Are you Prepared for The Ministry of Labour to Inspect your Workplace?
Posted on Fri, May 27, 2011
By now you probably have started hiring or are almost finished hiring for the upcoming season. Some of the seasonal workers you hired are probably young workers with maybe little to no experience. As an employer and supervisor the Occupational Health and Safety Act outlines your responsibilities to your employees and failure to abide by those responsibilities may lead to injuries or death of your workers. Also, failure to comply with the act could lead to fines or jail terms for the employer and/or supervisors.
As an employer/supervisor it is your responsibility to ensure that
workplace health and safety policies, procedures and programs are current and are communicated effectively to your employees. Employee training programs that are well documented, explained and demonstrated are essential. Encourage an “open door philosophy” with employees. This will encourage workers to discuss potential safety concerns they may see while doing their job. And most importantly lead by example. Everyone in the organization has a responsibility to making the workplace a safe one.
Did you know that approximately 75% of people learn best through hands on training while only 5% actually respond well to lecture style training? What style of training do you provide? Can it be modified to keep the attention of all participants?
Don’t be surprised if you see a Ministry of Labour inspector at your workplace this year. This year’s blitz will be focusing on young and new workers. The goal is to attempt to prevent injuries and deaths of these workers.
Employees and managers should take the time to identify potential hazards at your resort that your workers may be exposed to. It may be something as simple as ensuring that all of your workers are wearing appropriate gear when working around your resort. i.e.: steel toed work boots while cutting the lawn, protective eye wear when trimming grass, helmets while operating ATV’s.
Ensuring that you have written policies and procedures or documentation in your employee manuals surrounding these topics and providing appropriate training is one way to show due diligence around worker safety.
To get you started on the right track, we have created a new employee orientation checklist for you to download absolutely free!