Provincial Changes Impacting AMHSA Auditing
AMHSA has been participating in several provincial subcommittees of the Certifying Partner group, revising Partnerships in Injury Reduction (PIR) program Standards. The Standards that have been updated, effective April 1, 2022, include COR Audit Criteria, SECOR Audit Criteria, OHS Management System Training Content Criteria, Glossary of Terms, and Auditor Training Content Criteria.

The recent changes to OHS legislation necessitated a review of the Standards, which will impact the content of our training (both the Health and Safety Management Systems and the Health and Safety Auditing courses) and the content of both the COR and SECOR audit tools. AMHSA is currently revising its training to meet the new Standards, and a revised audit tool will be formally reviewed by Partnerships for approval. Once approval is obtained, we will update our Excel, AuditSoft and eCompliance versions, and provide them to members before the required January 1, 2023 implementation date.

Watch the website and future Auditor Updates for more information and details. 
Large Employer COR
Key changes to the large employer COR audit criteria:
  • Allowance of applicable legislation (Alberta or Federal) can be used to answer legislation questions.
  • Hazard assessments are to be reviewed on pre-determined frequency instead of regular basis.
  • A reduction in the number of questions around violence and harassment was made to simplify the requirements.
  • The Joint Work Site Health and Safety Committees and Health and Safety Representatives element was updated to match new legislation requirements.
  • The term self-employed persons was removed as self-employed persons now fall under the definition of employer as per the new OHS legislated definition.
  • Minimum requirements around cascade scoring of questions are now applicable to all Certifying Partners.
Key changes to the COR audit tool:
  • Clarification on related questions will be provided to indicate that if no policy/process exists, then points can not be awarded for completed forms (e.g., no frequency stated in policy means no points for completing inspections).
  • Revisions to guidelines will be made for clarity on what to review and how to score.
  • Refresher training and competency assessment audit questions will be separated to emphasize the difference and importance of each.
SECOR
In addition to the COR audit tool changing, the Small Employer Certificate of Recognition (SECOR) audit tool that AMHSA has been using will no longer be available as of January 1, 2023. The current tool is a “yes/no” audit, while the replacement will be a scored version, and content will be updated as a result of the committee work above. 
Key changes to the SECOR audit criteria:
  • Allowance of applicable legislation (Alberta or Federal) can be used to answer legislation questions
  • Addition of an element for Health and Safety Representative
  • Addition of element addressing Other Employers
  • No cascading of question scoring, however, no sampling will be permitted for the first 3 questions within the hazard identification and assessment element.
  • The overall SECOR content will be aligned with the regular COR audit where appropriate
  • New definition will be provided for owner/operators
Key changes to the SECOR audit tool:
  • 10 elements
  • Excel format for calculations
  • Employer and auditor information required
  • Element 4 can be N/A for anyone not legislatively required to have a Health and Safety Representative
  • Point values assigned to each question for scoring
Audit Registration
Starting July 1st all AMHSA audits will need to be registered before beginning an audit.

A link to the registration form will be available on the website shortly.
Upcoming Training
Health & Safety Management Systems
September 20-21, 2022 - live webinar
October 11-12, 2022 - live webinar

Health & Safety Auditing
September 27-28, 2022 (Sept. 29 optional) - live webinar
October 18-19, 2022 (Oct. 20 optional) - live webinar

Audit Refresher
September 14, 2022 - live webinar
October 4, 2022 - live webinar

Contact Carla@amhsa.net to register.
Contact Us
safety@amhsa.net | www.amhsa.net | 1-800-267-9764