One Year Later: Are You Compliant with Bill 168?

Last summer, Bill 168 was declared in force by the Ontario Government. This Bill made significant amendments to Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, and placed onerous obligations on employers with respect to workplace harassment and violence prevention. The Bill made it mandatory for all Ontario employers to conduct risk assessments of their workplaces, create and implement workplace violence and harassment policies and programs, and train their employees on these policies and programs.

June 15th, 2011 marked the one-year anniversary of Bill 168 coming in to force. Now is the time for you to review the Act, as well as your workplace policies and programs, to ensure that you are taking the right steps to meet your new occupational health and safety obligations.

Even if you have had your workplace violence and harassment prevention policies and programs up and running since June 15, 2010, the one-year anniversary of your creation of these policies and programs triggers additional obligations. The Act requires you to review the policies at least annually. If a reassessment of workplace risks is necessary to ensure that the policies are protecting your employees, another risk assessment is required. The one-year mark is also a convenient time to train your employees on any changes to your policies and programs.

For more information, or for assistance in creating or reviewing your workplace violence and harassment policies and programs, please feel free to contact us.