Talking about health and safety green book information can be done in 5 minutes or less, just watch the video below for tips from our president, Bruce Bolduc. For the transcript, please see below the video!
Safety Talks Episode 1: The Green Book
TRANSCRIPT FOR SAFETY TALKS: EPISODE 1 - THE GREEN BOOK
Welcome to build with safety, safety talks.
We hope you use this resource to enlighten your workers and help them to work in a more safe manner.
There is no legal requirement to hold safety talks on any given work site, however, there are rules and responsibilities for employers and supervisors to make workers aware of the hazards inherent in their job.
As such, it’s easy to do this through a safety talk.
A simple reminder to tell the guys, “Hey, this is what we need to do!”.
One of the most important aspects of any given safety talk is an attendance sheet.
If you’re having a safety talk, have your workers SIGN-IN and have them note you know they’re there.
This goes towards your due diligence as a supervisor, as a foreman, and as an employer to show that you are enlightening your workers.
One of the first things that we want to talk about in the safety talk series, is the green book.
There are a number of rules that apply to every workplace in Ontario.
They’re in the green book.
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT & REGULATION FOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS R213/91 JANUARY 2020
It’s Occupational Health and Safety Act & Regulations 213-91, or as we call it, the green book.
There’s roles, responsibilities, and laws that apply to every portion of every construction site in this province (Ontario).
In here, we’re not going to bore you today, with all the rules, but what we do want to talk about, is that you need to know what your roles are, and bring those to your workers.
Some of the first things that we want to talk about, is safety policies.
WHAT IS THE POINT OF A SAFETY POLICY?
Every company with 5 or more workers requires every company has a safety policy.
The policy is just a simple statement that we as a company are going to:
1) WORK SAFE
2) FOLLOW THE RULES
3) MAKE SURE OUR WORKERS ARE SAFE
It also should state the responsibilities that management's going to do, what are they going to do, and how are they going to do it.
Supervisors: What are they doing to protect the workers and protect themselves?
And then the workers, what are their roles and responsibilities in making this happen?
So to do that, talk to them about what your company policies are, and they can start with just the most basics.
Work safe, follow the rules, reference some of the rules in here (the green book).
There are number of resources on our website, at buildwithsafety.com in our documents and free downloads portion to help you in figuring out what the rules are and what some of the rules that you should be installing in your company are.
Please go to buildwithsafety.com to get those.
MAKE SAFETY POLICY RULES SPECIFIC
The other thing that you want to do is make the safety rules specific to your work.
If you’re a roofer, you should have rules regarding fall protection, you should have rules regarding safety equipment such as PPE: foot wear, hard hat, safety glasses.
You should have rules about temperature and heat and cold, when do we take breaks?
If you’re a carpentry company, then you should have rules regarding the types of equipment that you use - How do you get trained in that equipment? Who should be using it and when?
We should also have rules if you’re in concrete forming for example. What type of equipment are we using? How do we introduce your workers to the type of equipment you’re using? And how do we monitor their safe procedures?
So, in these talks, have something that’s important to them.
HEALTH AND SAFETY: GREEN BOOK CONCLUSION
I would start by introducing your policy and say, “This is how we’re going to work safe”.
It doesn’t take much, it doesn’t have to be complicated, and it certainly doesn’t have to be costly.
Do not start out with 14 binders of all your safety rules.
You will put everyone to sleep.
Start with just something basic. Five to ten rules, follow the law, and lay it out.
As I say, there are plenty of resources online in the province through the ministry of labour. (And through the IHSA's health and safety policy samples.)
All of these should help in putting something together.
So that’s the most basic start for safety talks, and why we hold them.
On the next part, we’re going to be talking about personal protective equipment and some of the ways that you need to inspect it.
Do you have a safety talk topic you would like us to cover? Let us know here!
Remember, you have the right to know about hazards on the job site, have the right to refuse unsafe work, and the right to participate in health and safety within your job site.
Stay safe, and stay tuned for our next episode of Free Safety Talks.
Go back to our home page, or see what trainings we have to offer! You can call us or e-mail and ask us anything related to training or any requirements you may need to keep you and your team safe.
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