Introduction

In March 2010, the Ontario government announced a comprehensive review of Ontario’s occupational health and safety (OHS) system by an Expert Advisory Panel, chaired by Tony Dean. The panel released a report with 46 sweeping recommendations in December 2010 to improve the province’s OHS system, and the government accepted all 46 recommendations.

The Ministry of Labour and the OHS system partners have worked together to put into place the majority of the Panel’s recommendations.

This is a summary of our progress in implementing the recommendations. The recommendations have been grouped by areas of improvement. Read each recommendation, the key actions taken and achievements so far to act on the Expert Advisory Panel’s recommendations.

  • Highlights of key achievements establishing the prevention organization and appointed Ontario’s first Chief Prevention Officer.
  • Mandatory health and safety training for all workers and mandatory working at heights training for construction workers.
  • Legislative and regulatory changes to support the Internal Responsibility System, training, compliance and addressing key hazards.
  • Improved system integration, OHS awareness and supporting OHS culture.
  • Supports for small business and vulnerable workers.
  • Improved use of OHS data and information.
  • Investments in OHS research and innovation.

Some of the Panel’s recommendations speak to wide-ranging and complicated health and safety issues, including the underground economy, vulnerability, OHS culture and effective supports for small business. The Ministry of Labour, working with system partners, has put in place a number of initiatives to deal with these complex issues. The ministry is focused on solutions that involve longer-term planning, sustained focus, creativity and agility.

The Ministry of Labour, with the OHS system, will make use of the lessons learned from responding to Panel’s recommendations. We will work on the changing needs of Ontario’s workplaces and support for occupational health and safety across the province.

Ongoing efforts we’ll focus on

  • Improving OHS foundations, including regulations, OHS culture, and health and safety management systems.
  • Applying effective knowledge sharing within the OHS system and with workplace parties.
  • Working with OHS system partners   to find and tackle the root causes of OHS issues
  • Highest risk hazards, and the areas of greatest vulnerability.

Areas of improvement and recommendations by number

Areas of improvement Recommendations by number
Prevention organization
Health and safety training in the workplace
Culture and awareness
Research and innovation
Data and information
Knowledge management
Policy and regulation development
Underground economy
Incentive programs
Inspectors and compliance
Assisting vulnerable workers
Supporting small businesses

Prevention organization

Health and safety training in the workplace

Culture and awareness

Research and innovation

Data and information

Knowledge management

Policy and regulation development

Underground economy

Incentive programs

Inspectors and compliance

Assisting vulnerable workers

Supporting small businesses

Prevention organization

Recommendation 1

A new prevention organization should be created within the Ministry of Labour. The new organization would be headed by a Chief Prevention Executive, and would feature a multi stakeholder Prevention Council; each would have specific powers in the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Key achievements

  • A Chief Prevention Officer was appointed, the Prevention Office has been established and the Prevention Council is in place.
  • The prevention mandate was transferred from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board to the Ministry of Labour on April 1, 2012.

Progress status: Complete

Recommendation 46

The panel recommends that an implementation team and an interim Prevention Council be established as soon as possible to work closely with labour and employer stakeholders to implement these as priorities over the next 12 months.

Key achievements

  • Interim Prevention Council was established, and succeeded by the permanent Prevention Council.
  • The Prevention Office was established, and continues to work with system partners, the Prevention Council and stakeholders to implement and address the panel’s recommendations.
  • The majority of the priority recommendations are completed. The Ministry of Labour and the Prevention Office continue to work closely with labour and employer stakeholders to address the remaining recommendations.

Progress status: Complete

Health and safety training in the workplace

Recommendation 2

The new prevention organization should create, implement and audit training standards that would apply to training required by the Occupational Health and Safety Act and regulations.

Key achievements

The Health and Safety Program Administration and Certification Unit (HSTACU) was created in November 2014.

