JOINT HEALTH & SAFETY COMMITTEE CERTIFICATION TRAINING |
Wilkens Health and Safety Solutions (WHSS) is the only Chief Prevention Officer (CPO) approved Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) Certification training provider located in Kingston.
As most workplaces with twenty (20) or more workers must have a JHSC established, we regularly hold training sessions. At least one (1) worker and one (1) management representative of this committee must be certified by completing the prescribed training standards set by the MOL.
Part One Basic Certification Training
Part One Basic Certification training provides an overall knowledge of the Health and Safety Legislation that applies to most workplaces.
Part Two Workplace Specific Training
Part Two Workplace Specific Certification training focuses on the significant hazards in your workplace and how to assess, control and/or eliminate them.
Refresher Certification Training
This course is designed to include all sectors and reviews the essentials of the Part 1 and 2 Certification training as well as highlight any legislative changes that have occurred within the last three years.
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Steel Manufacturing Company fined $215,000 for Environmental Protection Act Violation
May 31, 2021
The conviction relates to permitting an emission for six consecutive minutes, which obstructed the passage of light by an average 20 per cent or more. ArcelorMittal Canada Inc. was convicted of one violation under the Environmental Protection Act, was fined $215,000 plus a victim fine surcharge of $53,750 and was given 90 days to pay the fine.
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Worker Injured by Mechanized Table, Cornwall Employer Fined $65,000
May 7, 2020
A worker was injured after being pulled into a table with moving parts. Following a guilty plea in provincial offences court in Cornwall, Morbern Inc. was fined $65,000 and the court also imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.
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COVID-19 Update
Ontario's Roadmap to Reopen
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The Roadmap to Reopen is a three-step plan to reopen the province safely and cautiously and gradually lift public health measures. The plan is based on both the provincewide vaccination rate and improvements in key public health and health system indicators.
Based on current trends in key health indicators, including the provincial vaccination rate, the province entered step one of the roadmap on Friday June 11, 2021. The province will remain in each step for at least 21 days to evaluate any impacts on key public health and health system indicators. At the end of the 21 days, the province will evaluate vaccination rates and look for positive trends in other key public health and health system indicators. The three steps of this plan are as follows:
Step 1
The province moved into Step 1 of the plan on Friday June 11, 2021, as over 60% of adults are vaccinated with one dose and key public health system indicators are trending positive. Step 1 involves an initial focus on resuming outdoor activities with smaller crowds where the risk of transmission is lower and permitting retail with restrictions. This includes:
- outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people
- outdoor dining with up to four people per table
- non-essential retail at 15% capacity
Step 2
If trends in key public health and health system indicators are positive, the province will move to Step 2 of the plan when 70% of adults are vaccinated with one dose and 20% are fully vaccinated. Step 2 involves further expanding outdoor activities and resuming limited indoor services with small numbers of people and with face coverings being worn. This includes:
- outdoor gatherings of up to 25 people
- outdoor sports and leagues
- overnight camps
- personal care services where face coverings can be worn and with capacity limits
- indoor religious services, rites or ceremony gatherings at 15% capacity
Step 3
If trends in key public health and health system indicators are positive, the province will move to Step 3 of the plan when 70-80% of adults are vaccinated with one dose and 25% are fully vaccinated. Step 3 involves expanding access to indoor settings, with restrictions, including where there are larger numbers of people and where face coverings can’t always be worn. This includes:
- indoor sports and recreational fitness
- indoor dining
- museums, art galleries and libraries
- casinos and bingo halls with capacity limits
For more information on Ontario’s Roadmap to Reopen, click here. You can also contact us at 613.546.9814 or by emailing info@whss.ca for more information.
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Outdoor Safety
Ticks and Lyme Disease
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Lyme Disease is spread to humans through the bite of an infected blacklegged tick, however, not all blacklegged ticks carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. While the greatest risk of exposure to a tick is during the spring, summer and early fall months, ticks can be active any time the weather is above freezing. It is important to know that during the spring and early summer months, ticks can be very small (the size of a poppy seed) and once attached will often go unnoticed. This results in a higher chance of being infected with Lyme disease.
