NAOSH Week now underway in cities across the continent

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Paul Leavoy

It’s NAOSH week! In terms of North American Health and Safety, NAOSH week is kind of a big deal. Hot on the heels of the International Day of Mourning for fallen and injured workers (April 28) as well as International Workers Day (May 1), North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) week is a great opportunity to raise awareness about occupational health and safety across the continent.

As we’ve discussed recently on the EHS This Week podcast, injuries and accidents continue persist in workplaces across Canada and the U.S., and as OSHA head Dr. David Michaels recently reminded us, every day 12 American workers go to work and never come home as a result of workplace fatalities. Most workplace injuries and accidents are entirely preventable, and this week is all about seizing opportunities to make North American work environments safer.

Jointly sponsored by the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) and the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE), NAOSH week means there is an array of events, activities and ceremonies happening in cities across North America. Find out what’s going on in your community and join in to help prevent workplace accidents and fatalities by checking out NAOSH’s events page and tuning into the Intelex blog for the rest of the week as we devote special coverage to NAOSH, including a mid-week EHS This Week Podcast.

OSHA releases I2P2 white paper to convince businesses of program’s benefit

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Paul Leavoy

If you managed to take a look at our list of our Top 5 most popular blog posts from 2011, you might have noticed that I2P2 is kind of a big deal. If, on the other hand, that acronym means nothing to you, now is a good time to get better acquainted with OSHA’s proposed Injury and Illness Prevention Program (get it? Two Is, two Ps…)

Anyway, OSHA has kicked off the New Year by reaffirming its commitment to I2P2 by releasing a white paper geared to convince businesses of the value of the program. For background, OSHA has been moving towards a requirement that would require most organizations in the U.S. to implement an injury and illness prevention program, which is essentially a safety management system (SMS) designed to proactively reduce injuries and illnesses.

In addition to outlining how I2P2 programs mitigate injuries and save lives, the paper breaks down the ROI of an SMS and the impact of lost time, compensation and other factors resulting from poor health and safety performance impact a business’ bottom line. It also addresses a particularly controversial concern surrounding I2P2 requirements – the financial impact of the program on small businesses.

As the paper notes, “The key elements common to all of these programs are management leadership, worker participation, hazard identification and assessment, hazard prevention and control, education and training, and program evaluation and improvement.”

Check out the full text of the paper here, or head over to ISHN for a great summary of the document.

The Top 5 upcoming OHS regulatory events you need to know about: #1

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Paul Leavoy

It can be hard for businesses to determine which regulatory events will directly affect how they do business. That’s why I’ve put together a list of the Top 5 OHS regulatory events on the immediate horizon business leaders as well as OHS managers and staff need to know about.

Yesterday we talked about the revised hazard communication standard. Here’s the next issue in the Top 5:

1. The Injury and Illness Prevention Program:

OSHA chair Dr. David Michaels indicated in an online chat earlier this year that OSHA’s top priority for 2011 is publishing and enforcing a new, nationwide Injury and Illness Prevention Program (I2P2).

The scope of the planned regulation is sweeping: it will likely affect every employer in every industry, coast-to-coast. Michaels himself has called it the most significant change in workplace safety culture since OSHA’s inception 40 years ago.

OSHA is expected to model the program on California’s own successful, 20-year-old IIPP program.

So, the question is, when will it take effect? Well, the short answer is, we don’t know. Since OSHA has yet to even specify a date for a proposed rulemaking, it could be a ways off.

That said, OSHA has stated it wants to publish the rule by the year’s end. While few details are known on how the standard will take shape, one hint was provided in an OSHA web chat on Monday: OSHA has taken the fact many businesses across all industries have already implemented safety management systems (e.g. guided by frameworks like OHSAS 18001) into consideration and suggested I2P2 could be aligned with existing SMS conventions.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to write me or comment if you have any questions. Next week we’ll be looking at what changes related to the Food Safety Modernization Act will mean to you.

Sweeping OHS Bill passes in Ontario

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Paul Leavoy

After months of debate and consultation, Bill 160 has passed in Ontario, Canada after a 79-0 vote in the provincial assembly late last week. The Occupational Health and Safety Statute Law Amendment Act will take full effect when it achieves Royal Assent, as soon as next month.

The Act will create the position of a provincial Chief Prevention Officer as well as a Prevention Council to work with the Ministry of Labour to develop a comprehensive occupational health and safety strategy and determine training standards.

The act will affect almost all businesses across the province, so make sure you are up to speed with all the bill’s implications by checking out OHS Insider’s very handy and comprehensive Ontario OHS Reform Blog, which features detailed information on the nuances on Bill 160.

As the blog notes, establishing provincewide training standards will be central to the Act after it becomes law.

Prevention, training central to Ontario OHS reforms

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Paul Leavoy

Ontario is poised to dramatically rework how it manages occupational health and safety.

Earlier this month Bill 160 was amended by the province’s standing committee on social policy and is now headed to the provincial legislature for a third reading and vote, meaning it could be law by as early as June. The proposed bill flows from the work of an expert panel formed in the wake of a string of workplace-related deaths across the province.

Focused on training and prevention, some of the bill’s key elements are as follows:

Training standards: The bill would call upon the Minister of Labour to set training program standards and ‘approve’ compliant organizations accordingly.
Training provider: In addition to minimum standards for training programs, those who administer training would also be required to achieve “approved training provider” status, though those certified under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act would be automatically approved.
Prevention: Quite notably, the bill would establish both a Prevention Council and a Chief Prevention Officer (CPO). It would also take the responsibility of workplace safety away from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and hand it to the newly created CPO, who would report to the Minister of Labour and also be charged with the development of a provincial health and safety strategy. The Prevention Council, composed of provincial health and safety organizations, trade union representatives, employers, and other experts in the field, would provide advice to the CPO as he or she develops an province-wide strategy and prepares an annual report for the Minister.

Additional changes include adjustments to the number of trained health and safety personnel required for small businesses, altering how reprisals are referred to the labour relations board, and more.

According to convention, businesses across Ontario could be given up to 12 months to comply with the new rules, though the Ministry of Labour may ask employers to adhere to the act’s requirements on an expedited basis. Proactive businesses ought to begin determining how they will address the coming changes. For up-to-date news on Bill 160 developments, check out OHS Insider’s excellent blog on Ontario health and safety reform.