Working at heights (WAH)
  • WAH Training Program and Provider Standard came into effect on April 1, 2015.
  • As of June 5, 2018: 207 WAH providers and 219 programs have been approved by the Chief Prevention Office (CPO). Over 520,000 workers have successfully completed WAH training as of June 5, 2018.
Joint health and safety committee (JHSC)
  • New JHSC Certification Training Program and Provider Standards came into effect March 1, 2016.
  • As of June 5, 2018:  49 JHSC Part 1 programs have been approved by the CPO, 41 Part 2, and 13 Refresher. Over 34,000 workers have successfully completed Part 1, over 28,000 have completed Part 2, and 385 have completed Refresher training.
  • The Health & Safety Training Administration and Certification Unit (HSTACU) has developed internal processes for the collection, analysis and reporting of metrics for Quality Assurance /Audit/Complaints and Continuous Feedback Mechanism.
  • HSTACU has established the foundation of an Approved Training Provider Quality Assurance process to be used to validate training provider activities related to WAH and JHSC training delivery. The first cycle of Quality Assurance reviews took place in March of 2018.

Progress status: Ongoing ministry priority

Recommendation 3

The new prevention organization should work with other ministries and training organizations to develop a graduated occupational health and safety awareness and training strategy to establish Ontario as a leading jurisdiction in OHS learning and training.

Key achievements

Meetings have been held with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development, the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, and the Ministry of International Trade, as well as the Ontario College of Trades (OCOT) and high school teacher organizations in order to plan on better integrating occupational health and safety (OHS) training across the working lifetime of workers.

Progress status: Ongoing ministry priority

Recommendation 13

The Ministry of Labour should create a mandatory requirement for training of Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs).

Key achievements

  • The MOL in collaboration with health and safety system partners, including Public Services Health and Safety Association (PSHSA), Workplace Safety and Prevention Services (WSPS), Infrastructure Health and Safety Association (IHSA), Workplace Safety North (WSN), Workers Health and Safety Centre (WHSC), and Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), completed the development of Health and Safety Representative (HSR) basic training program and provider guidelines
  • In addition, PSHSA, WSPS, WSN and IHSA worked together on creating a one-day eLearning program based on these guidelines.
  • The MOL launched the HSR guidelines and program as voluntary on May 1st, 2018. These voluntary guidelines recognize the important role of health and safety representatives, while also understanding the unique needs and challenges small businesses face.
  • The HSR guidelines and an information page for employers and HSRs with links to the eLearning program are posted on the MOL website.

Progress status: Completed.

Recommendation 14

The Ministry of Labour should require mandatory health and safety awareness training for all workers.

Key achievements

  • Awareness training requirements in O. Reg. 297/13 came into force on July 1, 2014.
  • As of October 12, 2016, version 1.6 Awareness eLearning modules and technical FAQs have been posted on the MOL website. This new version improves the use of video and meets the requirements of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).
  • Since initial launch, the eLearning modules (worker and supervisor) have received more than 5.3 million hits.

Progress status: Complete

Recommendation 15

The Ministry of Labour should require mandatory health and safety awareness training for all supervisors who are responsible for frontline workers.

Key achievements

  • Awareness training requirements in O. Reg. 297/13 came into force on July 1, 2014.
  • As of October 12, 2016, version 1.6 Awareness eLearning modules and technical FAQs have been posted on the MOL website. This new version improves the use of video and meets the requirements of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).
  • Since initial launch, the eLearning modules (worker and supervisor) have received more than 5.3 million hits.

Progress status: Complete

Recommendation 16

The Ministry of Labour and new prevention organization should develop mandatory entry-level training for construction workers as a priority and consult with stakeholders to determine other sectors that should be subject to mandatory training for workers.

Key achievements

  • The Ministry of Labour is working on key OHS learning outcomes in existing and future training programs that support new workers in construction. We are partnering with the Ontario College of Trades (OCOT), Ministry of Education (EDU)/Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development (MAESD).

