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Kevin MacNeill and Daniel Mayer Ontario makes OH&S training mandatory Dean Panel recommendations becoming reality. O ntario continues to amend its occupational health and safety regime, building on recommendations from the 2010 Dean Panel Report. The Dean Panel was commissioned to examine Ontario's occupational health and safety system following tragic workplace fatalities in 2009 and 2010. The panel's recommendations have already sparked major reform, and the Ontario government appears to be moving forward with implementing even more of the Dean Panel's recommendations. The Dean Panel's review of Ontario's occupational health and safety regime identified the lack of OHS knowledge amongst supervisors and workers as an impediment to OHS compliance in Ontario. Its final report, released in December 2010, emphasized that health and safety representatives, workers, and supervisors are not adequately trained and informed of rights and obligations regarding health and safety in the workplace. As a result, it recommended the Ministry of Labour develop two basic OHS awareness training programs, one for workers and another for supervisors responsible for front line workers. The Dean Panel also proposed minimum content requirements. Acting on the Dean Panel's recommendations, the Ontario government will soon introduce a new regulation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act that will require mandatory basic OHS awareness training for all workers and supervisors in Ontario. Workers and supervisors will be required to complete this awareness training before or shortly after they begin working for their employer. The new regulation will likely be filed on July 1, 2013, and come into force on Jan. 1, 2014. While both OHS awareness programs are tailored for either workers or supervisors, some of the content requirements proposed by the Dean Panel will be in both training programs. Those content requirements include the rights and responsibilities of workers and supervisors, the roles of workplace parties, the MOL, health and safety associations, and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. The Dean Dean Panel recommended other training requirements which might be developed in the future to address specific OHS issues in workplaces with higher risks. For example, it recommended mandatory training on high-risk activities such as fall protection training and construction worker training. To the extent that other Canadian jurisdictions do not have the same mandatory OHS awareness training (and the content of that training) as in Ontario, one might query whether employers there might be required to provide similar training under the general duty to "do everything reasonable in the circumstances" to protect the health and safety of workers. Every province's health and safety legislation requires employers to take such measures. While this is an unanswered question, it is worth considering. And, to the extent similar training requirements do not expressly exist in other jurisdictions, The new mandatory training is the first in what is anticipated to be a series of other required training modules. Panel also recommended the government provide these OHS training programs free of charge. However, employers can use any other training program that fulfills the minimum requirements. Employers will be required to ensure workers and supervisors receive this training or that they have received similar training in the past. In fact, the new regulation will require employers to keep records of worker and supervisor training. However, the regulation will not necessarily require workers and supervisors to receive new training when they change jobs. Thus, proper record keeping will be crucial as Ontario moves forward with mandatory OHS training. The new mandatory training is the first in what is anticipated to be a series of other required training modules. The fulfilling them on a voluntary basis would be prudent and could bolster a due diligence defence if an employer is charged under OHS legislation. Given the introductory nature of the mandatory OHS awareness programs, employers should consider offering tailored OHS training according to their specific workplaces. For example, while the mandatory OHS training programs may demonstrate how to identify hazards in the workplace, employers should take proactive steps to identify specific hazards and to inform workers and supervisors about them during a tailored OHS training program. IH Kevin MacNeill is a partner and Daniel Mayer an associate with Heenan Blaikie LLP. w w w. c a n a d i a n law y er m a g . c o m / i n h o u s E june 2013 • 11

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