In an effort to help workplaces keep the spread of COVID-19 under control, the provincial government has announced it will hire 98 more health and safety inspectors.

Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development Monte McNaughton delivered the news on September 23. The addition of the new hires means there will be more labour inspectors on the ground than ever before in the province's history.

"Our government is taking the steps necessary to protect Ontario workers on the job and keep our economy on the road to full recovery," said McNaughton. "By adding more inspectors to our team, we can respond faster to situations as they arise and help make sure that every office, plant, store and job site in this province is safe, during COVID-19 and beyond.

The hiring of these new workers will see the number of active inspectors in the province increase from 409 to 507, an increase of 24 percent. Training is set to begin later this fall.

The new inspectors will play a key role in protecting workers by checking and enforcing that workplaces are following occupational health and safety legislation. They will have broad powers to:

• inspect any workplace and ensure they have COVID protections in place;
• investigate any potentially hazardous situation, critical injury, fatality and work refusal;
• order compliance with the legislation;
• stop unsafe work from being performed; and
• recommend and initiate prosecutions.

The full-year cost for the new inspectors will be $11.6 million. Recruitment of the inspectors will begin in early October 2020. Applicants will have one month to apply.

"Nothing is more important than protecting the health and safety of our workers," said McNaughton. "By building the largest labour inspectorate in history, we're in the best position to do just that."

Between March 11 and September 8, 2020, Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development inspectors conducted 19,411 inspections and investigations related to COVID-19 and issued 16,520 orders while on those visits.

To help ensure that employers have the resources and equipment they need to keep their employees safe, including personal protective equipment (PPE), the government launched the Ontario Together PPE Directory. With listings for masks, sanitization, eye protection, gowns, gloves and sneeze guards, the directory is another tool to help keep everyone safe while on the job.