Have you reviewed the Workplace Safety and Health Act and Regulations?

Workplace Safety and Health enforces the Workplace Safety and Health Act and associated regulations in order to protect and keep us all safe at work. The Act includes information on the minimum requirements employers must follow in Manitoba. It outlines duties of employers, supervisors, workers, contractors, etc.

The regulations provide us with practical information on how the laws are applied. There are 44 regulations and the first 11 apply to almost all workplaces. For example, Workplace Safety & Health Committees, First Aid, Musculoskeletal injuries, Working alone, violence in the workplace, etc.

Here is the link to review: https://www.gov.mb.ca/labour/safety/wshl.html

Or check it out on StaffNet, along with other Occupational Health resources, by clicking here.

We are fast approaching IERHA’s scheduled SAFE WORK Certification audit in February 2023. External auditors will be on site in our facilities and they will be approaching staff to evaluate your familiarity with our safe work processes, so it's important to be informed!

CONTEST TIME!

Here's your chance to win a $25 restaurant gift certificate.

To enter, email ierhawave@ierha.ca with answers to the following questions:

1. What are the four workers' rights?
2. How have you exercised these rights in your workplace?

Hint: Check recent editions of the Wave for info.

The contest closes on Friday, Jan. 27.

Manitoba Blue Cross provides newsletters and posters as part of ongoing education efforts that emphasize primary prevention and self-referral. They aim to increase employee awareness of factors that affect well-being and work performance.

Click here to see a newsletter about gender identity in youth.

Click here to see a poster about programs available to care for your mental, emotional and physical health. These programs include internet-based cognitive behaviour therapy and counselling services.

Visitation for residents of many long-term care facilities across Manitoba is expanding as restrictions in place throughout the COVID-19 pandemic continue to loosen in light of high rates of vaccination and reduced severity of illness.

Effective Jan. 23, individual long-term care facilities began managing visitation according to the capacity and outbreak status of their facility. Previous guidance placed limits in some circumstances on the number of designated caregivers and general visitors that could attend at a time.

Click here for more info.

We welcome the following new staff members who have agreed to have their names printed in the Wave. We wish you all long and rewarding Interlake-Eastern RHA careers!

• Ashley Adams, dietary aide, Beausejour District Hospital
• Carissa Badgley-Lecoy, tenant companion, Pinawa – Ironwood
• Braden Bonni, dietary aide, Beausejour District Hospital
• Debrah Deslauriers, home care attendant, Teulon Community Health
• Jaylese Dziadek, recreation facilitator, Goodwin Lodge PCH – Teulon
• Ari Farpelha, health care aide, Kin Place – Oakbank & Stonewall home care
• Jenna Friesen, health care aide, Selkirk Regional Health Centre
• Izzy Gardziel, licensed practical nurse, Stonewall & District Health Centre
• Melissa Ireland, pharmacist, various locations – Ashern/Eriksdale/Gimli
• Kelli Kingston, registered nurse (home care), Teulon Community Health
• Jennifer Kolarz, dietary aide, Lac du Bonnet PCH
• Carmen Kowalchuk, youth intake social worker, Selkirk Mental Health Services Crisis Unit
• Jamie Letander, health care aide, Pine Falls Hospital
• Kim Minnis, clinical team manager – acute care & regional IPC, Teulon Hunter Memorial Hospital
• Shawna Nattaway, housekeeping aide, East Gate Lodge
• Jean Panuga, administrative assistant, Selkirk Quick Care Clinic
• Akhil Peter, health care aide, East Gate Lodge
• Josephin Sinclair, laundry aide, Ashern Lakeshore General Hospital
• Mikayla Stark-Pugh, recreation facilitator, Eriksdale Personal Care Home
• Rebecca Versluis, dietary aide, Beausejour District Hospital
• Samuel Baker, maintenance worker, East Gate Lodge – Beausejour
• Michelle Bobowski, clinical team manager long term care, Arborg
• Dryden Budd, dietary aide, Rosewood Lodge – Stonewall
• Susie D’agruma, dietary aide, Kin Place Personal Care Home – Oakbank
• Daria Fedyshyn, home care attendant, Gimli Home Care
• Donna Fehr, dietary aide, Selkirk Regional Health Centre
• Tomas G. Fontaine, health care aide, Pine Falls Health Complex
• Jasmine Forest, crisis worker, Crisis Stabilization Unit, Selkirk
• Chelsey Fry, health care aide, Goodwin Lodge – Teulon
• Donna Graeff, assistant cook, Fisher Branch Personal Care Home
• Kristen Grigat, Families First Home Visitor, Selkirk Community Health
• Kendall Henry, home care attendant, Stonewall Community Health
• Melanie Sara Lajoie, health care aide, East Gate Lodge – Beausejour
• Angela McCaughan, home care attendant, Gimli Home Care
• Cindy Neniska, home care attendant, Gimli Home Care
• Tyler Neniska, health care aide, Rosewood Lodge – Stonewall
• Lijo Thomas, licensed practical nurse, Pinawa Hospital

• 0 drinks per week — Not drinking has benefits, such as better health, and better sleep.
• 2 standard drinks or less per week — You are likely to avoid alcohol-related consequences for yourself or others at this level.
• 3–6 standard drinks per week — Your risk of developing several types of cancer, including breast and colon cancer, increases at this level.
• 7 standard drinks or more per week — Your risk of heart disease or stroke increases significantly at this level.
• Each additional standard drink radically increases the risk of alcohol-related consequences.
• Consuming more than 2 standard drinks per occasion is associated with an increased risk of harms to self and others, including injuries and violence.

