Ontario is taking action to address the recommendations from an expert panel report that will help improve workplace health and safety.

A new Chief Prevention Officer will ensure effective health and safety services and enforcement at workplaces throughout Ontario. The position is one of several recommendations included in the final report, released today, from the expert panel appointed to review Ontario’s workplace health and safety system.

The Chief Prevention Officer will ensure Ontario’s injury prevention priorities and programs are coordinated and integrated with the province’s enforcement system. The officer will also oversee Ontario’s Health and Safety Associations and report annually to the Minister.

Going forward, the province will determine how best to implement the panel’s remaining recommendations.

The recommendations of the 10-member panel, led by Tony Dean, professor in the School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Toronto, are the result of broad-based consultations with labour, business, and workplace health and safety organizations.