If utilized well, safety committees and workplace inspections can serve a bigger purpose for your organization than just for regulatory compliance.

This is according to health and safety experts speaking at this year’s Western Conference on Safety in Vancouver last week.

Effective training is a critical element of ensuring the health and safety of employees, and represents a significant investment made by organizations across Canada. Training helps to ensure key personnel have the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to perform their specific roles. Additionally, training is required for compliance with health and safety laws and as part of the due diligence processes within an organization.

Nova Scotia has partnered with the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) to provide free access to CCOHS’ e-learning courses on topics of occupational health and safety. The initiative is part of the province’s new workplace safety strategy.

The new standard for managing occupational health and safety training, to be released by the Canadian Standards Association later this month, will provide organizations with their first practical guide to managing an effective OHS training system, the chairperson of the CSA technical committee says.