These responsibilities are laid out in the Occupational Health and Safety Act. A good place to begin would be to review sections 25 and 26 of the act (employer responsibilities) to give you an idea of the scope of the general responsibilities. A copy of the OHSA can be obtained from a variety of sources: the offices of the Ministry of Labour, Publications Ontario or the health and safety associations.

The Workplace Safety Insurance Act does require many classes of workplace (classes are based on the nature of the work conducted) to have WSIB coverage, but some classes (dentists and doctors offices, veterinary clinics, etc.) are not required to have this insurance. For those that it is not a requirement, some businesses find it a useful option to pursue as it protects them from lawsuits resulting from injuries to employees and may provide business advantages in dealing with other businesses that require this insurance as a condition of contracting. Call the WSIB and ask if you are required to have this insurance.

Committees are an internal structure within your business made up of employer and worker representatives (see OHSA, Sect. 9). If your business has 20 or more employees, or uses a designated substance (asbestos, lead, mercury, etc.), then you are required to establish a JHSC which will meet at least quarterly and conduct monthly inspections. Health and safety associations and WSIB both have a variety of tools and guidelines available to help you set up your JHSC and ensure it operates within the requirements of the OHSA. Smaller businesses may be required to have a health and safety representative, who performs many of the same tasks as a committee does without the administrative requirements for meetings, etc. OHSA, Sect. 8 deals with this process.

The WSIB has assigned organizations which it supports through funding to provide services to different rate numbers. Contact information for all of these is available on the WSIB website, and WSIB can tell you which association is assigned to provide services to your firm. All of them provide some level of support and assistance that is paid for as part of WSIB premiums, and their websites provide a lot of good free information to anyone starting or thinking about starting a small business. Note that there are also a number of private organizations that also provide assistance, but these are not funded by WSIB and thus will look to fees, sales or charges to support their activities.

The policy and program is something that has to be developed for each business and based on its unique risks and resources. That being said, many examples of policies and procedures (which together make up a program) are available free to help you get started. Health and safety association websites (like the small business area on IAPA's website www.iapa.ca) have a variety of sample materials that can be used at no cost. Health and safety association consultants can also advise you on the specific needs for your type of business and can provide materials which are more specifically tailored to your industry's risks and processes.

While some private firm marketing material suggests that is what the MOL is out to do, the MOL operates to ensure compliance to the legislative requirements. To reduce the toll of injuries and deaths in Ontario workplaces, MOL inspectors have extensive powers to enforce the requirements of the OHSA. Their goal in using those powers is to get your business to comply. Inspectors would only use their more extreme powers to shut your business down where efforts to get the business to comply have failed. Powers of inspectors are laid out under OHSA, Sect. 54.

WHMIS is an acronym which stands for “Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System”. It is a process which ensures workers are aware of the hazards in chemicals and materials they are working with, and are trained to follow procedures in using those materials.

Implementing WHMIS in a workplace is a four step process:

• determine which workplace materials are covered by WHMIS;
• ensure that these materials are labeled properly;
• obtain Materials Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) from the suppliers of these materials; and
• train workers in the general aspects of WHMIS (labels, MSDS's, etc.) and in the specific safety requirements for materials which they use.

Your firm's JHSC or health and safety representative is required to be consulted on your plan for doing training, and is required to review the training annually. Note that the requirements for training do not identify specific material or a specific vendor as an acceptable or exclusive source of this training, nor is there a requirement that your trainer be certified. Your health and safety association can guide you as to the various options available for conducting this training.

First aid training is a requirement of Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, Reg. 1101 (which you can obtain free from your local WSIB office). This regulation includes a listing of various organizations which conduct training which WSIB recognizes as meeting the requirement of their legislation.

First aid training requirement vary based on the size of firm and number of employees present, and these are specified in the legislation. Note kit contents (# of bandages, amount of guaze, etc.) are also specified in this regulation and most vendors can provide you with a kit to meet those specific requirement where you can identify the section or firm size requirement that applies.

Where your JHSC is required for 20 or more person regularly employed (note construction regulations have unique requirements in this area), you must have 2 members of that committee “certified” by WSIB- meaning that they must take a course on legislation, pass an exam, and be trained on the specific hazards in the firm's workplace or sector.

A WSIB Form 3189A must be submitted to WSIB on completion of the training, and WSIB will issue a card to the person certified. The OHSA provides some additional powers to the certified members which they may exercise as long as they are members of your JHSC. These powers do not extend beyond the workplace for which certification was done, nor can they be exercised when a certified person leaves the JHSC at your firm. Note WSIB is responsible for reviewing and approving certification training, even if your firm is not required (see Question 2) to have WSIB coverage. Again, your health and safety association can review with you the range of available training options and processes.

If the MOL identifies (see question 6) that you are not complying, they may order you to comply- in some cases, immediately and in others, by a particular time (and your firm would be required to report when you have complied with that order). If someone has been injured or killed, or if the MOL does not feel that an order would be adequate, charges may be laid against you firm, yourself personally, and/or your employees. The charges would be based on the number of offenses identified (for example, failure to set up a JHSC where required could be considered to be as many as 30 offenses) and if convicted in court, individual penalties range up to $25,000 and/or a year in jail per offense and organizationally up to $500,000 per offense.

Yes. Worker responsibilities are laid out under OHSA, Sect. 28. Non-compliance on their part may result in charges under the OHSA, and penalties are spelled out under question 10.