Progress status: Ongoing ministry priority

Recommendation 17

The Ministry of Labour and new prevention organization should develop mandatory fall protection training for workers working at heights as a priority and consult with stakeholders to determine additional high-hazard activities that should be subject to mandatory training for workers.

Key achievements

  • As of April 1, 2015, Working at Heights training approved by the Chief Prevention Officer (CPO) is mandatory for certain workers who use specified fall protection systems on construction projects under O. Reg. 297/13: Occupational Health and Safety Awareness and Training and O. Reg. 213/91: Construction Projects.
  • As of early June of 2018, there have been 209 Working at Heights providers approved by the CPO, and over 520,000 workers have successfully completed the training.

Progress status: Complete

Culture and awareness

Recommendation 4

The new prevention organization should develop a multi-year social awareness strategy that will significantly reduce public tolerance of workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities and shift attitudes, beliefs and behaviours toward occupational health and safety.

Key achievements

Social awareness messaging is now part of all strategic action plans and all OHS system partners include social awareness messages in their outreach campaigns.

Progress status: Complete

Recommendation 39

The Ministry of Education should work with school boards, private schools and teacher organizations to expand the health and safety content of primary and secondary school curricula and update teacher resource material to allow them to effectively teach these curricula.

Key achievements

  • Educator resource guides Health and Safety: Scope and Sequence of Expectations were posted on the Ministry of Education’s website in May 2017.
  • The MOL provided input on possible health and safety content enhancements to the Ministry of Education’s draft co-operative education curriculum.
  • MOL’s Live Safe! Work Smart! health and safety resources for educators meet the requirements of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA).

Progress status: Complete

Recommendation 40

The Ministry of Education should make high school graduation dependent upon demonstration of knowledge of occupational health and safety.

Key achievements

  • The Health and Safety: Scope and Sequence of Expectations educator resource guides were posted on the Ministry of Education’s website in May 2017.
  • The resource guides identified that health and safety learning occurs throughout a student’s elementary and secondary education and that the curriculum provides foundational health and safety knowledge and skills for Ontario’s young workers.

Progress status: Complete

Recommendation 41

The Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities should work with post-secondary institutions and trade schools to incorporate health and safety content into their programs for both future workers and employers/senior executives.

Key achievements

  • The Ministry of Labour (MOL) confirmed with the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development that they do not set post-secondary curriculum policies and therefore cannot mandate colleges and universities to incorporate health and safety content into their programs.
  • The MOL provides the WorkSmart Campus program to colleges and universities to help post- students become more aware of health and safety in the workplace and become future leaders of health and safety.
  • The MOL is working with the Ontario College of Trades to improve health and safety content in training standards.
  • In addition, the MOL currently funds some organizations that are working to enhance health and safety training in universities and colleges.

Progress status: Complete

Research and innovation

Recommendation 5

The responsibility for research funding, and the resources to support it, should be transferred to the Chief Prevention Executive, and the Research Advisory Council mechanism for advising on the funding of research should be retained.

Key achievements

  • The responsibility for research funding was transferred from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) to the Chief Prevention Officer when the Ministry of Labour assumed responsibility for the prevention mandate on April 1, 2012.
  • An Occupational Health and Safety Research Advisory Panel was established with representation from workers, employers, the research community and the Ministry of Labour.

Progress status: Complete

Recommendation 43

The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and the Ontario Centres for Excellence should work with the Ministry of Labour and the new prevention organization to develop health and safety criteria as part of funding considerations related to innovation.

Key achievements

  • Met with the Ministry of Economic Development and Infrastructure/Ministry of Energy/ Ministry of Research and Innovation to discuss enhancing occupational health and safety as part of their innovation grants; they are currently completing the MOL compliance checks on all companies prior to dispersing funds.
  • The MOL research grant recipients are screened for health and safety compliance before funds are awarded.

