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October 2007
WSIB Crackdown on Certification
Were you one of the more than 19,000 firms called this summer?
The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board hired summer students this year to call
19,138 firms to ask a series of questions intended to discover if these companies are in
compliance with their Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) certification
requirements. Here’s what’s happening next.
The WSIB is now pausing to verify the information each firm provided against the WSIB’s own internal records;
for example, are the names of the JHSC members provided the same as what reside in the WSIB’s database?
Those firms identified as being non-compliant are being referred to WSIB account managers whose goal is to
contact the company, review the certification process, and provide a referral to the appropriate health and
safety association. This project will be evaluated and if successful, the WSIB will likely continue this type of
outreach in the future.
If you’re feeling a little uneasy about your compliance standards, don’t wait for the WSIB to call. Instead, make
a call yourself to the OSSA and we’ll help you identify and close your health and safety certification gaps, with
the help of specific products and training.
Won’t You Take Our Call?
Too many calls make it hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys
OSSA is one of the good guys. In fact, we’re here to help you, and here’s why you’ll
want to take our call. When the Ministry of Labour (MOL) puts your firm on its Priority List
for an inspection under the Last Chance Initiative, we are required -obligated- as
your designated health and safety association to call you and offer our help. We are, in effect, your last chance.
If you accept our call and work with us, we are required to advise the MOL, which in turn offers you a one-year
reprieve - time to improve your health and safety record without an inspector showing up at your door. We do not share
any information about the status of your program and what steps we are taking with you. We maintain strict confidentiality
related to your information.
If you don’t accept our call or choose not to work with us, we are required to advise the MOL of this, as well, which
means you immediately go back on the Priority List and can expect an MOL inspector to visit.
We would like to emphasize two things. One, it is the MOL that put you on the Priority List, based on defined criteria
applied to WSIB statistical information. And two, while the methods of selection are posted on the MOL website, we want
you to focus on the tools and expertise you need to help you improve your health and safety performance so you don’t
land on the list again next year.
Here’s a brief rundown of the MOL high priority process:
| 1. |
MOL identifies Priority List: Every spring, the MOL identifies a list of well over 4,000 firms slated for
inspection in the next 12 months, based on the costs and frequency of LTIs and NLTIs at your workplace, and
how they compare with similar types in industry.
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| 2. |
OSSA selects firms from the list: Through the WSIB, the MOL sends us a list of about half those firms, and
asks us to choose those with whom we think we can make a difference, and to keep them posted. We select
more than 600 firms, based on where we think we can have the most impact; e.g. accident history, size of firm,
regional location, management attitude.
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| 3. |
OSSA makes the call: We send out introduction letters to those firms explaining the initiative and offering
our services - a batch in May, June and September - and follow up with a phone call.
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| 4. |
The rest is up to you: If you take our call and agree to work with us, we encourage you to make sure your
executive leader - your president and/or CEO - is in the room. That’s because we know the personal commitment
of the company’s leaders is critical to the success of any initiative. Together, we will identify your hazards
and put together a workplace health and safety program that looks and feels like your own because it’ll be customized to your unique needs and integrated with your own firm’s business processes and practices.
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All of which is to say, please put OSSA on your safe caller list. We’re ready and equipped to help.
WSIB to Send Letters to Workwell Firms This Fall
Find out if you’re on the list
The WSIB is working on its list of firms to be targeted for the 2007-2008 Workwell program. Letters of notification
are scheduled to go out this fall. If you’re already on the list, there’s no time to turn back the clock. However, you
do still have time to do two other things that could save you time and frustration, and avoid possible premium increases
and surcharges.
The first thing you can do to save yourself is perform a quick assessment to determine whether you’re at risk. Not
waiting to be told allows you to act quickly to implement solutions before the Workwell auditor shows up.
Have you had a:
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Higher number or an above-average lost-time-injuries (LTI) rate for two years in a row, compared with your industry?
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Higher number or an above-average no-lost-time-injuries (NLTI) rate for two years in a row, compared with your industry?
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Serious injury or amputation in any calendar year?
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Total injury cost of $20,000 or more in any calendar year?
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Fatality in the workplace?
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The second thing you can do is find out how Workwell audits function. Did you know you had an opportunity to sidestep
the audit completely? After the initial interview, the auditor will tell you one of three things:
| a. |
I plan to proceed with an audit.
