Critical First Steps to Developing your Workplace Programs

Critical First Steps to Developing your Workplace Programs There are some critical first steps you need to take for Health and Safety, Employment Standards and Human Rights. At a minimum have you: ð       Posted a copy of the Occupational Health and Safety Act where workers can access it? ð       Posted all required posters from WSIB, ESA, Ministry of Labour ð       Identified hazards in your workplace, developed policies, procedures and programs and trained your workers on them? ð       Know what your responsibilities are to maintain a healthy and safe workplace? ð       Knowledge of what your first aid requirements are? ð       Developed and posted a copy of your health and safety policy statement (employers with 6+ employees)? ð       Trained your workers to work safely? ð       Insist your workers use personal protective equipment when necessary? ð       Instructed your workers on what to do in case of an emergency? ð       Inspected your workplace on a regular basis ð       Facilitated the election (from amongst your workforce) of a health and safety representative (for firms with 6-19 employees and no designated substance) ð       Formed a joint health and safety committee (JHSC) for your workplace (employers with 20+ workers, or when you have designated substance)? ð       Bill 168 legislated requirements ð       AODA Compliance Obligations ð       ESA Compliance Obligations ð       Human Rights Compliance Obligations

Lack of Training, Programs and Plans Equals Recipe for Disaster

Public Works pled guilty after a Fleet Street Plant boiler exploded, taking the life of a father of four – Peter Kennedy and injuring two other workers in 2009. Improper training on the hazards were identified as one of the main reasons for this fatality.  The tragic death of Peter Kennedy should serve as an impetus to Protecting Canadian workers at their workplace and ensuring that the proper training is received by all workers on all hazards in the workplace.

Labour Canada laid eight charges against Public Works; they pled guilty to three of these charges:

·         Failing to develop and implement a program for the prevention of hazards in the workplace

·         Failing to develop a health and safety plan

·         Failing to provide enough training for employees on the hazards and supervisors and managers on health and safety issues

It was also identified that the plant had no proper emergency procedures; employees hadn’t been shown standard operating manuals and the company’s employees that serviced the boilers were not certified to do so. 

Recognizing that training in proper work practices is a necessary and unavoidable cost of doing business; lack of or improper training is a recipe for disaster. 

The Ottawa based company – R and R Automation that inspected the boilers was not charged due to a gap in jurisdiction – the boiler sits on federal property.

Although imposing a $100,000 fine per charge on one federal government department would mean it would flow right back to the federal government; it would be a purely symbolic gesture that implies they cannot hide behind their own laws.  It will be determined at the hearing on July 4^th and 5^th, 2013 in an Ottawa court.

Further to this news release a longer analysis about what we can learn from this tragic event – the need for a “safety culture” in an organization, will follow in future articles. 

Lynne Bard is President and Senior Consultant of Beyond Rewards Inc., a preeminent human resources, risk management, health and safety and training consulting firm based in Guelph &; Fergus, Ontario.   For more information on this topic contact Lynne at info@beyondrewards.ca

Need to know: Health & Safety

Need to know: Health and Safety

Health and safety is about preventing people from being harmed at work or becoming ill through work, the law states that we must not put ourselves; other workers or the public in danger and this applies to all businesses of all sizes.

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, a self employed person must abide by the sections of the act that pertain to them.

Self-employed people are required to notify a director of the Ministry of Labour, in writing, if they sustain an occupational injury or illness.

Outlined below are the OHSA obligations of an employer under the General Duties of Employers Clauses and Prescribed Duties of an Employer both under Section 25 & 26 of the act.  Please note that under the act, Self Employed Persons must follow (with necessary modifications the following sections of the act:

4.  Subsection 25 (1), clauses 26 (1) (c), (e), (f) and (g), subsection 33 (1) and sections 34, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 51, 52, 54, 57, 59, 60, 61, 62, 66, 67, 68 and 69, and the regulations in relation thereto, apply with necessary modifications to a self-employed person. 2001, c. 9, Sched. I, s. 3 (1).

