Ministry of Labour Risk Assessment Initiatives

Presented at the 2018 Mining Health and Safety Conference by Robert Barclay and Sujoy Dey, Ministry of Labour  

This presentation traces the evolution of the Ministry’s involvement in risk assessment. It begins by describing a formal risk ranking of health and safety hazards in underground mining that was carried out as part of a Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review led by the Ministry in 2014. The presentation provides a synopsis of not only the process that was applied to conduct this risk ranking, but also an analysis of its key findings. It also describes risk-based health and safety legislation that has been recently added to the Regulations for Mines and Mining Plants under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act. It explains why and how this legislation was introduced and refers to a guideline that has recently been prepared by the Ministry to assist Mining Sector stakeholders in complying with these new requirements. Moreover, we will describe the specialized expertise that the Ministry has acquired, and a framework that it has recently established, towards enabling it and its Health and Safety System partners to elevate the level of risk assessment maturity for the purpose of optimizing the workplace health and safety culture in Ontario.