Every year, the OSSGA Health & Safety Committee invites all active OSSGA members to recognize individuals and operations within their organizations that have excelled at making safety a part of their daily responsibilities by applying for an OSSGA Health and Safety Award. 

To apply for an OSSGA Corporate Safety Award recognizing Zero Lost Time Injuries (LTI) for individual operations, please click here. 

To apply for the OSSGA Individual Safety Certificate, please click here. 

At the 2021 Operations, Health and Safety Seminar, Glenn Staskus of the Ontario Ministry of Labour provided a regulatory update, as well as updates on health and safety data from the aggregate and construction industries.

The presentation can be found here.

In December 2018, Chief Preventative Officer, Ron Kelusky, released a study on Falls from Heights to better understand causes and circumstances around these fatal injuries. The review included an assessment of 92 falls from height fatality events that occurred from 2009 to 2016. 

Fall from Heights Fatalities Analysis Presentation

Fall from Heights Fatalities Analysis Three Pager  

Under the Federal Government’s amended WHMIS legislation, Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) have been renamed Safety Data Sheets (SDS). Similar to MSDS, SDS are summary documents that provide information about the hazards of a product and advice about safety precautions; however, under WHMIS 2015 there are new requirements for the format of SDSs which includes required content under 16 headings. SDSs must also be in both English and French and updated within 90 days of new information becoming available.

Every product that is classified as  a “hazardous product” under WHMIS that is intended for use, handling or storage in a workplace must have an SDS. For more information visit: https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/chemicals/whmis_ghs/sds.html.

OSSGA has made the following SDS available for members.

• Limestone - English
• Limestone - French
• Sand & Gravel  - English 
• Sand & Gravel - French
• Granite - English
• Granite - French 

 NOTE: The information contained in these sample SDS is for information purposes only and may not be representative of OSSGA member's specific site minerology. 

The attached Canadian WHMIS / US OSHA GHS SDS was based on the Canadian Hazardous Products Act (HPA) and Hazardous Products Regulations (HPR) (or WHMIS 2015); the United Nations GHS formatting requirements for safety data sheets, the US requirements of OSHA 29CFR Part 1910.1200 (Hazcom 2012), the ANSI Standard for Hazardous Workplace Chemicals – Hazard Evaluation and Safety Data Sheet and Precautionary Labeling Preparation Z400.1/Z129.1 – 2010. The SDS contains all of the information required by the HPA and HPR, OSHA 29 CFR Part 1910.1200 (Hazcom 2012) and the ANSI Standard Z400.1/Z129.1-2010. 

Disclaimer:

These Safety Data Sheets were prepared by ICC The Compliance Center Inc. using information provided by / obtained from Ontario Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (OSSGA) and CCOHS’ Web Information Service. The information in the Safety Data Sheet is offered for your consideration and guidance when exposed to this product. ICC The Compliance Center Inc and Ontario Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (OSSGA) expressly disclaim all expressed or implied warranties and assume no responsibilities for the accuracy or completeness of the data contained herein. The data in this SDS does not apply to use with any other product or in any other process.

The Ministry of Labour offers various Health & Safety related publications on their website. They can be accessed here: https://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/hs/pubs/index.php.

• Updating training requirements to reflect changes in the training programs and clarifying the time limits for completing training;
• Introducing occupational noise limits consistent with those found in other regulations under the OHSA; 
• Updating diesel exhaust exposure limits to protect underground miners from exposure to carbon monoxide; 
• Updating air volume requirements to protect underground miners from exposure to diesel particulate matter; 
• Strengthening hoisting requirements; o Improving worker safety in shaft sinking work; and 
• Modernizing provisions to reflect the current administration of the mine rescue program.

The guidelines are intended to provide guidance to site staff and drivers with regard to the safety practices surrounding loading and hauling at OSSGA member sites. The document can be used in conjunction with your company-specific health and safety policies, or as an additional guideline you can provide to haulers. Click here for the Aggregate Hauling Safety Best Practices. 

New Interactive Web Tools

MOL has Health and Safety Tools to help educate employers and employees on preventing slips, trips and falls at the workplace.

https://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/hs/topics/falls.php

Click here for the latest news from IHSA. 

Safe At Work Ontario is the Ministry of Labour’s (MOL’s) compliance strategy to improve health and safety for workers. You can access blitz schedules, reports, and publications here.

Partners in Prevention is a health and safety conference and trade show for all Ontario workplaces. Attendees can access the collective expertise of the Ontario Prevention System through: interactive sessions, workshops, professional development courses and keynote speakers. One-stop shopping for best practices, compliance advice and business solutions including take-away tools, post conference follow-up and a trade show with various exhibitors.

For more information, visit: https://app.wsps.ca/pip/pip_home.php.