The risks posed by alcohol use in the workplace from a health and safety perspective are obvious, but it has far-reaching consequences beyond health and safety.  

Unless an impaired worker is held to be contributorily negligent, he or she is still entitled to benefits if the injury occurred in the course of employment. The threshold for a finding of contributory negligent is high. An employer must prove that at the moment of the incident, the worker was impaired by alcohol and that the injury occurred due to the impairment. Only in rare cases will an employer be successful in this regard. 

For private and public employers who are now in compliance with the Customer Service Standard under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disblities Act (AODA), now is the time to plan to meet the next requirements under the more complex Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (IAR). The IAR requires businesses in Ontario to provide disability-inclusive information and communication, employment and transportation services.

The panel that reviewed and ruled on the sexual harassment claims filed against an Oshawa, Ont. justice of the peace should take a long hard look at the significance of this decision. They found Judge Errol M. Massiah guilty of judicial misconduct (as reported in the Toronto Star), but gave him a mere slap on the wrist as a consequence of his actions.

A proposed CSA standard has been developed, setting out optimistic goals and processes for achieving “psychological health and safety” in the workplace.

The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) released the draft standard on Nov. 1, 2011 for a public consultation that ended on Jan. 6, 2012. The final standard, which is expected to be published in early 2012, is intended to provide organizations with the necessary tools and guidance to achieve “measureable improvements in psychological health and safety” for employees. It prescribes specific steps employers should take to develop and maintain psychologically healthy and safe workplaces.