Overview
Information Box Group

Our Safety Learn More
We support the University’s commitment to creativity, innovation and excellence, and strive to achieve these standards in the areas of environmental and occupational health, safety, loss prevention and mitigation.

My Health Learn More
We are committed to supporting employees in a healthy and safe return to work following an injury or illness, facilitating workplace accommodations and fostering healthier work environments.

My Well-Being Learn More
Workplace Wellness is integral to the personal and professional growth of McMaster faculty and staff. Campus and community supports are available to help faculty and staff flourish in their personal and professional lives.
McMaster University is proud to offer the extended benefit of an Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) with our partner, Homewood Health. Homewood is the Canadian leader in mental health and addiction services.
Individuals can contact Homewood Health through their website or by phone toll-free, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to book appointments, or access any EFAP service.
- Toll Free English:1.800.663.1142
- Toll Free French: 1.866.398.9505
- TTY: 1.888.384.1152
- International (call collect): 604.689.1717
- Homewood Health Online: www.homeweb.ca and create an individual login profile
Our Safety
Environmental & Occupational Health Support Services (EOHSS) is a team of health, safety and risk management specialists committed to supporting the University’s commitment to creativity, innovation and excellence, and strives to achieve these standards in the areas of environmental and occupational health, safety, loss prevention and mitigation.
Safety and Health Week May 1-7
Safety and Health Week was first launched in June 1997, marked by an agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico. During the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) talks between the governments of Mexico, United States, and Canada, workplace safety within the boundaries of all three nations was discussed by government labour department representatives.
Each year the first week of May is dedicated to health and safety and recognized by workplaces throughout North America.
McMaster has recognized this week with special events since it’s inception.
COVID-19 Resources
University Guidelines to COVID-19 Learn More
Updated May 1, 2022
The hierarchy of controls continues to be the University framework of measure for the ongoing protection of all members of the McMaster community.
Incident Reporting Learn More
All injuries, incidents and hazardous situations must be reported immediately to your supervisor.
Incident Reporting - Learn More
We are committed to employee health and safety. As with working onsite, to ensure compliance with the reporting requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, if an incident occurs while working remotely or working from home, employees have the responsibility of reporting incidents promptly. Follow these steps to report an incident:
- The employee and the supervisor must fill out an injury/incident report form and the employee, supervisor and department chair, manager or director must also sign it.
- The supervisor is responsible for investigating the incident and for ensuring corrective action to prevent a recurrence of the incident for due diligence purposes.
- If personal injury is involved, all appropriate procedures must be followed (please refer to RMM 1000 and RMM 1002).
- The completed reports must be forwarded immediately to Environmental and Occupational Health Support Services by email to eohss@mcmaster.ca or for areas in the Faculty of Health Sciences, the Faculty of Health Sciences Safety Office by email to fhsso@mcmaster.ca.
If you require additional assistance, please contact Environmental & Occupational Health Support Services or the Faculty of Health Sciences Safety Office by email found above.
Ergonomics: Working from Home Learn More
The following suggestions will allow employees to continue to work productively and consider proper ergonomic set-up while at home.
Working from Home Ergonomics Video
Strategies for Healthy Screen Habits – NEW
Working Alone Learn More
Employees who are working alone on campus must have a working alone plan that is created with their supervisor. The plan must include procedures for obtaining assistance in the event of an emergency.
Home Safety Learn More
The checklist is designed to assess the safety of the home workstation. Employees are expected to designate an adequate and separate workstation in the home. To ensure employees are working in a safe and healthy dedicated workstation, the following checklist should be completed. Please note, assessment is of the workstation only and is not reflective of the safety of the home in its entirety.
Masks and Face Coverings
Face Coverings and Face Masks – Government of Ontario
When and How to Wear a Mask – Public Health Ontario
Mask Use for Non-Health Care Workers – Public Health Ontario
Quick Links
Injury/Incident Report Form - Learn More
The employee has the responsibility of reporting incidents promptly. The employee and the supervisor must fill out this form and the employee, supervisor and department chair, manager or director must sign it.
Joint Health and Safety Committee's (JHSC's)
Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) - Learn More
A Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) is required to identify and minimize the risks associated with a worker’s duties. A JHA is used to document and review these risks with the worker.
A JHA is essential in clarifying the work to be done in conjunction with the hazards and controls that are associated with the activity.
Click here to access the JHA Portal.
NOTE: Employees accessing the JHA portal off-campus will need to enter through the McMaster VPN. Directions to access the VPN can be found here. If assistance is required, please contact the UTS Customer Service desk at ext. 24357.
For information on how to complete a JHA click here.
Learn more about Our Safety

Occupational Safety Learn More
Information includes ergonomics, violence and harassment prevention in the workplace, fire safety, standard operating procedures and first aid kit locations.

