The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) has launched a new online portal to help small businesses across Canada meet their health and safety responsibilities.
Small and medium-sized businesses can be challenged by competing priorities, time constraints, financial pressures and limited resources. They often don’t have staff dedicated to health and safety. The Business Safety Portal offers an accessible, scalable, low-cost solution for owners and employers to help them understand their legal obligations for protecting their workers from injuries and illnesses and keep up to date with their health and safety policies, training, and other regulatory requirements.
The portal provides businesses with health and safety guidance specific to their industry and location. It features templates and checklists to guide them through identifying health and safety hazards and concerns, assessing the risks to their workers, and developing policies and programs to help protect them.
The portal also includes relevant online courses, practical manuals, fact sheets, and a digital file cabinet to store, update and share important documentation, such as health and safety plans, training certificates and inspection records.
“Small to medium-sized businesses represent one of the largest employer groups in the country, and many do not have the tools they need to keep their workers safe. We wanted to address their specific needs with the Business Safety Portal to make it easier for them to build a safe and healthy workplace culture,” said Anne Tennier, President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS).
Effective health and safety programs can help reduce injuries and illnesses in the workplace and help improve worker morale, satisfaction, retention, recruitment, and productivity. While particularly helpful for small to medium-sized businesses, the portal can benefit any organization committed to providing a healthy and safe workplace.
More information about the Business Safety Portal is available on the CCOHS website.