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| b. |
Instead of auditing you, I am putting you on a risk management program. Here’s an action plan I expect you to complete by this date.
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| c. |
You are doing better than expected so there will be no audit or action plan. Instead, I will be back in six months to monitor your progress.
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OSSA has experience in helping firms achieve options b) and c). Just this year, a client in the Niagara region performed
a self-assessment, realized it was at risk, and engaged OSSA to help it move past its health and safety performance
history and develop and implement an effective program. Shortly thereafter, the firm was targeted for a WSIB Workwell
audit based on its previous record. Six months later, when the Workwell evaluator showed up at the door, he was so
satisfied with the work in progress that he cancelled the audit and put the company on the less intensive risk management
plan.
If you’re on the Workwell list without knowing it, this story could be about you. Call us. We’re here to help.
Note: In addition to its specialized consulting, OSSA also offers a customized solution called a Workwell Practice
Audit. Call to find out more.
The Latest MOL Convictions for Service-sector Health & Safety Violations
A window into lessons learned
Every month, organizations take an entirely preventable hit on their bottom line when they are fined tens of thousands
of dollars for violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that injure or kill Ontario workers. In recent weeks,
two people died, four more were seriously injured, and countless people were put at risk in Ontario’s service sector.
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Premier Candle Corp. (a candle manufacturer based in Mississauga), Brampton, fined $105,000 for two violations resulting in second and third degree burns to a worker employed by another firm who was delivering hot liquid wax in a truck to Premier when his upper body was sprayed with the wax. The driver was not given supervision or instructions by Premier on how to load the wax into the Premier’s silo; there were no identifying marks on the silo valve or attachments indicating open or closed, and no wax flow direction identified on the silo valves, fitting and piping. The second violation was for failing to report the injury incident to the Ministry of Labour.
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Royal Alliance Inc. (now operating as Gracious Living Corporation, a manufacturer of plastic garden and patio furniture etc.), Woodbridge, was fined $160,000; and Temporary Employment Agency Management (T.E.A.M.) Services Inc., Woodbridge, was fined $80,000 for one violation each resulting in brain trauma of a worker, leading to death. The evening shift worker was found at the start of the day shift pinned between a forklift and a storage rack. The worker had not completed training at T.E.A.M. or Royal Alliance, and had scored only five out of ten on operating the forklift. Royal Alliance had failed to ensure the worker was competent, and T.E.A.M.had not taken the reasonable precaution of ensuing the worker would only be operating equipment the worker was hired to operate, and would not operate different equipment without training and testing to ensure competency.
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Board of Governors of Exhibition Place (a local board of the City of Toronto that oversees Exhibition Place), Scarborough, fined $100,000 for a violation resulting in second and third degree burns to two employees. Two electrical workers were investigating a partial power loss to a concession stand when there was an electrical explosion and the workers’ clothing caught fire; fire extinguishers were used to put out the flames. One employee was using a screwdriver to pry a fuse from a switch terminal, having turned an external switch door handle to the "off" position, but leaving the internal switch mechanism in the "on" position. Neither employee was wearing personal protective equipment
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Boart Longyear Inc. (a North Bay-based supplier of drilling products and services to the mining industry), Timmins, fined $150,000 for two violations resulting in the death of an employee at a mine near Timmins. The worker was changing a large bolt used to hold a drilling bit in place on a large portable underground drilling unit when a large wrench spun off the drill, striking and killing him. A mechanic had requested a method to remove the bolt because workers were having trouble getting it off, but workers had no experience using the suggested method and there was no supervision at the time of the incident. The two violations were for failing to provide adequate supervision, and to provide proper information and instruction.
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Canadian Linen and Uniform Service Co. (a Halifax-based company that supplies and cleans uniforms), Ottawa, fined $85,000 for a violation resulting in an employee breaking a right lower leg. The worker fell from a stainless steel table (79 cm or 31 inches high) where he’d been standing to take down a bag of soiled garments hanging on an overhead railed conveyor system. The employer failed to ensure the bag was removed in a manner that did not endanger the worker.
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When Was the Last Time a Company Asked You to Help Design its Future?
