Effective occupational health and safety programs have been proven to reduce accidents and illnesses in the workplace. Health and safety is fundamental to an organization’s success in all areas. It is not an afterthought — it is about doing things right the first time. In fact, providing your team members with the proper health and safety training is a legal requirement you must undertake, to protect your workers and insulate your organization from accidents and liability.

In Canada, majority of the time, health and safety programs fall under the Provincial / Territory jurisdiction. There are fourteen jurisdictions in Canada – one federal, ten provincial, and three territorial — and each has its own occupational health and safety legislation.

There are some exceptions to this approach. For example, Federal legislation covers employees of the federal government, including Crown agencies and corporations across Canada, as well as to employees of companies or sectors that operate across provincial or international borders.

For the sign industry, our health and safety requirements fall under the provincial and territorial jurisdiction.  Here is the link to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety site, which will provide you with links for contact information for agencies in your province and/or territory that are responsible for occupational health and safety in your jurisdiction.

As a reminder, Sign Association of Canada members get special discounts with our affinity partner, HASCO Health and Safety on various health and safety training courses.  For more information, see here.