On December 15, 2009, Bill 168 received Royal Assent by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, resulting in amendments to the Occupational Health & Safety Act.  This new legislation prescribes additional responsibilities for employers to protect their workers in respect to workplace violence and harassment including:

• The exercise of physical force
• The attempt to exercise physical force
• The threat to exercise physical force
• Domestic Violence in the workplace

To ensure employers are fulfilling their responsibilities, the legislation requires the development of a policy and program.  It also requires employers to conduct a risk assessment to determine functions of their buisness that carry a higher risk and therefore require controls be put in place to protect their workers.

At Laurier, a Workplace Violence Prevention Committee was established in July 2009.  The committee immediately began work on a draft policy.  The Workplace Violence Prevention Policy was finalized and approved by the Board of Governors on June 1, 2010. 

The Harassment/Discrimination Policy #6.1 was amended to include workplace harassment as defined by the OHSA, and was approved by the Board of Governors on February 17, 2011.

Laurier's risk assessment was conducted in July 2010, and the final development of Laurier's Workplace Violence Prevention Program was completed in October 2010, which includes a reporting form.

To view the Risk Assessment Form Click Here.

To view the Workplace Violence Reporting Form Click Here.

WORKPLACE VIOLENCE & HARASSMENT PREVENTION TRAINING

This mandatory training is avilable for all faculty, staff and management at Brantford, K-W and Toronto campuses.  This training will address key issues relating to Workplace Violence and Harassment legislation, reporting and resolutions inititatives, identifying suspicious behaviours and providing the information you need to understand your new responsibilities.

For more information on training Click Here.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION