NAOSH Week is marked in Canada and the United States from May 4-10, 2014.    Occupational safety professionals hold events and some municipalities, such as Ottawa, have declared May 7th to be Occupational Safety Professionals Day.

The NAOSH website http://www.naosh.org/english/champions/motivational.html provides considerable information and access to resources for organizations seeking to improve their occupational safety and health practices. 

Gowlings encourages organizations to tap into available resources to enhance safety in the workplace.   Accidental death and injury, while reduced in recent years, continues to inflict a serious human and economic cost.   Provincial regulatory and Criminal Code enforcement efforts have escalated, as have fines.  And as Gowlings reported recently, one Ontario Court imposed jail time on a supervisor for persistent flouting of safety rules.  Secondary impacts such as increased lower morale, union grievances, workers' compensation costs and lost productivity,  underscore the value of a strong accident prevention program.  

We also remind Ontario readers of that Province's new requirements that all employees have "awareness" training in relation to occupational health and safety, a rule going into effect on July 1, 2014.     The Ontario Ministry of Labour offers an overview of those requirements at http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/hs/training/

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.