Bill 168, which amends Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act to include specific provisions on workplace violence and harassment prevention, received Royal Assent on December 15, 2009.

To comply with Bill 168, Keith said, there are at least five steps an employer with more than five employees has to do: have a policy that deals with workplace violence and harassment, as defined under the amendment; conduct a risk assessment for violence in the workplace; develop specific program for their specific workplace based on the results of the risk assessment; provide a mechanism for worker complaints about harassment or violence or threats of violence in the workplace; and, provide training for workers and supervisors on this new program and the legal requirements of Bill 168.

“The questions we’re getting from people are: Do you need two policies – one for harassment and one for violence? And generally we’re saying, ‘No, you can include both issues in a policy.’ And we recommend it be a respectable workplace policy as opposed to just prohibition against workplace violence or harassment,” Keith said.

The legal requirements for employers under the new legislation will take effect on June 15, 2010, six months after receiving Royal Assent.

Keith also expects regulatory bodies to continue to beef up OHS enforcement in 2010, following an announcement from the Ontario Ministry of Labour to hire 41 new workplace inspectors over the next few months.

“This indicates a continuing trend of aggressive enforcement by the Ministry of Labour of incidents that result in accident, injury or death. So the trend towards blaming employers for workplace accidents without looking at worker or supervisor responsibility, I think, will continue,” said Keith.