Prioritizing Health and Safety in Construction
November 8, 2024
| Deaths, critical injuries, and debilitating illnesses are far too common outcomes of work in Ontario’s construction sector. It’s no wonder noted occupational health and safety experts recognize the need for entry-level occupational health and safety training. Learn how Workers Health & Safety Centre (WHSC) Construction Health & Safety Awareness can help. |
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| Identifying and tackling hazards on construction sites can be a challenge. Ensuring workers and supervisors complete health and safety awareness training can help. Falls from heights, struck by vehicles and mobile equipment, crushed by materials, and caught in trench collapses are just a few of the many hazards workers face on a construction site. Extreme temperatures, UV radiation, toxic chemicals, as well as asbestos and silica dust are also common hazards responsible for the stubbornly high incidence rates of death, injury, and illness they suffer. It’s important to note these exposures and the resulting suffering are not new. Nor are the calls for mandatory awareness training for these same workers to help them better understand the hazards they will face on construction sites and their legal rights and obligations to participate in pursuit of safer, healthier work. REGISTER FOR WHSC CONSTRUCTION HEALTH AND SAFETY AWARENESS Experts call for mandatory standardized training Mandatory entry-level training for construction workers was a key recommendation of an expert panel charged with reviewing Ontario’s health and safety system back in 2010. This review, led by Tony Dean, was a response to a tragic and preventable swing stage collapse on December 24, 2009, killing four workers with another suffering life-altering injuries. The panel was comprised of health and safety experts representing labour and employers, together with specialist academics. The Ontario government at the time committed to implementing every recommendation. While some of the recommendations have been implemented over the years, including a successful standard for mandatory working at heights training, the Ontario government has yet to implement a mandatory standard for entry-level training in construction. This despite several Coroner’s Inquest juries also recommending entry-level training for this high- hazard sector. By contrast, the Quebec government has long recognized this need setting out a minimum, mandatory, 30-hour health and safety training program, before workers can work on construction sites. WHSC can help nowIt is said the Ontario Prevention Office will soon be undertaking a review of their progress on the Expert Panel recommendations. However, many are not content to wait. As a result, Workers Health & Safety Centre, Ontario’s only government-designated training centre, is working to meet identified training needs. To this end, WHSC has scheduled our Construction Health & Safety Awareness training program over the coming months in a WHSC virtual classroom. This comprehensive one-day program is ideal for workers and supervisors new to construction and offers a good refresher for more experienced workers too. The program is delivered in real time by a highly experienced, WHSC-qualified instructor to ensure critical learning is achieved. All that is required is a high-speed internet connection, and a computer or tablet with a functioning camera, speakers and microphone. REGISTER FOR CONSTRUCTION HEALTH AND SAFETY AWARENESS NOW* *registration deadline for Nov. 28 class is Nov. 14 Don’t see a training date that works for you? Contact any one of our Training Services Representatives located in communities across Ontario. Access related resources Dean Report (Expert advisory panel on occupational health and safety) Mandatory health and safety awareness for construction workers in Quebec [Safety Code for the Construction Industry, s. 2.4.2 (i)] WHSC is a leading provider of many other mandatory and essential programs for the construction sector. Need other essential and legally mandated training such as joint health & safety committee certification, GHS-WHMIS, workplace violence and harassment, and supervisor awareness and competency? Check out our complete in-person and virtual training schedule. |
| Need more information? Contact a WHSC training services representative in your area. Email: contactus@whsc.on.ca Visit: whsc.on.ca Connect with and follow us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube |
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