Leadership Conference Dealt with the Difficult Issues

The March 1st Leadership Conference on construction health and safety was again a great success with outstanding speakers and over 225 attendees.

There was great discussion around the heightened role being played by buyers in increasing the requirement for COR as a prequalification,and in some cases, much more.

George Bell, representing Metrolinx, spoke to their commitment to take a leadership role in a safer construction industry, and to their use of the procurement system to hire the safest contractors and requiring them to conform to Metrolinx policies.

This includes adopting a Fit for Duty Policy that is the most demanding in the industry. Contractors will be required to determine that their workers in safety-sensitive positions are free of any possible impairment. They have issued thresholds for what will be considered a positive test. Most significant is the statement “Due to Metrolinx’s commitment to health and safety, all positions deemed safety-sensitive are prohibited from any recreational use of cannabis and cannabis products both on and off duty.” OGCA is in discussion with Metrolinx concerning this proposal.

The attendees were presented with the newly realized study on Working at Heights by Dr. Lynda Robson. It found that the required training had great success at including as much as 93% of the targeted workers, but that implementation of the training was inconsistently applied through the industry.

The Panel discussion included a focus on implementing training and the culture that supports it.

WSIB Chair Elizabeth Witmer was awarded the Doug Chalmers award for a career in supporting construction workplace health and safety. This article in the Daily Commercial News provides some of her gracious acceptance comments.

Congratulations Elizabeth for your commitment to workplace safety.