Policy Paper

Ministry of labour strategy for safe work environments in Ontario

On January 18, 2017, safe at work Ontario (SAWO) conducted a health consultation with The Ministry of Labour (MOL) to find out what we can do better to protect workers. The goal is to create better opportunities for consistent and stronger enforcement. It could also better inform the MOL on opportunities for possible system changes that could make better
efficiencies within the MOL.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Our members are excluded from the Supporting Ontario’s First Responders Act 2016 (re: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). To hold employers and their CEOs adequately, Boards of Directors, Vice-Presidents, Directors and managers/supervisors accountable for the prevention of workplace violence, we ask the labour minister to make the necessary amendments urgently.

Safe workplace requirements

The OHSA and its regulations and any new amendments to the Act or regulations must ensure that inspectors will be able to, through enforcement, hold these senior healthcare leaders accountable to demonstrate commitment to preventing workplace through actions and to plan for, establish and consistently implement proper control measures, procedures, equipment, training system-wide. The MOL recently revised and strengthened the Workplace Violence Prevention section in its 2016/17 sector plan due to a recommendation from the Leadership Table. This includes training, panic alarms, visual systems and more.

Policies and Procedures

The MOL must also close its gaps, and once and for all, revise and strengthen its Policy and Procedures (PnP) manual on workplace violence. At some point, employers and CEOs must be held accountable for their actions. This would include removing any direction that limits an inspector’s ability to enforce the OHSA and its regulations fully. Changes to the PnP manual and inspector onboard training and blitz/enforcement initiatives training must include giving direction to inspectors to look for evidence and write orders.

Staffing

Reference to staffing shortages in the context of how they may put workers at increased risk of injury or illness must be reinserted. We were not allowed to address a contentious issue even at the Leadership Table as it was met with extreme resistance from the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA). We ask the Minister to do what is right and change your policies, practices, training and the law (if it in any way prevents you from allowing such enforcement) and allow your inspectors to enforce the law fully and let the evidence dictate what orders are written.

On-Boarding and Blitzes

Changes to the PnP manual, onboard training and blitz/enforcement initiatives training must also include giving direction to inspectors to look for evidence and write orders under the specific violence provisions in Section 32.0.1 – 32.0.5. We recommend that the initiative not just focus on whether the employer has a written policy, measure or procedure, or has done some training, but check to see if it is implemented system-wide consistently and protects all workers at risk.

Inspectors – Orders

Employers are not complying with all the healthcare regulations. The PnP manual and all training should also be amended to give direction that inspectors at each visit and address specific complaints will also look for evidence and issue orders delivered. Any such interference, in our opinion, should be viewed as obstruction of an inspector under Section 62 (1) of the OHSA. The MOL must appropriately change its systems and train inspectors adequately to thoroughly do their jobs and enforce the OHSA and its regulations.

Chief Prevention Officer

The Chief Prevention Officer (CPO) rarely consults with our union and the Minister’s Section 21 Committee. The CPO is responsible for the grants that are awarded for innovation and research to improve worker safety. The CPO also sits on the Workplace Violence Prevention in Health Care Leadership Table, which by now should have provided great insight into the risks that our members face every day from workplace violence. However, since then, we have not seen any further dedicated funding to develop additional valuable tools across the health care sector system, such as those suggested by the Leadership Table.

CPO Powers

Recently, through Bill 70, the government introduced a law giving the CPO powers to implement an accreditation program and set the standards for accreditation. All of this was done without any prior consultation with ONA or other labour unions. The CPO reports directly to the MOL. Therefore, we ask the labour minister to allow/require the CPO to focus and dedicate significant resources to healthcare worker safety, including workplace violence prevention.

SAWO Blitzes/Initiatives – One Year Initiative

As expressed at the SAWO consultation, we prefer the idea of a one-year initiative instead of short-term blitzes, which are not as impactful as there is little opportunity for inspectors to follow up. Furthermore, any SAWO initiative must be flexible to allow inspectors to address any new concerns they uncover during their investigative trial or brought to their attention by workers during their visits. We recommend that MOL allow and build into enforcement initiatives time for MOL inspectors to use their intelligence, training and expertise to follow leads and enforce and tail tips.

Investigations – Resolving Hazards

When looking at the Internal Responsibility System (IRS), inspectors should check if there is a system for workers to report incidents and see if the employer and managers are investigating all incidents (including near-misses). Many managers only read the professional responsibility issues and completely disregard the worker safety concerns. Inspectors should be required to ask healthcare managers how they protected workers and resolved those health and safety issues identified in professional responsibility complaint forms.

Deliverables

Any SAWO initiative must also ensure and monitor the deliverables. One such deliverable should include orders requiring employers to provide, as noted above, accident/illness notification information within four days to the JHSC, to the Unions and the MOL as applicable, containing all of the prescribed information. Inspectors should also return and speak with JHSC worker members and Bargaining Unit union leaders to see if they are also, in fact, getting these notifications.

Musculoskeletal Disorder, Infectious Disease, Psychological Safety

We also want to clarify that all of the principles for good adequate inspections and enforcement should also be applied for musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) hazards (which are still the highest injury-causing hazard in the healthcare sector) and infectious diseases, slip trips and falls. We also would like to see MOL begin to focus on psychological safety in our workplaces.

Enforcement

Inspectors are still not issuing orders or charging directors, and officers are not complying with their obligations, despite our repeated pleas to do so.ONA believes the lack of MOL demonstrated meaningful and consistent enforcement along with what appears to be MOL director and senior leadership resistance to hold healthcare employers, CEOs, directors and management personally accountable for not complying with the OHSA and its regulations, is still putting our members’ health and safety at risk. The Ministers of Labour and Health will exercise their powers and enforcement abilities and demonstrate that they will, in 2017/2018, hold individual leaders in health care accountable for complying with the OHSA and applicable regulations.

Boilerplate

The Ontario Nurses Association (ONA) is the union representing 62,000 front-line registered nurses and allied health professionals and 16,000 nursing student affiliates across Ontario, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry.

Sept. 29, 2021