This document outlines new mandatory health and safety training requirements for Ontario employers. It notes that as of July 1, 2014: - All current workers and supervisors must have received mandatory safety awareness training. Inspectors will require proof of completed training. - The training requirement applies to all workplaces covered by OHSA, including those with office workers. New employees must also complete training promptly. - Existing training may not meet the new requirements if it is missing required topics. Employers should review training programs and address any gaps. - Failure to comply with the new deadlines could result in orders to complete training or fines. Employers should ensure all employees complete approved training and documentation is in order.

1. Kathryn Kissinger HR Services 2014
Mandatory Health and
Safety Training: The Truth!

2. Mandatory Safety Training-the
Truth!
• I would like to clarify the “rules” surrounding the
upcoming Health and Safety training deadline.
• Ontario employers as of July 1, 2014 will have
to ensure that all current workers and
supervisors have received mandatory safety
awareness training.
Kathryn Kissinger HR Services 2014

3. Mandatory Safety Training-the
Truth!
This requirement for safety awareness training is not
new; it has been a part of the OHSA since its
inception.
However, the MOL inspectors who visit an employer’s
workplace beginning in July 2014 may ask whether the
employees have received, or the employer is making
progress towards completing, the training.
Now, inspectors will need to see proof that the
training has been completed.
Kathryn Kissinger HR Services 2014

4. Who Needs the Training?
Mandatory for all Workplaces Covered by
OHSA regardless of sector, including industrial
establishments, construction projects, health care
and residential facilities, mines and mining plants,
and farming operations.
The requirement extends to office employees
and others thought to be in low-safety-risk
jobs.
Kathryn Kissinger HR Services 2014

5. Who Needs the Training?
New Employees: The regulation will also require
that any new employees must receive the
worker training as soon as practicable after
commencing work duties, and that new
supervisors complete the supervisory safety
awareness training within the first week of
commencing supervisory duties.
Kathryn Kissinger HR Services 2014

6. What About Previous Training?
Although many employers will have already
provided safety awareness training to workers and
supervisors, if that training did not include all of
the required topics and was not “equivalent” to the
training program developed by the MOL, then the
training will not meet the new legal requirement.
Kathryn Kissinger HR Services 2014

7. Consequences of Missing the
Deadline
Employers who do not comply with the new
training requirements by July 1, 2014 could be
ordered by an MOL inspector to comply –
meaning, they will have to scramble to complete
the training in short order – or, in a worst-case
scenario, they could be charged and fined.
Kathryn Kissinger HR Services 2014

8. What Should Employers Do?
Ontario employers should, in the very near future:
• Review existing worker and supervisor training
programs and consider whether they contain the
content required under the new rules (check the
MOL Website for the latest documents)
• If there are training gaps – that is, if your current
program is missing content required by the new
MOL requirements – the employer must ensure that
the gaps are filled as soon as possible.
Kathryn Kissinger HR Services 2014

9. What Should Employers Do?
Review your existing training documentation: are you
able to prove that your employees have received the
training that you have already done?
Consider how you will document that all employees
and supervisors have received the new mandatory
training.
If the training is not properly documented, or you
cannot adequately prove that a person received
the training, the MOL could still lay orders or
charges.
Kathryn Kissinger HR Services 2014

10. Places to Get Training
www.kissingerhrservices.com/contact
Ministry of Labour:
http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/hs/training/
index.php
Occupational Health and Safety Consultants, Inc.
(in Brantford) www.ohsconsultants.ca
Kathryn Kissinger HR Services 2014