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A WINNING PARTNERSHIP AT DALHOUSIE
T
he Dalhousie School of Occupational Therapy and
the Dalhousie Facilities Management Department
have embarked on a relationship that has created a
win-win situation for the two groups. The School was ap-
proached last year to see if there were any opportunities for
Facilities Management to tap into the expertise of occupa-
tional therapy to address issues related to job safety and work-
related injuries particularly among custodians. Our Director,
Tanya Packer, embraced the opportunity, and a partnership
was born.
Since then, we have been able to incorporate opportuni-
ties into course work, such as the Occupational Assessment
and Analysis course, whereby pairs of students shadowed
custodians and learned about the physical and cognitive job
demands of the various custodian roles, and now full-time
fieldwork opportunities have been created, with our third pair
of students now on site. The initiative was recently selected
by the Dalhousie Environmental Health and Safety Commit-
tee as the winner of this year’s Environmental Health and
Safety Award, honoring the commitment to a culture of safety.
Dalhousie student journalist Lauren Salim recently spoke
with some of those involved with what is now known as the
WorkSAFE@DalProject.
WorkSAFE@Dal- Dalhousie OT Students Work With Fa-
cilities Management to Create a Safer Working Environment
This Winter By Lauren Salim
The
WorkSAFE@DalProject began last year as a partner-
ship between Michael Campbell, a Manager of Facilities Man-
agement, and Tanya Packer, the Director of the School of
Occupational Therapy. The idea initiated with Campbell, who
was trying to identify ways to manage injury and reduce injury
rates amongst his staff – Dal’s custodial team. “The cost of
getting [an outside Occupational Therapist] to help us was as-
tronomical,” Campbell explains. “But then I thought, why do
we need to look outside? We have a School of OT on cam-
pus. Tanya Packer was on board right away.”
Occupational therapy students Taylor Corning and Bray-
don Connell recently completed their fieldwork placement
with Custodial Services, a two-month assignment (overseen
by experienced occupational therapists) that placed them
with custodial supervisors and staff. Members of the custodial
team, many of whom have experienced work-related injuries,
volunteer to be shadowed by Taylor and Braydon, allowing
the two to “assess what the custodians are doing, to complete
job demands analyses and to help our custodians understand
safer ways of doing their jobs,” says Campbell.
Taylor and Braydon had the opportunity to plan their own
program. “Our project really has three components,” says
Connell. “First is a Job Demand Analysis. We go in and look
at someone’s specific duties for that day and get a picture of
the physical and mental demands they endure.” The second
part of the project included education sessions. “The custo-
dians have meetings called Toolbox Sessions. We go in and
teach a session on repetitive injuries or proper body mechan-
ics and reframing mindsets about staying safe,” Connell ex-
plains.
Cindy Murphy, one of the custodial supervisors, says that
the custodians who have volunteered to be shadowed really
appreciate the advice, “Some of them come back to me and
say ‘I’ve tried what they’ve told me and it actually is better.’
The custodians are hearing it from people who know what
they are talking about, and they’re taking their suggestions to
heart.”
The third component of the project is to do a photo voice
poster, which Connell describes as, “pictures of custodians
doing different tasks, with small write ups about what they
are doing in the picture and how they feel about their job.”
Braydon and Taylor’s findings will enable Facilities Manage-
ment to identify activities that could exacerbate previous in-
juries. “We want to see injuries before they happen, prevent
them before they happen,” says Campbell.
While the partnership provides tangible benefits to the
safety of custodians on campus, Braydon and Taylor also get
a chance to grow and mature in their profession. “Sometimes
the classroom is really comfortable. When students have to
deal with a plethora of different personalities it gives them an
idea of what it’s like when they go out there,” says Campbell.
“They’re seeing people facing difficult scenarios and some-
times facing challenges that can seem insurmountable and
being able to take that and put it in practice is very valuable.”
“It gives us a chance to advocate for our profession as
well,” adds Corning. “A lot of people don’t understand OT,
so this opens doors for us to show a variety of things we can
do.”
All involved are looking forward to the ongoing collabo-
ration.