Invitation to participate in a survey to identify and address workplace stressors affecting workers’ health

Are you okay? OPSEU Local 354 cares about the wellbeing of each member. We are excited to announce we have been working with OPSEU Health and Safety and our OPSEU Regional Office to organize a survey that will launch on approximately May 3rd, 2021. Today we extended an invite to the Support Staff Local 353 and our employer to also participate in the StressAssess survey. 

We are doing this so that we can work together to improve the workplace. Everyone who works at Durham College will be welcome to fill out the survey. The survey—StressAssess helps to determine which organizational factors are associated with an increased risk to employees’ wellbeing. Because we are in a pandemic, we’ve included some COVID-19 questions as well. 

After the report comes in, we will brainstorm, prioritize actions, and develop a work plan together. We will use the survey results to develop a preventative strategy to identify and address issues that lead to health concerns. 

The survey will be voluntary and totally anonymous. Assisting us in the project is the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW). OHCOW is a multidisciplinary health clinic funded by the Ministry of Labour, serving Ontario workplaces free of charge for over twenty years. OHCOW (through its work with the Mental Injury Tool Group and the online tool kit at www.ohcow.on.ca ) has developed expertise in assisting workplaces to identify and address psychosocial stressors that affect the health of the workforce. 

OHCOW will manage the data and help us prepare, launch, and report the survey results. 

Anything we can do together to improve health and safety outcomes is a positive step. We hope that a concerted, cooperative effort to examine, discuss, address and prevent any workplace factors that cause or contribute to mental distress will result in better outcomes for all.

Local 354 will be celebrating our launch with three virtual coffee-hour drop-in sessions on April 23rd at 10 am – 11 am, April 27th 5 pm – 6 pm and May 3rd 5 pm – 6 pm. If you would like more information or have any questions, let’s grab a coffee together and drop-in to chat. 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/96797957588?pwd=bTZLSWFpZlpzc3ovSTVZclVmeXN0dz09

Meeting ID: 967 9795 7588 Passcode: Local354 

Sincerely, 

Kathleen Flynn, Vice-President – Local 354

Kevin Griffin, Chief Steward – Local 354