Ticks favour moist, shaded environments, especially leafy wooded areas and overgrown grassy habitats. In 2019, there were 2,632 cases of Lyme Disease reported in Canada, compared to just 144 a decade earlier. The province of Ontario accounted for 1,159 of the cases recorded in 2019.
Early symptoms of a tick bite include a small, red bump that appears at the site of the tick bite or tick removal and resolves over a few days. This is normal after a tick bite and does not indicate Lyme Disease.
However, the following signs and symptoms may occur within a month after infection:
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Rash: From 3 to 30 days after an infected tick bite, an expanding red area might appear that sometimes clears in the center, forming a bull's-eye pattern. The rash expands slowly over days and can spread up to 30 centimeters across in diametre. It is typically not itchy or painful.
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Flu-like symptoms: Fever, chills, fatigue, body aches and a headache may accompany the rash.
If left untreated, new signs and symptoms of Lyme infection might appear in the following weeks to months. These include erythema migraines, joint pain, nausea and vomiting, diffuse rash and neurological problems. Several weeks after infection, some people develop heart problems, eye inflammation, liver inflammation (hepatitis) and severe fatigue.
The best way to prevent infection is to avoid tick-infested areas whenever possible, particularly in the spring and early summer. If you are going to be outside in a grassy or wooded area, some prevention strategies you can take include:
- Wear light coloured clothing to help spot ticks.
- Apply insect repellant frequently. Always follow the manufacturers’ instructions.
- Do full body checks on yourself, your children, and pets after coming in from the outdoors.
- Outdoor workers should shower or bathe within two hours of being in forested or long grass areas.
For more information on Lyme Disease prevention, click here. You can also contact us at 613.546.9814 or by emailing info@whss.ca for more information.
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Paid Sick Leave
Ontario COVID-19 Worker Income Protection Benefit
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On April 29, 2021, the Ontario Government amended the Employment Standards Act, 2000 to require employers to provide employees with up to three days of paid infectious disease emergency (IDE) leave due to reasons related to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic. This entitlement is in addition to employees’ rights to unpaid IDE leave. Although the ESA was amended on April 29, 2021, the entitlement to paid IDE leave was made retroactive to April 19, 2021.
Paid IDE leave is available for specific reasons related to COVID-19, including:
- going for a COVID-19 test
- staying home while awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test
- being sick with COVID-19
- going to get vaccinated for COVID-19
- experiencing a side effect from a COVID-19 vaccination
- having been advised to self-isolate due to COVID-19 by an employer, medical practitioner or other specified authority
- providing care or support to certain relatives for COVID-19 related reasons, such as when they are:
- sick with COVID-19 or have symptoms of COVID-19
- self-isolating due to COVID-19 on the advice of a medical practitioner or other specified authority
Some employees may already be entitled under their own employment contract to a paid sick leave for one or more of the reasons listed above. In these cases, the employee must first utilize the paid sick days specified by their employer in their employment agreement.
Employers are required to pay employees their regular wages for their paid sick days under this new leave and the three days do not have to be taken consecutively. Eligible employers are entitled to be reimbursed the amount of IDE leave pay that they pay to their employees, up to $200 per employee per day taken. Employers can ask for some reasonable proof of why the worker is taking this leave but cannot require an employee to provide a certificate from a doctor or nurse as evidence. Eligible employers, wishing to be reimbursed the monies that they paid under this leave to their employees, must make their application for reimbursement to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) within 120 days of the date the employer paid the employee.
To apply for reimbursement of paid out sick days, click here to complete the online application form.
For more information regarding the Ontario COVID-19 Worker Protection Benefit, click here or call the Ontario COVID-19 Worker Income Protection Information Centre at 1-888-999-2248. You can also contact us at 613.546.9814 or by emailing info@whss.ca.
