ABOUT


The OHS Law Masterclass is a one-day event that’s been designed to provide health and safety leaders with a comprehensive update on the latest developments in OHS law and share the strategic legal insights you need to stay compliant and reduce risks.

Top OHS lawyers will help safety professionals address critical topics such as heightened OHS liability and responsibilities, OHS and workers compensation issues related to remote and hybrid work environments, and tools for managing the law surrounding mental health issues in the workplace.

As OHS legislation continues to evolve across Canada, it is crucial to have direction from experienced legal professionals who can help organizations know their rights and obligations. Join us at this year’s masterclass for the latest legal updates and guidance from leaders in the law.

Why attend?

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    Discover powerful insights from legal experts in an essential overview of legal developments in the OHS world

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    Enjoy a small workshop environment where questions, organizational challenges, and needs can be personally addressed

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    Discuss some of the most pressing risks facing OHS leaders today and the practical solutions organizations can utilize to minimize them

2022 SPEAKERS


Matthew Certosimo
Matthew Certosimo

Partner
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

John Illingworth
John Illingworth

Partner
Mathews Dinsdale & Clark LLP

Adrian Miedema
Adrian Miedema

Partner
Dentons Canada LLP

Naomi Calla
Naomi Calla

Lawyer/Workplace Investigator
Calla Legal

Steve Eichler
Steve Eichler

Partner
Field Law

Neena Gupta
Neena Gupta

Partner
Gowlings WLG

Madeleine Loewenberg
Madeleine Loewenberg

Co-founder
Loewenberg Psarris Workplace Law LLP

David Myrol, Q.C.
David Myrol, Q.C.

Partner
McLennan Ross

Carissa N. Tanzola
Carissa N. Tanzola

Partner
Filion Wakely Thorup Angeletti LLP

Jillian Frank
Jillian Frank

Partner, Employment & Labour Law
KPMG Law LLP

2022 AGENDA


All times in ET
  • Registration and virtual orientation
  • Opening Remarks
  • Update on OHS law to ensure compliance: Mastering its growing complexity

    Evolving occupational health and safety law across Canada continues to present ever-increasing risks and complexities for employers and management. The federal and provincial governments have expanded the scope and demands of OHS safety legislation to address new issues, including, authorizing increasingly harsher penalties for non-compliance. This session will provide a practical update on the latest developments in OHS law to assist you in remaining compliant with the most important, recent developments.

    • Dealing with the emerging aggressive stance on OHS compliance and penalties for non-compliance
    • Ontario’s Working for Workers Act, 2022: impact on the Occupational Health and Safety Act
    • New legislated sentencing factors, increased limitation periods and penalties for directors, officers, and individuals
    • Impact of recent of recent legislative updates: new Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Act and Canada Labour Code’s Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations, SOR/2020-130
    • Best risk management practices with a view of OHS legal developments on the horizon
    Adrian Miedema
    Adrian Miedema

    Partner
    Dentons Canada LLP

  • Dealing with heightened OHS liability and responsibilities: Defining the scope of duties for safety professionals

    With the dramatic increase in OHS penalties for directors, officers, and safety professionals, and the introduction of prosecution-friendly changes that increase the potential legal risks to workplace parties, the defining of OHS roles and responsibilities to ensure compliance with the latest OHS laws should be a top priority for professionals and senior management teams. This session will provide practical insights into establishing OHS roles and responsibilities for safety professionals and the steps needed to mitigate OHS liability.

    • Best practices for directors, officers, and safety professionals to avoid skyrocketing fines: how can safety professionals protect themselves
    • Understanding “aggravating factors” for the purposes of determining a penalty
    • Conducting meaningful review of corporate health and safety policies and programs
    • Establishing a system for senior leaders to become informed of significant or critical health and safety developments or problems in the workplace
    • Creating an action plan to demonstrate due diligence through documenting your actions
    David Myrol, Q.C.
    David Myrol, Q.C.

    Partner
    McLennan Ross

    Steve Eichler
    Steve Eichler

    Partner
    Field Law

  • Networking Break
  • Preparing mandatory written OH&SA policies and implementation programs

    While effectively written OHS policies help promote strong OHS programs, recent health and safety legislation, such as Ontario’s OHSA, mandates employers to create and then review a written workplace health and safety policy on a regular basis. This session will provide practical advice for writing and implementing compliant policies for your workplace.

    • Critical components of OHS policies: ensuring policies reflect the special needs of your workplace
    • Key considerations for conducting regular reviews of policies and updating where appropriate
    • Best practices for incorporating policy into regular workplace duties and actions
    • Strategies for communicating policies throughout your organization
    • Essential components of required policies: health and safety policy, workplace violence prevention policy, and workplace harassment prevention policy
    Jillian Frank
    Jillian Frank

    Partner, Employment & Labour Law
    KPMG Law LLP

  • OHS & Workers Compensation issues related to remote and hybrid work environments

    OHS law applies to all workers, whether in-office, hybrid, or remote. Incidents that occur while at home can add multiple layers of complexities to the situation when determining whether the injury arose in the course of employment. This session will explore the application of OHS law in remote working environments.

