Supporting Ontario’s Safe Employers Program

Supporting Ontario’s Safe Employers Program (SOSE) is your chance to learn more on how to be recognized as safe employer in Ontario with an accredited Occupational Health and Safety Management System.

What’s on this page?

What is Supporting Ontario’s Safe Employers Program?

A voluntary Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development (MLTSD) program, the SOSE program promotes health and safety in the workplace and helps reduce injuries and illness.

Run by the Chief Prevention Officer (CPO), the Supporting Ontario’s Safe Employers program consists of two parts:

1) Accreditation

Under the SOSE program, an employer’s occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS) will receive accreditation by the CPO based on the satisfaction of the criteria set out by the CPO.

2) Recognition

The CPO will recognize employers enrolled in the Supporting Ontario’s Safe Employers program who have successfully implemented an accredited OHSMS while meeting all the required criteria set by the CPO

Please note:

If your organization is recognized by the CPO, you may then be also eligible for financial incentives from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) under the SOSE program.

Who can benefit from the recognition under the safe employers program?

You will have to satisfy the following criteria to be eligible for recognition:

  1. Successfully implement an OHSMS accredited by the CPO
  2. Get a third party audit performed to verify that you have successfully implemented your OHSMS
  3. Meet the required criteria for compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act 
  4. Demonstrate your strong commitment towards worker participation and the presence of an internal responsibility system at your workplace

How can your occupational health and safety management system  qualify for the safe employers program?

Following are the two ways in which your OHSMS can qualify for the SOSE Program:

Use an existing standard to develop and maintain your OHSMS

You can develop and maintain your OHSMS basing them on any of the following established existing OHS management system standards that have been accredited by the CPO as of November 2019:

  • IHSA COR™ 2020 – IHSA Certificate of Recognition 2020-Health and Safety Management System-Standard
  • ISO 45001:2018: Occupational health and safety management systems – Requirements with guidance for use
  • CSA Z45001-19: Occupational health and safety management systems – Requirements with guidance for use
  • BS OHSAS 18001: 2007: Occupational health and safety management system – Requirements

Please note that if your OHSMS meets one of the above mentioned accredited standards, then you need not apply to have it individually accredited.

Get accredited

If you have created your own OHSMS, which is not based on an CPO-accredited OHS management system standard, then you may be required to apply for getting your own OHSMS accredited by the CPO through the MLTSD’s Application Portal.

Please note that in order to apply for accreditation, you must do the following:

How to get recognized under the safe employers program?

The first step for you is to have an accredited OHSMS in place. Once that is sorted, you can then apply for CPO recognition via MLTSD’s Application Portal.

Here’s what you need to ensure in order to apply for CPO recognition:

  • You need to ensure that you meet all employer recognition criteria set out by the CPO
  • Make sure that you thoroughly review all the application guidelines for employer recognition
  • Once you do both of the above, you will then need to complete the employer recognition application

Upon receiving recognition, you must ensure that you submit your annual report to the CPO in order to maintain your recognition. Thus, you will be required to:

  • Verify that you have completed your internal audit of OHSMS. Further, you will need to verify that you have completed your third-party audit of your OHSMS when required
  • Attest that you are always on the look out for making continuous improvement to your OHSMS
  • Maintain all other employer recognition criteria required by the CPO

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