Dear Minister McNaughton,
I am writing to you to discuss my concerns surrounding your governments proposal to eliminate the classroom learning for the Part One Joint Health & Safety Member Certification, and provide instead an online, e-learning module. I truly believe in the value of classroom training and feel it provides an enriched learning with face-to-face and group discussions that JHSC members cannot be provided otherwise through any other platform. My hopes as a health and safety professional and front line worker is to protect the classroom component of basic certification for all sectors in this province.
We, as health and safety advocates, have great concern about the implementation of this “Click Next” training as the ability to ask questions and interact with others in a classroom setting would be lost, and thereby severely reduce the competency (with respects to the OHSA) of both the worker and employers. In addition, the value of conversations with other health and safety members, not to mention the support and guidance from the instructors themselves, could never hold a price tag when it comes to creating safer and healthier workplaces in Ontario.
We have seen critical, preventable injuries on the job and I fear that if those who have charge of ensuring our safety are given training with no in-person classroom time, it will be sub-standard and these patterns will continue, if not accelerate.
I would like to thank you for attention and consideration into this matter, and ask that the current training standard for Basic Certification be left with the classroom part intact, as it is the superior method of training for both workers and supervisors in our Ontario workplaces.
