Ontario Construction News staff writer
A safety blitz is being launched at Ontario construction sites, an initiative by the province to curtail injuries on job sites.
Ontario workplace inspectors will be visiting sites to review safety precautions, Monte McNaughton, the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development, announced.
“We’re doing this to save lives. One death on a job site is one too many. I want everyone in this province to know we’re doing our best to ensure that their loved ones come home safe after a hard day’s work.”
Here’s what the inspectors will be focusing on:
- Personal protective equipment, which can include high visibility clothing, skin protection (like gloves), face shields, eye protection, and hearing protectors.
Without this equipment, workers can suffer cuts, punctures, chemical burns, electric shocks, exposure to excessive noise or vibration, and many other harmful risks, says the ministry. The blitz will run until March 13, and follows four weeks of outreach to the construction sector to educate and assist in safety compliance.
Ministry inspectors will also visit roadwork projects.
“Everyone has a role here. Employers have to provide equipment to their workers and workers have to wear it properly,” say McNaughton.
It’s all part of the Province’s Safe At Work Ontario strategy, which aims to improve worker health and safety by helping employers comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and its regulations.
Under the construction sector compliance plan of 2019-2020, site inspections have been ongoing since April 1 of last year. Ministry of Labour inspectors are responsible for enforcing the OHSA and its regulations at workplaces across the province. As part of the Safe At Work Ontario strategy, the ministry decides on the focus of initiatives using a risk-based process. The process is focused on:
- Injury, illness and fatality rates
- Compliance history
- The nature of the work (for example, hazards that come with the job)
- Current events
- The vulnerability of the workers
- Strategic priorities
- Advice from stakeholders and the field
Quick facts about inspections:
- The ministry issued 7,483 orders from Jan, 1, 2017 to Dec. 31, 2017 for lack of personal protective equipment on projects. This was the second highest Occupational Health and Safety Act violation in construction workplaces for 2017
- Twenty-five per cent of Ontario workers in the construction industry felt their workplace was not safe during the previous 12 months compared to 19 per cent across all sectors, according to a recent survey
- From 2011 to 2017, incidents of slips, trips and falls were the second-highest cause of traumatic fatalities. Seventy-three workers were killed at work due to falls during this time period
- Slips, trips and falls was the third highest injury event reported to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) in 2017 and accounted for 20 per cert of allowed lost time claims with the WSIB in 2017.