Ontario’s ICI sector has taken great strides on health and safety in the six years the Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA) and other stakeholders have embraced the COR program, attendees at the recent OGCA Safety Awards were told.
OGCA director of government relations David Frame cited Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) statistics from 2012 to 2018 that indicated Lost Time Injury (LTI) rates in the ICI rate group had declined 34 per cent. Better yet, among OGCA members, the LTI rate has declined 51 per cent.
“Overall as an industry you are moving the needle,” Frame said, saying the 2018 OGCA member number of 0.22 per cent LTI is “incredible.”
“Only the safest of safe industries achieve those numbers. We are making progress in a time when across the system LTIs are going up.”
The Sept. 20 OGCA Safety Awards event was held to honour OGCA member achievements in safety through safety and milestone awards as well as recognition of League of Champions membership and COR (Certificate of Recognition) certification.
Safety advocates addressing the event included Infrastructure Health & Safety Association president Enzo Garritano, WSIB chair Elizabeth Witmer, provincial chief prevention officer Ron Kelusky and Jane McKenna, provincial parliamentary assistant to the minister of labour.
During his initial address, OGCA president Clive Thurston informed the contractors of a significant change to the League of Champions program founded by Rob Ellis and adopted by the OGCA. The League will evolve in the near future, becoming incorporated with its own governance structure, with neither Rob Ellis nor the OGCA directly involved.
The changes will enable the League of Champions to expand its operations, offering new programs such as networking meetings and the establishment of a speakers bureau, Thurston said. An advisory committee has been established to guide the League into its new incarnation, and the OGCA will remain a major supporter, he noted.
“We have some great things happening with the League of Champions,” Thurston said. “I commend all of you who have worked in the system and in the next year you are going to see the League take off.”
Thurston told the members it was his last Safety Awards event, with his retirement recently announced, and later in an interview he said he would be stepping down next June.
“I am so proud of what we have achieved over the past 18 years,” said Thurston, referring to the WSIB numbers as evidence of success on the safety front. “You heard what they said, they didn’t make it up. There is no other organization that has done what we’ve done. The facts are the facts.”
The adoption of COR in Ontario was recommended in a report by Tony Dean 10 years ago and Thurston said the OGCA had to make a decision — whether to wait for Queen’s Park to take it on or for the OGCA to act proactively.
“COR has made a tremendous difference,” Thurston explained. “We were part of bringing it here. We knew it was the right thing to do and we knew it was a tough sell. Some of the other associations were mad at us. But you can’t rest on your laurels.”
There are currently 380 active certified COR firms in Ontario with 1,000 firms registered in the program.
The OGCA membership embraced COR and worked hard to ensure it was adopted throughout the association alongside other OGCA programs, Thurston said.
“The membership didn’t have to be convinced, they stepped up,” he commented. “They are really proactive on health and safety. And when we gave them opportunities like COR and Safety Pass, and Leadership Day is huge now, they responded to it.”
Among challenges Thurston identified as he works toward the end of his term, the reform of the WSIB’s rate framework remains an issue of concern, he said. The OGCA is currently working with provincial and WSIB officials to ensure the ICI sector is not burdened by being lumped in with other less-safe sectors.
“We want to see that resolved before I leave and I believe it will be,” said Thurston.
Kelusky and Garritano both discussed upcoming joint research efforts that would provide better evidence for COR and other safety policy. It is time for “made-in-Ontario” research in such areas as health and safety management, said Garritano.
The IHSA president noted that injury numbers are trending better this year in all areas except critical injuries.
“That is important because those are injuries that are demonstrating where strong areas of improvement are needed,” he said. “We will certainly communicate out what those issues are and get better than them.”
Follow Don Wall on Twitter @DonWall_DCN.
Recent Comments
comments for this post are closed