Progress Status: Complete

Data and information

Recommendation 6

The new prevention organization, in conjunction with the Ministry of Labour and stakeholders, should develop a common database that can be used for planning and evaluation purposes. The system partners, in collaboration with stakeholders, should:

  • develop a common vision of success, and the data needed to determine it
  • review the occupational health and safety data currently collected, to improve its reliability and validity for the purpose of performance measurement• identify additional information on workers and employers that could be collected and shared, subject to any legislative limitations or restrictions
  • review, and where appropriate, consolidate existing leading-indicator initiatives under the new prevention organization

Key achievements

  • Data warehouse for combined agency information completed.
  • Completed the design and development of five analytical dashboard reports (Priority Profile, Blitz Profile, Trends Profile, Shares Profile and Regional Profile).

Progress status: Ongoing ministry priority

Recommendation 7

The new prevention organization should establish a business centre to carry out the following functions:

  • standardize, manage and disseminate OHS data
  • retain and share information on system partner interactions with employers
  • provide analytical expertise regarding provincial OHS data
  • manage and authorize stakeholder and public access to data

Key achievements

  • Business centre was established within the Ministry of Labour, and is managing, sharing and analyzing OHS data, system partner interactions.
  • Business centre to provide public access to OHS data in line with Open Data initiative.
  • The 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-16 and 2016-17 Annual Reports published comprehensive integrated data on the provincial occupational health and safety system.

Progress status: Ongoing ministry priority

Recommendation 44

The Ministry of Government Services/ServiceOntario should amend the business registration process to include an active link to health and safety information, and should work with the occupational health and safety system to provide relevant information for new business owners.

Key achievements

The Ministry of Government and Consumer Services added an active link to OHS information from the MOL’s small business webpage to the ServiceOntario business registration portal in September 2015.

Progress status: Complete

Recommendation 45

The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) should amend its registration process to include an active link to health and safety information, and should continue to work with the occupational health and safety system to provide relevant information for new business owners.

Key achievements

  • The WSIB included an active link for new employers to health and safety information in the WSIB registration process.

Progress status: Complete

Knowledge management

Recommendation 8

The new prevention organization should be given responsibility for knowledge management and should create a leadership position to oversee this responsibility.

Key achievements

The Strategy and Integration Branch at the Prevention Office, Ministry of Labour, is leading knowledge management initiatives, including the sharing of research.

Progress status: Complete

Recommendation 9

The new prevention organization should work with the Ministry of Labour, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board and health and safety associations to review the current inventory of health and safety information and resource products. This should lead to the development of a strategy to consolidate materials, increase the consistency of content and improve availability.

Key achievements

  • Inventory and review of OHS resources is integrated within every action plan and the work of OHS system partners.
  • Ministry of Labour, Data Management Branch (DMB), in collaboration with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), led several initiatives to provide and consolidate occupational health and safety information to the OHS system and the public.

Progress status: Complete

Recommendation 10

The Ministry of Labour should work with the new prevention organization to create a health and safety poster that explains the key rights and responsibilities of the workplace parties, including how to obtain additional health and safety information and how to contact a Ministry of Labour inspector. It should be mandatory to post this in the workplace.

Key achievements

  • As of October 1, 2012, it is mandatory for workplaces to post and display the health and safety awareness poster in English and the majority language of the workplace.
  • The poster is available in 19 languages on the MOL website. Printed copies are also available for free through ServiceOntario.

Progress status: Complete

Policy and regulation development

Recommendation 11

The Ministry of Labour should update the Guide to the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Guide for Joint Health and Safety Committees and Representatives in the Workplace to address changes in the workplace and workplace relationships with particular emphasis on a small business lens, covering the following issues:

  • roles and responsibilities of workplace parties
  • temporary employment agencies; and
  • functions of JHSC and Health and Safety Representative

Key achievements

The Guide to the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Guide to the Joint Health and Safety Committees and Representatives in the Workplace have been updated to reflect present day workplace changes.

Progress status: Complete

Recommendation 12

The Occupational Health and Safety Act should be amended to allow a co-chair of the Joint Health and Safety Committee to submit a written recommendation to the employer if an issue is unresolved following repeated attempts to reach consensus.

