Certification Standards Need a 21st Century Facelift
Add your voice to those seeking change
This fall, the WSIB plans to release a consultation paper seeking the opinions and ideas of
Ontario workplaces in redesigning Ontario's certification standards. "A welcome opportunity,"
we can hear many of you say. Certification standards are showing their age,
and need an overhaul to bring them in line with our changing world of work.
Everything about certification is on the table for review.
This is your chance to share what you don't like and promote what you do.
Some of the items on the table for discussion
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Course duration:
we currently have two- and three-day versions--what should the appropriate length be?
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Structure:
we currently have Cert 1 and Cert 2, but the divide is fraught with confusion,
employers don't consistently take advantage of Cert 2, and indeed some firms don't even know
Cert 2 exists--should we simplify and combine both into one?
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Content:
certification standards are a decade or more old and don't reflect new and emerging hazards, such as violence,
stress, and pandemics--how do we design certification to reflect these new realities;
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Consistency:
right now, different providers take different approaches to certification--some more rigorous than others;
do we need to standardize so everyone's on a level playing field?
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Training:
what is the best way to deliver training on workplace hazards;
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Expiry and renewal of certification:
currently an employee takes the course once and it lasts for life--is that appropriate,
given what's at stake, or would "booster shots" make sense?
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Program delivery:
currently, certification is classroom-based--but not everybody learns best that way.
Should we have a variety of delivery methods, and should e-learning options be considered?
How the process works
The consultation paper is about 30 pages long and is expected to be posted on the
WSIB website shortly
(the December edition of the Advocate will provide a link). It contains 19 discussion questions,
but you don't have to answer all of them--just those most relevant to your workplace.
The WSIB invites you to be candid and provides details within the paper on where to send your feedback and by when.
We applaud this effort by the WSIB to understand your business needs, what the issues are,
and how employers' realities have changed. Getting certification right
will pull all of us closer to creating a national habit of safety as we travel the Road to Zero.
Got questions? Contact OSSA for more information.
You've Got Questions About OSSA's Amalgamation
And the answers are starting to take shape
By now, most of you know that the WSIB approved a business plan last February to amalgamate
OSSA with two other health and safety associations--Farm Safety Association (FSA)
and Industrial Accident Prevention Association (IAPA). You also know that OSSA President & CEO
Elizabeth Mills was named the inaugural CEO of the new, yet-to-be-named entity.
The Advocate has been keeping you informed about
the announcements and their implications
for more than a year. Now that we're starting to pull focus on the starting gate,
you're telling us you're ready for the change. You want to know things like,
"How will this amalgamation benefit me and my organization directly?" We're glad you asked.
First, here's a snapshot of what's happening and why
Here's a nutshell summary:
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Who:
12 health and safety associations (HSAs) are amalgamating into four new associations,
with FSA, IAPA and OSSA representing one of the four;
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When:
The amalgamation is effective January 1, 2010; however, FSA, IAPA and OSSA staff
are already working together to merge processes and design the services customers need in 2010 and beyond;
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Why: What is driving this change:
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Even though injury and illness rates are in decline, far too many people continue to be injured or killed at work,
costing us all emotionally, and costing Ontario businesses millions in lost productivity
and revenue--we need to be more effective;
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The 12 HSAs weren't reaching all firms (e.g. those in the North), using standardized processes,
or working together as efficiently or effectively as we could--we need to put more resources in front of these firms;
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The WSIB's five-year "Road to Zero" prevention strategy seeks to
"align prevention partner efforts to improve outcomes" and
"achieve a national habit of safety" that puts an end to workplace tragedy--we need to be more focused.
You asked: "How will the amalgamation benefit me directly?"
Here are some of the benefits you can expect as 2010 unwinds:
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Head office efficiencies will put more field staff on the front lines, ready to meet customers' needs;
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Access, through your health and safety consultant, to a broader base of tools and expertise;
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One website and one phone number will replace the 12 that exist now,
and will steer firms toward the most appropriate of the four HSAs to meet their needs;
Change takes time. The benefits listed above loom larger on the horizon than others: let's zoom in for a closer look.
