Ontario's labour movement won late stage amendments to a bill that if properly enforced will begin to protect workers against workplace violence and harassment.

Government Bill 168, An Act to amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act with respect to violence and harassment in the workplace and other matters, was introduced in April and received Royal Assent in the Ontario Legislature on December 15, 2009. These important amendments to the Act will come into force on June 15, 2010.

At recent public hearings of the Legislature s Standing Committee on Social Policy, unions, individual workers and affected families made submissions in support of the bill and recommendations for its improvement.

After hearing more than 40 submissions, the Committee made two amendments to Bill 168: an expanded definition of workplace violence to include threats of physical violence; and, authority to Ministry of Labour (MOL) inspectors to order employers to produce a written risk assessment.

The amendments, while they fall short of labour's demands, will place significant legal requirements on employers to develop and implement workplace violence prevention policies and programs.

Meantime, labour will continue to lobby for specific workplace violence regulations and expect to work with the MOL to develop guidelines for enforcing these new provisions. Most critically, labour is still seeking a defined role for joint health and safety committee members and worker reps in developing and implementing the violence prevention policy and program and will insist upon training to help them carry out these new tasks.  

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