According to the OSHA website, “OSHA requires the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce employee exposure to hazards when engineering and administrative controls are not feasible or effective in reducing these exposures to acceptable levels.” The term personal protective equipment (PPE) refers to a wide range of devices and garments, including face[…]

  Toolbox meetings (tailgate meetings or crew talks) can be an effective way to deliver information, introduce new concepts, skills or procedures, and generate work-based discussions. Although most prevalent in the construction industry, toolbox meetings can be used to promote safety in the spectrum of workplace industries, environments and situations. Seizing the opportunity to hold[…]

  In June 2008, in its continuing effort to eliminate all workplace injuries, the Government of Ontario’s Ministry of Labour launched the Safe At Work Ontario compliance strategy. The strategy is designed to improve the culture of workplace health and safety; reduce workplace illness and injuries; reduce the burden on the provincial health care system;[…]

  The importance of workplace health and safety has been brought into the spotlight on an international level, with the recent announcement of the Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work. This summer, the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted the Declaration in an effort to establish a global culture of workplace health and safety.[…]

  In February 2008, the BC Trucking Association and WorkSafe BC formed the BC Trucking Safety Council, which represents over 10,000 employers in general trucking and moving and storage. With a Board of Directors that includes industry and regulatory agencies and police members, the Council was created to address the safety needs of the industry.[…]

  Workplace health and safety programs generally focus on accident/incident assessment and avoidance, and are established to ensure that employees (and others) perceive the workplace as a stable environment in which they are able to carry out their jobs safely and effectively. However, many management teams fail to consider the fact that the ‘health’ aspect of[…]

  A workplace incident is categorized by severity, and generally defined as a situation or occurrence that adversely affects the safety and well-being of the people and/or operation of a facility. In order to deal with a workplace incident adequately, management must establish a plan for investigating, reporting and correcting the things that contributed to[…]

  The Global Harmonization System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals is a system proposed by the United Nations to standardize the labelling of chemicals around the world. The GHS has been in development for many years and is closer to implementation now than ever.   GHS is an international system designed to standardize the[…]

  The first Day of Mourning was recognized on April 28, 1984 by the Canadian Labour Congress. The Congress chose April 28 because on that day in 1914, the Workers Compensation Act was given third reading in the Ontario legislature. The British Columbia provincial government recognized its first Day of Mourning on April 28, 1987,[…]

  First aid response and treatment procedures should be a key component of any workplace OHS program. There will perhaps come a time when a worker, supervisor, customer or other visitor will suffer an illness or injury in your workplace that requires immediate first aid attention, and the responsibility is on employers to ensure that proper[…]