The Chief Prevention Office of the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development has amended two standards to allow for Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) Certification Part One training to be taken online, and to extend the time required to achieve part two certification.

Changes to the JHSC Certification Program Standard and the JHSC Provider Standard on May 1 will now allow committee members to complete their part one training online, extend the timeline to complete part two training to 12 months, and remove the need for committee members to apply for extensions or complete refresher training after part one.

As a result, the ministry has also made changes to the eLearning Instructional Design Guidelines and the provider application guidelines to allow firms to offer such training online. Providers that wish to deliver part one training online, says the ministry, must apply to do so.

“eLearning training is especially valuable now, while we are all forced to make changes to our daily lives and the way we work and learn,” said Chief Prevention Officer Ron Kelusky. “I know that many of our currently approved training providers may be ready to apply to deliver eLearning training. Please be assured that my staff will be working hard to help me get JHSC Part One eLearning training courses approved and available for all Ontarians.”

These standards replace the existing standards that came into force on March 1, 2016.

Providers and programs that are already CPO-approved will remain approved and training completed before May 1, 2020 will remain valid.