ETFO Niagara Occasional Teachers' Local: Health and Safety

When in doubt, contact the Local President. Remember, if you don't report, it didn't happen!

All the appropriate forms are linked on this page under "How to Report". Call your union if you need help with the paperwork, the Local President is always available to help you out.

There are three main categories of health and safety items you'd report:

Incident/Accident

An Incident is an injury to an employee that does not require medical attention beyond First Aid, and that does not result in time lost from work.

An Accident is an injury to an employee that requires medical attention and may have resulted in time lost from work.

Violence

Workplace Violence is defined in the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) as the exercise of physical force by a person against a worker, in a workplace, that causes or could cause physical injury to the worker. This can include physical force, as well as threats to exercise physical force. Violence and harassment under the OHSA includes all sources in the workplace (students, parents, members of the public, and colleagues).

Harassment

Workplace Harassment is defined in the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) as engaging in a course of vexatious comment or conduct against a worker in a workplace that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome.

In any case where you've been injured or are reporting something related to health and safety, please notify the Local President as otherwise we probably won't know about it. We can also provide advice and guidance on many situations.

The forms below should be available in the office of any school, and any reports should be submitted to the Principal as soon as possible. Always keep copies for yourself.

Incidents and Accidents are covered under Administrative Procedure 5-02 and reported using the forms from Appendix A1 and A2.

Employee Incident or First Aid Report Form (AP5-02 App A1)

Employee Accident Report (AP5-02 App A2)

Violent Incidents are covered under Administrative Procedure 5-27 and reported using the forms from Appendix D.

Employee Violent Incident Report Form (AP5-27 App D)

If a student is involved in a violent incident, then the Safe Schools Incident Reporting Form (AP3-26 App M Part 1) must also be completed.

Workplace Harassment is covered under Administrative Procedure 5-26 and reported using the forms from Appendix A and B. In cases of workplace harassment, please contact the Local President for guidance.

WSIB Forms

If you have been injured at work and either lost time from work or sought medical attention, you will also need to fill out a WSIB Form 6. If this form is not provided to you by the school or DSBN, you can download it here and mail it in to WSIB.

Even if you don't feel you were badly injured, please submit all the requisite paperwork! If an injury turns out to be worse than you thought it was (which may not be apparent for months, or even years) you want to have created a record so that you're eligible for any coverage you may need. Creating records of injuries also helps us track what injuries are occurring in our workplace so that we can work towards preventing similar injuries in the future. Workplace insurance is no-fault.

There are three main forms for WSIB:

Form 6 - Filled out by the worker.

Form 7 - Filled out by the employer.

Form 8 - Filled out by a doctor/medical practitioner.

Note that only page 2 of Form 8 is submitted to the employer.

You are required to give a copy of Form 6 to the employer, and likewise the employer is required to give you a copy of the Form 7 that they submitted. Your health professional should give you a copy of Form 8.

Note that Form 6 inquires if you're a member of a union, and has a checkbox to authorize the union to represent you regarding any WSIB claim arising from the injury, as well as to disclose verbal claim status information to the union. Please check these boxes, as it will simplify things for us if you need representation with WSIB. Your union name and local is "ETFO Niagara Occasional Teachers".

Additional Health and Safety Resources