August 21, 2014
All University of Toronto employees, including senior management, academic administrators, faculty members, managers, supervisors, staff-appointed and casual employees, are now required by law to take basic occupational health and safety awareness training according to a new Ontario regulation that took effect on July 1, 2014.
The regulation requires all Ontario employers, including the University, to ensure that all workers* and all supervisors* have taken the required training, and to retain training records.
To meet the requirements of this regulation, U of T’s Office of Environmental Health & Safety has developed a basic health and safety awareness training program. This program incorporates the basic training requirements for both workers* and supervisors*. In order to comply with the regulation, faculty and staff are asked to begin their training session as soon as possible before September 26, 2014.
Click here to start your training and complete the online training module by September 26. (main.its.utoronto.ca/hsa/).
Confirmation of Training
This online basic safety awareness training program requires that you confirm that you have read and understood the material provided. Once you have clicked the online confirmation, you will receive an email confirming that you have taken the training. You should retain a copy of this confirmation for your records. A record will also be maintained by the Office of Environmental Health & Safety.
If you do not have access to a computer in your work, please first speak with your business officer to arrange for computer access. If he/she cannot arrange for access then please contact your HR Divisional Office to make arrangements. Unsure which is your HR Office? Please ask your manager, or contact hrandequity@utoronto.ca.
For more information
More information about the required training may be found at http://uoft.me/ehs-hsa-faq or you may contact the Office of Environmental Health & Safety at ehs.office@utoronto.ca.
If you are interested in further training and/or would like to confirm whether you require further training given the work you do at the University, please contact the Office of Environmental Health and Safety at ehs.office@utoronto.ca and/or visit our training page at: www.ehs.utoronto.ca/Training.htm
For general information about health and safety at the University, please see the website for the University’s Office of Environmental Health and Safety at http://www.ehs.utoronto.ca/.
*Definitions
The term “worker” is defined in the Occupational Health and Safety Act as a person who performs work or supplies services for monetary compensation. At the University this would include faculty members, appointed staff members, casual employees, and students employed by the University, for example as teaching assistants. The term “supervisor” is defined as a person who has charge of a workplace or authority over a worker, which at the University includes lead hands, supervisors, managers, academic administrators, senior management, and faculty members who supervise any category of worker. The regulation also applies to individuals who provide services at the University pursuant to service contracts, but they will be addressed separately.