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emerging as the “next frontier” of occupational
health and safety – namely, an approach to
occupational health and safety that goes far
beyond the traditional concepts of hardhats,
machine-guarding and reducing threats to
life and limb by industrial equipment, and
which engages the overall wellness and safety
of workers from a physical, psychological
and emotional perspective.
We have seen a steady advancement of
this trend since Bill 168 became law in
2010. For example:
■■ In 2013, the Canadian Standards
Association (CSA) issued a National
Standard on Psychological Health and
Safety in the Workplace. Although that
Standard is non-binding and adherence
to it is voluntary, the fact that it was
issued by a leading safety authority
carries considerable weight.
■■ Significantly, the Standard contemplates
very broad and ambitious concepts
(including that of the “psychologically
healthy and safe workplace,” which is
defined as “a workplace that promotes
workers’ psychological wellbeing and
actively works to prevent harm to
worker psychological health including in
negligent, reckless or intentional ways”);
additionally, as it encourages employers to
consider “psychological job demands” and
“work/life balance,” the Standard directly
challenges the conventional perspective
on occupational health and safety.
■■ In late 2014, the Ontario Ministry of
Labour released the report from its
“Roundtable on Traumatic Mental
Stress,” which, as described by the
Ministry, was an initiative that “brought
together representatives from police,
nursing, fire services, emergency medical
services and transit services to discuss
how to promote awareness and share
best practices across sectors on workrelated
traumatic mental stress, which
includes post-traumatic stress disorder.”
Pursuant to recommendations set out
in that report, the Ministry convened
a day-long Summit on Work-Related
Mental Stress in March 2015, which
drew participation and input from
stakeholders in a range of sectors; further
to that dialogue, the legislature
introduced the Supporting Ontario’s First
Responders Act (Posttraumatic Stress
Disorder), 2016 which came into force in
April 2016, and has the effect of making
WSIB benefits more accessible to
first responders – i.e., by way of amending
the Workplace Safety and Insurance
Act, 1997 to create a presumption that
PTSD suffered by first responders is
work-related.
Clearly, occupational health and safety is
no longer just about preventing physical injury,
and compliance is now an exercise that
obliges employers to consider their workers’
health and safety from multiple angles.
In that regard, Bill 132 – and the new
obligations that come with it – represents
the most recent step in the evolution of
occupational health and safety. No doubt,
there are more steps to come. n
Jason Beeho is a partner at Levitt LLP and
a member of the HR Professional editorial
advisory board.
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ OCTOBER 2016 ❚ 21