Certificate of Recognition
(COR^TM)

COR™ in Ontario is a three-year certification provided by the Infrastructure Health and Safety Association (IHSA). IHSA is the only approved provider (registrar) of COR™ in Ontario testing.

IHSA provides the Certificate of Recognition (COR™) after the successful completion of internal and external audits, which takes approximately 12-18 months. The COR™ certification will be valid for three years from the date of issue. However, IHSA requires the employer to perform and successfully complete internal maintenance audits in year 2 and 3 while complying with the requirements of COR™ in Ontario. Further, IHSA must approve all the internal audit results. IHSA issues a Letter of Good Standing for year 2 and 3 certifying that the training elements and audit standards were maintained by the employer.

Further, in year 4, the employer must reapply for the COR™ program and kick-start the process again. Key to COR™ accreditation success lies in an organization’s ability to demonstrate consistent application of its OHS program throughout the organization.

COR™ process in Ontario looks at three major aspects:

Documentation of your policies, processes, and procedures to meet compliance

Performance of internal and external audits to ensure that whatever is being documented is actually happening

Building health and safety culture at the workplace through a health and safety program, which is not dependent on individuals.

An ideal way to implement the ‘COR™ Strategy’ is through a 6 step implementation plan, preferably with help from an experienced COR support partner. Once you have established a process, you must set up resources that you will require to get started with the accreditation.

These processes can be divided as follows:

Step 1 – Gap Analysis

It is recommended to perform a gap analysis on what is being done and what needs to be done to get the accreditation.

It is always a good option to use the services of an expert external COR™ consultant for conducting a comprehensive COR™ gap analysis.

Apart from serving as a vital OHS due diligence document, gap analysis by an expert external consultant provides you with an unbiased clear opinion on your program.

In fact, external COR™ consultants will also make relevant recommendations if your program has gaps.

Further, they will provide you with a clear roadmap of where the organization is and where it needs to go for achieving COR™ in Ontario.

Step 2 – Conduct job hazard analysis

Job hazard analysis (JHA) helps you identify hazards based on activities performed.

JHA helps in identification of job function hazards, and the probability and severity of workplace injury and/or illness as it relates to each categorized task.

JHA helps you identify and develop the SJPs / SWP (Safe Job/Work Procedures) for high risk tasks, which is vital for COR™.

JHA increases the overall health and safety awareness in the workplace, making it easier for building a health and safety culture, which is crucial for COR™.

Seeking help from an expert COR™ support partner with regards to conducting a JHA is a good idea.

A COR™ support partner can help you integrate your JHA with your business.

Step 3 – Implement an online system

Next, you are recommended to implement an online safety training and management system to capture and store records largely for documentation.

An online safety training and management system will make it much easier to maintain information, communicate with your workers, and keep your health and safety program alive.

You can map your JHA that with an online system, which is an important feature.

Apart from helping you with due diligence, online systems make it easier to track the progress of your health and safety initiatives, which is vital for achieving COR™ in Ontario.

Step 4 – Training frontline supervisors

The next step is to get all your frontline supervisors and managers trained on understanding their responsibilities and the change in processes along with its requirements as the implementation takes place.

This is crucial for COR™ certification since employee engagement is one of the major pillars on which the success of building a health and safety culture hinges. COR™ in Ontario is all about creating and sustaining a health and safety culture.

The role of middle-management in COR™ certification just cannot be undermined. In fact, it is often the middle-management that tend to resist change the most.

Training middle-management is crucial simply because COR™ involves a major strategic change that needs to be executed across all levels of the organization.

It is your middle-management that will communicate your COR™ strategy across the organization.

With the Occupational Health and Safety Act constantly increasing the emphasis on the role of supervisors within an organization in terms of health and safety, training your supervisors for COR™ becomes even more important.

Step 5 – Provide comprehensive training for all employees

It’s good to ensure that all your employees undergo all the mandatory training and hazard-specific training.

It’s also important to ensure that they get trained in all the new ways of carrying out their daily activities as well as filling in the required forms and checklists.

Regular training conducted by you constantly reinforces your company’s message in the minds of the employees, slowly making it a part of your organizational culture.

