From April 1, 2024 – March 31, 2025, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) will conduct an enforcement campaign to raise awareness of material handling hazards faced by workers in industrial workplaces.
Focused inspections of workplaces will occur between April 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025, targeting workplaces where materials, articles or things are lifted, carried, or moved, therefore putting workers at risk of being injured by their movements. Various sectors where fatalities and critical injuries have occurred will be visited, including:
- agricultural services
- automotive
- farming
- food, beverage and tobacco
- government services (municipal services only)
- industrial services
- primary metals
- retail
- tourism, hospitality and recreational services
- transportation
- vehicle, sales and service
- wholesalers
- wood and metal fabrication
Inspectors will focus on the following key priorities:
- lifting devices/mobile equipment/cranes
- workplace layout and design
- manual material handling
- storage systems
- automation
- machine guarding, blocking and lockout
- training and orientation provided by the employer (for example, supervisor and worker awareness training)
- internal responsibility system (for example, joint health and safety committee/health and safety representation