News Release
Communiqué
05-127
For Immediate Release
November 1, 2005
ONTARIO GOVERNMENT STRENGTHENS PROTECTION
FOR PEOPLE WORKING WITH ASBESTOS
Changes Come Into Effect Today
THUNDER BAY--The Ontario government has strengthened protections for people working with asbestos across Ontario, Labour Minister Steve Peters announced. Most of the changes in the new regulation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act come into effect today.
"As part of the government's ongoing commitment to create safer and healthier workplaces, we have expanded protections based on the latest scientific and technical knowledge about asbestos,"said Peters, speaking at the annual Forum North health and safety conference today. "The next step will be to introduce improved worker training."
New training requirements and expanded asbestos management programs come into effect later.
The new regulation strengthens worker safety by:
- Ensuring the most up-to-date safe work methods and procedures are used. These include updated respiratory protection and modernized work procedures
- Providing certified training standards for those involved in more complicated asbestos removal projects. This will come into effect after a new training program is developed
- Providing a definition for "asbestos-containing material"
- Reflecting industry safe practices and removing unnecessary administrative procedures for owners, employers and contractors.
"The Ontario government is committed to ensuring that the health and safety of every worker is never compromised," said Peters. "These changes have been carefully developed in cooperation with employers and labour, who support this action."
The new regulation is part of the Ontario government's ongoing improvements to workplace health and safety. These include hiring 200 new health and safety inspectors, two of whom started work today in Thunder Bay; targeting workplaces with poor health and safety performance records and high costs to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board; and putting in place a new annual process to update occupational exposure limits for the over 700 hazardous substances covered by Ontario regulations.
The new regulation is available on e-Laws at: http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws_regs_050278_e.htm. You may also call the Ministry of Labour Publications Sales at 416-326-7731.
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Media Contacts:
Susan McConnell
Minister's Office
416-326-7710
Belinda Sutton
Ministry of Labour
416-326-7405