Key achievements

An amendment to the Occupational Health and Safety Act creating this change came into force on April 1, 2012.

Progress status: Complete

Recommendation 28

The Ministry of Labour should institute a regulatory review approach that ensures regulations are current, consistent and provide compliance flexibility and support.

Key achievements

  • The ministry is exploring ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its occupational health and safety regulations.
  • The ministry will consider ways of aligning regulatory frameworks between sectors in order to increase harmonization between regulations, update requirements and enhance existing protections.
  • The ministry’s approach to modernizing occupational health and safety regulations will, over time, lead to a more transparent and predictable regulatory process and facilitate improved compliance and enforcement.
  • The ministry’s current regulatory posting on proposed amendments to Regulation 851 (Industrial Establishments), dating from February 6 – April 6, 2018, reflects the regulatory modernization principles outlined above.

Progress status: Ongoing ministry priority

Recommendation 32

The Ministry of Labour should develop regulations in consultation with stakeholders in the farming community to control the key hazards associated with farm work.

Key achievements

  • The MOL is developing a plan for initiating consultations with the farming sector.

Progress status: Ongoing ministry priority

Recommendation 33

The Ministry of Labour and the Ontario Labour Relations Board should work together to develop a process to expedite the resolution of reprisal complaints under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Key achievements

  • Legislative amendments came into effect on April 1, 2012 allowing ministry inspectors to refer worker reprisal allegations to the Ontario Labour Relations Board under certain conditions and allowing the board to speed up access to mediation and hearings regarding reprisal allegations.

Progress status: Complete

Recommendation 35

A worker or employer involved in a reprisal complaint should have access to information and support from an independent, third-party organization, such as the Office of the Worker Adviser or Office of the Employer Adviser.

Key achievements

  • Effective April 1, 2012, amendments to the OHSA that streamlined the process for reprisals and strengthened the position of workers who report a reprisal to the ministry came into effect.
  • The OHSA Section 50 amendments allowed the Ministry of Labour to refer reprisals to the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) in certain circumstances and resulted in changes to OLRB processes to allow reprisals to be heard by the OLRB in a timely manner. It also allowed for small employers and non-union workers to go to the Office of the Employer Advisor and the Office of the Worker Advisor for help.
  • The functions of the Office of the Worker Adviser and the Office of the Employer Adviser now include educating, advising and representing certain workers and employers in relation to reprisal complaints or referrals made to the Ontario Labour Relations Board (free of charge).

Progress status: Complete

Recommendation 42

The Ontario government should develop procurement policies that consider the occupational health and safety performance of suppliers in order to motivate a high level of performance. The initial focus could be on the purchasing of services.

Key achievements

  • The Infrastructure Health and Safety Association (IHSA) is leading the implementation of the Certificate of Recognition (COR).
  • Infrastructure Ontario announced that CORs will be a pre-qualification requirement during the bidding process on its infrastructure projects.

Progress status: Complete

Underground economy initiatives

Recommendation 18

The government should make a single provincial entity responsible for overseeing and coordinating a province-wide strategy to address the underground economy. This strategy could include links to federal and municipal initiatives.

Key achievements

  • The Ministry of Labour (MOL) has the lead role in the Underground Economy Residential Roofing Pilot and began the initial pilot in 2013-2014. From June 2017 to Oct. 31, 2017, MOL inspectors conducted 541 workplace visits and 826 field visits resulting in 1,281 orders.
  • The Underground Economy Project, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance (MOF), is continuing in 2018-19.
  • The initiative is being expanded to the Industrial Health and Safety Program in 2018.
  • The MOL and the MOF are collaborating on data sharing to improve proactive targeting.

Progress status: Ongoing ministry priority

Recommendation 19

The entity overseeing a province-wide strategy on the underground economy should consult regulators and the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade on expansion of the Designations Regulation under the Regulatory Modernization Act, 2007 in order to enhance the capacity of regulators to detect and combat underground activity.

