Human Resources Legislative Update
New Mandatory Health and Safety Training Regulation Proposed under OHSA
Date: January 4, 2013
The Ontario government has proposed a new regulation to be made under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (“OHSA”), further to the recommendation of the Expert Advisory Panel in 2010 that programs for mandatory health and safety awareness training be developed for Ontario workplaces. The proposed regulation would apply to all workplaces currently covered by OHSA and would likely be filed on or before July 1, 2013, with an effective date of January 1, 2014.
The proposed regulation would require employers to ensure that all workers and supervisors (as those terms are defined in OHSA) complete mandatory health and safety awareness training programs. Among other things, the proposed regulation would:
- establish the minimum content requirements of the programs for both worker and supervisor awareness;
- require employers to maintain records of supervisors and workers who have completed the training;
- require employers to verify that new workers or supervisors have completed the requisite training at their prior workplaces; and
- establish procedures for compliance.
The proposed regulation would revoke the existing O. Reg. 780/94.
The consultation period for the proposed regulation will end on February 4, 2013, and information regarding the consultation process is posted on the Ministry of Labour’s proposal announcement.
