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A Worker based research and investigation strategy to uncovering occupational disease and injury

INTRODUCTION

Mapping is both a research and investigative tool that can be used to discover the extent of injury, illness and disease suffered by workers in a workplace, process, industry or even a particular type of job.

Mapping techniques include body mapping and hazard mapping (sometimes-called risk mapping). They are simple techniques that can lead to recognition of problems in the workplace so that improvements to occupational health and safety can be made. These techniques can also lead to a recognition that workers or former workers that have or are suffering, this can then lead to more detailed investigations to obtain better working conditions or compensation for the workers and their families.

BODY MAPPING

This involves placing two simple drawings (one front and one back) of the human body up on a wall and using colored stickers, each of which symbolizes a health symptom. These symptoms include but are not limited to pain, diagnosed diseases including cancer, respiratory, reproductive problems and repetitive strain injuries. Workers place the stickers on the parts of the body that are affected. This technique will clearly show any trends that are present in the workplace of which people may not have been aware. Sometimes we think our aches and pains are only ours and due to age or participation in activities after work hours. We are often told that our problems are caused by our lifestyles. These body maps make us quickly aware of problems that our jobs cause. They will assist us to do further investigation and get the problems corrected. These maps create a powerful image for workers realizing they are not alone in their suffering and provides a visual image for the news media if necessary.

Draw a picture of the human body. It does not have to be artistic.

Give those participating in the exercise colored stickers each one representing a different ache or pain. Make sure everyone is using the same color coding system to ensure an accurate reflection of the results. If you want assign people a registration number and put that number on their colored stickers. This allows the tracking of the disease back to the workers file. 

Publicize the results of the maps so it can build support for health and safety issues and make people realize they are not alone in their pain and suffering.

Educate people in the local with the results so that improvements in the collective agreement language dealing with health and safety will have strong support at bargaining time.

This technique involves workers drawing the workplace or departments of the workplace showing hazards, chemicals, and other exposures present there. It can be used immediately to illustrate problem areas that need to be addressed. In the long term it can show workplace links to occupational disease.

This technique is best done as a small group activity. The intent is to identify, priorize and address workplace health and safety concerns. Workplace health and safety concerns are drawn onto a drawing of the workplace or a process flow chart. This map then becomes a tool for the focusing of efforts to control and eliminate workplace hazards. The resulting picture can be easily distributed and can be used to educate and organize workers to support their health and safety representatives on joint health and safety committees. This should lead to more action by the employer to control and eliminate workplace hazards for our members. Compensation representatives can also use this information as it documents the conditions that currently exist in the workplace.

HAZARD MAPPING SESSION OUTLINE

A hazard mapping session has eight basic steps:

1. Prepare participants for hazard identification

• Do introduction of purpose of exercise
• Draw a map of YOUR worksite
• Discuss different types of hazards that can be present in workplaces