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Bill 168 – The What, The Why .... but where’s the How!!!

Lately, it seems we're drowning in templates, sample policies, checklists, legal opinions and numerous information sessions related to Bill 168, an amendment to Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act that came into effect on June 15, 2010.  But what will it really take to achieve not only an acceptable level of compliance, but also a truly meaningful standard of conduct and prevention, and how do we get there?

New or amended legislation always brings a sense of uncertainly in terms of what will be deemed sufficient to address the requirements, so let's start with an understanding of the why behind Bill 168:

17% of all self-reported incidents of violent victimization, including sexual assault, robbery and physical assault, took place in the workplace. This represents over 356,000 violent workplace incidents in Canada (StatsCan, 2007).  In a five-month period in 2008, Ontario Ministry of Labour inspectors made 198 field visits and issued 185 orders related to violence in the workplace (MOL, 2009).

I found those statistics to be quite sobering, but the statistics on the nature of bullies truly took me by surprise.  Nationwide statistics on bullying indicate:

• 81% of Bullies are in Supervisory Roles
• 58% of Bullies are Female
• 84% of Bullied employees are Female
• 21% of all Workers have been targeted by Bullies

Source: (Brunner and Costello 2003, and Namie 2003)

As a workplace in Ontario that employs five or more people on a regular basis, Bill 168 required you to:

• Develop Violence and Harassment policies
• Develop Programs and Response measures to support policies
• Put in place Emergency Response to Violent Incidents
• Complete a Risk Assessment of Violence in the Workplace annually
• Develop Procedures to deal with Reports and Incidents
• Develop Investigation Procedures
• Provide Training on Violence and Harassment in the Workplace

That’s the what  …. but the how is the real challenge and most employers have been left to figure that one out for themselves.  HRPA stats show that many organizations are not ready and I suspect some of that is because the MOL has not provided explicit standards to be achieved.  As I meet with clients each one has their own take on what they need to do, are prepared to do, and have the time to do.  Given that every workplace brings its own unique set of challenges it’s not unreasonable to expect some differentiation in implementation.  But what will be enough – not only to meet the legislation but to actually address potential violence and harassment in your workplace?  We’ll know for sure once the first fines are levied and legal cases filed, but until then most employers are developing their plans in the hope that they will be sufficient.