OHS Education Fund Established

Offenders convicted under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act now are paying their fines into a trust fund for safety education.

The creation of the trust fund resulted from a court decision last June. At that time, an organization was ordered by the courts to pay a fine resulting from a conviction under the Act. The fee is payable to the Minister of Environment and Labour and is to be used for public education.

The Occupational Health and Safety Public Education Trust Fund was then created to hold these fines. The trust fund will provide for public education and promotion related to occupational health and safety issues.

"The fund will help us increase our awareness about occupational health and Safety training, education and promotion," said Environment and Labour Minister David Morse. "The more people know about health and safety, the lower the risk of injury, which in turn leads to lower business costs."

Occupational Health and Safety, a division of the Department of Environment and Labour, will be responsible for developing the education campaigns. They will educate the public on the issue that brought the money into the fund.

"Mainly, we would use the Public Education Fund to address the health and safety infraction of the organization that has been convicted and fined," said Jim LeBlanc, executive director of Occupational Health and Safety.

"For instance, if an organization had to pay a fine because of a fall accident, we would design an education campaign about the use of fall-protection equipment."

To date, 10 organizations have paid more than $27,000 into the Occupational Health and Safety Public Education Fund.