Live Safe! Work Smart!
Workplace health and safety prevention has moved from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) to the Ministry of Labour.
Headed by Ontario’s Chief Prevention Officer, George Gritziotis, a new strategy for injury prevention has been released along with other initiatives, including a focus on young workers.
Subscribe on the Ministry of Labour website.
In this addendum to the Live Safe! Work Smart! series of teacher resources to support the delivery of student safety education, you’ll find…
Perhaps print one for your classroom?
The workplace safety poster summarizes workers’ health and safety rights and responsibilities and the responsibilities of employers. It’s available in English, French and 15 other languages. Effective October 1st, 2012 workplaces are expected to be in compliance with the requirement to have the poster displayed.
The Ministry of Labour‘s annual video contest encourages students to create videos about workplace safety or worker’s rights to fair work practices. Please consider incorporating the videos in a class assignment or encouraging individual students to participate. Prizes are awarded to winning students AND to their school. Find details and view previous winning videos here.
The Ministry of Labour has FIVE health and safety tools to teach people to identify hazards in a variety of work situations: fall hazards in health care, mining, construction and kitchens and pains and strains in the workplace (ergonomics).
Employment standards, information about how much you should get paid, time off work and similar issues is important knowledge for students. The resources below have been selected to provide teacher-friendly activities to support this aspect of workplace education.
In the animated two and a half minute video “Illegal Deductions from Wages” your students will learn what can’t be deducted from their pay check.
The Ministry of Labour has developed six employment standards tools to help workers and employers understand their rights and obligations under the Employment Standards Act. These tools include calculators for holiday pay, hours of work, termination, severance, special rules, and a special workbook for employment standards compliance. For use in your classroom, three case studies have been developed. On the Live Safe! Work Smart! website, you’ll find both a teacher guide with the answers and a student handout.
Find “New Employment Standards Challenge” at Live Safe! Work Smart!
Ontario has introduced a new training regulation to keep workers safe on the job. The new Occupational Health and Safety Awareness and Training regulation is designed to prevent workplace incidents and injuries by ensuring that all workers and supervisors are aware of their health and safety rights and responsibilities in the workplace.
The regulation will come into effect on July 1, 2014. It will make basic awareness training mandatory for all workers and supervisors covered by the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The Ministry of Labour has developed two training programs, one for workers and one for supervisors, as a training resource for workplaces. The suite of training programs includes a NEW online e-learning tool available in English and French. In addition, there are workbooks for workers and supervisors available in nine languages along with their associated employer guides.
Teachers should consider using the new awareness training in their classrooms to complement safety-related curriculum and placement preparation activities already in use, including resources in the Live Safe! Work Smart! series, Passport to Safety, guest speakers, etc. The ministry’s e-learning module should take less than an hour to complete. Once the module is finished, participants will receive certificates as evidence of completion. The certificate can be included in a student’s portfolio and attached to job applications. The certificate is valid for the remainder of the participant’s career.
Follow this link to access the FREE e-learning tool and workbooks.
NOTE: A “101” version of the worker awareness e-learning program will be available in the 2014/15 school year to support a wider variety of learning styles.
Free for on-line viewing or download for classroom use, the Ministry of Labour produces informative videos on current workplace topics. The videos support health and safety education in many Specialist High Skills Major areas of focus, cooperative education, technical education courses and other courses. They feature Ministry of Labour inspectors and experts in workplaces addressing issues and talking about what they look for when they do an inspection.
Consider showing the video and having a class discussion or assigning the videos to students to view and report their findings to the class.
Check out the videos.
Cooperative education teachers have been asking for free new videos to use to stimulate classroom conversation and provide workplace awareness and education. Here are a few ideas.
Tongue-in-cheek video, but great for discussion. The video can be found on the Seton Job Safety website (featured video in the right hand column), or on You Tube.
The Napo series of 12 videos films are produced in Europe. They have a universal appeal as they don’t address technical or regulatory safety issues instead are more focused on making positive, safe decisions.
Napo videos are produced in computer graphics. They feature characters in the world of work, faced with safety issues. The main character, Napo, and his partners express themselves in wordless language, which may suit a variety of learning styles and be suitable for both English and French students. They provoke questions and stimulate debate on specific aspects of safety at work.
Sometimes they provide practical solutions or lead to them. It is this blend of education, cultural neutrality and humour set in a cartoon style that gives the "Napo" series its identity. Napo is a likeable but careless character. The universal language of Napo makes the films suitable for everyone. You can view each “film” in its entirety, or you can download and use each scene independently of the others for shorter lessons. This allows you to pick and choose topics that suit your students.
Free for download at: Napo's Films.
A new collection of workplace safety videos take a hands-on approach to some key issues in occupational health and safety told in the voice of a quirky character found in safety signage around the world. The animated character "Rod Stickman" is a two-dimensional spokesperson for workplace safety, offering tips for workers and employers alike on sprains and strains, returning to work, improving communication on workplace safety, avoiding slips and falls, and working from heights.
Free for download at: Workplace Health, Safety & Compensation Commission of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Some of you have mentioned that you would like to access the WSIB’s former TV advertisements to use in your classrooms. There is a collection available via the link below or go to You Tube and search “WSIB TV ads”.
Short videos great for starting discussions:
2012/13 It’s Your Job Video contest
This classic video is available in 4 parts. NOTE: other materials on the page, including posters, are no longer available. This YWAP website may not continue to be available. If you want to continue to use these videos, consider downloading them to your computer.
Full version: This is a complete video of all individuals’ stories. Please see “Individual stories from Lost Youth” for details.
