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Backgrounder
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TIMELINE FOR HIRING MINISTRY OF LABOUR HEALTH AND SAFETY INSPECTORS

Marking a major expansion of its health and safety enforcement staff, the Ontario government has hired and trained 100 new health and safety inspectors to help achieve its goal of preventing 60,000 workplace injuries a year by 2008. The new inspectors graduated today and will begin work across the province April 1.

With the addition of the new inspectors, the government now has 330 health and safety inspectors on staff. An additional 100 health and safety inspectors will be hired over the next year to complete the government's recruitment drive. By March 2006, the government will have 430 health and safety inspectors on staff.

Inspectors are the front line of occupational health and safety enforcement. The government took a number of steps to ensure the most qualified candidates were selected to fill these positions. The following timeline outlines key milestones on the road to becoming a government health and safety inspector:

• July 8, 2004--Labour Minister Christopher Bentley announced the Ontario government would hire 200 new health and safety enforcement staff over the next two years to help prevent 60,000 workplace injuries per year by 2008.
• July 30, 2004--Job postings were advertised across Ontario for the first group of 100 new inspectors.
• August 20, 2004--Job postings were closed. More than 6,600 applications were received.
• September 15, 2004--Applications were screened over the course of four weeks. More than 2,600 applicants underwent aptitude testing.
• November 5, 2004--More than 1,000 first-round interviews were completed.
• November 12, 2004--More than 600 second-round interviews were completed.
• November 26, 2004--Job offer letters were mailed to 100 successful candidates.
• December 13, 2004--New inspectors arrived in their regional offices for orientation.
• December 14, 2004--Inspector orientation and training began in Toronto.
• December 15, 2004--Field information technology training began.
• December 20, 2004--Field training in the ministry's regional offices began.
• January 4, 2005--Three months of in-class and field training began, including training in:
• Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) enforcement
• Regulations governing Ontario's construction and industrial sectors
• Workplace Hazardous Material Information System (WHMIS) enforcement
• The government's Code of Professionalism
• The operational policies and procedures required to effectively enforce the law.
  • March 22, 2005--New inspectors graduated in Toronto.
  • April 1, 2005--New health and safety inspectors will begin work across Ontario.

The new inspectors will allow the government to target 6,000 workplaces with the highest lost-time injury rates. Inspectors will visit these sites four times a year, focusing on workplace hazards to help firms reduce on-the-job injuries.

The government will advertise a second series of job postings to hire an additional 100 health and safety enforcement staff over the next year. Interested individuals are asked to call, toll-free, 1-866-627-7991 or check the Ministry of Labour website www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/jobs/index.html.

Duties of a Ministry of Labour health and safety inspector

Ministry of Labour health and safety inspectors enforce the OHSA and its regulations. They conduct workplace inspections and carry out investigations of workplace incidents such as injuries, fatalities, complaints, work refusals and allegations of reprisals. Inspectors have authority to enter workplaces to conduct inspections or investigations.

Depending on the circumstances, health and safety inspectors have a number of options to ensure compliance with the OHSA, including:

• Issuing an order to comply
• Issuing a stop work order that stops a process or the use of a machine until the contravention is corrected
• Issuing tickets for certain contraventions.

An inspector can also commence a prosecution under Part III of the Provincial Offences Act. The maximum penalty if convicted of violating the OHSA is a fine of $500,000 for a corporation, and $25,000 and/or 12 months in jail for an individual.

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See also:

• Event Photo
• News Release
• Backgrounder 1
• Backgrounder 2