There isn’t an OSHA Canada, but people and organizations don’t always know this fact. Instead, Canada uses the term Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) for its safety standards.

Learn About The Occupational Health and Safety Standards in Canada (OH&S)

Canada has its own regulations in terms of safety. The safety standards in this country are most often a Provincial / Territory requirement. There are fourteen jurisdictions in Canada – one federal, ten provincial, and three territorial — and each has its own occupational health and safety legislation.

For most people in Canada, the agency that you would contact is the provincial or territorial agency in the area where you work. There are some exceptions to this approach. For example, Federal legislation covers employees of the federal government, including Crown agencies and corporations across Canada, as well as to employees of companies or sectors that operate across provincial or international borders. These businesses include:

• Airports and airlines
• Banks
• Canals
• Exploration and development of petroleum on lands subject to federal jurisdiction
• Ferries, port services, tunnels and bridges
• Grain elevators licensed by the Canadian Grain Commission, and certain feed mills and feed warehouses, flour mills and grain seed-cleaning plants
• Highway transport
• Many First Nations activities
• Pipelines
• Radio and television broadcasting and cable systems
• Railways
• Shipping and shipping services
• Telephone and telegraph systems
• Uranium mining and processing

Approximately 6% of the Canadian workforce falls under the OH&S jurisdiction of the federal government. The remaining 94% of Canadian workers fall under the legislation of the province or territory where they work.

The contact information for each of the legislative bodies can be found on this website link.

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Did That Help Clarify OSHA, OH&S, and other Safety Standards?

Good. Now Contact our Safety Professionals
888-434-0411

Workforce Compliance Safety will help you navigate these requirements (especially if you are working in multiple provinces). We are a leader in Canadian OH&S legislation, including COR and SECOR safety manual development and safety registry compliance.

Workforce Compliance Safety Ltd. has provided our organization with dependable, timely, and affordable safety consulting services.

Harvest Oilfield Service, Inc.

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Additional Information: Understanding Safety Standards in Different Countries

Wherever you are in the world the same types of safety processes help keep you and your workers safe. These processes include:

• Training
• Hazard Identification
• Inspections
• Preventative Maintenance
• Emergency Response Planning

Some countries have very strict safety standards, others do not. There are many acronyms for the government entities that provide legislation for the Safety of Workers. Examples of these government entities are:

• OSHA – Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA is an agency of the United States Department of Labor
• WHS – Work, Health, and Safety in Australia
• HSE – Health Safety Executive in the United Kingdom

Safety Standard References

https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/legisl/intro.html
http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/information/govt.html
http://www.hse.gov.uk/legislation/trace.htm
http://www.australia.gov.au/information-and-services/health/workplace-health-and-safety
https://www.osha.gov/

Enform SECOR Protocol News

We are well into the new year with Enform’s new SECOR Audit Protocol; some of you may have used this protocol last year, and you may have seen that the changes in the protocol generally step out the requirements that were already in place prior to the update. The new protocol has more questions overall, but there is a reduction in questions that required multiple answers.

The new SECOR Audit protocol brings SECOR closer to COR, making the transition towards certification much easier.

Main Changes:

SECOR Summary Sheet
Must now be completed instead of the older General Information sheet.

Submission Checklist
Helps you remember everything that must be included with the submission.
Breaks out the provinces, if you would like SECOR in multiple provinces.

Employee Breakdown and Sampling Details table (replaces the Employee Information page)
Gives insight into your company.

Scoring
Three types scoring:

• Range of points
• All or nothing points
• Cascading points (points are linked to a prior question)

Submitting documentation:

Directive document: Provides information on what or how a company meets their Safety Expectations. Policies and Procedures are examples of Directive Documents.

Sample: Provides evidence that you’ve been following your Directive Documents and show how they have been implemented.

How much documentation do you need to submit?
Documentation that covers previous 12 months.
Use document table on page 4-7 of the audit to know how much of each type of document needs to be submitted.

Be sure that all documentation is placed in the binder and is well organized.

Tips:

• Avoid sending original documents
• Ensure you have a well-organized binder.
• The audit package should be submitted with all of the audit pages together.
• Use the Audit tool in word and save and print – no handwriting.
• You do not need to award a score for each question, or fill out the Summary Score Sheet at the end of the audit. Scoring will be determined by an Enform reviewer.

