni, Sven Frederickson (I.) secretary- treasurer of the DFWFC, Janssen and Wolfgang Zimmerman, an Executive Director of the foundation, met recently to discuss the Disability Management Institute. Most workers have difficulty with workplace literacy says joint study A precedent-setting study of job- related communication skills in eight B.C. sawmills held a few surprises — and the potential for some far- reaching benefits — for the province's forest industry. “We suspected we might have a problem, but we didn’t know the extent or the specific issues,” says Bert Hawrysh, COFI’s vice-president of occupational health and safety and chairman of the literacy study’s steer- ing committee. “On the positive side, though, it’s provided the trigger for many operations to re-think their standard use of written communica- tions and training programs to keep workers competitive in the world marketplace.” Results show that 56 percent of the 227 randomly selected participants are having difficulty understanding workplace written material at a mid- grade 4 level of reading comprehen- sion. Only 26 percent can fully under- stand material at a grade 12 level. “And we're quite sure if we studied other aspects of the forest industry — pulp mills or logging operations — we might see similar results,” says Mr. Hawrysh. The study of literacy in eight B.C. sawmills was conducted by JCP Research of Vancouver on behalf of the Council of Forest Industries (COFI) and IWA-CANADA. Started in 1990, the UN’s International Year of Literacy, it was funded by the federal Secretary of State. Eight mills partic- ipated, representing a variety of oper- ations — large, small, coastal, inte- rior, old, modern. The purpose of the study, Mr. Hawrysh points out, was to focus on employee literacy, but to evaluate workers’ ability to understand writ- ten material commonly used in a mill, and to see if those materials were appropriate. “We weren’t looking to fault or embarrass anyone. We are trying to assess how effective our current train- ing and communication methods are. We know that for any industry in Canada to stay competitive in the coming decade we must have a work- force that feels confident and capable of contributing to the company’s effectiveness.” The next step — and in the commit- tee’s estimation this is by far the most important one — is to come up with solutions which will help narrow the gap from both sides of the issue. “Remedial action must focus equally on communication methods, as well as the employees receiving the mate- rial. Each program must also be spe- cifically tailored for each mill or worksite. There are too many vari- ables to be addressed by one single solution,” says Mr. Hawrysh. The first step the forest industry can take is to make sure that the level of written material is in accord with employees’ ability to understand it. “We've learned from this study that the participants found material from the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) very clear and easy to under- stand. On the other hand WHMIS material (instructions for handling hazardous goods) was very difficult,” says Phillip Legg, IWA-CANADA’s assistant research director who also sat on the steering committee for the project. Employees often have input into much of the WCB material used in the workplace before it goes to press. WHMIS material, on the other hand, is usually produced by technical peo- ple and is not written from a user’s point of view. “That suggests an obvi- ous approach would be to have employees more involved in the cre- ation of written material,” says Mr. Legg. “The study also told us a lot about people’s preferences in terms of instruction and training. They prefer any training to take place outside of worksites and for instruction to be given by professionals who are not associated with the workplace.” People often have a strong sense of embarrassment and sensitivity sur- rounding literacy issues. “It’s easy to understand why four out of five respondents in this study said they preferred off-site training,” he says. Because employees also indicated they definitely preferred any training time and costs to be borne equally by themselves and their employer, the committee is currently examining a number of approaches that involve time and cost sharing. Whatever model is chosen, Linda Mitchell of Literacy BC. says it will be breaking new ground for the province. “This is the first time any major industrial group in the province has taken action to address employees communication skills,” she says. “We hope this precedent catches hold in other industries.” In fact, the study has already moti- vated a number of mills — some of which did not even take part in the study — to improve their training and communication programs. “Two operations in the B.C. Inte- rior have started community-based training sessions — one of them involving the local college. At least two other operations have been con- cerned enough to re-write their mate- rials to improve readability,” says Mr. Hawrysh. “And we know that this is just the beginning.” For more information contact: Bert Hawrysh (604) 684-0211 ceo eses OG