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Rapid Screening Initiative
Provincial Antigen Screening Program for COVID-19
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The Ontario Government, in partnership with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the Federal Government, has launched the COVID-19 Rapid Screening Initiative for small and medium-sized businesses across the province. Through this initiative, Ontario businesses with 150 employees or less will receive free rapid antigen test kits Rapid antigen testing will screen for asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 in the workplace that may have otherwise gone undiagnosed. Organizations can test on-site 1-3 times per week and get results in about 15 minutes.
The Provincial Antigen Screening Program provides free rapid antigen test kits to high-risk communities, organizations and essential workplaces. Program eligibility was recently expanded to include any business that is allowed to be open and requires staff to work on-site. In order to participate in the program, businesses must:
- agree to the program terms and conditions
- review onboarding and training materials
- order free test kits from the province of Ontario
- report testing data to the province each week
This initiative aims to keep workers employed in small and medium-sized businesses and their families safe and to keep businesses open. Through the Provincial Antigen Screening Program, as of May 12th, Ontario has already delivered more than nine million rapid testing kits to nearly 1,600 workplaces. As the results of positive PCR tests are already reported to local public health units through the provincial lab network, the Ministry of Health is updating program requirements so organizations providing rapid antigen screening will no longer have to report preliminary positive results to their local public health unit, nor will they be required to report results of confirmatory lab-based PCR tests to the province.
These changes will help encourage greater use of rapid testing by reducing the administrative burden and implementation barriers for all organizations and workplaces, while still maintaining strong public health and safety measures.
For more information and to participate in the program, businesses are encouraged to register here.
Any questions? Never hesitate to contact us at 613.546.9814 or by emailing info@whss.ca for more information.
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Health and Safety Excellence Program
Provider Updates
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2020 Program status:
At this point, all companies that were part of the 2020 program should have their documents for evidence and their evidence stories submitted to Wilkens Health and Safety Solutions for validation. If you have any outstanding documents, please contact either Sarah Salisbury at ssalisbury@whss.ca or Sheena Smith by at ssmith@whss.ca for next steps.
2021 Program:
Registration for the 2021 program remains open for new and returning members. You can register for participation in the 2021 program with Wilkens Health and Safety Solutions until June 30, 2021. We are currently in the process of meeting with clients to select their topics for the 2021 program year. If you have not yet met with us for topic selection, either reach out to us or we will be in touch with you shortly.
If you have questions about the program or would like to register for the 2021 program, please contact us at 613.546.9814 or by emailing info@whss.ca.
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Employment Standards
Public Holiday
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A friendly reminder to all businesses that Ontario employees must receive Public Holiday Pay for Canada Day, under the Employment Standards Act. This year, Canada Day falls on Thursday, July 1, 2021.
For more information on our Human Resources services and what you need in place, contact Sarah Salisbury, Associate Consultant at 613.546.9814 ext. 222 or by email. |
Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development
Upcoming and Ongoing Provincial / Eastern Ontarion Inspection Initiatives
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Please note that the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development has stated that in response to COVID-19, they plan to adjust the current 2021-22 health and safety compliance initiative schedule. Currently, there are no scheduled upcoming inspection initiatives, however, inspections are still occurring. Further updates will be provided, as necessary.
View all applicable updates here.
For help preparing for an upcoming inspection, contact us today. |
Upcoming WHSS Courses
Register Your Employees Today!
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All courses scheduled are offered following safe distancing protocols, as well as all other mandated safety protocols– this means fewer people being allowed to register for each course – allowing for safe participation.
Private on-site courses may also be arranged for groups of six (6) or more. Please contact Sheena Smith for details.
WHSS continues to be a training partner for Working at Heights with the Infrastructure Health and Safety Association (IHSA). Contact us today to arrange your full or refresher course. Courses are scheduled on an as needed basis and can be held at your site or at the Kingston Construction Association (KCA).
For a complete listing of upcoming courses, click here or contact Sheena Smith by email or 613.546.9814 ext. 224 for more details.
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