OGCA Supports CORTM –Summary Report
Recently the Infrastructure Health and Safety Association (IHSA) held a CORTM Open House and Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA) Leadership Conference at the Center for Health and Safety Innovation in Mississauga Ontario.
This ‘sold out’ event hosted by David Frame (OGCA Director of Government Relations) included speakers from the IHSA, eCompliance, Infrastructure Ontario (IO), MySafeWork, and the Ministry of Labour (MOL).
Overview
The theme of the day was safety, and the certificate of recognition (CORTM) program was portrayed as the leader that will help pave the way to safer workplaces and better business practices.
COR is a broad evidence based audit program, and was regarded as the fundamental driver of behavioral change. Described as a way of life, COR was recognized as creating top down driven attitudes which force assessment activity and a better quality control program.
A small business session was delivered in the morning by IHSA Auditor David Steinschifter, who outlined the IHSA Small Business Page Websites’ resources and programs to seemingly concerned and curious general contractors regarding the COR program. eCompliance representatives also outlined the newly formed partnership with the IHSA giving a brief overview of their online safety management services.
Leadership Sessions began with the MOL’s Chief Prevention Officer (CPO) George Gritziotis, who discussed challenges in managing health and safety and the Ministry’s Action Plan.
IHSA’s vice-president of programs and strategic development Paul Casey, discussed COR’s progression into Ontario, steps to achieve COR, and outlined the benefits of achieving COR which included the creation of an evidence based system which meets a standard, and creates a shared interest and internal system within your company.
MySafeWork representatives drove home a simple theme: the value of connections. Highlighting key points:
· celebrate the wins (create an atmosphere)
· live in reality –acknowledge your room for improvement
· communicate better than others
The Minister of Labour and Keynote speaker Kevin Flynn discussed his action items which included:
· decrease injuries/ fatalities
· build a culture
· increased participation
· social marketing initiatives
· enhanced/ consistent training
Highlights
Accreditation seemed to be a recurring topic of discussion. And according to Frame, the OGCA is working with Minister Flynn on possible accreditations for contractors adopting the COR program. The IHSA also spoke of possible accreditations and working on incentives such as reduced WSIB ratings based on Risk.
CPO Gritziotis’ reported that 30% of Lost Time Injuries occur in the construction sector, which represents only 6% of the workforce. Reinforcing the need to create consistency across government which included ideas such as:
· implementing a requirement to obtain a permit to do work with high risk activities
· leveraging technology as a pilot to work with youth and method to manage information
· provide support systems for supervisors
· increase participation
· creating regulatory and workplace accountability
Infrastructure Ontario was noted as the first to use COR as a pre-qualification in Alternative Financing and Procurement (AFP) Projects. These buyers of construction will now require COR for traditionally delivered IO construction projects over $10M as of April 1, 2015 with a Phase-in Period allowing contractors time to fully achieve COR by the anticipated completion date in the Fall of 2016.
General Contractor Jason Ball of Ball Construction stressed the hard work involved in the COR audit programs system based approach was well worth the effort, with a reported injury reduction of 73% within the first year of achieving COR.
Conclusion
Short Q&A’s answered some important questions from the audience, some of which surrounded the subject of third party verification. On this subject it was made clear that COR does not supersede other third party’s required by certain clients, and it remains a voluntary program, however it was stressed that COR is unique and is becoming a pre-qualification requirement.
Overall, the COR Open House and OGCA Leadership Conference was well received and successfully relayed relevant information to general contractors, prompting the IHSA to consider more events such as this.
The afternoon concluded with four COR Information Sessions which included:
· The 19 Elements of COR. What You Need to Know
· Overview: Introduction to Hazard Assessment -A Walk Through the Audit Tool
· COR- A Guide to Successful Submissions
· Are you ready for your External COR Audit?
These presentations have been posted online and can be viewed at www.ihsa.ca/COR2015
For more information on COR, visit the IHSA website at www.ihsa.ca/cor.aspx