hazards

OHCOW's RSI Day Webinar Series 2024

The Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) is pleased to announce the return of our free annual international event focussed on Repetitive Strain Injuries and their prevention. Now in its 25th year, OHCOW’s RSI Day program continues to translate the knowledge and experience of our professional staff and guest speakers to increase awareness and prevention of musculoskeletal disorders. Due its ever-expanding audience, this year’s event will again be held virtually, as a 4-week webinar series over the month of February.

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COVID-19 Health and Safety Considerations.

Working during COVID-19, will depend on the type of work and its effect on public services. There are many workplaces that are considered essential including grocery stores, pharmacies and healthcare providers, that will require workers to come in despite the current government recommendations to avoid leaving home. Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), a worker has the right to ask their boss to take reasonable health and safety precautions in their workplace if there is a high likeliness of exposure to COVID-19.

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Work Safe Guide 2020.

Protect your health and safety! As a worker in Ontario, you have basic health and safety rights. It is against the law for your boss to fire you or punish you (or threaten to fire or punish you) for using your health and safety rights. Check out our new booklet: Work Safe: Your Health and Safety at Work For more information on our services or if you have have been fired or punished for speaking out about your health and safety rights, contact us.

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Annual Report 2017

The Workers’ Health and Safety Legal Clinic’s Annual Report outlines the activities and initiatives that were made in pursuit of advocating for workers’ rights. It further details the Clinic’s efforts to continue providing consistently high quality services in a cost-effective, efficient and innovative manner. The Clinic provides such legal services as advice, representation, public legal education and law reform concerning occupational health and safety and related workplace laws. The following PDF documents are available for review -

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Summer 2017 Newsletter – Vol. 25, No. 2

The Workers’ Health and Safety Legal Clinic is pleased to publish its Summer 2017 Newsletter – Vol. 25, No. 2. In this publication, you will find commentary about clinic casework and law reform efforts, as well as meet our new staff. Read more on these issues in the Summer 2017 Clinic Newsletter.

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Radon Hazards

U of T Engineering Students’ proposal for Ontario Building Code changes for Radon Gas. According to the World Health Organization, radon gas has become the second leading cause of lung cancer. In Ontario, high levels of radon can be found within Toronto’s GTA. Since there are no legal requirements in Ontario for radon testing, the current Ontario Building Code is inadequate to handle radon as a rising problem. The Canadian Environmental Law Association issued a report in November 2014 called Radon in Homes, Schools, and Workplaces: CELA Finds Legal Protections Lacking.

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Operation Rainbow

U of T Engineering Students’ proposals to safely replace the dangerous high school Rainbow Experiment. Our Clinic continued its partnership with first year engineering students at the University of Toronto participating in U of T Engineering Strategies & Practice Course, and the Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Course. Proposed by Clinic volunteer, Dr. Michael Grossman, “Operation Rainbow” is a project that seeks to resolve the safety problems surrounding the Rainbow Experiment: a laboratory experiment performed in secondary schools that identify characteristic colours produced by crystalline compounds when ignited.

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