Lab Safety Learn More
Information including biological/chemical waste disposal, hazardous materials, and McMaster’s chemical inventory system (HECHMET).

Travel Safety and Planning Learn More
Information on international travel including Global Affairs Canada, International SOS, Travel Smart app.

Campus Insurance Learn More
Information included: Certificates of Insurance, insurance coverage for shipping equipment and information on leased, owned or rented vehicles.

Field Trip, Student Placements and Research Activity Learn More
Information for students, employees travelling on McMaster business as part of a field trip, research activity or student placement.
My Health
McMaster is committed to supporting employees in a healthy and safe return to work following an injury or illness, facilitating workplace accommodations and fostering healthier work environments.
Information Box Group

Workplace Accommodation Learn More
Workplace accommodation may involve a service, adaptation or adjustment in the work environment that enable individuals to compete for jobs and perform employment activities.
Workplace Accommodation - Learn More
It is McMaster University’s goal to build an inclusive community with a shared purpose, where all members of the University community are treated in a fair and equitable manner. In pursuit of this goal, the University aims to foster a climate of understanding and mutual respect for the dignity and worth of all persons.
Workplace accommodation may involve a service, adaptation or adjustment in the work environment that enable individuals to compete for jobs and perform employment activities without discrimination on a prohibited ground. It can include, but is not limited to recruitment, selection, employment and separation processes, including training and career development. It may be short or long-term, with the goal of enabling individuals to compete for jobs and perform the essential duties of their employment.
Workplace Accommodation Policy
McMaster University Guide and Procedures on Workplace Accommodation

Disability Benefits Learn More
Our disability benefit programs include salary continuance, sick leave benefits and WSIB benefits.

Workplace Injury/Illness Learn More
Information regarding workplace injury or illness, Workplace, Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) benefits pertaining to McMaster University employees and to unpaid student placements.
Workplace Injury/Illness - Learn More
Employee Health Services administers WSIB claims and benefits for employees of the University. As such we are committed to increasing healthy and safe workplace attitudes and practices. In supporting and promoting awareness initiatives, we are better able to minimize workplace hazards.
All work-related injuries/illnesses must be reported to the Environmental and Occupational Health Support Services (EOHSS) within 24 hours. We are responsible for reporting to the WSIB.
Reporting procedures for injury/illness are available under My Safety.
Offer of Modified Work – Early and Safe Return to Work Offer Form

Return to Work Program Learn More
We are committed to a fair and consistent approach to early and safe return to the workplace following illness or injury.
Return to Work Program - Learn More
The contributions of employees and their presence in the workplace are essential to the achievement of the University’s goals. The University recognizes that accommodations may be required to assist employees in their reintegration to the workplace.
The Employee Health Services Consultants within Employee Health Services work in a collaborative framework with the workplace parties to facilitate the return to work process. For additional information on the return to work process, roles and responsibilities please refer to the University’s Return to Work Program.

Mental Health Resources and Training Learn More
We are committed to providing mental health and well-being education and training to the McMaster community to support mental health literacy, and help individuals lead healthier lives in and outside of the workplace.

