Psychological resilience can be defined as the ability to resist and manage stressors and to “bounce back” from stressful life events. It is vital to understand that resilience doesn’t mean being strong all the time, and never experiencing stress.

Resilience is often the ability to be aware of the psychological impact that stressors are having on you, and consciously engaging in activities that help you manage and cope with them.

The pandemic has been a test for resilience for people all over the world. It has stretched everyone’s inner and outer resources, leaving people to adapt to circumstances that were unprecedented.

Although external circumstances have felt out of control for a while, it does not mean that you cannot take control of your inner circumstances. Here are some tips to remain psychologically resilient, despite what is going on in the world:

Tip 1: Maintain a Social Support Network

It is much easier to be resilient to the challenges of work and life if you have a solid social support network. Talking about your feelings and having strong connections to a partner, family, friends, or work colleagues helps you to be more effective at facing life’s difficulties. It is important to make time for these contacts, and it is vital to keep being social even when you feel under pressure and you may not feel like it. This has been particularly important during times of lockdown or self-isolation. Technology has made it possible to maintain connections, even when we feel isolated.

Tip 2: Maintain a Third Place

An important element of being resilient is to have a “third place”. This third place should be in addition to your home (first place) and your workplace (second place). Your third place should be a physical environment where you go to relax, socialize, and/or engage in an interest/hobby. Examples of third places are health clubs/ gyms, sports clubs, coffeeshops, and so on. If you are still under lockdown restrictions your “third place” may be somewhere in nature, or a special place in your home. The location doesn’t matter, as long as you can relax and de-stress here.

Tip 3: Thinking of Others

It has often been noted that people who perform voluntary work are more resilient than those who do not engage in such an activity. This is because by engaging in voluntary work, an individual has thought about what is important to them, and then spends some time on this activity without monetary reward. It is not necessary for you to engage in voluntary work (although you may decide to do this) but thinking about what activities are important to you, and to spending some time engaging in these activities builds resilience. The pandemic showed how desperately people needed each other for support, shopping for essentials, or simply to exchange a small “hello”. What ways did you reach out to help another, or what ways would you like to, moving forward?

Tip 4: Keep a Boundary Between Your Personal & Work Life

Pressures and problems can come from both your personal and work life. One key strategy to be resilient from pressures is to keep a clear boundary between your work and personal life. You need to have techniques for “switching off ” from work so that it does not impinge on your personal life. There are a variety of methods for this; for example stopping for a coffee after leaving work before going home. Don’t forget, it’s also important to not let personal problems have an impact on work. This became a challenge throughout the pandemic as many people were forced to work from home, and the boundary between work and home became blurred.

Tip 5: Know Your Early Signs of Stress

Resilience is not about being strong all the time and never feeling pressure or stress, it’s about knowing when you are starting to feel stressed and using techniques to help keep in control e.g. deep breathing, exercising more, and talking to family and friends about how you are feeling. To help with this it is useful to be aware of what your early signs of stress are. Early signs tend to occur in four areas:

Physical

Generally, more people have some physical signs when they are starting to feel stressed. This can be headaches, pain in the neck/shoulders or digestion problems.

Emotional

When under stress, people can feel angry, frustrated and/ or low in mood.

Cognitive

When under pressure, we tend not to think effectively so we can become indecisive, or we become more forgetful or experience concentration difficulties.

Behaviour

Behaviour can change; we can lose our temper more frequently or have trouble sleeping.

Tip 6: Physical Exercise

As a rule, the healthier you are physically, the easier it is to be resilient to stressors. One important way of maintaining your resilience is to be active, focusing in particular on cardiovascular exercises and body stretches. The key is to do some exercise little and often, for example walking, swimming, cycling, or playing sports. It is very important to maintain an exercise regime when you are feeling particularly stressed, and if possible to do slightly more exercise than usual to help you cope with the difficulties. This is especially true when working from home, or feeling stuck in the same place for long periods.

