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Due Diligence and Discipline
Due Diligence and Discipline for Safety Infractions - Problems, Pitfalls and Effective Management Strategies
Your workplace health and safety program must incorporate the concept of due diligence as defined by case law. This course combines a detailed session on how to implement court-established due diligence standards to prevent most accidents and prosecutions, with detailed guidance on one of the most crucial elements - discipline. Safety-related discipline is cause for frustration and confusion for many supervisors. Due diligence and proper discipline are a winning combination! You Will Learn: Responsibilities and potential liabilities under OHSA How to establish a health and safety program that meets key court established standards How to meet court expectations of discipline for OH&S infractions How to make discipline part of your program How to discipline for health and safety so the discipline sticks Creative discipline to promote safety goals
The Program Will Cover: Due Diligence and Discipline: The Context Problems and pitfalls with the concepts of due diligence and discipline Structure of the Act, scope of obligations, and regulations
Consequences for Failure to Meet Obligations Under the Act Penalty provisions for corporations/ individuals Aggressive enforcement of the Act Recent trends in sentencing and level of fines being imposed
How to Bring Due Diligence to the Workplace: A Step-by Step Review Components of a workplace program of due diligence Hazard identification: Foreseeable hazards in the workplace Developing proper policies, practices and procedures: supervisory role in development and on-going review Supervision and expectations of supervisors Ensuring proper training in specific policies and rules for work Ensuring worker familiarity with specific safety hazards and risks with work Creating a system to ensure that supervisors train each new and transferred worker in procedures and specific hazards Creating a system to alert workers to hazards of new equipment, machinery Creating a system to monitor compliance Auditing and inspecting for risks Creating a system for ongoing reminders of risks and policies, practices and procedures (Crew meetings and other mechanisms) Determining whether supervisors are attending to monitor with sufficient frequency for risks
Discipline for Safety Infractions: An Important Aspect of Due Diligence Court comments on due diligence and expectations of discipline Key cases decided by arbitrators that uphold expectations that employers will discipline for safety infractions How to make discipline work effectively and make it part of your system Making discipline for health and safety infractions policy at the workplace and a fundamental performance expectation for supervisors Why supervisors and managers are frequently frustrated with courts and arbitrators finding discipline or termination unjust How to discipline progressively - When the progressive discipline system can be bypassed for serious safety infractions Practical aspects and strategies for making discipline work - case studies Collecting the facts: Reasons for proper fact collection, preserving physical evidence The importance of interviewing everyone who witnessed or was involved in the event giving rise to discipline The importance of interviewing the employee who may be disciplined Can you prove it? Preserving evidence
The basic legal principles underlying discipline: Just cause and its key elements: Review of aggravating and mitigating factors considered by arbitrators in determining the appropriate penalty in a given case Discussion of a sample disciplinary policy and how it fits in with the need for progressive discipline, and assessing appropriate penalty Making discipline stick: Avoiding classic problems Enforcement with discipline when front line supervisors contravene safety requirements
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