Unpaid Student Placements Learn More
Students who perform experiential learning (unpaid) activities at a third party business or institution for academic credit.
Expandable List
Employee Health Services (“EHS”) manages the disability benefits, the return to work process and employment accommodation needs of employees of McMaster University (the “University”). In order to provide these services to you, EHS collects, uses, maintains and, in some cases, discloses certain personal health information.
You have the right to know how EHS collects, uses, maintains and discloses the personal health information in our possession. Personal health information includes identifying information about you relating to your physical or mental health, including your medical history, the provision of health care to you, and payments or eligibility for health care. You have a right to expect that, to the best of our ability, the personal health information held by us remains confidential and secure.
This document informs you of our ongoing commitment to privacy and tells you the ways we ensure that the privacy of your personal health information is protected. Our ongoing commitment to the protection of your personal health information is reflected in the following ten principles.
1. Accountability
EHS is committed to maintaining the confidentiality and security of your personal health information. Every employee of EHS is bound by a duty of confidentiality and must abide by that duty in the handling of your personal health information. The duty to maintain confidentiality applies to the duration of employment with EHS and continues indefinitely after employment with EHS has ceased.
2. The Purposes of Information Collection
EHS collects, maintains, uses and discloses information about you and your health. This information is collected to help administer disability benefits, initiate return to work processes and implement the employment accommodation needs of employees. These services include:
- direction and guidance on policies and procedures before, during and after an injury or illness;
- safe, timely and appropriate return to work plans and programs following an injury or illness;
- the management of University disability benefits (e.g. Salary Continuance benefits), and
- implementation and management of measures related to workplace accommodation of an injury or illness.
We obtain most of our information directly from you, or from other health practitioners whom you have seen and authorized to disclose information to us. We will limit the information we collect to what we need for those purposes, and we will use it only for those purposes.
3. Informed Consent
You have the right to know and to determine how your personal health information is used and disclosed. We will always obtain your express consent where legally required to do so.
If you provide consent to let a family member or your legal representative, including a trade union, see your personal health information, then the family member or legal representative may be allowed access to the part(s) of the personal health information that you have consented to let them see. Subject to certain conditions, you have the right to withdraw or change the conditions of your consent.
4. Limiting Collection
We collect information by fair and lawful means and collect only that information which may be necessary for purposes related to the provision of our services to you. These services are related to management of disability benefits, return to work processes and employment accommodation needs of employees of the University.
5. Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention
The information we request from you is used for the purposes defined. We will seek your consent before using the information beyond the purposes for which we have obtained it. Non-identifying information related to the services EHS provides may be used for administration, management, strategic planning, decision-making, research and allocation of the University’s resources.
6. Accuracy
We will make every effort to ensure that all decisions involving your personal health information are based upon accurate and timely information. In turn, we rely on you to disclose accurate and material information on a timely basis and to inform us of any relevant changes.
7. Protecting Your Information
EHS is committed to maintaining the confidentiality and security of personal health information and has a number of practices in place to protect the privacy of your personal health information. For example, personal health information that is collected by EHS is maintained in a secured file in a location at our office that has restricted access. Some older records may be kept at a secure location off-site. All personal health information is kept in an area separate from all other human resources files. Our computer systems are password-secured, encrypted and constructed in such a way that only authorized individuals can access secure systems and databases.
Only those individuals who are directly involved in providing EHS services or those who have a legal right to see your records are permitted access to your personal health information. Specifically, access is limited to you and the Offices of the Occupational Health Nurse and Occupational Physician who have legitimate reason to maintain and access your personal health information. Access to any other individuals will only be provided with your prior express written consent.
Access to other non-health related personal information is limited to authorized individuals who have a legitimate reason to access such information. For example, with respect to non-health related return to work information, EHS may be required to supply this information to administer the disability insurance program or to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). Access to any other individuals will only be provided with your prior express written consent.
8. How We Keep You Informed
EHS has prepared these plain-language principles to keep you informed. You may ask to receive a copy of this document from any EHS staff member. If you have any additional questions or concerns about privacy of your personal health information, we invite you to contact us (see info below) and we will address your concerns to the best of our ability.
9. Access and Correction
With limited exceptions, we will give you access to the information we retain about you within a reasonable time, upon presentation of a written request and satisfactory identification.
We may charge a fee for photocopying services and if so, we will give you notice in advance of processing your request.
If you find errors of fact in your personal health information, please notify us as soon as possible and we will make the appropriate corrections. We will not amend information provided by third parties or information relating to clinical observations or opinions made in good faith. You have a right to append a short statement of disagreement to your record if we refuse to make a requested change.
If we deny your request for access to your personal information, we will advise you in writing of the reason for the refusal and you may then challenge the decision.
10. Challenging Compliance
We encourage you to contact us with any questions or concerns you might have about your privacy.
If you send us an e-mail message that includes personal information, such as your name included in the “address”, we may use that information to respond to your inquiry. If your communication involves personal health information, you should not send it electronically.
In the event that you have concerns, we will endeavour to review and respond to your concerns about any aspect of our handling of your personal health information. In most cases, an issue is resolved simply by telling us about it and discussing it. We invite you to contact us – see below.
Our Employee Health Team
Monica Poulin
Acting Program Manager, Employee Health Services

