Insight Safety Services

As an employer in Ontario are you aware of the hazards in the work that you ask your employees to do?  What hazards? There are always hazards in the work we do. Obviously some job present less hazards or risks then others. So people should already know what the hazards are just because of the work they do.  Not so, when you employ someone you are required by law to ensure that they are  made aware of the hazards in their work.  Supervisors must also be aware of the hazards in the work they are supervising.  Many workplace accidents  are the result of the employer, supervisor or worker not being aware of the hazards and not taking or implimenting steps to control those hazards.  When more employers, supervisors and workers take steps to understand and control these hazards there will be a lot less accidents, injuries and deaths in the workplace.  Insight Safety Services have the personnel and expertise to help you identify and control these risks.

June 15, 2010 is fast approaching and on that date the Ministry of Labour will be able to enforce this legislation.  Bill 168 is an amendment to the Occupational Health & Safety Act in Ontario covering Violence and Harassment in the Workplace.  This Bill requires employers (with more than five employees) to develop, implement and post written policies with respect to violence and harassment in the workplace.  These also have to be reviewed at least on an annual basis.  A program to support these policies must also be developed and  implemented.  A risk assessment of workplace violence for your workplace must be done and communicated to the joint health & safety committee, health & safety representative or workers (whichever applies).  The employer is expected to take reasonable precautions where the employer is aware (or ought to be aware) that the risk of physical injury to a worker  in the workplace  through exposure to domestic violence.  This bill also requires employers to provide workers with information about an individual  with a history of violence whom they are likely to encounter  in their work, where there is risk of physical injury and employers must allow workers to refuse unsafe work where violence in the workplace may endanger their safety. 

If you need help implementing the requirements of Bill 168 in your workplace contact Insight Safety Services a free quotation.

Mr. Employer, you manage a workforce of less then 30 people, your business is making widgets and you’re good at it, you ensure materials and equipment are on hand to make widgets, ship the widgets, pay suppliers, meet payroll and collect receivables; now add on manageing Health & Safety & Human Resources.  No wonder it’s difficult to get good widgets out the door on time.  This is all well and good you say, I don’t need and certainly can’t afford a qualified Safety person full time the business doesn’t warrant it!  So, I’ll manage it via my Joint Health & Safety Committee.  They can keep me informed on the latest changes to legislation.  I can rely on them to ensure my “Due Diligence”.  They will be able to provide proof that “ever precaution reasonable” was taken in the event of an accident.  Wake up and smell the coffee!  Let’s make a deal, I won’t try to make widgets and leave Health & Safety to the professionals.  We will assess your H&S program, provide you with a benchmark onwhere you stand, design a program to fit your needs and implement and manage the program accordingly.  This may involve as little as a half day every few months to a couple of days a month.  Benefits to you: a H&S program managed by professionals, know your costs in advance, no benefits to pay, no holidays to pay for and one less hat to wear.  Contact us at 1.877.488.ISSI (4774) or alan@insightsafety.com we can help.

Basically the Workplace Safety Insurance Board (WSIB) is an insurance company funded by employers in Ontario and like any insurance company they need to assess the risk of their policy holders. We all know that unsafe firms increase everyone’s health and safety costs. Workplaces that have consistently poor safety records are then targeted by the WSIB for an on-site health and safety evaluation (Workwell Audit).  Factors other then a poor safety performance can cause you to be targeted for an audit.  It may be just the luck of the draw or a recent critical injury. WSIB auditors evaluate workplace conditions (level of risk) by a combination of workplace tours, checking for and examining health and safety programs and interviewing employees. Based on the audit, employers can be assessed premium increases in addition to any other surcharges that have been levied.  Employers receive a report on health and safety problems found in their workplace and recommendations for improvement based on the result found.  These increased premiums are allowed to be levied by the WSIB under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act. These increased premiums have an effect on the companies bottom line and can effect it’s ability to be competative in the marketplace. If you have been targeted for a Workwell Audit or would like to be proactive and ensure you are ready beforehand give us a call or email us at alan@insightsafety.com

Anybody notice?  The MOL was awarded over a half million dollars in charges in the month of October.  Don’t let hard economic times cause you to ease up on “Due Diligence”.  As tough as this may seem the MOL is not going to be backing off on workplace inspections and will be writing orders as necessary to keep companies moving in the direction of safer workplaces.  Ensure your Health & Safety program is meeting all the requirements of the OH&S Act and regulations.  Even better, have your program measured against the WSIB’s Workwell Audit.  If an accident does happen in your workplace would you be able to show that you’ve taken “every precaution reasonable in the circumstances to protect the worker”?  If your H&S program can pass a Workwell Audit and you maintain the program then “Yes” you will be able to show that you’ve taken “every precaution reasonable in the circumstances to protect the worker”.  Contact us, we can help, it’s not as big a task as you think if you use professionals who have been through it many times.