Tip 7: Deep Breathing

Deep breathing is one of the easiest relaxation techniques to master, and it is also one of the most effective in helping you remain calm and resilient. Slow, deep (diaphragmatic) breathing slows down your heart rate, lowers blood pressure and reduces tension in the muscles. The simplest method for practising deep breathing is as follows:

• Sit comfortably in a chair with good posture, and both feet flat on the floor. Close your eyes and place your left palm on your stomach and your right palm on your chest. Now breathe slowly in through the nose, and out through the nose without holding your breath at any point.
• Try and expand your stomach as you breathe in and contract your stomach as you breathe out. Try to breathe so that only your left palm moves and not your right. Your chest and shoulders should not move as you breathe, only your stomach. All the time you should be relaxed and concentrating on breathing slowly.

Tip 8: Reduce Self-Criticism

One habit many people have which, reduces their resilience, is that they are too critical of themselves. Self- criticism often occurs as a voice in our head (sometimes called an internal monologue) which is critical of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviour. Something that is often linked to self-criticism is our tendency to be too critical of others. One method to help us be less self-critical, and therefore more resilient, is to consciously try to become less critical and negative towards others.

Tip 9: Personal Organizational System

Increasingly in modern life we have a multitude of activities and tasks to keep track of—both at work and in our personal life. Managing all these tasks can be stressful. So, to be resilient, it is important to have an organizational system that prevents us feeling overwhelmed by the demands placed upon us. Specifically, your organizational system should achieve two major elements which help you maintain your resilience: Keep your to-dos “outside of your head”. In other words, you should not rely on your memory to trigger when you should do your actions, it is your organizational system that reminds you when to do things. The less you rely on your memory, the better. It is always vital to have a clear distinction between tasks which are urgent (that is time dependent and must be performed now, such as answering a ringing phone) and those which are important but can be dealt with at your own pace. Resilient people tend to spend more time on actions which are not urgent but are important. When we are under pressure and stressed, we tend to focus on the urgent, unimportant tasks.

Tip 10: Resilient Thinking

A vital element of being resilient is how you perceive and think about the challenges that life throws at you. Resilient individuals tend to be good at keeping stressors in perspective so that they are not overwhelmed by such stressors. Equally, resilient individuals focus on how they can solve their problems or make their problems easier in some way.

Resilient thinking tries to be as creative as possible and to focus on solution and/or management of a problem not on the problem itself and the feelings it generates. The analogy of resilient thinking that is often used is: “When you have fallen into a hole, your thinking should be how do you climb out of the hole—not how you fell into the hole, or how unlucky you are to be in the hole.”

A very useful technique for maintaining resilient thinking is to keep a Gratitude Journal. Every day, you should write in this diary three things in your life that you are grateful for. The key is that every day you should come up with three new things to be grateful for. By carrying out this activity you are training your mind to focus on positive things which in turn helps you be more resilient.

In your busy life, it may not be possible to implement all of these tips, but always try to think creatively and it may be possible to combine two or more tips together e.g., playing tennis with your partner and/or children. This will enable you to maintain your social support network, spend time on an activity which is important to you—and it will give you some exercise.

This article was written in collaboration with Colin Grange, UK Clinical Director © LifeWorks 2022.

What Should You Know When Buying Footwear for Work?

Good footwear should have the following qualities:

• The shoe must grip the heel firmly.
• The forepart must allow freedom of movement for the toes.
• The shoe must have a fastening across the instep to prevent the foot from slipping when walking.
• The heel should be not more than 60 mm (about 2.5 inches), and the heel should not be lower than the ball of the foot. (From CSA Z195:14 (R2019) Protective footwear)

People buying footwear for work should take the following advice:

• Do not expect that footwear which is too tight will stretch with wear.
• Have both feet measured when buying shoes? Feet normally differ in size. • Buy shoes to fit the bigger foot.
• Buy shoes late in the afternoon when feet are likely to be swollen to their maximum size. • Ask a doctor’s advice if properly fitting shoes are not available.
• Consider using shock-absorbing insoles where the job requires walking or standing on hard floors.

When selecting footwear, one should remember that tight socks or stockings can cramp the toes as much as poorly fitted shoes. Wrinkled socks, or socks that are too large or too small, can cause blisters. White woollen or cotton socks may be recommended since coloured socks cause skin allergies in some people.

Type of Footwear Appropriate for Cold Conditions

Selection should be made to suit the specific working condition. Working outdoors in cold weather poses a special requirement on selecting the proper footwear. “Normal” protective footwear is not designed for cold weather. “Insulated” footwear may give little temperature protection in the sole if it has no insulation there. Loss of heat through steel toe caps (commonly blamed for increased heat loss) is insignificant.