Monica Poulin
Acting Program Manager, Employee Health Services
Monica Poulin
Acting Program Manager, Employee Health Services
Monica Poulin
Acting Program Manager, Employee Health Services
Employee Well-being
McMaster has a strong commitment to create a brighter and healthier world. In 2017, McMaster joined the Canadian Health Promoting Universities and Colleges Network by signing the Okanagan Charter, which is dedicated to advancing human and societal well-being. McMaster’s Healthy Workplace programs strive to advance the well-being of all faculty and staff through the promotion of year round holistic wellness initiatives, including, but not limited to, physical health, psychological wellness, and work-life balance.
Employee Well-being
McMaster has a strong commitment to create a brighter and healthier world. In 2017, McMaster joined the Canadian Health Promoting Universities and Colleges Network by signing the Okanagan Charter, which is dedicated to advancing human and societal well-being. McMaster’s Healthy Workplace programs strive to advance the well-being of all faculty and staff through the promotion of year round holistic wellness initiatives, including, but not limited to, physical health, psychological wellness, and work-life balance.
Employee Well-being
McMaster has a strong commitment to create a brighter and healthier world. In 2017, McMaster joined the Canadian Health Promoting Universities and Colleges Network by signing the Okanagan Charter, which is dedicated to advancing human and societal well-being. McMaster’s Healthy Workplace programs strive to advance the well-being of all faculty and staff through the promotion of year round holistic wellness initiatives, including, but not limited to, physical health, psychological wellness, and work-life balance.
Employee Well-being
McMaster has a strong commitment to create a brighter and healthier world. In 2017, McMaster joined the Canadian Health Promoting Universities and Colleges Network by signing the Okanagan Charter, which is dedicated to advancing human and societal well-being. McMaster’s Healthy Workplace programs strive to advance the well-being of all faculty and staff through the promotion of year round holistic wellness initiatives, including, but not limited to, physical health, psychological wellness, and work-life balance.
- Human Resources
- Employees
- Health, Safety & Well-Being
Employee Well-being
Information Box Group

Strategies for Managing Employee Workload
Starting each September, the new academic year brings a sense of vibrancy and energy on campus. It is also a challenging time to manage workload, the stress that comes as a result. We encourage people leaders and employees to take a proactive approach in setting up systems and practices that help keep workload manageable.

Supporting Employee Success Learn more
A free tool to help leaders support employee success
Source: Workplace Strategies for Mental Health

Setting Reasonable Expectations Learn More
How can you set reasonable expectations with your team?
Setting Reasonable Expectations
- Provide supervisors with the necessary time to meet with employees about workload challenges.
- Provide training so leaders have the skillset to support employees to meet their workload requirements.
- Have all leaders work with employees to:
- Create solutions
- Agree on reasonable expectations
- Identify any barriers to success
- Task improvement process | PDF includes a fillable form to help employees focus on specific tasks that require attention.
- The Getting employee commitment for leaders approach actively engages employees in developing a plan that meets the organization’s needs and increases their willingness to commit over the long term.
To learn more evidence based strategies, visit Workplace Strategies for Mental Health

Strategies to Manage Employee Workload Learn More
How can you work collaboratively and openly with your team members to help manage workload?
Strategies to Manage Employee Workload
- The higher the demands at work, the more important it can be for employees to have some level of control. However, it may not be possible to give employees control over how their work is prioritized due to regulations, safety concerns, customer or patient demands. Explore where employees can have some control over their assigned tasks to help them work more effectively.
- Inform new employees of accurate and realistic job demands and expectations.
- Include explicit and reasonable productivity expectations in job descriptions.
- Review productivity expectations on a regular basis.
- Prepare employees for anticipated periods of increased work, such as seasonal demands and peak shift hours.
For more evidence based methods, please visit Workplace Strategies for Mental Health
LinkedIn Learning eCourse: The Importance of Focus
Do you ever feel like your work isn’t making a big impact, even though you’ve been stretching yourself thin to help out on a variety of projects? If so, then you may be suffering from a lack of focus. In this course, Mike Figliuolo shares strategies that can help managers and their teams approach their work more strategically by limiting their focus to the tasks that truly matter. Mike shares how to set your vision and mission and then communicate this new direction to your team. Discover how to run regular prioritization processes that help you eliminate distractions, how to say no to off-track work, how to assess new opportunities, and more
Cost: Free
Upcoming Employee Well-being Events

3-Part Planning for Retirement Course
Employee Well-Being, Retirement Planning
Jun 15, 2022 to Jun 29, 2022
11:00AM to 1:00PM

Everything You Need to Know About Retiring from McMaster's Salaried Pension Plan
Employee Well-Being, Retirement Planning, Salaried Pension Plan
Sep 13, 2022
2:00PM to 4:00PM

Everything You Need to Know About Retiring from McMaster's Salaried Pension Plan
Employee Well-Being, Retirement Planning, Salaried Pension Plan
Sep 15, 2022
10:00AM to 12:00PM
Learn More About Your Well-Being

Prioritizing Yourself

Move More

Nutrition and Healthy Eating
Additional Resources

Employee and Family Assistance Program
Employee Well-being Contacts
Kyle Armstrong
Program Manager (Acting), Engagement and Wellness

Kyle Armstrong
Program Manager (Acting), Engagement and Wellness
Kyle Armstrong
Program Manager (Acting), Engagement and Wellness
Kyle Armstrong
Program Manager (Acting), Engagement and Wellness