MOL blitz to focus on PPE
Inspectors from the Ministry of Labour will be visiting construction sites in February and March of next year with a view to ensuring workers are wearing adequate personal protective equipment (PPE).
In 2017, a lack of PPE was the second-most cited violation in the province’s construction industry. The Ministry of Labour issued nearly 7,500 violations for the offence that year. Only fall protection with more than 8,500 violations, exceeded that total.
The following year, orders for lack of PPE exceeded 8,600, making this violation the province's third-most cited, after workplace violence and harassment (14,000 orders) and fall protection (9,500 orders).
Beginning in January and running through to March 13, the ministry will run an initiative focusing on the lack and misuse of personal protective equipment such as foot, eye, hearing and respiratory protection devices. Compliance assistance begins in the new year with support from the Infrastructure Health and Safety Association. Focused inspections start on February 3.
The Ministry of Labour says that PPE should be provided to workers wherever there are health or safety risks that cannot be adequately controlled for in other ways. Personal protective equipment can include:
- respiratory protection
- hearing protectors
- skin protection devices
- high visibility clothing
- face shields
- eye protection devices
Inspectors will focus on checking that appropriate personal protective equipment is being supplied and worn. Inspectors will focus on all types of construction sites—residential, non-residential as well as civil engineering and roadwork.