May 4, 2009

CSAO won’t cut consulting outreach

Agency realignment in the works

VINCE VERSACE

staff writer

The Construction Safety Association of Ontario faces impending change through the realignment of provincial safety associations, but that does not mean health and safety consulting outreach will slow down, says its general manager.

“We are looking to improve our stature within the industry — at one point, we were looked at as the source for health and safety information,” explained Roy O’Rourke, general manager of the CSAO. “I think, of late, we started to become recognized as more of a training establishment.”

O’Rourke outlined CSAO’s objectives for 2009 and a review of 2008 at the association’s recent annual general meeting.

CSAO, now in its 80th year, increased its consulting outreach by 15.7 per cent to 8,644 site visits in 2008. Its visits to emerging high-risk and high-risk firms also grew by 5.9 per cent to 2,216 visits. Emerging high-risk firms are identified and brought to the attention of CSAO by the Ministry of Labour and Workplace Safety Insurance Board (WSIB).

CSAO also saw a 21.2 per cent drop in certificate training participants to 15,408 and a 4.6 per cent drop in non-certificate programs participants to 14,781 in 2008.

“There has been a slight shift from a predominant training stance to a more balanced approach,” said O’Rourke. “We wanted to move the pendulum back to the middle. I thought we had almost lost our presence out there with our site visits.”

“We are trying to get out there more, be more visible and hopefully it has had an impact.”

CSAO will continue to concentrate on emerging high-risk firms and high-risk firms in 2009. The association will also continue to work toward meeting a targeted seven per cent reduction in lost-time injury reduction. This industry target has been established by the WSIB.

O’Rourke said CSAO will now have more of a small contractor focus as well.

“For years, a lot of our products were aimed at larger companies, but we are starting to take some of that and building tools aimed at the small companies,” he said.

The association will not lose sight of training as it strives to achieve a more balanced approach, added O’Rourke. The training will concentrate on high-value training that will help lead to the seven per cent reduction of lost-time injury time. CSAO’s research group will also continue to work on occupational health and safety.

As it concerns the realignment of safety associations, CSAO will be joined by transportation and electrical utility safety associations. This transition is currently at the point of establishing an interim board of directors which will include two people from each association. They will be looking at creating bylaws and then searching for a new chief executive officer.

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