September 23, 2020
Ontario to hire 98 health and safety workplace inspectors, offer COIVD-19 testing at pharmacies.
The Government of Ontario today announced that it will be hiring 98 new labour inspectors with the responsibility of monitoring health and safety in workplaces. Training for the inspectors is set to begin ‘in the fall’ according to the text of the announcement, which I have included below.
The government also announced that pharmacies in the province will soon begin offering COVID-19 testing with as many as 60 pharmacies offering the by-appointment service this Friday “with further locations coming online in the coming weeks”.
In regards to the health and safety inspectors, the new officers will be checking and enforcing that workplaces are following occupational health and safety legislation.
They will have broad powers to:
- inspect any workplace and ensure they have COVID protections in place;
- investigate any potentially hazardous situation, critical injury, fatality and work refusal;
- order compliance with the legislation;
- stop unsafe work from being performed; and
- recommend and initiate prosecutions.
To ensure that your workplace has instituted and is maintaining safe protocols and practices, you may wish to revisit the Ontario Workplace Reopening Guide and Toolkit which I advised you of in mid June.
You may also wish to visit the new Ontario Together PPE Directory, also announced today, which has listings for masks, sanitization, eye protection, gowns, gloves and sneeze guards.
News Release
September 23, 2020
Ontario Set to Employ the Largest Number of Labour Inspectors in Provincial History
New Inspectors will help Keep Workers Safe on the Job during COVID-19
TORONTO – The Ontario government is launching a recruitment campaign to increase its team of frontline health and safety inspectors by 98 and help ensure workplaces across the province are doing their part to prevent the spread of COVID-19. With these new hires, there will be more labour inspectors on the ground than ever before in the province’s history.
“Our government is taking the steps necessary to protect Ontario workers on the job and keep our economy on the road to full recovery,” said Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development Monte McNaughton. “By adding more inspectors to our team, we can respond faster to situations as they arise and help make sure that every office, plant, store and job site in this province is safe, during COVID-19 and beyond.
The hiring of these new workers will see the number of active inspectors in the province increase from 409 to 507, an increase of 24 per cent. Training is set to begin later this fall.
The new inspectors will play a key role in protecting workers by checking and enforcing that workplaces are following occupational health and safety legislation. The will have broad powers to:
- inspect any workplace and ensure they have COVID protections in place;
- investigate any potentially hazardous situation, critical injury, fatality and work refusal;
- order compliance with the legislation;
- stop unsafe work from being performed; and
- recommend and initiate prosecutions.
The full-year cost for the new inspectors will be $11.6 million. Recruitment of the inspectors will begin in early October 2020. Applicants will have one month to apply.
“Nothing is more important than protecting the health and safety of our workers,” said Minister McNaughton. “By building the largest labour inspectorate in history, we’re in the best position to do just that.”
To help ensure that employers have the resources and equipment they need to keep their employees safe, including Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), the government launched the Ontario Together PPE Directory. With listings for masks, sanitization, eye protection, gowns, gloves and sneeze guards, the directory is another tool to help keep everyone safe while on the job.
QUICK FACTS
- Inspectors are provincial offences officers designated under the Provincial Offences Act and are appointed as inspectors under Occupational Health and Safety Act.
- Between March 11 and September 8, 2020, Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development inspectors conducted 19,411 inspections and investigations related to COVID-19 and issued 16,520 orders while on those visits.
- Any worker who thinks they are working in unsafe conditions should report their concerns to Ontario’s Health and Safety Contact Centre, at 1-877-202-0008.