b'PRESIDENTS MESSAGECONSTRUCTION SAFETYIS NO ACCIDENTO n November 22, 2019, the Ontario government announced the Supporting Ontarios Safe Employers program which aims to promote a positive health and safety culture in workplaces and reduce work-related injuries and illnesses across Ontario. That you likely knew. Employers may receive recognition for their efforts through the new Supporting Safe Employers program or Ontarios new Health and Safety Excellence program, in addition to WSIB premium rebates, when they successfully implement occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS). Again, that you likely knew.What you perhaps didnt know is that Monte McNaughton, a longtime friend to the construction industry and our current Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development, has committed $140 million in financial incentives to support leaders in occupational health and safety (OH&S) whose OH&S management systems are deemed to be exemplary.The financial incentives come in the form of WSIB rebates over a three-year period designed to reward performance excellence. This first-of-a-kind safety excellence program gives industry a roadmap to improve health and safety and helps businesses save money. Simply put, Ontario is finally taking substantive steps to innovate and become a modern regulator as well it should. Ontarios workers compensation system is, after all, the largest group insurance program in North America, and most group insurance programs successfully strike a balance between collective liability and individual accountability.To be fair, a great deal has changed in the health and safety space in a very short period, and we, as an industry, have much to learn. WSIBs new rate framework launched in January 2020 and we need to wrap our small brains (mine at least) around a new employer classification system (the North American Industry Classification System), a new employer-centric rate setting system (which may or may not allow mixed trade employers multi ratings) and a single new experience rating system (replacing CAD-7, NEER and MAP).And what about Minister McNaughtons new $140-million incentives program? Are Safety Groups obsolete like the one that TCA and HHCA offer members looking for financial incentives as a much-deserved reward for investing in improved safety protocols? Employers enrolled in Safety Group programs that are eligible to receive WSIB premium rebates do still receive financial benefits under the new Supporting Ontarios Safe Employers program by the way, but nuances of the new program arent easily understood.Another source of confusion these days in the wild world of health and safety is the Certificate of Recognition program (COR). Smaller employers plead for relaxed requirements (a COR Light for lack of a better term) with costs in sync with more 6Quarter 4 2019 BUILDERSDIGEST'