New Requirements For Certification Training

The Occupational Health and Safety Act requires some workplaces to have either a Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) or a health and safety representative. Where a JHSC is required, at least two JHSC members—one management and one worker—must be certified by the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development (MLTSD).

As of March 1, 2016, all training programs to become a Certified Member of a JHSC must be approved by the Chief Prevention Officer (CPO) of Ontario. IHSA is an approved training provider by the CPO and this JHSC Certification Refresher training program is a CPO-approved training program under the JHSC Certification training program standard.

All approved certification programs must have a generic Part One course and a sector-specific Part Two course. A Refresher training course is also required every three years to maintain certification. NOTE: Refresher training is not legally required by anyone who completed training to become a Certified Member of a JHSC before March 2016 (i.e., anyone who was previously certified under the requirements of the 1996 JHSC certification standard).

Joint Health and Safety Committee Certification—Refresher provides learners with a forum to review the key concepts of occupational health and safety, to provide updates regarding legislation, codes, and standards, and to discuss best practices and challenges.

Please note that all participants must arrive to the program at the designated start time and must attend the program in full to successfully complete the program.

This program is available at your facility, IHSA reserves the right to apply discretion to deliver the program at your facility with participant numbers less than 50% of the course maximum as outlined below.

Program Content

• Rights, duties, and responsibilities of JHSC members and Certified Members
• Rights, duties, and function of a JHSC
• Internal responsibility system (IRS)
• Hazard management
• Best practices
• Workplace inspections
• Action Plans
• Preparing recommendations

Participants must bring a valid piece of photo ID and proof of JHSC Certification to the training program to confirm their registration (e.g., Driver’s License, Permanent Resident Card, Passport, Student Card).

To obtain a certificate of completion for this program, participants must complete a written evaluation and achieve a grade of 75% or better.

Who Should Attend?

Every three years for those who wish to maintain their JHSC Certified Member status.

Prerequisites

Refresher training is only required by those who had completed their certification training within the previous three years, and want to maintain their certification.

To complete their certification training within the previous three year, participants would have completed a Joint Health and Safety Committee Certification—Part One course and a sector-specific Joint Health and Safety Committee Certification—Part Two course. Refresher training eliminates the need to take the Part One and Part Two courses again.