The REGIONAL
Health & Safety News, Events & Information
January 2010
If enhanced safety at your workplace is one of your new year resolutions, we're happy to help you keep that resolution. We're also hoping you can help us with a project that has the potential to forever change the way Ontario firms approach workplace hazards.
The January issue of The REGIONAL provides you with the opportunity to participate in a ground-breaking project; continues our interview with Neil Martin, Health and Safety Inspector, Ministry of Labour; provides insights into the inspection blitz by the Ministry of Labour in February; and tells you what it means to you now that the Ontario Service Safety Alliance (OSSA), the Industrial Accident Prevention Association (IAPA) and the Farm Safety Association (FSA) have amalgamated into one organization.
Prevention System News
History is being rewritten. You want in?
You’ve probably come across pictures and images that convey a message to you in your daily life. These images, known as pictograms, are often used to warn us of hazards. The Ontario prevention system is undertaking a study, sponsored by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), to determine how pictograms can be used to promote health and safety in Ontario workplaces.
Most of us are familiar with hazard pictograms but have you ever seen a control pictogram? A hazard pictogram warns us of a hazard but a control pictogram shows us how to avoid a hazard. The project team is breaking new ground by developing control pictograms and investigating what effect it might have on workers when we pair hazard pictograms with control pictograms.
The team has developed several sets of pictograms and are now looking for workplaces to help them out. If you’d like to be a part of this path-breaking project here’s how you can help.
If you are a retail store worker you can help to define what the final pictograms might look like. The team currently has a series of pictograms to address various hazards in a retail environment and needs help to determine which ones best represent the retail work environment. We will be holding focus group sessions this month in order to get feedback from retail workers. What’s in it for you? In addition to helping shape the future of health and safety in Ontario, participants will also receive $50 for their efforts. Click here to know more.
If you are a warehouse worker, the team has established a separate set of focus group sessions where you can help define the final warehouse pictograms by providing feedback on the draft pictograms already developed. Click here for further details.
If you work for a restaurant or food preparation firm with 20 or more workers involved in food preparation, then your help is urgently needed. The team is looking for workplaces to participate in an evaluation of the impact the pictograms have on workers. Firms that participate in the study will be the first in the province to receive the pictograms and will also receive free hazard awareness training for their employees. Sounds interesting? Click here
Cost of health & safety compliance making your business wince? Non-compliance might cost you much more.
Last month The REGIONAL (TR) shed light on some of the reasons why a health and safety inspector from the Ministry of Labour might visit your workplace. We continue the interview with Neil Martin (NM), Health and Safety Inspector, Ministry of Labour.
TR: We've discussed proactive visits by an inspector. What might be some reasons for a reactive visit?
NM: We conduct reactive visits when we are called to the workplace owing to specific situations such as.....Click here for Part 2 of the interview.
(Editor's Note: Readers that may have missed the first part of the interview may read it here)
Forklift safety inspection blitz in February
The Ministry of Labour conducted a safety inspection blitz covering lifting devices and forklifts last February. That blitz was one that stood out amongst all the other blitzes last year simply because it involved the issuance of the highest number of compliance orders, stop work orders and citations. Inspectors conducted 1, 295 visits that resulted in:
With numbers like that it's no wonder the Ministry will be conducting a safety inspection blitz covering lifting devices once again this February.
We'll update our web site www.ossa.com with further details once we receive them but if your operations involve lift trucks or other lifting devices you might want to ensure you're not caught napping. Our partners, the Industrial Accident Prevention Association (IAPA) hold regular courses on Lift Truck Operator Safety Training. Click here for the schedule.
OSSA News
Coming together to serve you better
The Ontario Service Safety Alliance (OSSA), Farm Safety Association (FSA), and the Industrial Accident Prevention Association (IAPA) amalgamated on January 1, 2010 into a new health and safety organization in order to bring more innovative and cost-effective health and safety solutions to firms across Ontario.
The emotional and financial toll of 80 to 100 workplace fatalities each year, and 1600 workplace injuries each week*, has spurred Ontario's prevention system** to undertake a critical assessment and restructuring of its programs and services, so it can better meet the needs of Ontario businesses. Those changes include a decision to amalgamate 12 health and safety associations into four new organizations.
What this will mean to member firms:
We are committed to putting an end to workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities.
Click here for further details on the amalgamation.
* WSIB - Ontario's Prevention System: A New Direction Business Case - Health & Safety Association Realignment
** Ontario's prevention system is made up of Ministry of Labour (MOL), Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and 14 health and safety associations (HSAs).
OSSA Training Course Schedule by Region
Be sure to check out OSSA's free Risk Assessment and Hazard & Compliance Workshops below! You can find more information here.
Greater Toronto Area and Central Ontario
Course Title |
City |
Date |
| Certification Part 2 - Retail & Wholesale | Toronto / Mississauga | January 19 |
| Certification Part 1 | Toronto / Mississauga | January 25-27 |
| Certification Part 1 | Toronto / Mississauga | February 8-10 |
| Certification Part 1 | Markham | February 9-11 |
| Free! Risk Assessment Workshop | Toronto / Mississauga | February 10 |
| Certification Part 2 - Retail & Wholesale | Toronto / Mississauga | February 11 |
| Certification Part 2 - Restaurant and Food Service | Toronto / Mississauga | February 18 |
| Certification Part 1 | Toronto / Mississauga | February 22-24 |
| Free! Hazard & Compliance Assessment Workshop | Ajax | February 23 |
| Certification Part 2 | Barrie | February 25 |
| Certification Part 2 - Office and Related Services | Toronto / Mississauga | February 25 |
Golden Horseshoe Region
| Certification Part 1 | St. Catherines | January 26-28 |
| Certification Part 1 | Burlington | February 10-12 |
Eastern Ontario
| Certification Part 1 | Ottawa | February 2-4 |
Northern Ontario
| Certification Part 2 | Thunder Bay | January 19-20 |
South Western Ontario
| Certification Part 1 | Windsor | February 2-4 |
| Certification Part 1 | London | February 10-12 |
Click here for details on course venue, pricing and courses taking place after February.
To register for any of the above courses, please call OSSA at 1-888-478-6772.
This glossary provides a quick reference to common health and safety terms used throughout the Six Step Guide to Health and Safety.
That not all safety boots are CSA approved.