01-27 GENERALS WINTER25 FINAL EDIT (JAN 25) - Flipbook - Page 25
HEALTH & SAFETY
STRENGTHENING SAFETY TOGETHER:
THE 2026 SAFETY SUMMIT
A Shared Responsibility for a Safer Industry
By ANDREW SAMPOGNA, OGCA Vice-President
N MAY 2024, the Ontario government
announced that the province’s Chief
Prevention Officer (CPO) would lead a
comprehensive review of the causes and
contributing factors associated with
critical injuries and fatalities in the construction sector. The goal of this initiative
was clear: to better understand why serious
incidents continue to occur and to identify
opportunities to strengthen prevention
efforts across the industry.
The review examined a decade’s worth of
data, covering the period from 2013 to 2023.
By analyzing trends and outcomes over time,
the CPO sought to identify workplace factors
and characteristics most closely linked to
elevated risk. This evidence based approach
re昀氀ects an ongoing commitment to improving health and safety outcomes in one of the
province’s most complex sectors.
Recognizing the Ontario General Contractors Association’s (OGCA) long standing
leadership in health and safety, the CPO invited the association and its members to help interpret the 昀椀ndings
and shape potential solutions. Two critical questions framed the
discussion: “How do you explain these factors? And how do you 昀椀x
them?”
I
This year’s Summit will provide members with
valuable insights into the CPO’s new five-year
plan, with a particular focus on strategies
aimed at reducing and ultimately eliminating
critical injuries and fatalities in construction.
THEGENERALS.NET
Turning Data into Dialogue: The 2025 OGCA Safety Summit
These questions became a focal point at the 2025 OGCA Safety
Summit, which brought together health and safety professionals
from across Ontario. The Summit provided a forum for open,
informed dialogue, grounded in real world experience and
informed by the CPO’s data.
Through facilitated discussions, participants examined the
underlying factors contributing to serious incidents in construction.
Three factors dominated the discussion:
Type of construction, including project complexity and
specialized work activities
Company size, particularly as it relates to resources, capacity,
and safety management systems
Environmental conditions, such as weather, site layout, and
surrounding activity
While these factors can vary widely across projects, Summit
participants agreed that they underscore the need for practical
approaches to health and safety—approaches that re昀氀ect the
realities of construction work while maintaining high standards of
protection.
WINTER 2025/2026 • the generals 25