PLEASE NOTE: The Feb. 6 Academy of Learning health-care aide training course in Pine Falls is cancelled.

Mental Health First Aid For Adults Who Interact With Youth

Feb. 9 and 10 in Selkirk

Registration Fee: $100

Staff are able to use Regional Education funds if available. Complete the Application for Funding Assistance form (5261), which can be found on StaffNet Document Central. Confirm your spot by registering on LMS.

Course Description: The Mental Health First Aid training course was developed to help people provide support to someone who may be developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. The following mental health problems are covered: Mood Disorders, Anxiety Disorders, Psychosis, Substance Use Disorders, Eating Disorders and Deliberate Self-Injury. Participants will learn the signs and symptoms of each disorder, where to get help and what sort of help has been shown by research to be effective.

EAP - Financial Planning & Your Retirement

March 15 from 1 to 3 p.m. at Selkirk Regional Health Centre

Register on LMS.

Course Description: Retirement planning often leads to many questions: Can I afford to retire? What will my pension provide? Will government sources help me? Have I saved and invested sufficiently? This retirement planning seminar will address these and many other questions we ask ourselves and others as we prepare for the next stage of our lives.

Topics will include:

• Financial planning is more than money
• Demystifying the financial planning process
• Financial wellness check up
• Sources of retirement income
• Cash flow, net worth, income and expenses statements
• How much do I need?

Participants will leave with the information and tools to effectively plan their own retirement and future. In addition, attendees will receive tax tips and have the opportunity to ask questions.

Basic Life Support (BLS)

Sessions are now posted on LMS for 2023.

Register early to secure your spot. Spots are filled on a first come, first served basis.

Full/ Provider session is approximately 3 hours in length. This session is for staff whose BLS has lapsed or require a certification for a first time.

Renewal session is approximately 2 ½ hours in length. Employees must have a valid BLS certificate on date of session to attend. There is no grace period.

** Staff who fail to attend their registered session or fail to cancel 48 hours in advance, you may be required to pay a $50 fee prior to attending future BLS classes in that fiscal year **

Questions? Contact Regional Education @ 204-785-4760 or education@ierha.ca.

Musculoskeletal injury prevention education classes

Musculoskeletal injury prevention education classes are mandatory for all acute, personal care home and home care staff. This training should take place as soon as possible after hire and then every three years.

Musculoskeletal injury prevention will help to provide a safe and healthy working environment for all health-care workers and patients. This involves promoting a culture of safety and a minimal lift environment that includes safe patient handling and movement among all health-care workers.

Health-care workers are provided with the basic safe patient handling and movement training. Basic proficiency must be demonstrated at time of orientation.

Classes run from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. or 1 to 4 p.m.

MSIP Facility Education – Register on LMS.

• Feb. 8 — Gimli
• Feb. 14 — Oakbank
• March 14 — Oakbank
• March 16 — Gimli
• April 4 — Oakbank
• April 19 — Gimli
• May 2 — Oakbank
• May 25 — Gimli

Home Care MSIP Education – Register with your resource co-ordinator.

• Feb. 7 — Gimli
• Feb. 15 — Oakbank 
• March 20 — Gimli
• March 22 — Oakbank
• April 21 — Oakbank
• April 24 — Gimli
• May 10 — Oakbank
• May 11 — Gimli
• June 5 — Oakbank
• June 14 — Gimli

Harm Reduction Training

The Manitoba Association of Community Health is hosting two rounds of harm reduction training being offered in the winter and early spring of 2023.

Each of these sessions is two hours and will take place on Zoom. Sessions are capped at 100 people and fill up quickly.

These sessions are appropriate for clinicians, allied staff, social workers, front-line workers, peers and community activists. 

Click on the links below to register for upcoming sessions:

• Harm Reduction 101 — Feb. 27, 1 to 3 p.m.
• Drugs 101 — Feb. 28 1 to 3 p.m.
• Harm Reduction Interventions — March 6, 1 to 3 p.m.
• Harm Reduction Supply Distribution — March 7, 1 to 3 p.m.

Order cut-off is March 31 for delivery to corporate office on April 21.

Visit our online shop.

IERHA has partnered with Canada Life Centre Preferred Group Program. Click here to see more for all kinds of offers, with new ones added all the time.

All Elite Wrestling Dynamite/Rampage – March 15 at 6 p.m. Save $10 to $15 per seat ($85 for $70 and $60 for $50 plus fees).

To access TNSE Preferred Group Offers visit https://www.tnse.com/offers/. Please check often as they add discounts without sending notification.

For all events, you will have to enter IERHA's unique password INTERLAKE1 prior to selecting seats. This will always open up what is available on the discount. The discounts are not accessible by going directly to the event on Ticketmaster. You can only access from https://www.tnse.com/offers/

We're looking for your story ideas!

Send your submission of 250 words or less to ierhawave@ierha.ca by Friday and we'll work to get your story into the next issue.

We're taking a break from publishing editions in weeks following statutory holidays.

There will be no issue of the Wednesday Wave published on Feb. 22.