Safety and Health in the Workplace: Ontario Canada's Strategy

The Ontario Ministry of Labour has published its enforcement “blitzes” and regional initiatives schedule as part of its Safe at Work Ontario strategy. The Safe at Work strategy aims to protect workers’ health and safety on the job and ensure employers comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). Actually, the strategy also helps in enhancing the transparency of the ministry’s overall enforcement efforts. It comes right down to being proactive about occupational health and safety and reducing worker illnesses and injuries. After all, studies indicate costs associated with noncompliance are far greater than that of being proactive with regard to health and safety compliance.

What is an Inspection Blitz?

An inspection blitz is when an occupational health and safety inspector conducts a proactive visit designed to raise awareness and increase compliance with the OHSA. Similarly, employment standards officers visit employers to check compliance with core Employment Standards Act (ESA), such as posting the Employment Standards Notice, accurate record keeping, paying employees the appropriate wage rate, etc.

Below are the Blitz/Initiative Schedules for 2014-2015

Provincial Blitzes

Focus	Program		Sector/Business Type	Date
Internships	Employment Standards		Marketing/Public Relations, Software Development, Retail, Media, Film, Entertainment	April – June 2014
Excavation Hazards	Health and Safety		Construction	May 2014
New and Young Workers	Health and Safety		Industrial	May – August 2014
Fall Protection / Hazards	Health and Safety		Construction	July – August 2014
Explosives	Health and Safety		Mining	July – August 2014
Material Handling	Health and Safety		Industrial	September 15 – October 26, 2014
Vulnerable and Temporary Foreign Workers	Employment Standards		Restaurants, Building Services, Personal Care Services, Business Support Services, Agriculture	September – November 2014
Ground Control	Health and Safety		Mining	October – November 2014
Machine Guarding	Health and Safety		Industrial	November 3 – December 14, 2014
Temporary Help Agencies	Employment Standards		Temporary Help Agencies	January – February 2015
Slips, Trips and Falls	Health and Safety		Industrial	February 2 – March 15, 2015
Water Management	Health and Safety		Mining	February – March 2015
Provincial Initiatives
Focus	Program	Sector/Business Type			Date
Health Care Initiative Musculoskeletal Disorders Exposures Slips, Trips and Falls Contact with / Struck by Object Injuries Workplace Violence Internal Responsibility System Evaluation	Health and Safety	Health Care			July 2014 – March 2015
Traffic Protection and Control	Health and Safety	Construction			April 2014 – March 2015
Roofing	Health and Safety	Construction			April 2014 – March 2015
Residential Housing	Health and Safety	Construction			April 2014 – March 2015
Infill Housing	Health and Safety	Construction			April 2014 – March 2015
Industrial, Commercial, Institutional	Health and Safety	Construction			April 2014 – March 2015
New small business registration and Internal Responsibility System	Health and Safety	Industrial workplaces			April 2014 – March 2015
Workplaces with young or vulnerable x-ray workers receiving radiation exposure	Health and Safety	Industrial workplaces with x-ray equipment			April 2014 – March 2015
Dust/Ventilation Management	Health and Safety	Mining			April 2014 – March 2015
Mobile Equipment	Health and Safety	Mining			April 2014 – March 2015
Remote Controls	Health and Safety	Mining			April 2014 – March 2015
Asbestos Program and Inventory	Health and Safety	Mining			April 2014 – March 2015
Occupational Hygiene	Health and Safety	Dermatitis, WHMIScompliance to labels,MSDS, worker education and communication of components of the GHS			April 2014 – March 2015
Ergonomics	Health and Safety	Workplaces with high rate of musculoskeletal disorders Vehicle-pedestrian interaction Manual transfer of mobile industrial waste containers Manual keg handling Temporary workers Storage and material handling at construction projects			April 2014 – March 2015

Regional Initiatives Regional Initiatives

Location	Program	Sector/Business Type	Date
Central West: Simcoe Peel Dufferin York	Employment Standards	Veterinary Clinics Security Services June – July 2014
Central West	Health and Safety	Amusement Devices Tower Cranes, Man and Material Hoists, Concrete Pumps Farming July – September 2014 October 2014 April 2014 – March 2015
Central East: Toronto Durham	Employment Standards	Auto Dealerships Supermarkets June – July 2014
Central East	Health and Safety	Food Distribution Centres Industrial Plazas Man-Material Hoists Retirement Homes and Long-Term Care Facilities Spring 2014 Spring, Fall 2014 Fall 2014 Spring, Summer, Fall 2014
Eastern: Ottawa Kingston Peterborough	Employment Standards	Tourism, seasonal industries June – August 2014
Eastern	Health and Safety	Arborists and Tree Care Industry / Landscapers Wineries / Micro-breweries Manufacturing Automotive shops not inspected in last 2 years Farming operations with more than 5 workers Mining – verification of Common Core Training May – December 2014 May – December 2014 April 2014 – March 2015 April 2014 – March 2015 May – October 2014 Spring – Summer 2014
Northern	Health and Safety	Sawmill mechanical /conventional logging and hauling Remote access Tourism, Recreation and Hospitality workplaces Residential/cottage development April 2014 – March 2015 June 23 – September 9, 2014 June – July 2014
Northern: Thunder Bay North Bay Timmins Sudbury Sault Ste Marie	Employment Standards	Professional offices June – July 2014
Western	Health and Safety	Farming Field-to-Bottle (wineries) Developmental Services Retirement homes Seeds-to-Blooms (green housing) Small manufacturers Roofing April 2014 – March 2015
Western: Hamilton Kitchener-Waterloo Wellington/Cambridge London Windsor	Employment Standards	Tourism, seasonal industries June – August 2014

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