 

General Duties of Employers

An Ontario employer, who is covered by the Act, has an obligation to:

• instruct, inform and supervise workers to protect their health and safety [section 25(2)(a)];
• assist in a medical emergency by providing any information–including confidential business information–to a qualified medical practitioner who requests the information in order to diagnose or treat any person [section 25(2)(b)];
• Appoint competent persons as supervisors [section 25(2)(c)]. "Competent person" has a very specific meaning under the Act. He or she must:
• be qualified–through knowledge, training and experience–to organize the work and its performance;
• be familiar with the Act and the regulations that apply to the work being performed in the workplace;
• know about any actual or potential danger to health and safety in the workplace; ^{[ 1 ]}
• inform a worker, or a person in authority over a worker, about any hazard in the work and train that worker in the handling, storage, use, disposal and transport of any equipment, substances, tools, material, etc. [section 25(2)(d)];
• help committees and health and safety representatives to carry out their duties [section 25(2)(e)];
• not employ workers who are under such age as may be prescribed or knowingly permit underage persons to be in or near the workplace [sections 25(2)(f) and (g)]; ^{[ 2 ]}
• take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker [section 25(2)(h)];
• Post in the workplace a copy of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, as well as explanatory material prepared by the ministry that outlines the rights, responsibilities and duties of workers. This material must be in English and the majority language in the workplace [section 25(2)(i)];
• Prepare a written occupational health and safety policy, review that policy at least once a year and set up a program to implement it [section 25(2)(j)]. ^{[ 3 ]} For guidance on how to do this, see Appendix A;
• post a copy of the occupational health and safety policy in the workplace, where workers will be most likely to see it [section 25 (2)(k)];
• Provide the joint committee or the health and safety representative with the results of any occupational health and safety report that the employer has. If the report is in writing, the employer must also provide a copy of the relevant parts of the report [section 25(2)(1)];
• Advise workers of the results of such a report. If the report is in writing, the employer must, on request, make available to workers copies of those portions that concern occupational health and safety [section 25(2)(m)]; and
• ensure that every part of the physical structure of the workplace can support all loads to which it may be subjected, in accordance with the Building Code Act and any standards prescribed by the ministry [section 25(1)(e)]. This duty also applies to the self-employed.

 

Prescribed Duties of Employers

The word "prescribed" appears in many sections of the Act. It means that a regulation must exist in order to put into effect the requirements of that section. Where there is no regulation, the requirements of that section are not in force.

Employers and supervisors have an obligation to know which regulations apply to their workplaces. If there is any uncertainty, an inspector should be consulted.

Here is a list of duties of employers, under the Act, which may be prescribed. The first seven duties also apply to the self-employed. Where there is a regulation, an employer must:

1. provide and maintain in good condition any prescribed equipment, materials and protective devices [sections 25(1)(a) and (b)];
2. ensure that the above are used in accordance with the regulations [section 25(1)(d)];
3. carry out any measures and procedures that are prescribed for the workplace [section 25(1)(c)];
4. keep and maintain accurate records, as prescribed, of the handling, storage, use and disposal of biological, chemical or physical agents [section 26(1)(c)];
5. notify a director of the Ministry of Labour of the use or introduction into a workplace of any prescribed biological, chemical or physical agents [section 26(1)(e)];
6. monitor, as prescribed, the levels of biological, chemical, or physical agents and keep and post accurate records of these levels [section 26(1)(f)];
7. comply with a prescribed standard that limits the exposure of a worker to biological, chemical or physical agents [section 26(1)(g)];
8. keep, maintain and make available to workers prescribed records of worker exposure to chemical, biological or physical agents [section 26(1)(d)];
9. establish and maintain an occupational health service for workers, as prescribed [sections 26(1)(a) and (b)];
10. provide prescribed medical surveillance programs and safety-related medical examinations and tests, for the benefit of workers [sections 26(1)(h) and (i)]; ^{[ 4 ]}
11. ensure, where prescribed, that only workers who have taken any prescribed medical examinations, tests or X-rays and who have been found physically fit to work, be allowed to work or be in a workplace [section 26(1)(j)];
12. where so prescribed, provide a worker with written instructions on the measures and procedures to be taken for his or her protection [section 26(1)(k)]; and
13. Carry out any prescribed training programs for workers, supervisors and committee members [section 26(1)(l)].

When hiring contractors or self-employed persons they must provide a copy of  WSIB Certificate and insurance for general liability to you or sign WSIB exemption form - 1158A General Independent Operators Questionnaire.