On Oct. 1, the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) launched a 2-year pilot project offering online access to CSA Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) standards to increase accessibility and help improve safety in Canadian workplaces.
The View Access initiative was developed in collaboration with federal, provincial and territorial OSH governmental agencies. It will allow registered users to access OHS standards referenced in various Canadian jurisdictions and view the full content through CSA's Web site.
“Appropriate occupational health and safety practices can mean the difference between life and death,” said Suzanne Kiraly, CSA president of standards. “This initiative will especially help small and medium-sized organizations improve workplace safety. By making these documents available, we hope that companies will know and apply occupational health and safety standards.”
CSA is a nonprofit, membership-based association that develops standards and provides education and training to ensure standards are applied. This collaboration with government representatives for labor is the first of its kind in CSA's history and is driven by the pressing need to improve workplace safety.
“Every year, more than 1,000 Canadians die as a result of workplace injuries and disease. We can and should do more to protect the lives of workers. We need information, best practices and safer products to make a difference,” Kiraly said. “CSA believes this new project will serve to raise awareness of OHS products and services and will help reduce workplace injuries and fatalities in Canada.”
View Access is a source for employers to learn more about their rights and obligations under the law related to OHS and it provides additional resources that can help employers understand and apply OHS standards. This type of stakeholder collaboration is fundamental to the safety of working Canadians, CSA said.
Federal, provincial and territorial OSH governmental agencies are funding the development and maintenance of the initiative as a 2-year pilot project, and will continue to monitor the overall usage and impact in cooperation with CSA over the project period.
For more information, visit http://www.ohs.csa.ca/.