Technology plays a big role in making the training process seamless, user-friendly, measurable, and efficiently manageable.

You can use online systems to train employees, manage their records, and monitor their performance easily and effectively.

Regular training of employees is one of the best engagement strategies that you can adopt.

Interactive training goes a long way in terms of creating the right atmosphere to build a workplace safety culture within your organization.

COR™ is all about creating a sustainable health and safety culture within your organization over a long term. Employee training will help you in this regard.

Step 6 – Thorough monitoring

The last step you are recommended to follow is to conduct thorough monitoring on an ongoing basis.

It’s very important for you to ensure that what is being said in your program is being communicated, understood, and followed correctly by employees at all levels of your organization.

It is recommended to perform a gap analysis on what is being done and what needs to be done to get the COR™ certification. It is a good option to use the services of an expert external COR™ consultant for the gap analysis. Apart from serving as a vital OHS due diligence document, gap analysis by an expert external consultant provides you with an unbiased clear opinion on your program.

In fact, they will also make relevant recommendations if your program has gaps. Further, they will provide you with a clear roadmap of where the organization is and where it needs to go for becoming COR™ certified in Ontario.

Job hazard analysis (JHA) helps you identify hazards based on activities performed. JHA helps in identification of job function hazards, and the probability and severity of workplace injury and/or illness as it relates to each categorized task.

JHA helps you identify and develop the SJPs / SWP (Safe Job/Work Procedures) for high risk tasks, which is vital for COR™. JHA increases the overall health and safety awareness in the workplace, making it easier for building a health and safety culture, which is crucial for COR™.

Seeking help from an expert COR™ support partner with regards to conducting a JHA is a good idea. A COR™ support partner can help you integrate your JHA with your business.

Implementing an online safety training and management system will help you capture and store records largely for documentation. An online safety training and management system will make it much easier to maintain information, communicate with your workers, and keep your health and safety program alive.

You can map your job hazard analysis with an online system, which is an important feature. Apart from helping you with due diligence, online systems make it easier to track the progress of your health and safety initiatives, which is vital for COR™.

Getting all your frontline supervisors and managers trained on understanding their responsibilities and the change in processes along with its requirements is crucial as the COR™ implementation takes place. This is crucial for COR™ certification since employee engagement is one of the major pillars on which the success of building a health and safety culture hinges. COR™ is all about creating and sustaining a health and safety culture, which is not dependent on Individuals.

The role of middle-management in COR™ certification just cannot be undermined. In fact, it is often the middle-management that tend to resist change the most. Training middle-management is crucial simply because COR™ involves a major strategic change that needs to be executed across all levels of the organization. It is your middle-management that will communicate your COR™ strategy across the organization.

With the Occupational Health and Safety Act constantly increasing the emphasis on the role of supervisors within an organization in terms of health and safety, training your supervisors for COR™ becomes even more important.

It’s good to ensure that all your employees undergo all the mandatory training and hazard-specific training. It’s also important to ensure that they get trained in all the new ways of carrying out their daily activities as well as filling in the required forms and checklists.

Regular training conducted by you constantly reinforces your company’s message in the minds of the employees, slowly making it a part of your organizational culture. Technology plays a big role in making the training process seamless, user-friendly, measurable, and efficiently manageable.

You can use online systems to train employees, manage their records, and monitor their performance easily and effectively. Regular training of employees is one of the best engagement strategies that you can adopt. It helps you in constantly reinforcing your safety message in the minds of your employees.

Interactive training goes a long way in terms of creating the right atmosphere to build a workplace safety culture within your organization. COR™ is all about creating a health and safety culture within your organization over a long term, which is not dependent on individuals. Employee training will help you in this regard.

COR™ accreditation is a process for consistency throughout the organization. You need to start by looking at each element of the COR™ requirements as setting up a process to capture and maintain that information. That’s where it becomes an integral part of your ‘business strategy’.

Thus, you cannot just perceive COR™ as just another ‘business tactic’. The worst strategy to take for COR™ accreditation is the act of simply collecting information as one would during a bidding process to participate in it. COR™ in Ontario looks at a working system and proof of documentation on the activities that happen in an organization.