Dec 06, 2019 - On Friday, November 22, Ontario’s Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development (MLTSD) Monte McNaughton, and in tandem with Ontario’s Chief Prevention Office, have announced a new voluntary program that will recognize employers that can demonstrate that they have a functioning Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS) in place. This is a significant opportunity […]
Nov 25, 2019 - As citizens of Ontario, we know that when we go to work, we have rights. When you ask any worker what their “3 Worker Rights” are – they should come back with the “Right to Know,” the “Right to Participate,” and the “Right to Refuse Unsafe Work.” These “3 Worker Rights” are fundamental to worker […]
Oct 23, 2019 - Everyone working in construction knows that time equals money, and there is never enough of either. The pressures associated with getting the job done on time AND budget are well entrenched in the industry. What any veteran of the construction industry also knows is that health and safety is essential. We all want to go […]
Oct 16, 2019 - Being a worker member of the JHSC has many obligations found in the Occupation Health and Safety Act, from hazard identification to control recommendations. In the last post, we covered workplace inspections – a proactive approach to hazard control in the workplace; but hindsight is 20/20, and on occasion some things are missed. Accident/Incident investigations […]
Sep 25, 2019 - No one likes when a favourite colleague leaves their organization, especially when they happen to be on the Joint Health and Safety Committee. So the inevitable happens, that you are voluntold… I mean volunteered to replace them on said committee – now what? Go to meetings? Resolve work refusals? Perform inspections? Well yes, all of […]
Aug 21, 2019 - Managing budgets and allocations within an organization are difficult at the best of times. There are never enough resources to go around. Both public and private sectors are challenged to do more, and more, with less, and less. So where do your precious training dollars go? How is compliance to be achieved, and surpassed? How […]
Jun 20, 2019 - The Ministry of Labour has made some regulatory changes in various regulations. Many of them come into effect on July 1, 2019, and others by January 1, 2020. A good majority of these amendments relate to the automotive manufacturing industry with the goal of lessening the legislative burdens. There are other proposed amendments to Mining […]
Jun 18, 2019 - When conducting workplace inspections, either from the perspective of a worker member on a JHSC or as a supervisor, our eyes are always brought to things out of place. It could be a tripping hazard standing out, an employee not following procedure, or a piece of equipment leaking oil. However, what about the constants in […]
May 23, 2019 - As you ponder the rhetorical nature of the headline here, I would trust your conclusion is that in fact yes, breathing is very important. A funny thing about breathing is once you start, you just cannot seem to stop. It is estimated that the average person may take between 15,000 and 20,000 breaths every […]
Apr 25, 2019 - When employers and supervisors hear the term “IRS” they do not always recognize it within the Canadian context… we have Revenue Canada for that! For us in Ontario, it is the short form for the Internal Responsibility System. This system is present in every Ontario workplace whether you recognize it or not. What’s this Internal […]