Ground Fault Protection - Electrical Contractors Association of Ontario

ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORMoving Safety ForwardBy Rick MeiIn developing and maintaining an activesafety program, the ability to coverevery contingency remains a constantchallenge.The Workers Health and Safety Act is veryclear that you are to "take every precautionreasonable in the circumstances forthe protection of a worker".Many feel that this is a statement of impossibility.It would entail being able to conceiveof every possible cause of an accidentand put measures in place to prevent them.And merely complying with the letter of thelaw will not be a valid defence if an accidentoccurs. Does this give you license to ignorethe problems and hope for the best? No.As owners, directors or managers, thereare prudent steps you can take to movesafety forward.As a starting point, spend some timereviewing your company’s safety program.The following can be used as a guide asyou begin your review process. You maywish to begin by asking:How is our record, to date withrespect to:• deaths, lost time, medical aid, first aid,near misses?• WSIB ratings and costs?• Rebate position (negative/positive)?• Ministry orders?Is our program:• current (to legislative requirements)?• communicated and understood?• adequately and consistently providingdocumentation?Even if you are satisfied with the resultsof the above short review, remember,where health and safety is concerned,improved efforts pay.Add to the list above,take action and move safety forward.Here are some other areas that you maywish to address or consider.The Occupational Health and Safety Actrequires that you review your Health andSafety Policy Statement and Program annuallyand that your Statement is currentlydated,signed and posted in the workplace.Have you laid out a safety plan, includingyour objectives, a time frame to meet theobjectives, and assigned responsibility toan individual(s) by name, not title? Is therea process in place to measure yourprogress? If you have a Safety Committeeor Worker Representative(s), have theybeen involved? Remember that one ofyour key objectives should be to identifyhazards, remove hazards, to eliminate theircauses and to communicate every step ofthis process within your company.You should provide a full companyindoctrination to all new employees. Thisprocess should cover all office/shopemployees, as well. If you have long termemployees, it may be a good idea to providea full indoctrination for them on a regularbasis. How valid is an indoctrinationdone five or ten years ago? If you hire subcontractors,they should also be indoctrinated(site specific, at least). And rememberto keep records of all indoctrinations.When employees are moved from site tosite, a site specific indoctrination isrequired and, once again, a record kept.If you hire a company or individual toperform work at your office (cleaning,lawn,windows),who may work alone or atnight, you should provide safety instruction.Do they have liability insurance orWSIB coverage?Are emergency plans in place at your sitelocation(s)? How about your office, shopand storage areas? Are they visibly posted?Do you meet all the required legislatedtraining requirements within all areas ofyour company (e.g., first aid, CPR, fall protection,man lifts, propane, fork lifts, explosiveactuated tools, WHIMIS, WHIMISreview)? Has current training in theOccupational Health and Safety Act andapplicable regulations been taken by managementand supervisors? Who,within yourcompany, is trained in workplace inspections,accident/incident investigation, safetycommittee/worker representative? Do you,your supervisors and managers meet thedefinition of "competent" under the Act?Do you have employees trained in confinedspace, tagging and lockout, fire protection,emergency procedures, materialhandling, hot or live work, signs and barricades,personal protection or suspendedaccess equipment? Do you review employees’responsibilities, and do you alsoreview their four basic rights (right toknow, right to participate, right to refusework and right to stop work under certaincircumstances) under the Act?Before work starts on a project, is a projectsafety analysis conducted?Do you conduct job task analysis duringa project or where risk factors are high?Do you perform valid workplace inspections,planned or unplanned, by management,supervisors, committee or safetyrepresentative(s)? How about your office,shop and storage areas?Do you conduct accident/incident investigationsfor lost time and medical aid?How about non-disability first aid, propertydamage, fire, explosions, chemicalspills/releases, chronic/acute occupationalillness or near misses? Do you compilean annual accident analysis for review?Do you have a claims management programthat includes monitoring injuredworkers’ progress, alternative work opportunitiesand assigned responsibility (byname) for program management?At this point, you may have recognizedareas where your current health and safetyprogram could be improved.Here are some other areas for your consideration:Environmental policyDrug and alcohol policyDiscipline policyTools and equipment trainingFleet safety trainingOnce again, can you add to this list?Safety programs, just like productionprocesses, can usually be made better. Byconstantly reviewing situations, questioningexisting practices and taking actionyou can move safety forward.Rick Mei is a representative of QualityConnection, the Joint Electrical PromotionPlan's occupational health and safetyprogram.Ontario Electrical Contractor15