Companies that are required by Section 9 of the Ontario Environmental Protection Act to obtain an environmental approval for air and noise emissions are now required to self register on the Environmental Activity & Sector Registry (EASR), or apply for an Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA).  Details of the air and noise approval process are outlined in Ontario Regulation 419/05 - Air Pollution - Local Air Quality. 

The EASR is for businesses that have standard, routine operations with…

A fume hood is a three-sided enclosure with an adjustable front opening.  It is designed to capture, contain, and exhaust hazardous fumes generated inside its enclosure.  Fume hoods accomplish this by exhausting air through the hood face to the outside of the building.  By doing so, fumes are drawn away from the worker's breathing zone.  Because exposure to volatile chemicals constitutes one of the top health and safety hazards to laboratory workers, a fume hood operates as a principle safety…

To make clearances easier to use, WSIB have made the following changes:

• We have shifted the focus from the concept of a certificate to the validity of a clearance number. This change will improve security throughout the system.
• Clearances are now valid for up to 90 days instead of 60.
• Predictable renewal dates will help you keep track of when clearances expire.
• Generic clearances have been discontinued in favour of specific clearances that show specific principal-contractor business…

What role does an employer play in the doctor patient relationship? When an employee is sick or injured, the employer must rely on the information provided by the employee's doctor. This information may be critical to making decisions regarding the employee's return to work plan. Often, the doctor must rely on information provided by the employee about the working conditions and the availability of modified work. Clearly, this situation is not necessarily conducive to positive return to work…

Current changes to the WSIB program in Ontario include movement towards eliminating cost relief for employers through SIEF for pre-existing medical conditions, timelier return to work, changing labour market re-entry to work transition program, internalizing the retraining assessment activities, placements for retraining programs with the pre-injury employer, etc.  While some of the changes appear to be positive, management and implementation of such changes are as of yet untested. 

However,…