Government inspectors visit tens of thousands of Ontario workplaces each year unannounced. Will they find occupational health and safety violations when they visit yours?
While employers and supervisors have the most significant legal obligations to ensure they are
protecting Ontario workers, joint health and safety committee (JHSC) members, or health and safety representatives (HSRs) in smaller workplaces, can help too. In fact, JHSC members and HSRs have
considerable legal powers to assist, including: inspecting the workplace and identifying hazards; obtaining a wide range of OHS information from the employer; recommending measures, training and policies and procedures aimed at
achieving safer, healthier work; being present during health and safety-related testing; and investigating fatalities or critical injuries. Though to fully act on these powers, JHSC members and HSRs must be well-trained.
JHSC CERTIFICATION TRAINING - ONLINE OR IN-PERSON
Training for compliance
In Ontario, most workplaces with 20 or more workers or where a regulation concerning a designated substance applies
must have a JHSC made up of at least one worker and one employer member.
The
Occupational Health and Safety Act requires at least two members of a JHSC – one worker and one management – complete
Part I and II of a Certification training program approved by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Skills Development’s Chief Prevention Officer (CPO) in order to become certified. Certification Part II must be taken within 12 months of completing Part I. To remain certified, they must successfully complete
Certification Refresher training every three years. Many employers recognize the critical role played by the entire JHSC and ensure all are certified and remain so.
At a workplace where more than five and less than 20 workers are employed, a health and safety representative is required and must be selected by workers or the union. When it comes to training of worker representatives in smaller workplaces the law has not progressed to the same degree. An unfortunate situation given the law requires worker HSRs to function in workplaces much like JHSC members. This said, many employers recognize
well-trained HSRs can help in pursuit of safer, healthier work and compliance with health and safety law and provide training similar to JHSC members.
WHSC training for what matters most
As Ontario’s officially designated training centre and a
CPO-approved training provider, Workers Health & Safety Centre (WHSC) has scheduled
JHSC Certification Part I,
Part II and
Refresher courses throughout the spring online in our virtual real-time classrooms along with in-person opportunities in communities across Ontario.
All WHSC courses are led by highly qualified and experienced instructors helping to ensure critical learning is achieved. All courses are built upon a
hazard-based approach giving workplace representatives the
knowledge and skills to proactively identify and assess unsafe and unhealthy working conditions and make recommendations to control, if not, eliminate them. In short, WHSC training focuses on how
safer, healthier work can be achieved rather than expecting workers to work safer while exposed to hazardous working conditions.
Visit our dedicated web page to learn more about
JHSC Certification and essential training for health and safety reps.
Learn more from WHSC
Contact a:
WHSC training services representative in your area
Email:
contactus@whsc.on.ca
Additional training:
Check out all WHSC programs
Visit:
www.whsc.on.ca
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