Toronto, October 1, 2008 – Canadian Standards Association (CSA), a leading developer of standards and codes, is today launching a two-year pilot project to increase accessibility to CSA Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) standards by offering users access to online viewing. The View Access initiative has been developed in collaboration with federal, provincial and territorial OSH governmental agencies. It will allow registered users to access OHS standards referenced in various Canadian jurisdictions and view the full content through CSA’s website www.ohs.csa.ca
“Appropriate occupational health and safety practices can mean the difference between life and death,” says Suzanne Kiraly, President, Standards, Canadian Standards Association. “This initiative will especially help small and medium–sized organizations improve workplace safety. By making these documents available we hope that companies will know and apply occupational health and safety standards.”
CSA is a not-for-profit, membership-based association that develops standards and provides education and training to ensure standards are applied. This collaboration with government representatives for Labour is the first of its kind in CSA’s history and is driven by the pressing need to improve workplace safety.
“Every year more than 1,000 Canadians die as a result of workplace injuries and disease. We can and should do more to protect the lives of workers. We need information, best practices and safer products to make a difference. CSA believes this new project will serve to raise awareness of OHS products and services and will help reduce workplace injuries and fatalities in Canada,” says Kiraly.
For more than 55 years, CSA has worked with the experts to develop occupational health and safety standards to help safeguard Canadian workers. View Access is a source for employers to learn more about their rights and obligations under the law related to OHS and it provides additional resources that can help employers understand and apply OHS standards. CSA believes this type of stakeholder collaboration is fundamental to the safety of working Canadians.
Federal, provincial and territorial OSH governmental agencies are funding the development and maintenance of the initiative as a two-year pilot project and will continue to monitor the overall usage and impact in cooperation with CSA over the project period. Users can now log into the View Access website directly at www.ohs.csa.ca
About CSA
Canadian Standards Association (CSA) is a membership association serving industry, government, consumers and other interested parties in Canada and the global marketplace. As a leading solutions-based standards organization providing standards and codes development, application products, training and advisory services, CSA aims to enhance public safety, improve quality of life, preserve the environment and facilitate trade. The Canadian Standards Association is a division of CSA Group, which also consists of CSA International, which provides testing and certification services for electrical, mechanical, plumbing, gas and a variety of other products; and OnSpeX, a provider of consumer product evaluation, inspection and advisory services for retailers and manufacturers. For more information visit www.csa.ca