In 2008, the Government of Ontario paired the Ministry of Labour with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board with the aim of promoting and ensuring workplace safety in the province. That partnership produced the Safe at Work program.
Since its inception, the Safe at Work program has worked to advance workplace safety through education, training, and enforcement of existing statutes and regulations.
The Government's efforts at enforcement have taken the particularly focused and effective route of monthly sector based blitz inspections.
Hundreds of recently hired Ministry of Labour Inspectors are inspecting job sites and workplaces throughout the province, often unannounced. According to the Ministry, these Inspectors have been instructed to apply a 'zero tolerance' policy to any serious contraventions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act or its 37 regulations.
Experience on the ground indicates that every infraction that is capable of leading to a workplace injury, can and often will, result in orders being issued under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, or in charges being laid. There does not need to be an injury or accident for there to be an offence.
As of November 2009, the Government's sector-based monthly blitzes have targeted industrial and construction workplaces for violations related to demolition and repair projects, electrical installations, fall hazards, forklift operations, musculoskeletal disorder, materials handling, chemical handling, vehicle body repairs, hazards particular to young or new workers, and concrete formwork. The inspection blitzes will be continuing throughout 2010.
Over the years, many Occupational Health and Safety Act charges have been laid against businesses. Fines ranging from a few hundred dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars have been levied against owners, constructors, employers, supervisors and workers. In limited and extreme instances, jail sentences have even been imposed.
From a business perspective, the potential exposure to liability arising out of these blitzes is not limited to the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Rather, the potential exposure also now extends to liability under other regulatory regimes, because of the operation of the Regulatory Modernization Act, 2007. That Act allows every provincial offences officer who is lawfully exercising his or her powers under an act, to record observations that he or she makes that are likely to be relevant to another act, and to communicate that information to the inspectors responsible for administering the other acts. Arguably, Ministry of Labour Inspectors who attend on blitz inspections are now also the eyes and ears of the enforcement arms of all other regulatory agencies in the province.
Going into 2010, businesses would be well advised to actively assess potential risks and take precautions to protect worker and workplace safety. Consider these five steps:
- examine and review operations with the aim of identifying safety risks, and then develop policies and procedures to address these risks,
- train workers on the policies and procedures,
- monitor worker practices to ensure that workers are complying with the developed policies and procedures,
- enforce the policies and procedures when necessary by disciplining contraveners, and
- start the process again.
By following these steps, businesses can mitigate, if not altogether avoid, the consequences of regulatory risks inherent to their operations, and send their workers home every day "safe and sound."
Cynthia R. C. Sefton represents a variety of industries in the investigation and defence of claims related to large disasters, including fires and explosions. Over the past 30 years she has assisted clients, including municipalities and public utilities, with risk assessment and management issues, and with issues related to product liability, construction projects, due diligence, environmental liability, occupational health and safety, employment law and contract issues.
David S. Reiter practice builds upon his eight years of experience as a criminal defence trial lawyer and focuses on the defence of individuals and companies charged with quasi-criminal and regulatory offences. He has acted as lead counsel in over 50 trials, and regularly assists a variety of industry based clients including public utilities and municipalities with riskassessment and risk-management issues.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
