Hello everyone and happy September! This month we wanted to discuss the very first step of implementation – the Policy Step. As the very first step of implementation, the WSIB will be looking to see how your organization developed a written policy, SWP, or standard for each of your selected topics.
At minimum, the policy should contain the purpose of the policy, key definitions, roles and responsibilities for each workplace party (Employer, Supervisor/Manager, Worker, etc.), training requirements, as well as the procedure that outlines how the program is to be followed in the workplace. A strong policy also answers the “5 W’s (who, what, where when, why)” and “How”.
The WSIB will review each policy submitted to ensure it meets all of the topic requirements found
in the HSEP - Health and Safety Topics Guide. You must review your policy to ensure its conformity with the Guide prior to your Communication step. As a reminder, we have customizable developed policy samples for each of the topics that are in accordance with the topic requirements. You can find these policy samples under each topic page in the Dunk Excellence Portal.
If the implementation of your topic is dependent on a policy that doesn’t meet the topic requirements, there is a chance the topic will be marked as incomplete or need to be deferred. The WSIB may mark the topic as “Additional Evidence Required” and request that policy be redeveloped. The 5 steps of implementation will then need to be re-done. Keep in mind the WSIB requires a topic to exist in the workpalce for 60 days before evaluation can occur, and this may ultimately result in deferring the topic or the WSIB may deem your topic as incomplete.
It is important to emphasize that no matter what topic you select, a written policy, SWO, or standard must be developed for your workplace exclusively for each topic. In the event that you are taking topics that are closely related to one another, for example the three Return-to-Work topics, you may develop one written policy that incorporates all three topic requirements. If you do decide to go this route, you will still need to ensure that the written policy incorporates all of the requirements from all of the topics.
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