We asked for your ideas, and more than 230 people collaborated to figure out what OSSA needs to do next
To those of you who took part, thanks again! The more than 230 OSSA stakeholders who agreed to be interviewed and who attended OSSA’s two-day strategy-setting summit at the Airport Marriott on September 10 and 11, are to be congratulated
for their insight and creativity. Participants - including Advocate subscribers, OSSA staff, workers, students, academics, clients, non-client companies, and prevention partners - engaged in a dialogue that will evolve the way OSSA does its work in the next five years.
"Courageous," some called the collaborative brainstorming initiative. "Innovative," said others. "Stimulating." And by OSSA’s standards: fruitful. Now that both the interview and summit initiatives are completed, the designated health and safety association has on its radar a rich constellation of ideas and insights around the themes of culture, integration, education and innovation.
Next steps for OSSA include synthesizing findings with information gleaned from the telephone interviews, vetting the framework with its Board of Directors, and identifying actions, measures, partnerships, priorities and timelines.
Stay tuned. Co-creative collaboration does not have a finish line, so we’ll be back to you again once we have something more definitive to share.
Have You Been Scammed?
Dishonest salespeople positioning themselves as connected with the Ministry of Labour
If you’ve paid for a poster related to the Ontario Employment Standards Act in the last few weeks, you’ve paid too much - no matter how much it cost you.
The Ministry of Labour (MOL) is warning companies to be on the alert for salespeople charging up to $100 or more for posters. Sometimes they position themselves as MOL inspectors. Other times they show up half an hour after a bona fide inspector has left your premises, saying "John Smith was in to see you earlier and now I’m here to follow up." They can be audacious enough to ask to see your MOL orders, and will create an artificial urgency to act immediately so you avoid being penalized.
The facts are, yes - you are required to display the MOL’s latest poster, called, "What You Should Know About The Ontario Employment Standards Act," in a conspicuous work location. However, the legitimate posters are available free at the MOL website, or through Publications Ontario for the price of shipping and handling.
The MOL has posted an employer alert on its website, and a phone number (1-800-531-5551) to report any occurrences of private companies trying to sell you posters.
It’s "buyer beware" If you’re approached by scam artists with posters, as the Toronto Star called them, ask for identification and then call the MOL or your workplace health and safety association to confirm the validity of what you’re being asked to do.
Changing Legislation, Emerging Issues and New Solutions
Book now for OSSA sessions at IAPA regional conferences in October
OSSA has collaborated with the Industrial Accident and Prevention Association (IAPA) to contribute speakers on pertinent issues at its regional conferences in October. It’s not too late to sign up. Read more…
The topics are relevant to almost every sector, representing another opportunity for you and your colleagues to learn about changing legislation, emerging issues affecting the workplace, and innovative solutions to reducing injuries in the workplace. Here’s a snapshot:
| Venue |
Date |
Some Topics Covered |
Some Speakers |
Ajax
Deer Creek Golf & Banquet Facility |
Thursday, October 4, 2007 |
Temporary Workers and Your Responsibilities
Accident Investigation
WSIB’s new accreditation program
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Keynote Speaker
Kevin Auty, Home Depot
David Sly, OSSA Consultant
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Rama
Casino Rama |
Thursday, October 18, 2007 |
Musculoskeletal Disorders
Aging Workers
Violence at Work
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Keynote Speaker
Bob Gray
Kirsi Henry - OSSA Consultant
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Windsor
Ciociaro Club of Windosr |
Tuesday, October 30 & Wednesday, October 31, 2007 |
Workplace Noise
JHSCs
Temporary Workers
Workplace Bullying
Respectful Workplace Policies
Substance Abuse
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Keynote Speaker
Mike Mandel, Hypnotist & Susan Stewart, Inspirational Speaker
Nicole Horton, OSSA Consultant
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London
Lamplighter Inn and Convention Centre |
Tuesday, November 27 & Wednesday, November 28, 2007 |
MOL Enforcement and Inspection strategies
Health & Safety Accreditation
The Pros and Cons of Temporary Workers
Cultural Diversity in the workplace
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Keynote Speaker
Bob Gray, Author
Patrick Lavigne - OSSA Consultant
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For further details on the topics and speakers at the IAPA conferences, and to register, please visit http://www.iapa.on.ca.
Advocate Past Issues
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