Councillors will be dealing with violence and harassment in the workplace.
Earlier this month, council reviewed the workplace violence and harassment report submitted by Chief Building Official Terry Kuipers.
Mayor David Anderson said the report was in regards to Bill 168, which covers workplace violence and harassment.
Anderson said Kuipers had done a considerable amount of work in the background, discussion, and recommendations.
He said Bill 168 is a regulation that came into law across Ontario. The report spells out the municipality’s responsibilities and how it will be dealt with.
Councillor Barb Burrows asked if there will be workplace inspection and staff training.
“How far along are we?” she asked.
Municipal Coordinator, Bill Winegard said the intent is to get a policy before council for comment and later adopt it. There will be follow up activities, and Winegard said there will be training.
“With all of these policies, probably the most important thing are the definitions of workplace violence and harassment.”
Those items will be touched on during the training, he said. As well, there may be videos for training purposes.
Burrows explained she asked the question because Wellington County was in the midst of a similar exercise, with a recent workplace inspection at the Palmerston library branch, in addition to other county workplaces.
Once those inspections are done, she said there is going to be a review of what can be done to address any issues.
Winegard said that is something that has already started in Minto.
He said those involved have already met with some departments to talk about what kind of situations staff run into which could end up in violence or felt to be a threat.
“This will provide a guide to the departments if they run into such a situation,” Winegard said.
Council passed a recommendation to further review the policies for discussion and input.
Winegard hoped to be able to have final touches on this by the Sept. 1 meeting.
Deputy-mayor Judy Dirksen said what is really important is there was staff consultation and it is for a particular workplace.
