Workplace Violence Initiative

Each year, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) plans initiatives to raise awareness about specific workplace hazards and enforce compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) on those specific hazards. The scope of an upcoming compliance initiative will focus on workplace violence (WV) in the education sector, specifically in school boards.

The initiative has two phases:

Phase 1: Education, outreach, and awareness (focused on employers)

• April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023
• Compliance support with the Public Services Health and Safety Association (PSHSA)

Phase 2: Inspection blitz

• February 1, 2023, to March 31, 2023
• Workplace field visits conducted by MLITSD health and safety inspectors to check that school boards are complying with the OHSA and its regulations, and to raise awareness about specific workplace issues.

To support OSSTF/FEESO education worker units working with school boards, we are providing some information and resources that may assist local representatives if an inspector chooses to inspect an OSSTF/FEESO workplace during the inspection blitz.

The OHSA, under section 54 (3), requires an employer to afford the opportunity for a worker member of the Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) or the Health and Safety Representative (HSR) to accompany the inspector during their physical inspection of a workplace or any part or parts thereof. There is no requirement that a specific worker member, or the entire JHSC, be provided with the opportunity to accompany the inspector. Nor is an inspector required to wait for the worker JHSC member to attend the inspection if the member is not at the physical workplace.

Please see the following resources for further information regarding OHSA requirements around the hazards of workplace violence:

Workplace violence in school boards: A guide to the law

Understand the law on workplace violence and harassment

Workplace Violence Risk Assessment Toolkit for the Education Sector