Foot protection against cold weather can be resolved by:

• Insulating the legs by wearing thermal undergarments.
• Wearing insulating overshoes over work footwear.
• Wearing insulating muffs around the ankles and over the top of the footwear

How to care for your feet?

• Feet are subject to a great variety of skin and toenail disorders. Workers can avoid many of them by following simple rules of foot care:
• Wash feet daily with soap, rinse thoroughly and dry, especially between the toes.
• Trim toenails straight across and not too short. Do not cut into the corners.

Wear clean socks or stockings and change them daily.

Some feet sweat more than others and are more prone to athlete’s foot. Again, following a few simple guidelines may help:

• Select shoes made of leather or canvas – not synthetic materials.
• Keep several pairs of shoes on hand and rotate shoes daily to allow them to air out.
• Use foot powder.

If problems persist, see a doctor or health care specialist. In cases of persisting ingrown toenails, calluses, corns, fungal infection, and more serious conditions such as flat feet and arthritis, see a doctor and follow the doctor’s advice

The fourth wave of COVID-19 that public health experts warned us about for months has arrived and it is being referred to as the ‘pandemic of the unvaccinated”. Each wave of the COVID-19 pandemic raises different levels of public health and personal challenges. Public health authorities have indicated that the highly contagious Delta Variant is driving the fourth wave and that they are seeing an increase in numbers, which is mostly amongst the unvaccinated. The Delta variant has prolonged the pandemic, made daily life more difficult to navigate and has turned back the clock on our collective plans to return to a relatively normal life. Experts unanimously agree that people who aren’t vaccinated — including children under 12, are most at risk in this wave of the pandemic.

The good news is that millions of Canadians have now been vaccinated. As of September 16, 2021, provinces and territories have administered over 54 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with the latest data indicating that over 85% of people aged 12 years or older have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and over 79% are now fully vaccinated. Evidence demonstrates that full vaccination (2 doses) combined with continued public health measures provides substantial protection. As we head into the fall, it will be important to have as many eligible people as possible fully vaccinated as quickly as possible to protect ourselves and others, including those with compromised immune systems or children who are not eligible – especially as cases rise within younger populations. Because children can’t be vaccinated, it’s especially important that those around them are. It is important to ensure that information related to covid-19 vaccines comes from a reliable source, therefore please see the link to the government of Canada article https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/vaccines.html

Let’s Make the Fourth Wave the Final Wave!

What Can We Do?

• Get vaccinated – protect yourself and others
• Be aware of risks associated with different settings
• Wear face masks indoors – properly worn face masks are your best defense against the virus
• Continue to wear a mask in busy outdoor areas like campgrounds, playgrounds and dog parks
• Maintain social distancing – Health Canada still encourages us to minimize close contact with others.
• Keep hands and surfaces clean
• If you feel sick, even with just a sore throat, you should stay home and self-isolate if you have symptoms
• Continue to avoid non-essential travel
• Socialize outdoors whenever possible
• Avoid crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation —especially with the unvaccinated.

Take Care of Your Mental and Physical
Health by:

• Adjusting your expectations based on what is in your control
• Have a backup plan if something is not available (school/daycare, gym, etc.)
• Take advantage of nice weather and spend time outdoors
• Acknowledge that pandemic fatigue is real and make use of our EAP (LifeWorks program) if you are experiencing mental health concerns like anxiety, stress, or depression

Collectively, our actions can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and keep our families, friends, and co-workers safe. As the pandemic drags on through a fourth, intense wave, front line hospital staff are running on empty tanks, and we owe it to them to take precautionary measures and make it through this wave without overburdening our healthcare system.

Why Get Vaccinated for COVID-19?

Vaccines Work

Scientific and medical evidence show that vaccination can help protect you against COVID-19. Studies are also showing that vaccinated people may have less severe illness if they do become ill from COVID-19.

Vaccines Are Safe

Only vaccines that are proven to be safe, effective and of high quality are authorized for use in Canada. The COVID-19 vaccines have been rigorously tested during their development and then carefully reviewed by Health Canada. The vaccines cannot give you COVID-19 because they don’t contain the virus that causes it. The vaccines also cannot change your DNA.

