A Double Standard - Improving Ontario's Working at Heights Approved Program

In early 2021, the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development of Ontario initiated consultations for its scheduled five-year review of the Working at Heights Standard. The Working at Heights Standard is one of the most important and safety sensitive of its kind, as falls from heights are the greatest cost to human life in the construction industry in Ontario. Today, an individual or organization, approved by the Chief Prevention Officer, may train both the Working at Heights and three year Refresher Approved Programs in Ontario. This is not the case for the fully separate approvals for the less safety sensitive Joint Health and Safety Committee Part I, Part II, and Refresher Standards. Those entering the Working at Heights Refresher program will take the theory and practical module of the training program over 3.5 hours, which emulates the work the worker has been doing for three years. While the initial Working at Heights program is sacrosanct, the three year refresher training is ripe for innovation. Under the current model entering review, the separations of standards for innovation is not possible. Refresher is a program being taken by those who already work at heights, and the ability is there, should the Ministry be willing, to find better ways of delivering more innovative, more cost effective, and more effective refresher training. First, we need a double standard.