Managing health and safety records is a crucial aspect of running a business in Ontario. The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) requires employers to keep accurate records of incidents, inspections, and other health and safety activities. Proper record-keeping not only helps ensure compliance with the OHSA, but it can also improve the overall safety of your workplace. In this blog post, we’ll provide six tips for managing health and safety records in Ontario.
Tip 1: Understand Your Legal Requirements
As an employer in Ontario, you are required to keep certain records under the OHSA. This includes records of all workplace injuries and illnesses, as well as records of inspections and other health and safety activities. It’s important to understand what records you are required to keep, and to make sure you have systems in place to accurately track and store this information.
Tip 2: Develop a Record-Keeping System
Having a clear and organized system for managing your health and safety records is essential. This could include a physical filing system or an electronic database. Whatever system you choose, it should be easy to use and accessible to all relevant employees.
Tip 3: Train Your Employees
Ensuring that your employees know how to properly record and report incidents is key to maintaining accurate health and safety records. Provide training on your record-keeping system, and make sure employees understand their responsibilities when it comes to reporting incidents and other information.
Tip 4: Keep Records Up-to-Date
It’s important to regularly review and update your health and safety records. This could include updating information on employee training, documenting the results of inspections, and recording any incidents that occur. By keeping your records up-to-date, you can ensure that you have accurate and comprehensive information available when it’s needed.
Tip 5: Store Records Securely
Proper storage of health and safety records is essential to protecting the privacy of your employees and the security of your information. Make sure that any physical records are stored in a secure location, and that electronic records are protected with strong passwords and appropriate security measures.
Tip 6: Retain Records for the Required Time Period
Under the OHSA, employers are required to retain certain health and safety records for specific time periods. For example, records of workplace injuries and illnesses must be kept for at least five years. Make sure you understand the retention requirements for different types of records, and have a plan in place to ensure that you can easily access and retrieve the records you need.
Managing health and safety records is an important part of running a business in Ontario. By understanding your legal requirements, developing a record-keeping system, training your employees, keeping records up-to-date, storing them securely, and retaining them for the required time period, you can ensure that you are compliant with the OHSA and that your workplace is as safe as possible.
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