Inspection initiative results: New and young workers 2018

Overview

From May 1 to August 31, 2018, Ministry of Labour inspectors conducted a health and safety initiative at industrial sector workplaces focusing on:

• young workers aged 14 to 24 and
• new workers^{footnote 1[1]} who were on the job for less than six months or assigned to a new job

Ministry of Labour inspectors:

• conducted 2,321 field visits with 193 support role activities^{footnote 2[2]}
• visited 1,901 workplaces
• issued 7,675 orders and requirements under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and its regulations, including 116 stop work orders

Inspectors checked that employers were complying with the Occupational Health and Safety Act and its regulations.

The goals of this health and safety initiative were to:

• raise awareness of hazards
• raise awareness of the OHSA rights and responsibilities for new and young workers
• encourage employers to identify and control hazards
• increase workplace compliance with the OHSA and its regulations
• help to prevent injuries and illness that could arise from unsafe work practices
• promote improved health and safety for new and young workers

Background

Between 2012 and 2016, 30 young workers aged 15 to 24 died in work-related incidents, according to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). In 2016, four young workers died.

Between 2012 and 2016, the WSIB approved 32,783 compensation claims involving lost time at work by young workers. In 2016 alone, injuries to young workers resulted in more than 7,000 lost-time claims, with more than 60 per cent (4,503) of those claims being submitted by male workers.

In 2016, many of the injured young workers aged 15 to 19 years old were food counter attendants and kitchen helpers. Many of the injured young workers aged 20 to 24 years old were labourers working in the processing, manufacturing and utilities sectors.

Full report

Workplace inspection initiatives

Inspection initiatives are part of our Safe At Work Ontario (SAWO) compliance strategy. We announce to the sector, in advance, that we will be doing an initiative, however individual workplaces are not notified in advance. The results of short-term provincial initiatives are typically posted online within 90 days. Inspectors’ findings may impact the number and level of future inspections of individual workplaces.

Inspectors may also refer employers to health and safety associations for compliance assistance and training.

Focus of the initiative

During this health and safety initiative, inspectors focused on workplaces where new and young workers were employed, including:

• retail establishments
• restaurants
• food, beverage and tobacco plants
• tourism, hospitality and recreation facilities

Inspectors focused on the following:

• Information, instruction and supervision: Inspectors checked that employers had provided information, instruction and supervision to new and young workers to protect their health and safety when starting a job. For example, new and young workers must be informed of the requirements involving the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS). They must also be aware of their rights and obligations, including their right to refuse work that could endanger themselves or others.
• Minimum age requirements: Inspectors checked that workers met minimum age requirements. In workplaces, workers must be at least:
  • 14 years old to work in offices, stores, arenas and restaurant serving areas
  • 15 years old to work in most factories, including restaurant kitchens, automotive service garages, produce and meat preparation areas, laundries, warehouses, and shipping and receiving areas in grocery stores and
  • 16 years old to work in logging operations.
• Internal responsibility system (IRS): Inspectors checked that employers had met the requirements for their workplace’s internal responsibility system, such as joint health and safety committees or health and safety representatives, when required.
• Safety measures: Inspectors checked that employers had the required safety measures and procedures in place to prevent worker injuries, illness and death.

Inspectors took appropriate action if violations were found under the OHSA or its regulations. This included:

• writing orders to employers, supervisors and workers to have them comply with legal requirements
• issuing stop work orders requiring employers to comply before work could continue

Inspection activity summary

Visits to workplaces

• 2,321 field visits with 193 support role activities
• 1,901 workplaces visited
• 7,675 orders and requirements issued
• 7,572 orders issued for violations under the OHSA and its regulations, including 116 stop work orders
• 103 requirements issued to provide an inspector with workplace information
• an average of 4.04 orders and requirements issued per workplace visited
• an average of 3.31 orders and requirements issued per visit

Most frequently issued orders

During the initiative, orders were issued for various violations under the OHSA and under the following regulations:

