Ministry of Labour poster must be posted by Oct. 1
Employers across Ontario will soon be required to post in the workplace a new awareness poster released by the Ministry of Labour (MOL): "Health and Safety at Work – Prevention Starts Here". The requirement falls under the Ontario Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and MOL inspectors will begin enforcing this requirement as of Oct. 1, 2012.
The poster is intended to achieve the following:
- summarize health and safety rights and responsibilities of workers, employers and supervisors;
- encourage workers to get involved in health and safety at the workplace;
- explain when and why to contact the Ministry; and,
- remind employers they must not take action against workers for following the OHSA or for raising health and safety concerns.
The development and creation of this poster resulted from a report released by an expert advisory panel in December 2010. The panel, appointed by the labour minister in March 2010, consulted with stakeholders across the province to review Ontario's occupational health and safety system and identify structural and operational improvements.
Their findings indicated many workers had little or no understanding of the OHSA, including their rights and obligations as workers, and the responsibilities of their employers and supervisors. The creation of a mandatory health and safety poster was one of the panel's 46 recommendations.
All employers will need to adhere to the OHSA's requirement and download, print and post the poster in the workplace.
The OHSA can perform random workplace inspections, and they will look to see that the posters are displayed. The poster is available in 17 different languages and can be downloaded for free on the MOL's website.