Types of Vaccines

mRNA vaccines provide instructions to your cells for how to make a coronavirus protein. This protein will trigger an immune response that will help to protect you against COVID-19.

Viral vector vaccines use a virus that’s been made harmless to produce coronavirus proteins in your body without causing disease. Similar to mRNA vaccines, this protein will trigger an immune response that will help to protect you against COVID-19.

Continue to Follow Public Health Measures

COVID-19 vaccines are important tools to help us stop this pandemic. Right now, we still need to follow public health measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and save lives.

Federal, provincial and territorial governments will continue to assess the risk of COVID-19 spread in communities. Measures will be adjusted over time as more people are vaccinated. Everyone is looking forward to a future when we can be together.

Until then, we need to protect each other, especially those who are still vulnerable to severe disease from COVID-19.

Get the facts. Visit Canada.ca/covid-vaccine to learn more.

When are JHSC required, and how many people are on the committee?

Legislation Requirements for Health and Safety Committees

	When do I need one?	Size of Committee	Representation
Canada	Mandatory – 20 or more employees	At least 2	At least half to represent employees
British Columbia	Mandatory – when there are 20 or more employees or when “required by order”	Not less than 4	At least one half must be worker representatives
Alberta	Mandatory – 20 or more employees, or when ordered by Minister, or where a designated substance is in use (no minimum number of employees)	At least 2 (fewer than 50 employees); At least 4 (50 or more employees	At least half to represent employees
Quebec	20 or more employees and where required by CNESST*	At least 4	At least half to represent employees
New Brunswick	Mandatory – 20 or more employees	As agreed upon by employees and employer	Equal Representation
Nova Scotia	Mandatory – 20 or more employees	As agreed upon by employees and employer	At least half to represent employees

Who sit on our ASP SAFETY Committees?

• YYC –Management Matt Szajkowski, Tamara Juniper Employees Radowan Chowdhury, and Mohamad Miah
• YSB – Not required under 20 employees
• YYZ – Employees Yavar Qadri, Ethilda Donkor, Sayeed Khan, Management Noman Butt, Jason Zapata and Laurel Woodhouse
• RES /CIC–Will be holding an election in the near future
• Crossing Guards – in-active until September 2021
• K9 – Will be holding an election in the near future
• YOW – Closed
• Billy Bishop Airport – Closed

Something to keep in mind about safety committees.

• In most Canadian jurisdictions, the legally recognized communication channel on safety matters is between the worker and the supervisor. Workers are to report unsafe acts and conditions initially to their immediate supervisor. The supervisor is responsible for acting on such reports and for directing safe work procedures. Committee members should not interfere with this process, except under special circumstances, such as cases of imminent danger where immediate corrective action is necessary. 
• It must be clearly understood by all concerned that the employer’s responsibility for safety is in no way diluted or diverted with the formation of a joint health and safety committee.
• Ensuring compliance with safety regulations and procedures is the supervisor’s job while the committee member’s role is more that of an observer and advisor.
• Effective two-way communication ensures that workers are aware of committee activities and gives them an opportunity to contribute ideas to the committee.
• UNIONIZED SETTINGS: Union support of its members on a joint health and safety committee can be evaluated by the way in which members are appointed, the amount of education provided on union health and safety policies, assisting the attendance of members to health and safety seminars, and help given in situations where a problem has occurred in making committee recommendations.

https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/hsprograms/hscommittees/measure.html

About Lifeworks

LifeWorks blends the best user experience and clinical expertise together to help people everywhere achieve total mental, physical, social and financial wellbeing. It has both your Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) and personalized wellbeing resources that can support you and your dependants with issues related to work, life, and everything in between.

• 24/7 access to professional, caring consultants for advice and support
• 24/7 access to the hundreds of articles, recordings, quizzes, self-assessments, and more online and on our free app
• 24/7 telephonic access to Master’s-level counsellors for immediate, short-term support
• Referrals to telephonic, in-person, virtual group, or secure video counselling
• Connections to support agencies in your community
• Support for people leaders, including critical incident and organizational change support.

Register today to learn more about how LifeWorks can support you on your wellbeing journey! our computer station needs to work for you. Your keyboard and mouse should be at the same level, with the weight of your arms supported by the armrests of the chair.

This active screening occurs before or entering the workplace at the beginning of a shift, or upon the arrival.

