Message from the Minister

No one should ever have to face the tragedy of a workplace incident or illness. Workplace injuries affect workers and their families, friends and co-workers.

The Ontario government is fully committed to the health and safety of workers. It is our highest priority.

Ontario has one of the best safety records in Canada, but we know we can do even better. In the past decade, the Ministry of Labour has doubled the number of occupational health and safety inspectors and launched a highly effective Safe At Work Ontario enforcement strategy.

When it comes to safety inspections, the ministry takes a proactive, preventative approach. Enforcement campaigns target key hazards at workplaces. They help raise awareness and prevent injuries, illnesses and fatalities.

The 2016-17 annual report chronicles the ongoing achievements of Safe At Work Ontario safety and enforcement initiatives. It showcases where we are making real progress in keeping workers safe on the job. It also reveals areas where we need to do more to improve health and safety.

Everyone has a role to play in keeping themselves and their workplaces healthy and safe. It is a shared responsibility involving employers, labour groups and workers as well as government and its safety partners. By working together, we can ensure workers return home safe and sound at the end of each work day.

Sincerely,
Kevin Flynn
Minister, Ministry of Labour

Message from the Deputy Minister

This annual report provides an overview of the Ministry of Labour’s occupational health and safety program activities over the 2016-2017 fiscal year.

We are continuing to expand and enhance our Safe At Work Ontario (SAWO) strategy to promote safe and healthy work practices through compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

One of the most valuable tools in our efforts to make workplaces safer for everyone is the input and feedback of stakeholders. These can be employers, workers, unions, health and safety organizations, industry leaders, professionals and experts – anyone or any organization with an interest in the safety of workers and workplaces. Stakeholder engagement is vital if we are to make beneficial improvements to health and safety in workplaces.

For example, small businesses represent 95 per cent of all employers in Ontario, and they employ 28 per cent of Ontario’s workers. This is one reason we have reached out to small business through stakeholder consultations. Through these consultations, we have heard that there is a need for more outreach by health and safety inspectors to small and medium-sized businesses, and the importance of educating and training new, young and vulnerable workers on their health and safety rights in the workplace.

Stakeholders also told us their concerns about emerging hazards such as distracted workers due to new technology, workplace violence and harassment and musculoskeletal disorders such as repetitive strain injuries. This kind of input provides essential information that guides our planning and program activities.

Partnerships and collaborations help us to meet new and continuing challenges in the workplace. For example, we have worked closely with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to bring key stakeholders and experts together and obtain advice on how to reduce and prevent workplace violence against health care professionals. Throughout 2015-16 and 2016-17, this initiative’s Leadership Table and its working groups developed recommendations and products. Another collaboration, with Health Quality Ontario – a government agency that advises on health care quality – led to the development of a mandatory hospital reporting indicator on workplace violence, Ontario’s first mandatory reporting indicator for hospitals.

Comments and discussions are welcome at any time. For more information on the Safe At Work Ontario consultation sessions, please email SAWOConsultations@ontario.ca.

Sophie Dennis,
Deputy Minister
Ministry of Labour

Message from the Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations

2016-17 was an outstanding year for the Ministry of Labour’s occupational health and safety program.

Through proactive enforcement, education, outreach and partnerships, the program promoted compliance and supported a strong health and safety culture at workplaces across the province. These and other measures resulted in safer working conditions for Ontario workers.

Much of this success was due to the hard work of inspectors and specialized staff, including engineers, hygienists, ergonomists and radiation protection officers. Thanks to their dedication and commitment, the ministry was able to implement 18 major enforcement initiatives and visit thousands of workplaces. They also provided important information to many vulnerable workers who are now more aware of their rights and responsibilities.

Our program continues to partner with organizations and stakeholders to get the health and safety message out. For example, the ministry worked with representatives from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, patient advocates, research experts, health and safety consultants, union representatives, senior executives and frontline staff throughout 2015-16 and 2016-17 to develop recommendations and tools to prevent and reduce workplace violence in health care settings. A progress report, 23 recommendations, and 13 products were published in 2017. Staff also worked with health and safety associations on a number of awareness raising initiatives.

The program also obtained feedback from industry and other stakeholders. The ministry has already acted on some of the suggestions and will continue to use stakeholder feedback to improve our safety programs.

The year also marked a major milestone for Safe At Work Ontario, a key strategy used by the program to proactively identify and address high-risk workplace hazards. Between 2008, when the program was launched, and 2016-17, inspectors made a total of 700,000 field visits and issued more than one million compliance orders. Congratulations to everyone involved in the program on this remarkable achievement!

Highlights of the 2016-17 annual report include:

  • nine province-wide blitzes targeting falls, mobile cranes, chemical handling and electrical and other hazards
  • eight regional initiatives focusing on issues such as heavy raw material handling in the Central East Region, marble and granite shops in the Central West Region, elevated work platforms on farms and wood frame structures in the Eastern Region and education and outreach activities at small manufacturers, industrial malls and re-purposed factories in Western Region
  • full-scale adoption of a new “point-in-time” mine inspection model in the Northern Region that involves a top-to-bottom inspection over three to five days
  • an ongoing three-year health care initiative in which inspectors visited hospitals, long-term care homes and other health care workplaces to address serious hazards
  • ongoing visits by inspectors to residential roofing projects and outreach to consumers of roofing services, as part of an initiative to improve safety in underground economy in residential roofing

We are continuing to make excellent progress in many areas and to identify areas where more enforcement is needed.

I am very proud of these achievements. I want to express my deep appreciation to staff whose efforts help protect workers and bring them home safe every day.

Sincerely,
Peter Augruso
Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Ministry of Labour