Employers sometimes struggle to understand the scope of training
required by occupational health and safety legislation. The CSA
Group is developing an "Occupational Health and Safety
Training" standard for employers, and other workplace parties,
to consider using.
A draft of the standard was released for consultation purposes
some time ago. It can be viewed at http://redlandsgroup.com/.
The CSA Group expects to publish the new training standard in
March 2013.
The CSA Group says, on its website,
"Each year, organizations in Canada are making significant
investments in providing safety training to workers. Training is
critical to helping ensure the health and safety of employees on
the job. To help organizations invest limited training resources
appropriately, CSA Group is developing a new standard,
Z1001– Occupational Health and Safety
Training, which will provide the essentials of managing a
health and safety training program and a way to recognize OHS
training practices . . . The Standard . . . will help organizations
to evaluate potential training programs and assist with the
selection and evaluation of training providers."
Ontario employers in particular, who will be faced with
providing a mandatory safety training program to workers, should
consider using the CSA Group standard in developing a comprehensive
safety training program. The use of such a standard could help the
employer establish the due diligence defence if charged under the
Occupational Health and Safety Act.
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guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
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A discussion on a recent decision of the Federal Court of Appeal, which confirms that the central question is, whether the person is performing the services as his own business, on his own account.
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Bill 168, the 2010 amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act recognized the importance of maintaining workplaces free from violence and harassment and required employers to develop and implement workplace violence and harassment policies.
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