You asked: "Will you be able to offer me more?"
The amalgamation will allow OSSA to tap into FSA and IAPA resources and expertise,
and coordinate the delivery of products and services we weren't able to offer before. Here are three examples:
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Tractor training anyone?
Campgrounds, golf courses and similar businesses--which belong to Ontario's service sector and therefore fall
within OSSA's jurisdiction--have struggled in the past to find training on field maintenance equipment,
such as tractors. Now, OSSA is working with FSA to make FSA's inexpensive online tractor training program
available for those with that need.
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Mechanical and technical challenges?
OSSA doesn't have in-house expertise in industrial and warehousing specialties like machine guarding,
racking and industrial hygiene monitoring, but IAPA sure does. Instead of referring clients to external providers,
OSSA and IAPA consultants are already joining forces to coordinate solutions that meet our clients' diverse needs.
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Workshops in your region?
IAPA, being a much larger organization than OSSA, has traditionally offered regional conferences across Ontario.
Now, OSSA is piggybacking on IAPA's regional events by providing content at the conferences that would be of interest
to service sector firms.
You asked: "Will you still provide sector-specific products and services?"
You are understandably concerned that the amalgamation maintain the sector-specificity you value,
and not result in an homogenization of products and services. The short answer: yes.
We are committed to maintaining sector-specific product and service offerings,
and are currently consulting with Ontario's major trade associations to assure them of our intent,
and to review the specific needs of their members. Indeed, by combining our resources and administrative processes,
we'll be able to produce even more products and tools, which our staff will adapt as appropriate for the farm, industrial and service sectors.
You asked: "Will the restructuring allow you to do a better job of meeting the needs of organizations in Ontario's North?"
Absolutely. Currently, organizations in far-flung centres like Sault Ste Marie, Timmins, Kirkland Lake and Rainey River,
have not had the same access to basic prevention services more readily available to organizations in more accessible parts of the province.
One of the four new health and safety associations focuses solely on the North,
and its purpose is to make health and safety resources more accessible to firms in the North.
Training programs may, by economic necessity, be generic, but firms will continue to have
access to sector-specific products and customized information relevant to their industry.
More benefits to come
As with any amalgamation, FSA, IAPA and OSSA have lots to do, and are taking a staged approach to change
that seeks first and foremost to meet customers' needs. If you see opportunities for improved efficiencies, we are
keen to hear from you.
In the meantime, we will continue to keep you posted on our progress.
EXTENDING YOUR REACH
Is a Language Barrier Putting Your Staff at Risk?
Help is on the way--but first we need help from you
Is the inability to read and comprehend English affecting health and safety in your workplace? In
a report released late last year,
the Conference Board of Canada says yes, very likely it is.
The evidence indicates that workers who are unable to read and understand health and
safety guidelines written in English are at increased risk of injuries,
illnesses and absenteeism--putting their employers at increased risk of higher WSIB premiums,
claims and fines. Help is on the way.
The Ontario prevention system has taken the first few steps toward a solution that even
a child learning to read would endorse: "pictograms"--visual warning labels with pictures or symbols that remind workers,
wordlessly, about hazards and how to avoid them. We live in a multi-cultural society.
The time has come to make pictograms a standard health and safety resource in Ontario workplaces so that all workers,
no matter where they are from, understand how to stay safe. However, if we are to make these simple,
easily understood tools effective and universally available, we need your help.
Workplaces in the restaurant and retail sectors can benefit by participating in the early stages of this exciting project.
In this article, we tell you how.
What the project is all about:
The OSSA has been requested by the WSIB to lead the development of a pictogram project for
the Ontario health and safety system that will provide learning standards and simple visual
tools--pictograms--that have been proven to help vulnerable workers understand health and safety. OSSA and the
Institute for Work & Health
have completed an initial study, and developed a preliminary set of pictograms ready to be evaluated by the restaurant and retail sectors.
