Our October Brantford and Region SIG took place at Ranpro in Simcoe.  We had the opportunity to have a speaker from the Ministry of Labour followed by a tour of Ranpro's facility.

The presentation focused on the Safe Work initiatives, current and future blitzes, H1N1 and Bill 168 (see link at bottom for full presentation).

Some of the key things to consider with Bill 168 (Violence and Harassment in the workplace) are that the MOL wants you to have risk assessments done in the workplace (especially regarding entry control).  When Bill 168 was talked about (which passed second reading with the provincial government on October 5, 2009) it was mentioned that 6 months after Royal accent companies will have to comply with the legislation. 

Regarding H1N1, it is important to consider if having a contingency plan in case a significant portion of your workplace was off work (i.e. 25%).  Also make sure you train your employees on what influenza is, what they should do for their own protection (hand washing, alcohol based hand sanitizer).  The concern is always that the rumour mill is what will kill the organization.

Some of the questions asked at the presentation were:

With the end of mandatory retirement and the aging work force what would happen if someone died of natural causes in a plant?

The rule is you would still have to call it in because you wouldn't initially know if it was a workplace injury or natural cause death. 

Is there any other issues a company should consider regarding the MOL and health and safety when going through a plant closure?

It was mentioned that in some cases construction regulations will apply so if you are unsure to check with the MOL.  But for the most parts the same act, issues and procedures would apply.

This insightful discussion was followed by a tour of Ranpro's facility.  They had the opportunity to show their 5S system, cellular work system as well as their newly implemented kanban system.  The great thing is John Evan's (the Plant Manager) acknowledges a lot of the lean things they have implemented were because they stole the ideas from fellow EMC members!

Check out ht e full presentation from the Ministry of Labour at http://www.emccanada.org/membersonl/ontario/brantford/october22ranpropresentationpptx

For more information about the Brantford and Region SIGs, please contact Laura Gibson at 519-304-4648 or lgibson@emccanada.org