To display the commitment of the Postgraduate Medical Education Office to the health, protection and personal safety of its postgraduate medical trainees.

To promote a safe and healthy environment and minimize the risk of injury on the University campus and teaching sites.

To deliver a mechanism to report unsafe/hazardous training environments along with a procedure to take corrective action.

The University, hospitals and affiliated teaching sites are accountable for the environmental, occupational and personal health and safety of their employees and have the right to make implementation decisions within their respective policies and resource allocations.

Residents should also be aware of the following University of Saskatchewan policies on health, safety and environment: Animal Control, BioSafety, Compliance Enforcement Pertaining to Hazardous Agents, Contractor Hot Work, Discrimination and Harassment Prevention, Employee Assistance Program, Fieldwork and Associated Travel Safety, Furniture, Long Term Storage of Nuclear Substances, Radiation Safety, Smoking, Violence, Working Alone, Workplace Safety and Environmental Protection (WSEP), which can be found on policies.usask.ca.

Residents must report all situations where personal safety is threatened.

If a Resident identifies a personal safety or security breach, they must report it to their immediate supervisor and Program Director to ensure resolution of the situation.

If a Resident feels that they are in a situation where their safety is threatened, the Resident should seek immediate assistance and remove themselves from the situation in a professional manner. The Resident should notify their immediate supervisor and Program Director. Should the Program Director be unavailable or additional consultation is required, the Postgraduate Medical Education Office is available for consultation.  

Residents should ensure that they are aware of the security contact information of their rotation sites should there be a safety issue after regular working hours.

It is the Resident’s responsibility to exercise judgment during travel to and from the workplace (i.e. be aware of alternate options to prevent driving a personal vehicle when fatigued; ensure they drive while fully alert; determine, if in their estimation, that it would not be safe to travel because of weather, in which case they must notify the appropriate person as soon as possible in a professional manner of absences due to inclement weather). 

Physicians and Residents are required to self-disclose blood borne pathogens or infections directly to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan. Should the Resident not disclose their condition, the Program Director has an ethical responsibility to report the condition to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan.

Participation in patient transport in many programs is a valuable learning experience for Residents. There must be clear educational objectives underlying the Resident’s participation in patient transport.

Residents must have appropriate training with demonstrated competency in the circumstances relevant to the transport experience.

Communication and supervision between the Resident and his/her designated supervising physician must be available at all times.

Resident well-being should be considered in all transports.

If travel extends outside of the home-based training site a University Authority to Travel form must be completed by the Resident and approved by the Program Director and kept in the Program’s files for future reference if/as required.

The Saskatchewan Worker’s Compensation Board (WCB) requires all Saskatchewan employers to report injuries to the WCB within five days of being aware of an injury as per The Worker’s Compensation Act 2013. As such, when a Resident is involved in an incident that results in injury while at work or is involved in any event that could have injured someone, but did not (dangerous occurrence, near miss, near accident) it needs to be reported. Residents are University of Saskatchewan employees working within Health Authority and must report to both the University of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Health Authority.  

Residency Program and the Postgraduate Medical Education Office

It is the responsibility of each Residency Training Program to ensure:

a)      Residents receive appropriate educational safety sessions including generic University safety orientation and WHMIS training;

b)      Hospitals and associated teaching sites have appropriate health and safety measures in place for Residents;

c)      Residents are aware that they are subject to all University policies, procedures and regulations as well as  to all relevant policies, procedures and regulations of the hospitals and associated teaching sites;

d)      That Residents are adequately oriented to policies prior to initiating clinical services.

The Postgraduate Medical Education Office will work conjointly with the Health Authority to ensure that each site is in compliance with health and safety requirements.

Hospitals and Affiliated Teaching Sites

Hospitals and affiliated teaching sites are responsible to:

a)      Ensure Residents are appropriately supervised during their work and learning;

b)      Provide orientation information regarding all relevant policies, procedures and regulations, Occupational Health and Safety regulations;

c)      Identify and communicate potential health and safety hazards to Residents;

d)      Implement appropriate health and safety measures, procedures and processes to protect Residents;

e)      Ensure Residents receive appropriate health and safety training including for emergency situations – site specific WHMIS training, instructions for dealing with serious or critical incidents and reporting procedures;

f)       Ensure procedures are established for Residents who may work alone. A supervisor/co-worker must be present in the following situations:

i)       When the Resident is seeing a patient after hours in a clinic setting (This does not apply if in an emergency room/hospital based/ facility based urgent care setting.);

ii)      Unscheduled home visits by the Resident;

iii)     After office hours if the Resident is still seeing patients;

g)      Ensure Residents are not subject to discrimination and harassment;

h)      Establish processes for Residents to communicate health and safety concerns/issues, and to report incidents;

i)        Maintain relevant health and safety records including for Resident training and reported incidents.

Residents

Residents are responsible to:

a)      Participate in appropriate health and safety training required by the University, and host hospitals and affiliated teaching sites;

b)      Adhere to University health and safety requirements, and applicable health and safety regulations;

c)      Adhere to the health and safety policies and procedures of their training site(s);

d)      Not partake in discrimination and harassment with patients, coworkers or staff;

e)      Report health and safety concerns to their local supervisor(s) and Program Director;

f)       Become familiar with emergency response procedures of the host training site;

g)      Immediately report incidents to their host institution local supervisor, and Program Director.

Instances or concerns of non-compliance with this policy should be brought to the attention of the Associate Dean, PGME.

Procedure for Reporting Work Related Injuries and Incidents

Coordinator, Academic and Non-academic Processes, PGME Office
Phone: 306-966-6145

University of Saskatchewan resources:
Safety Resources: 306-966-4675
Wellness Resources: 306-966-4580
Protective Services: 306-966-5555

College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan: 306-244-7355