A thorough Health & Safety plan is a vital practice in any workplace. When dealing with unpredictable and dangerous worksites, proper health and safety practices can be the difference between life and death.
The Importance of Health & Safety
Within Canada, over 271,806 workplace injuries and 925 workplace fatalities occurred in 2019(1). A large portion of these injuries could have been avoided if the workers were following proper health and safety guidelines, this could include not wearing PPE (hard hats, goggles, steel-toe boots) when engaging in dangerous tasks. Other examples include, leaving heavy equipment unmanned while running, not following WHMIS guidelines when handling toxic chemicals, or not utilizing appropriate tie-downs when working at heights.
Depending on the severity of the act, fines of up to $100,000 or even 12 months imprisonment can be issued for workers, whilst fines of up to $1,500,000 can be issued for corporations(2). From 2017 to 2018, over 82,329 Ministry of Labor inspections were conducted. Of these inspections, a total of 125,308 orders were issued; with the overall fines incurred adding up to $12.6 million(3). These hefty fines can be devastating for your workers, project timeline, and corporate budget. The best way to avoid fines is to implement a robust health and safety program.
Of all the inspections completed, approximately 48% of MOL inspections are initiated in a reactive manner. These inspections are often spurned through complaints to the Ministry of Labour due to dangerous work environments, neglecting health and safety standards, or history of critical injuries and fatalities.
Our Innovative Health & Safety Monitoring
So how do our services fit in with a robust Workplace Health & Safety plan? Through offering a live remote Health & Safety video monitoring service that is designed to mitigate workplace health and safety violations.
We know that no two workplaces are the same. That’s why our highly skilled video monitoring operators are trained in identifying and enforcing client & site specific health and safety protocols.
When a health and safety violation is detected, our operators can either use our live communication speaker to communicate to the worker explaining the violation, or contact predetermined individuals such as supervisors, foreman, or Health & Safety lead hands depending on client specified monitoring procedures. Additionally, our services’ customizability allows it to integrate with a company’s already established health & safety program, or be a completely separate, standalone program.
Not only does our Health & Safety monitoring help protect your workers from dangerous work environments, it also helps protect them and your company from hefty fines, in turn producing a happier, more efficient, and safer work environment.
References:
1.”National Day of Mourning”- CCOHS, April, 20th, 20212,”The Occupational
2.”Health and Safety Act: FAQs”- Labour.gov, October 2013
3.”A snapshot of occupational health and safety in Ontario”- ontario.ca, October 21, 2019