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Health care program
Health care inspectors enforce the Occupational Health and Safety Act and applicable regulations at health care workplaces across the province.
In Ontario, health and community care services are provided in a variety of complex settings. The Ministry of Labour Health Care Health and Safety Program covers seven settings:
- long-term care homes (homes for nursing care)
- retirement homes (homes for residential care)
- hospitals
- nursing services
- supported group living residences and other facilities (group homes)
- treatment clinics and specialized services
- professional offices and agencies.
In addition to their general inspection duties in 2015-16, inspectors conducted field visits as part of the provincial health care enforcement initiative.
Provincial health care enforcement initiative
As part of Safe At Work Ontario, the Ministry of Labour is conducting a three-year (July 1, 2014-June 30, 2017) initiative to promote health and safety in Ontario’s health care sector.
This initiative is addressing the five most serious hazards in health care workplaces:
- musculoskeletal disorders
- exposure to hazardous biological, chemical and physical agents
- slips, trips and falls
- worker contact with objects and/or being struck by objects
- workplace violence.
Over the three years, inspectors will visit all acute care hospitals, along with some long-term care homes, retirement homes, group homes and community-based health care services. During the inspections, they review both clinical and non-clinical areas.
Inspectors check for compliance with:
- the Occupational Health and Safety Act
- the Regulation for Health Care and Residential Facilities
- regulations related to needle safety
- other health and safety regulations.
They evaluate the workplaces’ Internal Responsibility System and their compliance with regulations related to occupational health and safety awareness and training. Inspectors may also refer employers to health and safety associations for compliance assistance and training.
Enforcement initiatives raise awareness of known workplace hazards and promote compliance with health and safety requirements. Inspectors' findings may influence the frequency and level of future inspections of individual workplaces in the health care sector.
The Ministry of Labour has worked proactively with workplaces to increase awareness of the unique hazards that health care workers face and the responsibilities of employers to keep workers safe. Our goal is for health care workers to continue to deliver quality health care to Ontarians in the safest and healthiest environment for both worker and patient.
Leon Genesove
Chief Physician, Health Care Health and Safety Program
| Program activities | Number |
|---|---|
| Field visits | 954 |
| Workplaces visited | 434 |
| Orders and requirements issued | 2,776 |
| Stop work orders | 28 |
| Orders and requirements per workplace visited | 6.4 |
| Orders and requirements per field visit | 2.9 |
Inspectors visited various workplace settings.
| Sector | Orders issued | Stop work orders issued | Requirements issued | Workplaces visited |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hospitals | 1,232 | 13 | 0 | 94 |
| Homes for nursing care | 223 | 2 | 0 | 56 |
| Group homes | 26 | 1 | 0 | 36 |
| Professional offices and agencies | 23 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Homes for residential care | 228 | 1 | 0 | 55 |
| Treatment clinics and specialized services | 35 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Nursing services | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Health care other | 769 | 5 | 0 | 110 |
| Not otherwise classified | 238 | 6 | 0 | 83 |
About 1% of the orders issued (28) were stop work orders.
The top three most frequently issued orders involved employers’ failure to:
- take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for a worker’s protection
- ensure that materials, articles or things are transported, placed or stored so that they will not tip, collapse or fall
- ensure that equipment, materials and protective devices provided by the employer are maintained in good condition.
| Reason for order | Number of orders | Percentage of total orders issued |
|---|---|---|
| Failure to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for a worker’s protection [OHSA s. 25(2)(h)] | 357 | 12.86 |
| Failure to ensure that materials, articles or things are transported, placed or stored so that they will not tip, collapse or fall [O. Reg. 67/93 s. 103(2)] | 187 | 6.74 |
| Failure to ensure that equipment, materials and protective devices provided by the employer are maintained in good condition [OHSA s. 25(1)(b)] | 165 | 5.94 |
| Failure to keep work surfaces free of obstructions and hazards [O. Reg. 67/93 s. 33(1)(a)] | 135 | 4.86 |
| Failure to ensure that measures and procedures are reviewed at least annually and in light of current knowledge and practice [O. Reg. 67/93 s. 9(2)] | 95 | 3.42 |
| Failure to ensure that no food, drink, tobacco or cosmetics are consumed, applied or kept in areas where infectious materials, hazardous chemicals or hazardous drugs are used, handled or stored [O. Reg. 67/93 s. 32] | 85 | 3.06 |
| Failure to provide guard or other device on machine, prime mover or transmission equipment with an exposed moving part that may endanger the safety of any worker [O. Reg. 67/93 s. 45] | 77 | 2.77 |
| Failure to provide guard or other device that prevents access to the pinch point of an in-running nip hazard or any part of a machine, device or thing that may endanger the safety of any worker [O. Reg. 67/93 s. 46] | 72 | 2.59 |
| Failure to develop, establish, and put into effect measures and procedures for a worker’s protection in consultation with the Joint Health and Safety Committee or health and safety representative [O. Reg. 67/93 s. 8] | 67 | 2.41 |
| Failure to provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker for a worker’s protection [OHSA s. 25(2)(a)] | 58 | 2.09 |
Resources
- Health care sector plan 2016-2017
- Public Services Health & Safety Asssociation resources to support health care sector plan and initiatives, 2015–2016
- Health and community care
Regional health care enforcement initiatives
Eastern Region
Safety engineered medical devices at flu clinics
In 2015-16, the Eastern Region conducted an initiative designed to ensure compliance with the Needle Safety Regulation that has been in effect since 2007 to protect workers from needle stick injuries.
Inspectors visited 37 flu clinics and pharmacies, and issued 78 orders. The most frequently issued orders were to:
- maintain equipment in good condition
- provide safety-engineered needles
- provide health and safety awareness training for workers and supervisors.
| Program activities | Number |
|---|---|
| Field visits | 39 |
| Workplaces visited | 37 |
| Orders and requirements issued | 78 |
| Stop work orders | 0 |
| Orders and requirements per workplace visited | 2.1 |
| Orders and requirements per field visit | 2.0 |