Making occupational health and safety easier for small business
Objective 4 of Prevention Works is focused on making OHS easier for small businesses. Small businesses are the critical engine that keeps our economy moving. In Ontario, 95% of business have fewer than 50 employees and 40% of workers are employed by small businesses.
Increasing the impact and value for money of small business initiatives
Launch of the Small Business Study and collaboration from system partners
Small business workers represent 26 per cent of workers covered by the WSIB. However, half of all traumatic fatalities in Ontario in 2019 and 45 per cent of critical injuries occurred in small businesses. Based on feedback received from stakeholders, the WSIB, the Ministry and the Institute for Work and Health (IWH) partnered to design a study that would address and identify barriers to implementing health and safety practices faced by small businesses.
In July 2021, a three-year Small Business Study was launched to recruit businesses with 50 or fewer full-time workers and higher-than-average lost-time injuries and claims costs as study participants. Businesses in the study joined the Health and Safety Excellence program (HSEp) and receive tailored support from four Health and Safety Associations, including IHSA, PSHSA, WSN and WSPS. The study partners aim to better understand the factors that motivate a business to enroll in a health and safety program and track changes in health and safety practices over a three-year period.
As of March 31, 2022, 211 businesses were enrolled in the study. As part of a new incentive program for smaller businesses. Small business Study participants will be rewarded with double rebates for completing health and safety topics in the HSEp in 2022.
Small Business Survey
The ministry is focused on creating new ways of consulting with small businesses and collecting data to better understand issues unique to small businesses. In 2021–2022, planning for the Small Business Survey began with quantitative and qualitative research. The goal was to gain insights on how to support small business employers across industries and sectors in OHS and help them succeed in the Ontario economy post-COVID-19.
The data from this research will inform the ministry on policy and program development and targeted communications designed for small businesses in Ontario. Primary goals of this research are to gain in-depth insight into the challenges that small businesses are facing and learn about the type of OHS support they require after the COVID pandemic. The survey was administered during the fall/winter of 2022. The ministry anticipates the findings to be finalized by spring 2023.
Improving small business knowledge and practices
Small Business Information Expo
Procurement Canada Support within Public Services and Procurement Canada aims to make it easier for smaller companies to bid on federal government contracts. The Small Business Information Expo was organized on November 9 and 10, 2021. It is focused on attracting Indigenous small business owners to access the bidding process for contracts. A total of 79 Indigenous small business owners participated in the Expo. The ministry participated with a virtual booth to educate small businesses on the OHSA, and its regulations.
Small Business Day 2021
The ministry collaborated with OHS system partners to host the Small Business Day webinar on October 21, 2021.The webinar coincided with Small Business Week. Both small business owners and OHS system partners participated. About 30% of attendees included small business employers. Many were from construction sector.
The webinar focused on the challenges of the COVID‑19 pandemic. It presented select tools and resources that are offered by the OHS system to help make OHS easier for small businesses. Post-webinar survey results were assessed to measure success of the webinar, improve outreach to small businesses and improve their OHS success. More than 85% were satisfied with the event.
Small business training and consulting outcomes
In 2021–2022, Workplace Safety & Prevention Services (WSPS) leveraged the Qualtrics Survey Platform to capture measurable outcomes after completing small business training and consulting contracts. These contracts included the delivery of specialty services, assessments and awareness sessions. In 2021–2022, WSPS received a total of 350 small business training survey responses and 25 consulting contract survey responses. For the consulting contracts, 72% of respondents said that workers and supervisors now have more information on how to work safely in their workplace. About 60% of respondents said they had an increased knowledge and awareness of workplace hazards and how to control them.
Workplace Safety Plan Builder
The ministry continues to provide and share guidance and resources to help employers prepare for and respond to any future waves of COVID‑19. In March of 2021, a commitment was made in the Ontario Budget to develop an online Workplace Safety Plan Builder to help support small business owners to create their plans. The initial minimum viable product was released in September 2021. The release of the online tool was announced by Minister McNaughton in a podium announcement on September 27, 2021.
This ground-breaking support enables Ontario workplaces to quickly understand and take immediate measures to help protect workers. As of March 31, 2022 it had 3,873 registered users and 8,604 safety plans created.
Supporting small business compliance with regulations
Occupational health and safety webinars for small businesses
Since April 2021, the ministry has hosted 13 webinars entitled, “Making Ontario Safe.” More than 2,800 people from the public have participated. The webinars provided information on current measures in response to COVID‑19 in the OHSA. Other OHS resources for small business included reimbursement information for Health and Safety Representative Training and guidance towards developing a Workplace Safety Plan.
The ministry’s Small Business Program Specialist, in collaboration with Workplace Safety & Prevention Services (WSPS), also delivered 15 occupational health and safety webinars for small business associations and local business groups. The agenda focused on two elements:
- Road Map to Re-open: Building Your Safety Plan
- Back to Basics: A Road Map to Simple Safety Solutions
The goal of the presentations was to build OHS awareness and connect small businesses with free resources to help make health and safety easier. Highlights included:
- an overview of OHS system partners, internal responsibility system, roles and responsibilities of workplace parties
- hazard management
- free tools and resources available on the WSPS Small Business Centre
- COVID-19 resources
- other free ministry resources
Reducing costs for small businesses
Small Business Health and Safety Training program
Ontario’s new Small Business Health and Safety Training program is a three-year program which launched in 2021. The program is part of the province’s 2021 Budget, Ontario’s Action Plan: Protecting People’s Health and Our Economy. It is intended to improve OHS awareness to help prevent illnesses and injuries in small businesses as Ontario reopens and recovers from the economic impacts of COVID‑19.
The program reimburses eligible employers for health and safety representative training courses between July 15, 2021 to March 31, 2024. Employers can apply for a reimbursement of $175. This includes the course registration fee ($25 for the representative) and $150 toward the cost of the representative’s training time. Training for the reimbursement program is currently only being delivered through the province’s six Health and Safety Associations. Private training providers approved by the Chief Prevention Officer are planned for the subsequent phases in this multi-year program. As of April 1, 2022, 55 applications were submitted for reimbursement.
Recognizing small business leaders
The Elizabeth Witmer Small Business Health and Safety Leadership Awards
The Elizabeth Witmer Small Business Health and Safety Leadership Awards recognize outstanding small businesses for their health and safety programs. It also encourages other small businesses to invest in OHS programs. As business owners continued to face challenges with COVID‑19 in the spring of 2021, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) shifted the submission deadline for the 2021 leadership awards to the summer. This was to ensure businesses had enough time to prepare their submissions.
The awards ceremony took place in November 2021. Recipients included:
- Gold level — Tara Natural Foods, Kingston, $5,000
- Silver level — First General Muskoka, Huntsville, $3,000
- Bronze level — Aardvark Drilling Inc., Guelph, $2,000
The WSIB also mentioned the award winners on social media, and a video on Tara Natural Foods is available on WSIB's YouTube channel