Who We Are
OFSWA’s mandate is to provide occupational health and safety services and products to Ontario's forest industries. Through funding provided by Ontario firms and distributed by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), OFSWA provides services and products to the following WSIB forestry rate groups in Ontario:
- Logging (rate group 030)
- Sawmills (rate group 033)
- Veneer/plywood and other board industries (rate group 036)
- Silviculture (included in the sawmills rate group 033)
- Ministry of Natural Resources Schedule 2 employer.
OFSWA’s goals are to concentrate its resources on activities that are consistent with the following planning principles:
- That they be focused on firms that have recently been activated, have experienced a fatality or critical injury, or have experienced an increase in injuries.
- That they guide and encourage firms to become more self-reliant in the development and application of occupational health and safety programs.
OFSWA’s central office is in North Bay. Operations include training and communications program development, administration and field services support, French-language translation services, and statistics and data management. The head office houses a fully-equipped digital video studio with related multimedia capability.
The vast majority of forestry firms in Ontario are small (fewer than 20 employees). Most of these firms are located in the northeast and northwest of the province, in remote locations or in rural areas near small villages and towns. The strategic location of Consultant Trainers in each of nine districts of the province is how OFSWA addresses the issues of firm size and firm location. Consultant Trainers are in a position to respond quickly to the needs of smaller firms.
In addition to its field staff, OFSWA relies on mail, fax and other electronic communications systems to keep in close contact with member firms. The OFSWA website, our newspaper, The Log, published twice annually, and the regular distribution of “Industry Alerts” and various updates and advisories are all examples of the flow of information between OFSWA and member firms.
We at OFSWA look forward to the opportunity of serving you in order to continue improving the working life of all employees in Ontario’s forest industry. Together we will continue to advance toward the ultimate goal we all share – the elimination of injuries and illnesses in forestry workplaces.
Previous Page
|
Mission and Vision
Who We Are
Staff
Annual Reports
Contact Us
|
