By Sandro Perruzza, OSSA Director of Sales
Reducing the number of injured Ontario workers has become a major priority in the Province of Ontario. Over the past two years, there have been five major announcements and initiatives put in place assist workplaces to improve their health and safety performance. The government has invested millions of dollars and has hired over 200 Health and Safety Inspectors to encourage workplaces to get into compliance and to reduce injuries. The basic reason is that reducing injuries makes good business sense.
On average, there are currently almost 300,000 workplace-related injuries per year in Ontario with about 100,000 of them being serious enough to require people to miss work. A 20% reduction in the number of injuries in Ontario would translate into 60,000 fewer injuries, a cost savings of $300 million for the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and an annual savings of as much as $960 million in related costs for businesses, according to information released by the Ministry of Labour (MOL).
So, what do you need to know about these initiatives, and how are you prepared? Here is a brief description of these initiatives.
1. MOL High-Risk Initiative
The High Risk Initiative is a program targeted on firms that have demonstrated high lost-time injury rates that exceed the average Lost Time Injury (LTI) level within their Industry groups.
The Ministry of Labour have compiled a list of 2400 firms that have met the criteria for recurring LTI's in recent years, with over 1000 of them Service Sector firms. These firms represent just two per cent of all firms insured by the WSIB, but they account for 10 per cent of all lost-time injuries and 21 per cent of injury costs in Ontario. Ministry Inspectors will be actively inspecting these high risk firms four times a year, with a focus on enforcement of the Occupational Health & Safety Act (OHSA) and its regulations.
Depending on the circumstances, Health & Safety inspectors will act to ensure compliance with the OHSA, up to and including:
The OSSA has a number of products and services readily available to assist these firms to meet their Ministry of Labour obligations.
2. MOL Last Chance Initiative
In March 2005, the Minister of Labour announced a new strategy to deal with another group, with represent the next eight percent worst performers. In the “Last Chance” initiative, prevention partners such as the WSIB and the Ontario Service Safety Alliance will contact several thousand workplaces with high injury rates to offer assistance and support to make those workplaces safer.
The Minister indicated that if the assistance does not result in significant improvements, these businesses could attract the heightened Ministry of Labour enforcement attention normally reserved for high-risk workplaces. The Ontario government is giving 5,000 workplaces a "last chance" to voluntarily improve their health and safety records, with 2000 of them being in the Service Sector.
As with the High Risk Initiative, the intended result will not only be safer workplaces but also substantial savings to these businesses from increased productivity. These workplaces were chosen for assistance because they have had a health and safety performance marginally better than those firms with the highest injury rates.
The OSSA is working with the WSIB to identify the affected firms and to work collaboratively with them to develop a site specific action plan to improve the safety performance of these workplaces.
3. Young Worker Initiative
With summer job season approaching, the Ontario government is strengthening enforcement to prevent injuries among young workers and workers new to their jobs. According to the statistics, new workers are six times more likely to be injured during their first month on the job than at any other time in their working life. According to the Labour Minister, “More than 49,000 young workers were injured and some even killed on the job last year, no summer job is worth an injury."
Such injuries are preventable if workers are well trained and supervised, so inspectors will pay special attention to the requirements for employers to provide proper training and supervision, and can issue orders under the provisions in the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The cornerstone of this is an established new worker orientation training program.
The Ontario Service Safety Alliance has an award winning orientation program called “Dare to Care”, which is a video based new worker training program and also includes a manager training program.
4. Ergonomic Initiative
The Ontario Prevention System is increasing awareness about ergonomic-related injuries in the workplace by launching a campaign that will focus on education and inspection. “Injuries like back pains and joint strains are a major concern in Ontario workplaces--they account for 42 per cent of all lost-time injuries,” said Labour Minister Steve Peters.
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Through the Pains and Strains Campaign, the government will move ahead on six specific recommendations dealing with areas such as awareness, education and prevention as well as improved training, more resource materials, increased expertise and better tracking of ergonomic-related inspections.
The Pains and Strains Campaign will focus on musculoskeletal disorders, a significant, but often overlooked, workplace hazard. Ergonomic-related injuries include back pain, muscle strain and tendonitis. Having a program to prevent these injuries has been shown to have many positive outcomes, including:
Improved worker satisfaction, morale and well-being
"The OSSA is a strong advocate for MSD reduction because this is such a significant hazard for the service sector," says John Bryden, OSSA Client Services Director, and member of the Occupational Health and Safety Council of Ontario’s (OHSCO) MSD Sub-Committee.
"In the service sector, the number of claims for musculoskeletal injuries is even higher. Given that the average service sector claim for MSD is $6,450 and 64 days lost, this is not an issue that service sector employers can ignore," says Bryden.
The OSSA has already undertaken many initiatives, which support these recommendations, including participation on the OHSCO, MSD sub-committee.
In April 2006, Ministry of Labour inspectors will start to include awareness of ergonomic risk factors in initial inspections and enforcement at high-risk workplaces in industrial and health care sectors. OSSA consultants will work proactively to assist service sector candidates before they appear on the MOL High-Risk or Last Chance Initiative target lists.
5. WSIB Workwell Audit Program
Although the Workwell Audit program has been around for a number of years, some changes have occurred in the past year, the most significant being the doubling of the number of auditors in the past year. This year, three hundred and fifty seven service sector firms have been selected to undergo a detailed assessment of their written health and safety program. Failing to pass the audit for a second time by a score of 75% or better will result in a penalty equivalent to up to 85% of their annual WSIB premiums. The audit is split up into twelve sections, each with a number of elements. Each element is assessed at to whether it is documented, understood by employees, and implemented. No partial marks are given and there are different audits for small firms (under 20 employees) and larger firms (over 20 employees).
Each year, the OSSA assists many of these companies with developing and implementing a workwell solution.
Is your property well prepared to satisfy the requirements of these different initiatives if the Ministry of Labour or WSIB comes calling? Better yet, what could you be doing to ensure that they never visit? The OSSA has a number of products, consulting and training services to assist companies with their Health and Safety needs. You can call us at 1-888-478-6772 to find out more.