Manager Orientation

All webinars start at 1pm Eastern Time

Wednesday, Feb 11th – Managers Orientation

Wednesday, April 8th – EAP Managers

Wednesday, July 8th – EAP Managers Orientation

Wednesday, Oct 7th – EAP Managers Orientation

Employee Orientation

All webinars start at 1pm Eastern Time

Wednesday, Jan 27th – Employee Assistance Program

Orientation Thursday, Feb 18th – Employees Orientation

Wednesday, Mar 24th – Employees Orientation

Thursday, April 15th – EAP Employee Orientation

Wednesday, May 26th – Employees Orientation

Wednesday, June 23th – EAP Employee Orientation

Thursday, July 15th – EAP Employee Orientation

Wednesday, Oct 14th – EAP Employee Orientation

The Ontario Government amended Ontario Regulation 364/20. Which adds a requirement that the person responsible for a business or organization that is open, operate the business or organization in compliance with the advice, recommendations and instructions issued by the office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health on screening individuals.

At ASP, we are doing just that by utilizing an online tool called “testalerts.com”.

This active screening occurs before or entering the workplace at the beginning of a shift, or upon the arrival.

Reminders are sent out regularly to remind ASP employees.

NOTE: IF ANY OF THE ANSWERS TO THESE SCREENING QUESTIONS CHANGES DURING THE DAY THE EMPLOYEE SHOULDINFORM THEIR SUPERVISOR OF THE CHANGE AND GO HOME TO SELF -ISOLATE EMMEDIATELY AND CONTACT THEIR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER OT TELEHEALTH ONTARIO TO GET ADVISE

HOW IT WORKS

If you’re not registered, you will need to fill in your name, email and/or phone to identify yourself. This will allow us to know if anyone answers “Yes” to any of the questions and act accordingly and conduct contact tracing if it becomes necessary. Thank you for participating – Just another way ASP Securities is looking to make the workplace safer.

Those employees whose work responsibilities involve traveling to multiple locations as part of their day or shift. It is the responsibility of the ASP to conduct screening and not that of the receiving business organization. However, such screening may not exempt a employee from being screened by another workplace if the employee is seeking entry into different types of premises.

Consider these 7 simple tips:

1. Practice good posture

Good posture is about more than finding a comfortable position to work in, or what “feels right.” Especially when you consider that some positions, while comfortable for the worker, may not be ergonomically correct. To complicate matters further, some shifting and movement in position throughout the day can even be useful for some workers with and without disabilities.exceptional and ASP is fortunate to have a self-initiated team player on its roster. Thank you Tyler!

2. Change it up

Repeating the same movement continuously through the day can cause strains. If it is possible to alternate tasks, it is advisable to do so. If job rotation or alternating tasks throughout the shift is unrealistic, be sure to incorporate several rest breaks. Stretch during breaks or do simple exercises to keep your muscles and tendons from becoming tense or strained. Utilize a Standing desk if possible or create raised area to move your computer occasionally.

3. Lifting with your knees

if your job involves lifting, that you are trained in manual material handling, and that you practice proper lifting techniques. Never lift with the muscles in your back. Lift with your knees.

4. Get a good chair

If you sit at desk all or most of the day, you need an ergonomic chair that has various settings for a variety of seated postures. The best chairs have adjustable height, arm rest, lumbar support, and seat pan depth settings. If your feet don’t reach the floor, a footrest should be used in conjunction with the chair and remember it doesn’t matter how well the chair is adjusted if you do not sit in it properly!

5. Make your Computer Work for You

Your computer station needs to work for you. Your keyboard and mouse should be at the same level, with the weight of your arms supported by the armrests of the chair.

6. Eye Strain

Eye strain is common in workers with and without disabilities who spend a lot of their day looking at computer monitors. Adjust your monitor so that it is at eye level when sitting straight in your chair. Ensure that you look at it directly, and that it’s not angled. If you have a window, place the monitor at a right angle to it to reduce glare. Monitors with poor resolution or a flicker should be upgraded or replaced.

7. Remember to Relax

A stressful work environment can cause workers to tense their muscles, and remain in that state for extended periods of time. Workers who feel pressure to complete tasks may skip breaks or strain themselves to complete tasks faster at the expense of using proper ergonomic material handling methods.

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