By now, many of you are aware that the Occupational Health and Safety Code was updated and the changes took effect as of July 1, 2009. However, are you aware of the changes – as well as the other standards – and what they mean to your organization? As previously mentioned in an earlier blog, EWI Works has already began to study the code in order to assist our clients.
On July 23, 2009, two EWI consultants, Erin Walkom of the Edmonton office and Kirsten Willms of the Calgary branch attended a seminar organized by the Canadian Society of Safety Engineers. The purpose of the session was to highlight and discuss recent changes to the code. The changes occurred to a number of areas in the code, including Part 2 (Hazard Assessment) and Part 14 (Lifting and Handling Loads)
One website that provides a great resource to get information about the code is the Government of Alberta Employment and Immigration website:
http://employment.albeta.ca/SFW/53.html
From here, you can find an explanation guide for the code, the code itself, and a comparison of the old vs the new code.
What the EWI Works consultants found relevant to many of our clients – particularly in the healthcare industry, was Part 14. This section of the code explanation guide is extremely useful for companies as it also provides a bit of “how-to” guidance, not just an interpretation of the code.
Additionally, a great resource that many of you might not be aware of is “View Access”, which was a collaborative effort between the Canadian Standards Association and all governmental departments that involve OH&S. The service is free – all you need to do is complete a one-time registration and you will have free access to many of the standards referenced in the code. Prior to this, businesses had to purchase them at cost. Take the time to register your organization at: http://ohsviewaccess.csa.ca.
Don’t forget that EWI can help your organization interpret and implement the changes.
Keep checking our blog for further information learned at the OHS Code Changes seminar that Erin and Kirsten attended.