AMTA  E-News

June  2010

Federal Health & Safety Intervention Model Supports Voluntary Compliance

Federally registered employers  have another way to promote healthier and safer workplaces thanks to a tool being used by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC).

Federal health and safety officers making proactive visits to employers and worksites at higher risk of work injuries within a given industrial sector will be using a tool called the National Intervention Model. The model is designed to identify non-compliance and systemic weakness, and to strengthen the internal responsibility system to achieve a higher level of voluntary compliance with the Canada Labour Code.

Health and safety officers will be using the same selection template, the same policy and procedure templates, and will be looking for the same specific hazards across Canada. There is no regulation involved. Rather, a proactive approach is being used which aims to provide employers and employees with a positive experience.

The national intervention model is designed to support voluntary compliance through education and consultation while ensuring that enforcement, when required, is fair, foreseeable, and nationally consistent.

Here’s how the six-step process works:

Stage 1 Appraisal


Selection of Employer
Various sources of information are used to indicate which occupations have a higher risk of injury or illness and which worksites have the highest accident rates. Federal employers with 300 or more employees will be selected and contacted by HRSDC Labour Ottawa and smaller employers will be selected and contacted by the local HRSDC offices situated in each province.

Employer Commitment
This step includes an on-site meeting with the employer where the process is explained and their “buy-in” is encouraged by the employer signing a letter of acknowledgement. This is an important step because the program is meant to be voluntary with the focus on prevention and education.

Occupational Health and Safety Appraisal and Development
During this stage a preliminary assessment of health and safety components at the workplace is completed.  Depending on the outcome of the appraisal, tools and assistance may be provided to the employer by Labour Program officers. It is not the intention here to provide training on how to comply with the Code, but rather to provide employers with the information and tools that will assist them. The health and safety officer will review the health and safety board and the employer’s occupational health and safety policy. The officer will ask to see any hazardous-occurrence investigation reports, the employer’s annual hazardous occurrence report, and the annual workplace health and safety committee report.

Stage 2 Assessment (detailed review)


Occupational Health and Safety Assessment
This is a formal assessment of workplace components such as:

■safe working procedures
■health and safety education and training
■hazardous occurrence investigation, recording, and reporting
■health and safety representatives, workplace committee, and policy committee
■violence in the workplace
■the internal complaint-resolution process.

The following specific hazards are reviewed if applicable:

■level of sound
■hazardous materials
■work on electrical equipment
■confined spaces
■machine guarding
■material handling equipment
■PPE
■manual lifting
■ergonomics-related hazards
■other regulatory requirements.

Occupational Health and Safety Analysis and Action Plan
This step of the process is the analysis of the information gathered to date (determination if there are any deficiencies in the employer’s health and safety program), and working with the employer to create goals to meet the requirements of the Code. The intention is not to evaluate or audit the workplace for compliance purposes. It’s to perform an assessment and develop a joint work plan to address any deficiencies with specific but reasonable compliance dates. The health and safety officer may offer assistance such as counselling, seminars, or other resources such as contacting your safe workplace association, the Infrastructure Health & Safety Association (IHSA).

Stage 3 Follow Up (corrective action):


Maintenance of the Workplace Occupational Health and Safety Program
The labour program monitors the work plan and agreed-upon compliance dates as a means of determining success and frequency of future interventions. Compliance with the assessment components serve as an indicator of the likely success of the overall occupational health and safety program in a given workplace.

It is worth noting that the approach to implementing the intervention model at the level of the workplace is completely voluntary. It is a collaborative and non-confrontational approach, designed to be a positive experience for all stakeholders and to assist in the establishment of an effective internal responsibility system in targeted workplaces.

Summary
The intervention model’s overall goal is to focus on high-risk sectors and employers and to work in partnership with employers and employees to enhance their capacity to resolve workplace health and safety matters quickly, efficiently, and autonomously.

The intervention model offers employers and employees another way to work cooperatively to implement the type of workplace health and safety policies and procedures that make sense for their workplaces. Workplace parties can all focus their efforts where the needs and potential benefits are greatest.