Health & Safety: News

Read important information regarding the Avian Influenza A H7N9, including guidance from the Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Arlene King.

The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) has released an updated Important Health Notice regarding novel coronavirus. Please share the information with your members or colleagues.

Ontario will join more than 100 countries in marking April 28 as the day to commemorate workers who have died, been injured or made ill as a result of their work.

Registration for the 2013 Regional Health and Safety Caucus is now open. The theme is Health and Safety Activism... Building Knowledge and Capacity for Progress.

Register now for the OHCOW annual RSI-PLUS Awareness Day to be held on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013 at Sudbury's Cambrian College eDome. Find out more details here!

The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) just released its new national Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace - Prevention, promotion and guidance to staged implementation. Access it for free here.

Ministry of Labour inspectors will be visiting health-care workplaces in February and March and will look at workplace violence and harassment prevention. ONA's health and safety specialists have put together the helpful information below to help you be prepared.

The Public Services Health and Safety Association (PSHSA) is now offering education sessions for health-care workplaces that aim to reduce worker injuries and illnesses.

The Workers Health and Safety Centre has released its comprehensive training calendar from February to June, 2013. Among the many courses addresses: ergonomics, WHMIS, workplace stress, workplace violence and much more. Download your calendar today.

Health Canada has issued this important notice regarding respiratory masks manufactured by Guangzhou Weini Technology (GWT). The notice states, in part, that NIOSH has recinded the N95 NIOSH certification of all GWT respiratory masks. Health care staff should not be using or promoting these masks.

Show your support for injured workers and attend a rally on December 14 at 11 a.m. at the Ministry of Labour, 400 University Avenue in Toronto. Let's show the Ministry of Labour that we support injured workers!

The Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health is holding a FREE community symposium on Thursday, December 6 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Taking place at Laurentian University, you will hear about recent research results from CROSH researchers and you can participate in a discussion about future research priorities.

The Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) is hosting a free webinar about protecting your back at work. Co-led by OHCOW ergonomists Trevor Schell and Dwayne Fuchs, the webinar will focus on evaluating a minimum lift program and maintaining a healthy back.

Register now for a Nov. 6 symposium about workplace practices to mitigate the health effects of shift work. The goal of this symposium is to extend previous discussions of injuries and illness related to shift work, to promising interventions for prevention.

A mental injuries toolkit will be launched October 10 at a day-long conference co-sponsored by ONA and hosted at Sudbury’s Cambrian College E-dome. ONA member Pamela Mancuso and ONA staff person Tricia Sadoway are featured presenters at the conference.

Beginning October 1, Ministry of Labour inspectors will be visiting workplaces to ensure that the Ministry's prevention poster is hung up. The poster is a summary of workers' health and safety rights and the responsibilities of employers and supervisors.

Stress from work is on the rise. As such, a toolkit that will provide information and tools for health and safety activites to help combat psychosocial hazards is being developed. The launch of the toolkit is October 10. Find out more details here.

Twenty-nine years ago, more than 3,000 injured workers, family members and supporters met at Queen's Park to protest changes to the workers' compensation act. The compensation legislation that was subsequently passed included important recommendations from injured workers. To mark this special day, June 1 was declared Injured Workers' Day. Join workers, labour and the community at a rally on June 1 at 11 a.m. at Queen's Park to commemorate it.

Registration is now open for the spring Health and Safety Caucus in conjunction with the Area Coordinators Conferences (ACC). The theme for this year's caucus is Evidence and Solidarity...The Keys to Real Health and Safety Action. Register today!

The Ontario Council of Hospital Unions is sponsoring a conference entitled, "Conference on the Epidemic of Medical Errors & Hospital Acquired Infections in the US and Canada: The Systemic Causes," and you're invited to attend.

The Day of Mourning is April 28, a day to commemmorate workers who have died, been injured or made ill as a result of their work. The Ontario Nurses' Association urges you to join workers in your community to reflect during this important day and to call for more action to prevent tragedies in our workplaces.

Considerable attention in addressing violence in health care have been achieved from service and organizational perspectives. The Third International Conference on Violence in Health Sector, will take place in Vancouver from October 24 to 26, 2012. In addition to raising awareness, the conference will provide a platform to share ideas with an emphasis on best practice research.

The Labour OHCOW Academic Collaborative is an affiliation of independent researchers that are trying to improve our health and safety at work. The researchers are conducting a survey of unionized and non-unionized worker representatives to find out what makes representation effective. If you are a worker health and safety representative/Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) member, please complete an important survey.

February 29, 2011 will be the 13th annual International Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) Awareness Day, which is dedicated to RSI education and prevention. This year, ONA is a proud sponsor of the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) annual RSIPLUS Awareness Day event broadcast from the eDome at Sudbury’s Cambrian College.

The Health & Safety section of the ONA website is under renovation. We plan to post tools and information that will help you in your efforts to make our workplaces safe and healthy.One of our goals is to freely share Ministry of Labour enforcement measures around the province. To do that, we need your help. When the Ministry of Labour visits your workplace and leaves a report (with or without orders), please scan and e-mail that report to molactivities@ona.org.

The Ministry of Labour will be conducting a blitz on musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in February, 2012. Find out how you can prepare for this blitz ~ sign up for a January 18 webinar that will give you the information you need to prepare for inspection!

