April 09 MOL Blitz

March 19, 2009 on 3:52 pm | In MOL | Comments Off

The MOL officially announced yesterday on their website that their April Blitz will focus on musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) targeting the construction, health care, industrial and mining sectors. Inspectors will be looking at any job tasks or activities that require workers to exert force, fixed or awkward postures or repetition. MDSs are injuries and disorders of the muscles, tendons and nerves that can develop as a result of continued exposure to repetitive work, awkward postures and other factors.

“Musculoskeletal disorders account for almost half of all injuries in which workers need to take time off work in Ontario – resulting in substantial costs to the medical and workers’ compensation system. Ontario and its workplace partners are committed to eliminating all workplace injuries, including those involving MSDs.” - Peter Fonseca, Minister of Labour

Furthermore the MOL statistics show that in 2007, 43% of all lost time injuries involved MSDs, amounting to more than 35,000 injured workers.

What will MOL inspectors look for?

Your first concern should be “does your company have a written policy/procedure/program dealing with MSDs”?

In our commitment to be your Health and Safety provider we are well equipped to assist you with this initial step and can also help you with implementation of your program.

Be prepared for this “Spring Blitz”! 

We can help!

 

For more information on “Blitzes” use our link to the MOL website and search under “blitzes”.