Ontario Government Enacting New Winter Campaign to Prevent Workplace Injuries
The Ontario Government has announced that they will be sending inspectors to workplaces across the country during the next few winter months in order to proactively prevent workplace injuries. Inspectors from the Ministry of Labour will be visiting specific types of workplace environment to review a range of potential issues.
The Ontario government has recently become proactive in terms of protecting workers and preventing workplace injuries through its Safe at Work Ontario strategy – a dual-campaign that is focused on bringing attention to workplace safety issues while helping to create jobs across Ontario.
Inspectors will be visiting the facilities of underground mining companies to review diesel emissions, and specific problems that could affect the air quality within the environment. In February and March, inspectors will also be visiting industrial facilities and construction areas to check for slip, fall and tripping hazards. Also in February and March, industry specialists will be visiting workplaces across Ontario to review their workplaces violence and harassment policies, which are of particular note given the recently publicized story involving Wal-Mart Canada.
The goal of this winter campaign is to ensure that workplaces across Ontario are enacting policies that increase compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act and its related regulations. Since the Ontario government began these workplace campaigns in 2008, ministry inspectors have conducted more than 345,000 field visits, 47 inspection blitzes and issued more than 560,000 compliance orders in Ontario workplaces. The government is showing a serious commitment to helping Ontario workers and that can only be good news for the millions employed across the province.