Manitoba's Workplace Safety and Health Act requires employers to develop workplace safety and health criteria to evaluate, select and monitor contractors that are involved in work at the workplace. To meet this requirement, the City of Winnipeg has a process applicable to contractors that perform work for the City in the following circumstances:

• construction contracts with an estimated cost greater than $100,000 or considered to have high safety risk by the City and
• non-construction contracts considered to have high safety risk by the City.

The City's process requires bidders on affected Bid Opportunities, to submit, within 5 business days of a request by the City, proof of an "acceptable" safety and health program. Bidders who cannot provide this proof are not awarded the contract.

Proof is considered to be:

• written confirmation of a Manitoba COR™ program or
• written evaluation and verification by an independent workplace safety and health consultant

"Acceptable" means that the program meets or exceeds the elements required of a safety program as outlined in Section 7.4(5) of the Workplace Safety and Health Act.

A contractor can submit proof to the City prior to any bid submission. COR™ contractors are considered by the City to be a Workplace Safety & Health Program Pre-Qualified Contractor as long as their COR™ remains current. Contractors that have been found to have an acceptable safety and health program by an independent workplace safety and health consultant are considered by the City to be a Workplace Safety & Health Program Pre-Qualified Contractor for three years from the date of the evaluation of their program.

While Workplace Safety & Health Program Pre-Qualified contractors do not have to re-submit proof with each bid opportunity during the pre-qualified time period, they are required to provide a contract specific Safe Work Plan if specified in the contract (bid opportunity).

Proof of Acceptable Safety & Health Programs

Bidders/Contractors can meet the requirement for independent evaluation verification of their safety and health program by:

- providing written confirmation of a Manitoba COR™ program;

(Manitoba COR™ certified companies must submit a copy of their certificate that includes their COR™ number along with the date of their certification and expiry date to their assigned Contract Administrator or if a contract administrator has not yet been assigned, to the City contact person listed below.) or

- providing written confirmation from an independent workplace safety and health consultant satisfactory to the City.

(The company is to provide a copy of a signed letter from their independent workplace safety and health consultant that includes a statement that their program meets the criteria as found in the Contractor Safety & Health Program Evaluation Document. The letter is to be sent to their assigned Contract Administrator or if a contract administrator has not yet been assigned, to the City contact person listed below.)

Safe Work Plans

A Safe Work Plan evaluates the hazards associated with the specific tasks of the contract work and details the steps the contractor will take to control each hazard. After the City contract is awarded, the pre-qualified contractor may be required to submit a contract specific Safe Work Plan to the City before the work can begin.

The City will monitor the contractor's safety performance during the course of the work using the Safe Work Plan that was prepared by the contractor. Should safety and health concerns arise as a result of the contractor's work activities, the contractor is responsible to address the concerns to the satisfaction of the City.

In the event of unsatisfactory safety performance by the contractor, the City may terminate the contract and remove the contractor's designation as a Workplace Safety & Health Program Pre-Qualified Contractor. In addition, the eligibility of the contractor to perform future work for the City may be impacted.

To ensure that consistent safety and health information is included in the safe work plan, the contractor is to use the City's Safe Work Plan Document.

Workplace Safety & Health Program Pre-qualified Contractors
This page contains details about independently evaluated contractors that have submitted proof of having an acceptable workplace safety & health program to the City. Lists of COR™companies certified by the Construction Safety Association of Manitoba and the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association are hosted on their respective websites

Bruce Huchko, Corporate Safety Officer; The Organizational Safety & Occupational Hygiene Branch of the City of Winnipeg, 180 King Street - 4th Floor, Winnipeg, MB R3B 3G8 Telephone number: 204-986-3525 Email Inquiries: BHuchko@winnipeg.ca