Key achievements

  • The Ministry of Labour (MOL) and the Ministry of Finance are working together regarding data sharing to improve identification and proactive targeting of underground activities.
  • The MOL is leading the Underground Economy Residential Roofing Pilot, which is being expanded to other health and safety programs.

Progress status: Ongoing ministry priority

Recommendation 20

The Ministry of Labour, in collaboration with other regulators and levels of government, should take steps to acquire information and data that health and safety inspectors would use to identify and reduce underground economic activity.

Key achievements

Collaboration continues between the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Finance to develop an information management system and information sharing agreements in order to support initiatives that prevent, detect and combat underground activities.

Progress status: Ongoing ministry priority

Recommendation 21

The Ministry of Labour should target workplaces and sectors operating in the underground economy for proactive inspections after normal working hours.

Key achievements

  • The Ministry of Labour received approval from the Ministry of Finance to continue the Underground Economy Residential Roofing Pilot for another two years.
  • The underground economy re-roofing initiative, which began in 2013-14, is continuing, with inspectors across the province participating and conducting inspections during regular and after hours. The plan is to expand the pilot to other areas of construction in specific regions and expand to the Industrial Health and Safety Program (IHSP) as well.

Progress status: Complete

Incentive programs to improve the health and safety system

Recommendation 22

The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, in conjunction with the new prevention organization and stakeholders, should review and revise existing financial incentive programs, with a particular focus on reducing their emphasis on claims costs and frequency.

Key achievements

  • A Prevention Program Review Group (PPRG) has worked to develop a report and consultation paper on financial incentive programs.
  • Public consultations closed in January 2015. Over 30 submissions were received and a number of meetings were held with employer groups and safety group sponsors.
  • In 2015, a final Prevention Program Review Report was presented to the WSIB and was accepted.

Progress status: Complete

Recommendation 23

The new prevention organization, in conjunction with stakeholders, should develop an accreditation program that recognizes employers who successfully implement health and safety management systems.

Key achievements

  • Legislative amendments received Royal Assent on December 8, 2016 in the Fall Economic Bill.
  • Public consultation closed in January 2018.
  • Consultation feedback is currently being assessed; decisions on accreditation program details are under consideration.

Progress status: Ongoing ministry priority

Recommendation 24

Concurrent with the proposed review of financial incentives, the new prevention organization should work with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board to develop appropriate financial incentives that reward employers who qualify suppliers based on their health and safety performance.

Key achievements

  • A Chief Prevention Officer (CPO) and Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) working group has been established to consider financial incentives and framework.
  • The working group is also looking at existing prevention programs and considering an alignment that helps participants work toward and achieve CPO recognition.

Progress Status: Ongoing ministry priority

Support inspectors and monitor compliance (enforcement)

Recommendation 25

The Ministry of Labour should review its current enforcement policy and supports for inspectors with a view to creating a consistent approach of tough enforcement for serious and wilful contraventions, as well as compliance assistance where guidance and support for employers help achieve compliance.

Key achievements

  • The Ministry of Labour developed three quality assurance tools to improve inspector consistency.

Progress status: Complete

Recommendation 26

The Ministry of Labour should review the offences for which tickets can be used for enforcement, and request that the Attorney General review and revise the existing set fines for Occupational Health and Safety Act offences.

Key achievements

  • A comprehensive review of the Provincial Offences Act Schedules of offences relating to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and its regulations is being conducted with the goal of improving compliance.
  • Offences in Schedule 68 (Mines and Mining Plants Regulation) were amended effective October 1, 2016 and the level of set fines increased by the Chief Justice of the Ontario Court of Justice.
  • Amendments to Schedules 67, 67.1, 67.3 and 67.4 come into effect on April 1, 2018. The changes increase the number of ticketable offences related to O. Reg. 213/91: Construction Projects and Reg. 851: Industrial Establishments.
  • In addition, two new schedules have been added to Reg. 950 under the Provincial Offences Act that come into effect on April 1, 2018. Schedule 66.2 sets out offences under the OHSA while the offences in Schedule 67.5 relate to O. Reg. 297/13: Occupational Health and Safety Awareness and Training.