The dream? To build a library of tested, proven pictograms that companies across
Ontario--indeed, nationally and internationally--can freely draw from, so that some day,
workers can bring a shared understanding of hazards to a new work environment no matter where they come from.
Who can apply?
The project is rolling out in stages. We have pictograms ready for evaluation in these two work environments:
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Kitchens where employees prepare, not necessarily cook, food; for example, restaurants, banquet halls, hotels, golf courses;
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Clothing retail stores where employees configure and stock shelves with clothing.
Here's how it works:
Participating restaurants and retail stores will engage in a three-step evaluation process:
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An evaluator observes how your workers perform a certain task and administers some surveys as part of the evaluation.
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A trainer then reviews with your staff the hazards that relate to that task and how to perform
the task--consistent with the approach outlined in the pictogram. The pictograms are posted,
and the evaluator observes how the workers respond. (The trainer also provides support to your supervisors.)
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In about three months, the evaluator returns to re-evaluate how behaviour has changed over time:
have the pictograms helped workers retain what they learned? Are workers performing the task properly?
Or do the pictograms need to be reworked?
Your organization stands to benefit in meaningful ways:
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Experts will train your staff on specific hazards and how to deal with them--at no charge;
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Experts will provide coaching and support tools to your supervisors to help them use pictograms
effectively with their staff--also at no charge;
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You may learn things about how your staff work and think, and about your policies and procedures,
that will save you money and improve health and safety at your firm;
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You will receive concrete and measurable data relevant to your workplace that you can
use to strengthen your business case for training;
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You will improve your understanding of adult learning principles and how pictograms can help with your ESL employees.
Your participation will have far-reaching effects:
Businesses that evaluate new products start a ripple effect. You'll be helping to:
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Improve the effectiveness of pictograms for your industry so that employees in retail or restaurants
across Ontario can better comprehend their specific workplace hazards, and keep themselves safe;
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Develop evidence-based results that allows you to quantify the improvements you can expect with
proper implementation of a pictogram program--on the road to zero.
Frequently asked questions:
Organizations that participate in projects like these typically ask two questions.
Q: Will it take too much time?
A: It will take a small amount of extra time: first, in working with the researcher to sort out
how the process will work in your location; and later, participating in the pictogram training
(about two hours over three months). And yet--isn't training something every business makes time for anyway?
Q: What happens if our employees are performing a procedure incorrectly?
A: Nothing--other than the evaluation process will likely assist in helping them perform tasks differently.
Frankly, this isn't about how your staff do things. The process trains your staff to follow a procedure
as illustrated by best-practice pictograms, and then determines over time if the pictograms are effective.
The final report summarizes the results anonymously.
The simple beauty of a pictogram:
Pictograms don't replace language skills; nor do they replace basic health and safety training.
But if they are properly designed, if the picture or symbol reflects what's meaningful to workers,
if they're evaluated for effectiveness, if they're supported by training and by supervisors
who know how to use them properly--then a simple pictogram becomes a powerful tool
that can help workers with literacy challenges understand hazards and perform tasks safely.
In a global economy where workers increasingly cross continents to find jobs, pictograms are an idea whose time has arrived.
The groundwork for innovation is done. Ontario is poised to be a pioneer.
All we need is a few willing participants to raise their hands and say, "Count me in--let's get this thing off the ground."
For more information, please contact pictograms@ossa.com.
LEARNING FROM OTHERS
Is Your Incident Investigation Report "For Your Eyes Only"?
How to meet your health and safety obligations while protecting your legal interests
Last July, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that a sensitive, internal incident investigation report prepared by
Bruce Power Inc. after an employee had been seriously injured in a fall,
was not permitted to be used by the Crown Prosecutor during the subsequent trial.