Companies can choose to continue to submit the Audit on paper or can complete the audit online. If you choose to do the Online Audit please refer to the following website for some more tips. Once your online audit has been submitted you will receive and email confirming your submission. This letter will also serve as your letter of intent.

One of the biggest ‘new’ changes isn’t new at all. That is the process of Critical Task Analysis (job inventory, task list, and associated procedures). Our clients have, for the most part, been doing this all along. This is task that needs to be completed by someone (and assisted by all of the workers and supervisors) who has intimate knowledge of the tasks performed on a daily basis. Enform has always wanted to see the information from the Critical Task Analysis process but had not specified that requirement in the older Audit protocol.

Workforce Compliance Safety can assist with this process by providing the forms required and the guidance to do it right!

Recently the province of Alberta introduced financial penalties to those caught breaking workplace safety rules; these fines of up to $500 can be given to both employers and workers.

Workplace Safety Fines

Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) has given out fines for years to Companies; but these new fines can be given to individual workers… up to $500 (even more for repeat offenders)! After an incident occurs Alberta OHS has set out ‘administrative penalties’ to companies based on a thorough investigation. These penalties are often determined through the court system. This new process of on the spot ticketing (which began on Jan 1, 2014) gives OHS officers a method of impacting workers and employers that is less harsh than a stop work order or court proceedings. Administrative Penalties and Stop Work Orders will still be issued, as required. Individuals who are ticketed can go to court and fight the fine in the same manner as a traffic ticket.

All provinces in Canada have a financial penalty that can be charged to Companies for non-compliance with Safety. Some other provinces (Ontario, Saskatchewan, Quebec, and Nova Scotia) have provisions to fine workers as well or are in the process of putting these in place. Companies always get the larger fines, as compared to the workers. In some provincial jurisdictions OHS offers guidance and training to workers and employers breaking the rules.

One issue when it comes to fining workers or companies is the collections of money owed. The provinces enacting these fines will enforce payment similarly to that of a speeding ticket and may result in garnish of wages or inability to renew your drivers’ licence. Since the stakes are so high, workers will try to push all blame for the incident or lack of compliance onto the employer causing tension in the workplace. Since the money for the fines will go into the general budget for the province it is unlikely it will in turn create safer workplaces. The monies collected as a direct result of an unsafe act or unsafe condition should be put into a fund that allows companies’ access to workplace safety professionals and training.

Companies that go bankrupt due to the fines and administrative penalties applied to them are in turn removing an unsafe company from industry, consequently improving overall safety. The premise is that one fine will not cause a company significant hardship, multiple fines caused by non-compliance or repeat offenders will have a greater impact. Workers will also be affected by the fines in a way that will likely change their behavior.

Impact of New Safety Rules

These new rules will have no impact on workers and companies who are safety conscience and follow the rules. The impact will only be felt by those who break these rules, and will be magnified by repeat offenders. It is recommended to discuss these new fines with all workers; ignorance of the law is no defence.

Workforce Compliance Safety Ltd. is a Canadian health & safety company. Our specialists offer experience and knowledge of Occupational Health & Safety Legislation throughout Canada.

Not long ago developing a safety program was only for large employers with large safety departments. Now the benefits of having a safety program can mean new contracts, reduced Workers Compensation Board (WCB) rates (and other injury associated) costs, and safety-conscience employees. The expectations of oil companies, construction companies, mines, and municipalities have become more directed towards contractors having complete safety programs and how they are being implemented (COR/SECOR safety manuals).

To become safety compliant a company must create a safety program and properly make use of that program. The costs associated with this include:

• Safety Manual creation;
• Training your workers, supervisors , and owners;
• Time to review all completed safety forms and file information.

Training your workers on each hazard they are exposed to is a requirement, so it simply makes sense to write the standards into a safety program so the training requirements are understood.

When you look at the cost-benefits of developing and using a safety program it is obvious that meeting safety and quality standards, and having that in writing, is critical in the development of viable, growing, financially strong company.

Give Workforce Compliance safety a call (1.888.434.0411) to see how we can help your Company with your safety needs.