12 new health and safety inspectors to join London office in April.
Government Delivering On Plan To Protect Workers, Make Workplaces Safer.
LONDON, ON, Feb. 8 /CNW/ - The Ontario government is training 12 new health and safety inspectors to begin work in London in April, London North Centre MPP Deborah Matthews announced today.
"This marks an important new investment by this government in the health and safety of workers in the London area - and across Ontario," said Matthews. "Increased enforcement will promote safer workplaces and provide Ontarians
with a quality of worklife second to none."
There are currently 16 inspectors in London. In 2004, they investigated 71 critical injuries, issued 1,061 orders and carried out about 737 inspections of workplaces in the city. Matthews made today's announcement at a training session for the London inspectors at the ministry's London district office.
The inspectors are now undergoing a combination of hands-on and classroom-based instruction before
graduation in April 2005.
An additional 100 inspectors will be hired over the next year to fulfill the government's July 8, 2004 commitment to hire 200 new health and safety
enforcement staff across Ontario to reduce workplace injuries by 20 per cent by 2008.
The new inspectors will:
- Allow the government to initially target 6,000 workplaces with the highest lost-time injury rates
- Visit these sites four times a year
- Focus on workplace hazards to help firms reduce on-the-job injuries
"We are taking decisive action to make a real difference in the lives of Ontario workers and boost the competitiveness of Ontario businesses," said
Matthews.
Backgrounder
TIMELINE FOR HIRING MINISTRY OF LABOUR
HEALTH AND SAFETY INSPECTORS
Marking a major expansion of its health and safety enforcement staff, the Ontario government has hired 100 new health and safety inspectors to help
achieve its goal of preventing 60,000 workplace injuries a year by 2008. The new inspectors began a three-month training regimen in December 2004.
Once their training is completed, the government will have 330 health and safety inspectors on staff. An additional 100 health and safety inspectors will be hired over the next year to complete the government's recruitment drive. By late 2005, the government will have 430 health and safety inspectors on staff.
Inspectors are the front line of occupational health and safety enforcement. The government took a number of steps to ensure the most qualified candidates were selected to fill these positions. The following timeline outlines key milestones on the road to becoming a government health and safety inspector:
July 8, 2004 - Labour Minister Chris Bentley announced the Ontario government would hire 200 new health and safety enforcement staff over the next two years to help prevent 60,000 workplace injuries per year by 2008.
July 30, 2004 - Job postings were advertised across Ontario for the first group of 100 new inspectors.
August 20, 2004 - Job postings were closed. More than 6,600 applications were received.
September 15, 2004 - Applications were screened over the course of four weeks. More than 2,600 applicants underwent aptitude testing.
November 5, 2004 - More than 1,000 first-round interviews were completed.
November 12, 2004 - More than 600 second-round interviews were completed.
November 26, 2004 - Job offer letters were mailed to 100 successful candidates.
December 13, 2004 - New inspectors arrived in their regional offices for orientation.
December 14, 2004 - Inspector orientation and training began in Toronto.
December 15, 2004 - Field information technology training began.
December 20, 2004 - Field training in the ministry's regional offices began.
January 4, 2005 - Three months of in-class and field training began, including training in:
- Occupational Health and Safety Act enforcement
- Regulations governing Ontario's construction and industrial sectors
- Workplace Hazardous Material Information System (WHMIS) enforcement
- The government's Code of Professionalism
- The operational policies and procedures required to effectively enforce the law
March 22, 2005 - New inspectors will graduate.
April, 2005 - 100 new health and safety inspectors will be deployed across Ontario.
The new inspectors will allow the government to target 6,000 workplaces with the highest lost-time injury rates. Inspectors will visit these sites
four times a year, focusing on workplace hazards to help firms reduce on-the-job injuries.
The government will advertise a second series of job postings to hire an additional 100 health and safety enforcement staff over the next year.
Duties of a Ministry of Labour health and safety inspector Ministry of Labour health and safety inspectors enforce the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and its regulations. They conduct workplace inspections and carry out investigations of workplace incidents such as
injuries, fatalities, complaints, work refusals and allegations of reprisals.
Generally, inspectors have the authority to enter workplaces to conduct inspections or investigations.
Depending on the circumstances, health and safety inspectors have a number of options to ensure compliance with the OHSA, including:
- Issuing an order to comply
- Issuing a stop use or stop work order that stops a process, the use of a machine or a task until the contravention is corrected
- Issuing tickets for certain contraventions
- Prosecutions of repeat offenders and serious violations
For more serious contraventions, an inspector can also consider initiating a prosecution under the Provincial Offences Act (POA) against a person who violates the OHSA. The maximum penalty if convicted under the POA is up to $500,000 for a corporation, or up to $25,000 and up to one year in
jail for an individual.
Contact:
Belinda Sutton
Ministry of Labour
416-326-7405
