Health and safety representative training to help improve awareness
The Ontario government is investing $10.5 million to provide up to 60,000 small businesses across the province with free health and safety training over the next three years.
The new Small Business Health and Safety Training Program will improve health and safety awareness to help prevent illnesses and injuries by training health and safety representatives of small businesses on how to keep workers safe in the retail, construction, health care, accommodation and food services, and other sectors. Businesses will also be reimbursed for the time the representatives are away from work.
Ontario’s new Small Business Health and Safety Training Program covers the $25 course cost for an employee who is appointed by their colleagues as a health and safety representative for their workplace, plus the program also reimburses small businesses $150 towards the representative’s training time. All small businesses that have six to 19 employees are required to have a health and safety representative and they can apply for this program.
The free training takes about six to eight hours for most people to complete, and covers a range of topics, including:
-
occupational health and safety laws
-
rights, duties and responsibilities of workplace parties
-
duties and responsibilities of the health and safety representative under the Occupational Health and Safety Act
-
recognition, assessment, control and evaluation of common workplace hazards
Businesses can access free training for their health and safety representatives through Ontario’s Small Business Health and Safety Training Program. Small businesses will be reimbursed $150 for the representative’s training time.
To learn more, visit Ontario.ca/COVIDSafety, which includes a safety plan guide and other helpful resources for businesses.
Related
Health and Safety Representative (HSR) Basic Training (E-learning course)
Workplace Safety Plan Builder new free online tool for Ontario employers
Small Business Toolkit - Ontario Health and Safety System Partners