HRS Group Blog

Blog Post #92 – Heat Stress & the Law

The first thing every employer needs to understand is that there is, without question, a legal duty to safeguard workers against the risks of heat stress. Seven provinces/territories (BC, NB, NL, PE, QC, SK and YT) include in their OHS regulations specific measures that employers must take to protect workers against heat stress. For example, Part 7 of the B.C. OHS Regulation requires employers to:

– Limit workers’ exposure to excessive heat;
– Conduct heat stress assessments to determine workers’ risks of hazardous exposure;
– Put into place a heat stress exposure control plan; and
– Implement engineering and administrative controls.https://hrsgroup.com/blog/heat-stress-the-law/

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Blog Post #91 – Unfunded Liability Takes A Big Jump

Excerpt from the OH&S Canada Magazine

Legislated changes to employee benefits, along with poor investment returns, have caused the unfunded liability of Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) to skyrocket more than $2 billion.

The WSIB’s annual report for 2007, released just in October, shows the liability grew from $5.997 billion in 2006 to $8.094 billion in 2007.

Bill 187, affecting the benefits for 155,000 workers, saw payments increase by 2.5 per cent; Bill 221, which ensures firefighters are compensated for work-related cancers and heart attacks, was made retroactive to 1960. Together, the moves increase benefits by $750 million.

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