The ruling is a result of several due-diligence steps undertaken by Bruce Power that established both
"solicitor-client privilege" and "litigation privilege." Here's what happened and what you need to know.
This is what happened
Like most companies, Bruce Power formed a committee to undertake a detailed investigation into an incident
that resulted in the serious injury to a worker after a fall, which included a review by its legal counsel.
Despite confidentiality practices and the privileged nature of the report, a Bruce Power committee member broke with
protocol to provide a copy of the report to the Ministry of Labour inspector and Crown Prosecutor. Long story short: Bruce Power ultimately
appealed to the Ontario Court of Appeal,
which affirmed that when an employer
undertakes specific steps to protect an incident investigation report, the Crown Prosecutor is not entitled to use it in trial.
Charges against Bruce Power and two supervisors under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) were dropped.
Defining the two types of "privilege"
While employers are obligated to be in 100 per cent compliance with OHSA legislation--i.e. conduct a rigorous
incident investigation--they are also,
as the law firm of Heenan Blaikie points out,
entitled to ensure their legal interests are protected by making sure the prosecution is not able to use any
reports they develop outside this legislative requirement. They can do this by taking appropriate steps
to invoke one or both types of “privilege,” which allow for information to be kept confidential:
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Solicitor-client privilege: confidential communication between a lawyer and a corporate client--which never expires;
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Contemplated litigation privilege: protects documents prepared for the purposes of actual or
contemplated litigation--which expires when the litigation has ended.
Not every document is automatically "privileged"; it must be related specifically
to requested and/or received legal advice to gain this status.
How you can protect your reports using legal privilege
Heenan Blaikie identifies several measures and practices that organizations can adopt
to protect their legal interests in the event of a workplace incident; for example:
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Ensure that your internal investigation report is prepared at the written direction of legal counsel;
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Retain legal counsel specializing in occupational health and safety matters as soon after the incident as possible;
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Make sure the report clearly states that it is being prepared for potential litigation;
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Make sure every person involved in preparing the report understands the purpose and that
all information collected is to be confidential;
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Mark all materials for legal counsel "Solicitor-Client Privileged";
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All materials gathered using contemplated litigation privilege should be marked "Confidential--In Contemplation of Litigation";
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Ensure all persons interviewed during the internal investigation are told that the investigation
is for the purpose of anticipated litigation and that the information
they provide will be confidential and for the use of legal counsel;
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Advise the Ministry of Labour inspector that the internal report is solicitor-client and/or litigation privileged.
Additional clarity in how to interpret this ruling
This ruling does not change the basic requirement to notify the MOL of fatalities or critical injuries as outlined in the
Occupational Health and Safety Act, section 51,
or the requirement to submit a written report--which contains "just the facts," and does not include any additional investigations
and/or findings of any internal investigations. The MOL uses these facts to begin its own investigation.
In the case of Bruce Power, it was the additional investigation report, completed by Bruce Power under its own steam,
that the MOL gained access to, and that was classified as privileged.
How OSSA can help
The basis of any effective incident investigation is to uncover the contributing factors to the injury/illness,
and then identify the most effective controls to ensure there is no reoccurrence. The purpose is not to assign blame.
It is imperative that organizations do not stop conducting incident investigations in the fear
that the information they uncover can be used against them. As the Heenan Blaikie article states,
there are steps an organization can take to protect the legal interests of the company,
while ensuring that effective prevention steps are taken.
Contact OSSA
for help in developing effective incident investigation techniques that are designed around prevention, not on assigning blame.
Source: "OHS & Workers' Compensation Management Update,
" Heenan Blaikie Lawyers, July 29, 2009.
The Latest Health & Safety Violations for Service Sector Firms
Opportunities to learn from others
Every month, organizations cause untold suffering for workers, families and the community,
and take an entirely preventable hit on their bottom line, as a result
of violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. In the last few weeks,
organizations pleaded guilty to violations that resulted in injuries to many
Ontario service sector workers, impacting their lives, and the lives of their families, friends and colleagues.
