Deadline for mandatory health and safety training approaching

The Occupational Health and Safety Awareness and Training Regulation (O. Reg. 297/13) under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) is the new regulation that requires employers to make sure workers and supervisors complete a basic occupational health and safety awareness training program.

Besides these new requirements, employers continue to have ongoing duties under the OHSA to inform workers about workplace-specific hazards. These include the general duty to “provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker to protect the health or safety of the worker.”

Employers must do the following:

• ensure that workers complete a basic occupational health and safety awareness training program as soon as reasonably possible;
• ensure that supervisors complete a basic occupational health and safety awareness training program within one week of working as a supervisor;
• maintain a record of the training completed by workers and supervisors; and
• provide a worker or supervisor with written proof of completion of the training, if requested by the worker or supervisor (up to six months after ceasing to work for the employer).

Training for workers
The training program for workers must include instruction on the following:

• the duties and rights of workers under the OHSA;
• the duties of employers and supervisors under the OHSA;
• common workplace hazards and occupational illnesses;
• the role of joint health and safety committees (JHSCs) and of health and safety representatives under the OHSA;
• the roles of the ministry, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and Health and Safety Associations; and
• information and instruction requirements set out in the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) Regulation.

Training for supervisors

The training program for supervisors must include instruction on the following:

• the duties and rights of workers under the OHSA;
• the duties of employers and supervisors under the OHSA;
• how to identify, assess and manage workplace hazards, the role of JHSCs, and of health and safety representatives under the OHSA;
• roles of the ministry, WSIB and Health and Safety Associations; and
• sources of information on occupational health and safety.

Exemptions
Workers and supervisors who previously completed a worker or supervisor training program, either with their current or a former employer, do not have to take the training again if they can provide proof that they completed the training and their current employer is able to verify that the training program covered the content required by the regulation.

A supervisor who has completed a basic occupational health and safety awareness training program for supervisors, prior to the regulation coming into force, does not have to complete a worker training program in addition to the supervisor program.

Resources
The Ministry of Labour has created free online training tools for workers and supervisors to help employers comply with the regulation requirements.

Employers aren’t required to use these specific ministry products in order to comply with the regulation as long as the training they provide covers the necessary content.

Related article:

• Ontario proposes major changes to workplace legislation