Tool shops earn health and safety rebates (December 20, 2004)

The Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board presented 44 Windosr-Essex area tool, mold and die shops with more than $77,000 in rebates for improving their workplace health and safety performance in 2003. The machining firms participated in a Safety Groups Program sponsored by the Canadian Tooling & Machining Association (CTMA). The presentation of the rebates was made December 16 at St. Clair College.
The Safety Groups program promotes health and safety in the workplace through mentoring, the pooling of resources, and the sharing of best practices between member firms, their sponsor and the WSIB. Each safety group has a sponsor that leads and coordinates the group. At the start of the year participating firms select five safety elements they will initiate or improve upon. Firms attend meetings, share ideas and resources and decide how to put they will meet their goals. Rebates are distributed based on the group’s success in implementing their safety initiatives.
Recruitment for the 2005 Safety Group Program, which begins in January, is now taking place. Firms interested in joining the program should contact Julie McFarlane at 519-653-7265, or visit www.ctma.com.