Do the forks secure the load or can skids of material still shift and wobble once the forks are in?
Liteline Management Company Limited,
Brampton, was fined $50,000 for a violation that resulted in a skid of cardboard falling from an industrial rack,
pushing a worker into a vacuum cleaning machine and causing severe injuries.
The skid had fallen from the top of a rack that was back-to-back with another rack.
A worker on the other side of the racks had been using a forklift to remove a skid behind the one that fell.
The forklift dislodged the skid, causing it to fall. There were no safeguards in place to prevent material from falling into the work area.
The point is...
require that workers pause after inserting the forks to make sure the skids are properly packed and not damaged,
and that the centre of gravity has not shifted. During regular workplace inspections, staff need to look up high and not just at the floor.
Everyone knows how to use a ladder, right?
Nelmar Drywall Company Limited,
Newmarket, was fined $50,000 for a violation that resulted when a worker,
hired by Golden Progress Renovations (sub-contracted by Nelmar), was injured after falling off a ladder.
The foot of the ladder was on a bakers scaffold and the top propped against the wall; the ladder was not secured from moving or slipping.
Liquidation World Inc.,
Brantford, was fined $18,000 for a violation that resulted when a MOL inspector,
during a safety blitz on falls in industrial workplaces last year, found that two workers had been using
a ladder that was missing three of its four non-slip feet, and had a broken cross-member.
The point is...
even pieces of equipment we use all the time, like ladders, have hazards associated with them,
and need to be properly maintained and inspected. In addition, people need training on them.
Is there any difference between inflating a tire in a tire shop and doing it yourself at a gas station?
Lavigne Tire Sales Limited,
Burlington, was fined $70,000 for a violation that resulted in the critical injury of a mechanic who was using
a tire-changing machine to install a tire on a rim when the tire exploded.
The air pressure pumped through the tire-changing machine had far exceeded
the air pressure recommended by the machine and tire's manufacturers.
The point is...
tire sales shops use machines that can inflate a tire in 30 seconds.
Over-inflating a tire can happen in a flash, unless workers are trained to know what they're doing.
Shops are required to use tire cages, so that if the tire does explode, the cage holds it in.
On the home front, it's important to remember that different tires are designed for certain pressures
and therefore have different pressure ratings: information that is easy to find in your car manual,
or on a sticker mounted by the driver's door. Don't inflate your own tires without knowing the facts.
Shouldn't temp workers show up with all the skills they need?
Millard Refrigerated Services Canada ULC,
Brampton, was fined $75,000 for a violation that resulted in the injury of a young temporary
worker who lost control of a stand-up lifting device to move boxes into a trailer.
While operating it in reverse, the device crashed through a closed loading door and fell over,
pinning the worker's leg to the ground. The worker had not received any safety training from Millard.
The point is...
if a piece of equipment moves, workers need training on it--and that includes temporary workers.
It is both the company's and the temp agency's responsibility to make sure temporary workers follow the rules at the job site.
Are contractors and sub-contractors both responsible for the same hazards on a job site?
Urbandale Construction Limited, Ottawa, and a roofing contractor, Laren Holdings Inc./Tony Olsen Enterprises
(an Ottawa roofing contractor), were fined $40,000 and $50,000, respectively,
for a violation that resulted in an Urbandale worker being hit by a pallet that had been thrown off the roof toward
a waste bin on the ground by a Tony Olsen Enterprises worker. Neither company had provided a safe method of disposing of debris from the roof.
The point is...
while this isn't about service sector firms, the violation is nevertheless instructive as it points out
that both contractor and sub-contractor were held accountable for the violation.
Both organizations were responsible for the same hazard, but neither one had developed
a safe operating procedure or control program to mitigate that hazard.
In other words, the sub-contractor needs to have controls in place that protect workers from risks
inherent in other workers' activities, even if the risks are due to ongoing operations
in another organization's activities in a shared workplace.