    • Evaluating a work-related accident: factors to consider in assessing employer liable for injury or illness while at home
    • Workers’ compensation implications in the remote work environment
    • Best practices to ensure a safe and healthy remote working environment: workplace assessment, ergonomic considerations, and incident reporting protocols
    • Conducting a risk assessment within the context of a formal work from home policy
    • Communication to ensure employees continue to comply with the guidelines, practices, and procedures implemented by the employer in respect of remote work
    Madeleine Loewenberg
    Madeleine Loewenberg

    Co-founder
    Loewenberg Psarris Workplace Law LLP

  • Networking Break
  • Best practices for incident reporting and post incident response

    After an OHS incident occurs, conducting an investigation is a core activity within a functional health and safety program. This session will examine best practices for how employers and management should respond to incident reporting and their post incident response, providing practical insights into the skills necessary to perform effective investigations.

    • Key legislated changes to post-incident notice requirements
    • Critical components in conducting a robust and compliant internal investigation
    • Writing investigation reports and making them readily available
    • Establishing formalized processes for incorporating findings into future OHS practices
    John Illingworth
    John Illingworth

    Partner
    Mathews Dinsdale & Clark LLP

  • Managing mental health Issues in the workplace

    There is a growing acknowledgement that mental health is just as critical as physical health and proves to be a key component in the safety of workers. Recognition has found its way into OHS laws and regulations. This session will explore the emerging legal issues in this evolving area of OHS and examine practical strategies and tools for managing the law surrounding mental health issues in the workplace.

    • Requirement for ensuring psychological health and safety: duties and obligations
    • Duty to report mental health related issues with respect to WSIB and strategies to manage absences and reduce leaves
    • How to identify the risks, control the hazards, and ensure your workplace has the necessary tools to meet legislative requirements when handling claims with mental health
    • Addressing burnout as a workplace health & safety issue: WSIB issues related to work-related chronic mental stress
    • Legal requirements for accommodating employees citing mental health issues
    Carissa N. Tanzola
    Carissa N. Tanzola

    Partner
    Filion Wakely Thorup Angeletti LLP

  • Workplace harassment: Adapting to the new standards

    Despite increased attention being paid to workplace harassment, along with enhanced legislative efforts to address the problem and the growing adoption of anti-harassment policies and programs by organizations, harassment complaints in the workplace continue to abound. Within the realm of OHS law, employers are under great pressure to take action to eliminate incidents of harassment in the workplace. This session will examine relevant developments in law and emerging trends in practice pertaining to workplace harassment.

    • Overview of related legislative requirements: Understanding the legal definitions of harassment and obligations of employers and safety professionals
    • Recognizing and addressing the types of behaviour that can constitute more subtle forms of harassment
    • Best practices for handling allegations of harassment in the workplace: practical tips for avoiding common procedural errors in conducting effective investigations
    • Key considerations when conducting investigations into allegations of workplace harassment:
    • What is the impact of growing remote and hybrid work environments on incidents of harassment?
    Moderator
    Matthew Certosimo
    Matthew Certosimo

    Partner
    Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

    Panelists
    Neena Gupta
    Neena Gupta

    Partner
    Gowlings WLG

    Naomi Calla
    Naomi Calla

    Lawyer/Workplace Investigator
    Calla Legal

  • Closing remarks

2022 Sponsors


Contact us about partnership opportunities

VIRTUAL PLATFORM


What makes this virtual event so innovative?

u003cpu003eUsing cutting-edge technology to provide a cloud-based virtual forum, this innovative event allows attendees all over the country to connect by signing in from their office, home, mobile phone, tablet or computer.u003c/pu003enu003cpu003eThis virtual destination is the perfect platform for bringing the industry together. Step into the virtual expo to visit booths, arrange one-to-one chats, gain or distribute brand awareness and leverage new connections in a timely and exciting way.u003c/pu003enu003cpu003eMuch like an in-person conference, a virtual conference is an online event that brings together top industry experts and industry peers on a single day. It also enables you to:u003c/pu003e
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  • Connect with a wider audience

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  • Engage with our speakers in a live Qu0026A

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  • Connect with industry leaders dedicated through 121 live chats

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  • Thought-provoking topics

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  • Build your contact base and easily share details

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  • Access sessions after the event, On-demand

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  • Visit booths in the partner lounges area

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  • Gain critical industry insights

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  • Accessible web, mobile, live and on demand

THANKS FOR TAKING PART WITH OHS LAW MASTERCLASS 2022

Missed this year’s event? Download On-Demand Recording of OHS Law Masterclass 2022.

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