Progress Status: Ongoing ministry priority

Recommendation 27

The Ministry of Labour should enhance the current legislative provisions for penalties by adding administrative monetary penalties as an enforcement tool, and should develop policies and procedures that govern their use.

Key achievements

  • Initial background research and jurisdictional scanning has been completed.
  • However, the number of offences for which a ticket can be issued has increased substantially, increasing the range of enforcement options available to inspectors.

Progress status: Ongoing ministry priority

Recommendation 34

The Ministry of Labour should review its prosecution policy and develop guidance for inspectors on when to lay charges for a contravention of Section 50 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Key achievements

Revised policies and procedures developed for the Ministry of Labour’s Operations Policy and Procedure Manual.

Progress status: Complete

Recommendation 38

Ministry of Labour inspectors should incorporate compliance assistance [that is, helping workplaces meet the requirements of health and safety laws and regulations] in their approach to enforcing the Occupational Health and Safety Act and its regulations.

Key achievements

  • Additional training for inspectors has been delivered.
  • The MOL works with health and safety associations to develop and distribute compliance information for workplaces before enforcement occurs.
  • The Regulators Code of Practice, which inspectors adhere to, supports compliance assistance.
  • The ministry has developed a number of compliance assistance tools that inspectors can distribute or refer workplaces to. Resources include videos and webinars, templates, checklists, electronic forms, guides and guidelines, hazard alerts, codes of practice and blitz fact sheets.

Progress status: Complete

Assist vulnerable workers

Recommendation 29

The Minister of Labour should appoint a committee under Section 21 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act to provide advice on matters related to the occupational health and safety of vulnerable workers.

Key achievements

  • The Vulnerable Worker Task Group was established in 2012.
  • The task group completed a report with recommendations to improve outreach to vulnerable workers and employers. The recommendations have been put into place. The report is available through the ministry’s website.
  • The task group’s 30-month mandate expired in June 2015.

Progress status: Complete

Recommendation 30

The Ministry of Labour should carry out more proactive inspections and periodic enforcement campaigns at workplaces and in sectors where vulnerable workers are concentrated.

Key achievements

  • Program and regional initiatives continue to include a vulnerable worker component.
  • The Industrial Health and Safety Program conducted a new and young worker blitz from May 2017 to August 2017.

Progress status: Complete

Recommendation 31

The occupational health and safety system should develop information products in multiple languages and formats for distribution through various media and organizations to raise awareness of occupational health and safety among vulnerable workers.

Key achievements

Legislative amendments came into effect on April 1, 2012 allowing ministry inspectors to refer worker reprisal allegations to the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) under certain conditions and allowing the OLRB to expedite access to mediation and hearings regarding reprisal allegations.

Progress status: Complete

Support small businesses

Recommendation 36

The Minister of Labour should create a small business Section 21 committee and appoint members that can represent the needs and interests of employers and workers in small businesses.

Key achievements

  • The Small Business Task Group was established in 2012.
  • The task group completed a report with recommendations to improve small business outreach to help create healthy and safe workplaces. The recommendations are being addressed by system partners. The report is available through the MOL’s website.
  • The task group’s 30-month mandate expired in June 2015.

Progress status: Complete

Recommendation 37

The occupational health and safety system should intensify support for small business compliance through the creation of focused and integrated programs with dedicated resources.

Key achievements

  • The Small Business Lens has been developed to assist health and safety system partners consider the unique needs of small businesses when developing, modifying or delivering health and safety products and services. The lens will be used across Ontario’s OHS system and by the various action plan teams.
  • During the 2017 Summer Student Outreach Campaign, student teams visited over 10,000 small businesses across Ontario to provide helpful OHS and employment standard resources and to gather feedback on how to improve compliance assistance to small businesses.

Progress status: Complete