ServiceMaster is committed to providing and maintaining a safe and health workplace for all employees. ServiceMaster recognizes that injuries do occur at the workplace and would like to ensure all incidents are reported whether or not they result in injury or property damage. 

Definition

Accident –

• A willful and intentional act, not being the act of the worker.
• A chance event that results in injury or illness.
• A disablement arising out of and in the course of employment.

Critical Injury – An injury of serious nature that:

• places life in jeopardy;
• produces unconsciousness;
• results in substantial loss of blood;
• involves the fracture of a leg or arm, but not a finger or toe;
• involves the amputation of a leg, arm, hand or foot, but not a finger or toe;
• consists of burns to a major portion of a body; and/or
• causes the loss of sight in an eye.

Incident – A work related event that may or may not result in injury or illness. Also includes property damage and environmental release/spill. 

Health Care – Any injury or illness requiring outside medical attention.

Near Miss – An incident that may have resulted in injury to a worker or caused damage to the property or premises. 

Occupational Disease:

• A chronic health condition that gradually develops over time from exposure to a hazard in the workplace.
• A disease that ensues after a workplace exposure and has been demonstrated to be associated with that type of exposure. 

Occupational Illness – A health problem caused by exposure to a health hazard in the workplace.

Occupational Injury – Physical form or damage caused by a workplace event. 

Guidelines

ServiceMaster requires all categories of injuries and incidents to be reported regardless of the nature or severity of the event. Employees must report all occupational injuries, incidents and near misses to their Supervisor. First aid shall be obtained first if necessary. 

The Supervisor will investigate and record the incident in an accident report and provide a copy to the General Manager once completed. The General Manager will provide a copy to the JHSC. The report documentation shall include:

• Date and time the injury/illness is reported
• Date and time of the injury/illness
• Description of the accident or onset of illness
• Names of witnesses, if any
• Treatment received, if any
• Identification of root causes
• Recommendations for remedial action to prevent reoccurrence
• Attachments if applicable, including witness statements, pictures, drawings, maps

Transportation to and from a medical clinic or hospital will be arranged if an employee requires additional medical treatment. Employees should be provided with a Return to Work (RTW) package before they depart. The RTW package will include the following:

• Injured employee roles and responsibilities
• Medical Package for Treating Health Practitioner which includes:

• Letter
• Form 8 – which must be returned to the office
• Functional Abilities Form – which much be returned to the office

If the worker seeks health care, a doctor’s note must be provided to ServiceMaster in order to properly complete the applicable WSIB form. The employee should call or return to the office with their completed Form 8 as soon as possible. ServiceMaster will work with the employee to provide modified duties based on the information received.  

All work-related accidents will be reported to the WSIB when ServiceMaster becomes aware that an injured employee requires health care and/or

• Is absent from their regular work;
• Earns less than regular pay for regular work;
• Requires modified work at less than regular pay; or
• Requires modified work at regular pay for more than seven (7) calendar days following the date of the accident.

A Form 7 will be submitted to the WSIB within the required timeframe after learning of an accident that requires health care or results in the employee not being able to earn full wages. 

Critical Injury

If an employee has been involved in a critical injury, the Supervisor should ensure that the injured employee receives proper emergency first aid. 

The accident scene shall be preserved to ensure that nothing is moved, disturbed, destroyed, interfered with or altered unless for the purpose of: saving life, relieving human suffering, or preventing unnecessary damage to equipment or other property. In order to ensure the accident scene is not disturbed, the scene will be secured and all work activity in the area ceased. No persons other than those designated with authority shall be allowed near the area. When it is necessary, as outlined above, to disturb the scene, notes and/or photos will be recorded of the original scene.

The Supervisor should immediately contact the General Manager once they become aware of a critical injury. The General Manager will contact:

• Appropriate emergency services, if not activated
• Appropriate JHSC member
• Emergency contact of the employee
• Ministry of Labour’s Health and Safety Contact Centre at 1-877-2202-0008
• Ministry of Labour, with a written report, within forty-eight (48) hours of the incident.

The information you need to include in the notice will depend on the type of workplace. Generally, the written notice should include:

• the name and address of the employer
• a description of what happened and the injuries to the person
• a description of the machinery, equipment or procedure involved
• the time and place of the incident
• the name and address of the person who was injured or killed
• names and addresses of all witnesses to the incident
• name and address of the physician or surgeon or other medical practitioner, if any, who attended to the person who was injured or killed

Non-Occupational Injuries

Please refer to the Absenteeism policy for dealing with injuries that occur outside the work environment.