Departmental official participates in new standard development

Dianne Whalen, Minister of Government Services, today congratulated Assistant Deputy Minister Kim Dunphy on her involvement in the development of the new standard titled CSA Z1000-06 Occupational Health and Safety Management. The Canadian Standards Association unveiled the new standard last week at a news conference held in Toronto, Ontario.

"I have always been a strong advocate of team work and I am continually impressed with the high quality staff that we have at the Department of Government Services," said Minister Whalen. "Ms. Dunphy�s participation in the development of this workplace safety management standard is another example of the work our staff complete every day to ensure the interests of our clients are met. It is also an example of how seriously we take our role on national committees and groups."

CSA Z1000-06 Occupational Health and Safety Management is intended to help organizations reduce or prevent Canada�s current number of injuries, illnesses and fatalities in the workplace by providing companies with a model for developing and implementing an OHS management system. This is the first consensus-based OHS management system standard which was created by labour, business, government representatives and various organizations.

The standard uses a Plan-Do-Check-Act approach to provide an overall framework for organizations to assist them in managing preventive and protective measures, emergency preparedness, training, procurement issues, documentation, legal and other safety-related requirements. Companies need to incorporate all of the requirements into their OHS management system and application will vary based on the unique characteristics of each organization.

For more information on CSA Z1000-06 Occupational Health and Safety Management please visit www.csa.ca.

Media contact: Vanessa Colman-Sadd, Communications, (709) 729-4860, 682-6593

2006 09 13                                    11:00 a.m.