December 6 is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. The Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) is remembering the 14 women who were killed at École polytechnique in Montreal on December 6, 1989 and the thousands who have been killed since then.

The Ontario Network of Injured Workers' Groups has organized its 20th Annual Christmas Demonstration on Friday, December 9 at 11 a.m. Come show your support to injured workers! The demonstration will be held at Ministry of Labour offices at 400 University Avenue in Toronto. ONA members will be there to lend their support!

A new Guidance Note called, Application of Hazard Control Principles, including the Precautionary Principle to Infectious Agents, is now available. Download this important document.

Ministry of Labour inspectors will check for hazards affecting infection prevention and control in health-care workplaces during November. They will visit hospitals, long-term care homes and community health centres.

The Ontario Council of Healthcare Unions (OCHU) is sponsoring a conference on "Epidemic of Medical Errors and Hospital-Acquired Infections in the United States and Canada: Systemic and Social Causes" at the University of Toronto, June 4, 2012. The conference is intended to organize a social movement and raise awareness of what is missing in the current debate on medical errors.

The Ontario Nurses' Association has obtained information about which Ontario long-term care facilities and hospitals have paid surcharges to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and which have received rebates.

Sign up for the Institute for Work & Health free e-alert to keep up-to-date on research coming out of the Institute. The free quarterly newsletter covers issues -- including musculoskeletal disorders, return to work and workers' compensation benefits -- that affect our members.

Please sign up for a health and safety event to enhance your occupational health and safety knowledge and help reduce injuries in your workplace. There are three events for health-care professionals.

A webinar on C. Difficile and best practices on infection prevention and control will take place on August 4 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The webinar costs $30 and is presented in part by the Public Services Health and Safety Association.

The fall 2011 Workers Health and Safety Centre's community-based training schedule is now available. Be sure to visit the WHSC website to find resources and important information about health and safety.

June 1 is the 28th Annual Injured Workers' Day. Attend one of several events that are being held across the province to speak out about workers' compensation and other important issues injured workers face.

It took some tragic events and Justice Campbell’s SARS report to convince the government that health care needs special health and safety attention. In honour of our fallen colleagues, and in tribute to Justice Campbell, we ask that you please join us to urge the Ontario government to stay the course on health and safety.

April 6 - This video -- produced by the Ontario Ministry of Labour -- shows what Ministry of Labour inspectors look for to ensure that workplaces infection prevention and control programs comply with occupational health and safety standards.

The Public Services Health & Safety Association is offering selected training this month for $25 per participant. The training starts on Monday, March 21. Register now because the sessions are filling up quickly.

February 28, 2011 is the 12th annual International Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) Awareness Day, which is dedicated to RSI education and prevention. Please spread the word about the valuable activities around the province that are being planned to help build awareness and develop strategies to eliminate RSIs in our workplaces.

The Government of Ontario has launched a heightened enforcement focus related to hazards in shipping and receiving areas, including loading docks. Ministry of Labour inspectors will visit industrial and health care workplaces in February 2011.

The Minister of Labour’s Section 21 Committee has finalized two additional Guidance Notes: Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Education and Training and Safety-Engineered Medical Sharps (SEMS).

The health and safety landscape in Ontario is changing. Training offered by the Workers Health and Safety Centre (WHSC) this fall will shed light on these changes and help your workplace comply with existing and evolving legislated training and other occupational health and safety standards.

The Ontario Federation of Labour is sponsoring an exciting joint Health & Safety and Workers’ Compensation conference on November 25 to 27 at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto.

The Ministry of Labour has announced a Musculoskeletal (MSD) Heightened Enforcement Campaign for the health care sector. The campaign will be carried out starting September 15 and ending November 15, 2010.

The summer 2010 issue of the Ontario Ministry of Labour’s Safe At Work Ontario TODAY newsletter is available online.

ONA’s persistent efforts to end workplace violence have paid off in the form of significant amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). Learn about the new legislation that takes effect today.

June 1, 2010 is the 27th anniversary of the day when more than 3,000 injured workers, their families and supporters converged on Queen’s Park to protest unjust changes to the compensation act. They won and we’re going to celebrate by rallying and petitioning to improve compensation for injured workers in Ontario.

The recent H1N1 outbreak and response taught us that while the province is better prepared than it was during SARS, there is still a long way to go. ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN, recently wrote to the Honourable Deb Matthews, Minister of Health and Long-term Care (MOHLTC), about what went right and what went wrong.

After years of lobbying and campaigning by the labour movement and others, we now have a new law to help address workplace violence and harassment. Want to know if your employer is in compliance? The Workers Health & Safety Centre will make special presentations on the new legislation in 13 cities across the province between May 3 and May 14, 2010.

Dr. Joshi will be sharing his vast clinical experiences in identifying asbestos related occupational diseases and answering questions. This event is presented by the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, Toronto Clinic and there is no cost to register.

An Important Health Notice (IHN) regarding the H1N1 flu virus has been posted to the section of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care website that is maintained for health care professionals. The Provincial Status level has been changed from Enhanced to Recovery, resulting in the deactivation of pH1N1 response activities.

Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital Corporation, Burlington, was fined $10,000 on December 8, 2009, for a violation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) after workers became ill.

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), in Toronto, was fined $70,000 today for violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) after workers were assaulted.