IHSA consultants are experienced health and safety professionals who can show you how to apply best practices and world-class prevention strategies to your operations, regardless of the size of your company. They will work with you to develop and implement a health and safety policy and program that is specific to the needs of your workplace.

We offer a range of auditing services including ergonomic assessments, internal responsibility system audits, transportation compliance, health and safety audits and much more.

By the time you are finished working with your consultant, you will have an effective policy and program in place. Then, your consultant will remain available for specific training requests or to help with a particular issue.

Consulting Services

• Air Quality Exposure Assessment
• Auditing
• Ergonomic Assessment
• Job Demands Analysis
• Noise Exposure Assessment
• Safety Meetings
• Symptom Survey

Air Quality Exposure Assessment

Within the construction, transportation, and utilities sectors, workers are often exposed to a variety of airborne dusts and contaminants. These dusts and contaminants can potentially have short-term and long-term health effects. Ontario Regulation 833 lists out the occupational exposure limits (OELs) for a variety of chemical and biological agents. It is the responsibility of the employer to take measures to limit the exposure of workers to these hazardous agents.

Carrying out an air quality exposure assessment can allow you to determine the level of risk against hazardous biological and chemical agents. This type of assessment can also allow you to validate existing controls, or give reason to improve or implement additional controls.

Examples of the types of contaminants that can be tested include respirable crystalline silica, total dust, respirable dust, isocyanates, welding fumes, carbon monoxide, etc.

To schedule a scoping meeting for an air quality assessment, contact IHSA’s Occupational Hygienist Jasmine Kalsi, ROH: jkalsi@ihsa.ca.

Ergonomic Assessment

The purpose of an ergonomic assessment is to help you understand the connection between people and their work environment. The assessment can help improve work quality, productivity, and profitability by triggering the change of certain processes and work practices.

Ergonomic assessments are valuable when a problem has been recognized and the company is willing to solve it. Some of the common reasons a firm may benefit from an ergonomic assessment include having injured or symptomatic workers or reports of employees having difficulties when performing a particular job task. An ergonomic assessment may also be useful if a company is planning a large equipment purchase or workspace redesign.

Job Demands Analysis

Having a detailed Job Demands Analysis (JDA) for each type of position within your organization is valuable because of its many applications. Here is a list of some of the applications of a JDA.

• Determining potential job modifications in the event of a worker suffering an occupational injury or illness
• Assisting with pre-employment screening
• Assisting with claims management (WSIB appeals, disputes regarding work-relatedness of an injury, questions of job suitability, etc.)
• Acts as a good screening tool to help identify where to start with ergonomic interventions

A JDA is conducted through observing the job at hand and informal interviews with the worker. The analysis covers all of the demands on the worker, including essential duties and non-essential duties, physical demands, cognitive demands, perceptual demands, shift work issues, environmental impact, equipment interaction, workstation/work parameters, and social interactions.

Noise Exposure Assessment

Noise is one of the most common occupational health hazards. Over time, if worker exposure to noise is not properly controlled, it may cause noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), a leading cause of occupational disease in Ontario workplaces. Ontario Regulation 381 describes the legal responsibilities of the employer for protecting workers from noise hazards. An employer must ensure that a worker is not exposed to noise levels above 85 dBA Lex daily.

Carrying out a noise exposure assessment can allow you to determine the level of risk for noise exposure for your workers. A noise exposure assessment can also allow you to validate existing controls, and confirm whether or not additional controls are needed.

To schedule a scoping meeting for a noise assessment, contact IHSA’s Occupational Hygienist Jasmine Kalsi, ROH: jkalsi@ihsa.ca.