• Reg. 851: Industrial Establishments
• O. Reg. 297/13: Occupational Health and Safety Awareness and Training
• Reg. 860: Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS)
• Reg. 856: Roll-Over Protective Structures
• O. Reg. 381/15: Noise
• O. Reg. 490/09: Designated Substances
• O. Reg. 278/05: Designated Substance – Asbestos On Construction Projects and In Buildings and Repair Operations
• Reg. 833: Control of Exposure to Biological or Chemical Agents

Order analysis

The most frequently issued OHSA orders involved employers’ failure to:

• post in the workplace a copy of the OHSA and any explanatory material provided by the Ministry of Labour [s. 25(2)(i)]—507 orders or 6.61% of total orders and requirements
• maintain equipment in good condition [s. 25(1)(b)]—392 orders or 5.11%
• prepare and review, at least annually, a written occupational health and safety policy, and develop and maintain a program to implement that policy [s. 25(2)(j)]—328 orders or 4.27%
• take reasonable precautions to protect workers’ health and safety [s. 25(2)(h)]—320 orders or 4.17%
• have a workplace health and safety representative at the workplace [s. 8(1)]—280 orders or 3.65%
• provide information, instruction and supervision to protect workers' health and safety [s. 25(2)(a)]—185 orders or 2.41%
• review their violence and workplace harassment policies as often as is necessary, but at least annually [s. 32.0.1(1)(c)]—175 orders or 2.28%
• post the employer’s workplace violence and harassment policies in the workplace [s. 32.0.1(2)]—172 orders or 2.24%
• develop and maintain a program to implement the workplace harassment policy [32.0.6(1)]—167 orders or 2.18%
• have a health and safety representative do an inspection of the workplace [s. 8(6)]—141 orders or 1.84%

A total of 1,429 orders were issued under Part III.0.1 of the OHSA provisions for workplace violence and harassment. They involved failure of employers to comply with requirements to:

• have workplace violence and harassment policies and programs in place
• provide information and instruction on those policies and programs
• assess or re-assess the risks of workplace violence arising from the nature of the workplace, type of work or conditions of work

As part of checking for worker training and appropriate supervision in workplaces, 851 orders were issued under O. Reg. 297/13: Occupational Health and Safety Awareness and Training Regulation for violations involving:

• basic occupational health and safety awareness training for workers [s. 1]—465 orders or 6.06%
• basic occupational health and safety awareness training for supervisors [s. 2]—379 orders or 4.94%
• maintaining records of basic occupational health and safety awareness training [s. 4]—7 orders or 0.09%

A total of 1,881 orders were issued under the following sections (among others) of Regulation 851: Industrial Establishments:

• housekeeping [s. 11 to 20]—467 orders or 6.08% of total orders and requirements
• fire safety [s. 22 to 23]—17 orders or 0.22%
• machine guarding [s. 24 to 44.2]—277 orders or 3.61%
• material handling [s. 45 to 66]—721 orders or 9.39%
• maintenance and repairs [s. 72 to 78]—73 orders or 0.95%
• personal protective equipment [s. 79 to 86]—105 orders or 1.37%
• buildings [s. 120 to 123]—84 orders or 1.09%
• industrial hygiene [s. 124 to 139]—122 orders or 1.59%

A total of 116 stop work orders were issued. This represented about 1.51% of all orders issued.

Observations

Consistent with previous years, this initiative found that workplaces in the retail, restaurant, tourism, hospitality and recreational services sectors (see table above) continue to have the most orders of any sectors visited.

New and young workers continue to be exposed to many similar hazards in workplaces across all sectors, regardless of the size of the workplace or nature of business.

A review of the last five years of the new and young worker initiative results revealed that no orders have been issued for failure to comply with minimum age requirements under the Regulation for Industrial Establishments.

Conclusion and next steps

The ministry will continue to work with our health and safety system partners to raise awareness and promote workplace health and safety among new and young workers in Ontario.

One of the primary purposes of the OHSA is to facilitate a strong internal responsibility system (IRS) in the workplace. The OHSA sets out the duties of workplace parties. It is essential for workplace parties to be aware of and comply with their statutory duties in order to establish and maintain a strong IRS.

Help for employers

Please contact our health and safety partners for more information on the hazards associated with new and young workers.