Edited version: An edited version of the full video.
From Europe, the NAPO Hazard Hunter Poster can be used as a visual aid to reinforce the skill of identifying risks, in this case, in a backyard. There is a student handout and a teacher guide which has all the hazards identified.
Free download at: Napo's Films.
The Ministry of Labour’s tip sheets for Young Workers, Workplaces and Parents address both job safety and employment standards – such as rights to fair pay and time off. Here are some ideas for using these new comprehensive tip sheets:
Find them on the main Ministry of Labour website or on the teacher website.
Teachers and students appreciate a guest speaker who can reinforce key messages the teacher has already delivered to meet the health and safety curriculum or policy requirements. Please note that the WSIB no longer administers the YWAP program or provides resources.
For those looking for community experts who can deliver a young worker safety awareness message for a school assembly or for the classroom, here are a few organizations to contact:
1. Health and Safety Awareness Program:
Workplace Safety Prevention Services (WSPS)
Email the Central Administrator to book a presentation or call toll free: 1-877-494-WSPS (9777)
2. Young Worker Awareness Program:
Workers’ Health and Safety Centre
Email - Young Worker Awareness Program
3. My Safe Work:
Email speakers Rob Ellis or Jessica Di Sabatino for more information on future sessions.
4. Threads of Life - Workplace Tragedy Family Support Association
Email Threads of Life: Speakers Bureau to book a speaker.
The Ministry of Labour’s collection of free resources includes an interactive “spot the hazard” activity tool, videos and tip sheets to support your delivery of basic fall awareness lessons to prepare students for job-specific training. They are especially suitable for construction technology students, and for preparing cooperative education students for work placements.
Download, print and post over 20 free Ministry of Labour produced posters for your classroom! Perhaps have students find the posters that relate to the type of work they’ll be doing in their co-op placement, have them print them and present them to the class and discuss the type of hazards they may encounter and steps to be taken to protect workers from being injured or getting sick.
Check out the resources on the Ministry of Labour website. Publications on health care topics, videos, a podcast, posters and related information are available in one spot.
Looking for health and safety information and resources on farming, fall hazards, mobile equipment, mining and more? Check the of the topics and resources section Ministry of Labour website.
Type of workplace and Age to work |
Age to visit |
|---|---|
Industrial establishments such as offices, stores, arenas, restaurant serving areas
Most factories including restaurant kitchens, automotive service garages, produce and meat preparation or shipping and receiving areas in grocery stores, laundries and warehouses
Logging operations
|
The Regulation for Industrial Establishments (R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 851) made under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) sets out minimum-age restrictions for workers covering workplaces such as offices, stores, arenas, restaurants and factories, but people younger than the specified age may visit, though not work in these establishments if they:
|
Note: The above restrictions do not apply to a worker who works as a performer in the entertainment and advertising industry as defined in subsection 4(4) of the Regulation for Industrial Establishments.
Type of workplace and Age to work |
Age to visit |
|---|---|
Construction project
|
16, if work is being performed there. |
Surface mines, mining plants
Underground mine
Working face of a surface mine
|
The Regulation for Mines and Mining Plants (R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 854) made under the OHSA allows for tours or visits to mines and mining plants by younger persons if they are accompanied by and under the direction of a guide. |
Window cleaning
|
Not applicable. |
Note: 14, 15, 16 and 17-year may not be employed during school hours unless they are excused from school attendance under the Education Act. See Ontario Regulation 374/10, “Supervised Alternative Learning and Other Excusals from Attendance at School."
Cooperative Education: Most activities are in this resource document. Page references (e.g. p 34) are to activities in the 2008 Live Safe! Work Smart! for Cooperative Education available at Live Safe! Work Smart!
FIRST TIME CO-OP |
SECOND TIME CO-OP |
|---|---|
Safety Bingo (p.46) Case Studies (p. 49) – or – Great Ad! (p.40) 7 Things You’d Better Know video activities (p. 61) Guest Speakers – pages 7-8 of this resource Spot the hazard – page 2 of this resource NAPO Hazard Hunter – page 7 of this resource Coming in 2014/15: Ministry of Labour worker awareness 101 e-module – see page 3 of this resource |
Exploring Worker Safety Issues (p. 43) Lost Youth video – page 6 of this resource Guest Speakers – pages 7-8 of this resource Worker Awareness e-learning – page 3 of this resource Are you being paid fairly? – page 2 of this resource Videos from the Ministry of Labour – page 4 of this resource Safety eyewear video – page 5 of this resource |
SPECIALIST HIGH SKILLS MAJOR |
SPECIAL NEEDS AND LIFE SKILLS STUDENTS |
|---|---|
Use any activities in First and Second Time Co-op if they have not done co-op before, but here are a few suggestions that are focused at reviewing information and more sector-specific learning (i.e. a special guest speaker related to their SHSM), and the new Passport to Safety test. WSIB TV ad videos – page 6 of this resource Guest Speakers – pages 7-8 of this resource Videos from the Ministry of Labour – page 4 of this resource NEW: Safety eyewear video – page 5 of this resource |
NOTE: Live Safe! Work Smart! for Teachers of Students with Special Learning Needs have specific lessons for you. You may also want to reference: Live Safe! Work Smart! for Elementary teachers. Some of these activities appear in those two resources. My responsibilities at work (p. 58) Charades (p. 43): can be modified Safety Bingo (p. 46): can be modified Puzzles (p. 41) Making Safety “Top of Mind”* (p. 48) Napo videos and Rod Stickman videos – page 5 of this resource NAPO Hazard Hunter – page 7 of this resource |