Now incorporated into the Occupational Health and Safety Act, Bill 168 is compliance standards and procedures that every company in Ontario that hires five or more workers. (OHSA Part III.0.I) The legislation is based on findings that in Canada 17% of all violent incidents occur in the workplace. That’s approximately 1350 cases each day. Harassment in the workplace is just as bad creating an uncomfortable work environment for many workers that often leads to violence.
If you have had a visit by the Ministry of Labour in the last few years chances are the inspector insisted you have Violence and Harassment polices posted, just like your Health and Safety Policy. However the standards and procedures go far beyond posting policies. OHSA legislation requires a compete program including an assessment, a documented plan, worker and management training and control measures that address violence and harassment in the workplace.
The Program
The program represents your company’s overall strategy standards and procedures
for controlling and addressing violence and harassment. The program is a document of procedures to be followed and includes
the procedures for the development and posting of violence and harassment policies, the development and execution of an assessment,
control measures and training of management and workers It must contain the specifics including the objectives, execution, where,
when and how. DTI develops comprehensive Violence and Harassment programs based on your company operations. We conduct
exploratory research to determine the amount of emphasis that must be placed on each component to make it effective, and most of all,
functional for your company. One size does not fit all.
Policy Postings
The legislation requires you develop and post a written
policy for both violence and harassment, these policies must contain the company’s position on violence and harassment in its workplace
or anywhere its employees are working on behalf of the company. The policies must clearly describe the definitions of both violence
and harassment as described in the legislation. The policies must be signed and dated by a senior officer of the company. The date must be current within one year. The DTI policy development program uses pre-written customizable template to develop
policies for violence and harassment. All policies are updated and automatically issued annually.
Assessment
An assessment must effectively measure the possibility of violence and harassment in your workplace. If part of your operation is contact with the public or another third party and cash transactions are involved your assessment and preventative measures must include these considerations.
Too often companies simply document their past history of violence and harassment and use this as an assessment.
A measure of what has happened in the past is only a part of what could happen in the future. Your assessment must be a measure
of sources of tension in the workplace including interpersonal relationships, possible religious, sexual, cultural and racial tension
as well as workflow, management structure and possible domestic tensions. A comprehensive assessment identifies the “hot spots” helping
the company to accurately develop control strategies in advance. The DTI assessment evaluates the overall risk level if the company
is dealing with cash transactions and with the public or other third parties. It provides a comprehensive assessment process that
measures all possible sources of tension among workers and visitors to a company.
Control Measures
Control measures are based on the
risk factors created by exposure to cash or valuables and tensions uncovered through the assessment process. A company that
deals with the public making will have certain precautions in place to guard against theft, many of these measures fall short on how
to limit and control the possibility of a violent advance. Controls are developed to address specific situations and include,
conflict avoidance, consultation, mediation and sometimes isolation. DTI develops controls inclusive with our assessment services
providing a graphical representation of any hot spots identified.
Training
Training must be provided for both company officers (managers and supervisors) and workers. Company officers must become familiar with the Violence and Harassment program, its objective and structure. They must also become familiar with the legal definitions of violence and harassment and how they apply in workplace. Company officer training also includes a study of the assessment process and interpretation of the results, control measures and procedures for a violent or harassment incident. In addition when and how to issue disciplinary action.
Worker training is based on
the definitions of violence and harassment as per the legislation. In many ways this can be an eye opener for workers, who at
times, take their behaviour for granted. Workers must be trained on acceptable behavior. DTI delivers violence and harassment
training programs for company officers and workers complete with knowledge verification reports.