POLITICAL ACTION REPORT AREA 2
NEW WORKING AT HEIGHTS TRAINING STANDARD - LOCAL 27 By: Cristina Selva, Executive Director
A
s you may know the new Working at Heights training
course is not a guarantee of passing it. Several members
standard was put into effect by the Ministry of
have had to re-take the course in order to pass.
Labour (MoL) as of April 1, 2015. This means that
all new workers/members must take the Working at Heights (WaH) course before being allowed onto a construction site. Members who have taken the previous Fall Protection course and hold a Fall Protection certificate, have until April 1, 2017 to take the WaH course and obtain the new certificate. Please be advised that the WaH course is much more rigorous than the Fall Protection course and the College of Carpenters and Allied Trades Inc. (CCAT) must comply with all related MoL and Infrastructure Health & Safety Association (IHSA) regulations in delivering the course including: • Delivery time of 8 – 9 hours which must all be completed the same day
The written examination is only available in English. If a member has difficulty understanding oral or written English, he/she may bring an interpreter to the course. If a member has learning disabilities such as those related to reading, please advise us when you register for the course so that we can provide appropriate accommodations. Because approximately 7,000 existing Local 27 members need to take the WaH course in addition to all of the new members who will be joining over the next two years, we urge you to register as soon as possible if you have not already done so. You may register through our website at www.carpenterstraining. ca . If you wait until the last minute (i.e., the first few months of 2017) we cannot guarantee that you will obtain your WaH
• A maximum of 12 students per instructor per course
certificate before the April 1st, 2017 compliance deadline. Please
• Ensuring that students:
also note that there is a three year refresher requirement on
o Have FULL Personal Protective Equipment
o Bring government photo identification (driver’s license or passport)
the WaH certificate that will involve having to do a three hour review course and practical evaluation every three years. We welcome our employer partners to contact either myself
o Are not more than 15 minutes late for the course
or Tony Currie in order to book WaH courses for a group of
o Write and pass a written (closed book)
your employees during the week days to ensure that your
examination and practical evaluation
workers are well prepared in advance of the deadline.
• Issuing temporary certificates to students who pass
Should you have any questions, please do
• Sending in copies of all examinations to IHSA &
not hesitate to contact our offices.
MoL within three days of course completion Once all required documentation is received by the Ministry, the MoL will send the official certificates directly to students who have passed. Please note that attending the 10
Trade Talk
www.carpentersunion.ca
To contact the College of Carpenters and Allied Trades Inc., please call 905-652-5507.