Prevention Link

Disability Prevention at Work

Ogho

Curriculum Updates

The Prevention Link team is hard at work implementing the new disability prevention at work program. Building on the more than 25 years of success of the Occupational Disability Response Team (ODRT), which resulted in training more than 15,000 advocates and workplace representatives on Workplace Safety and Insurance Board matters across Ontario, Prevention Link is pushing forward to educate and further improve the knowledge transfer to Ontario workers on workplace safety and secondary prevention techniques.

Click the video below or here to watch Rob Halpin, Executive Director of Prevention Link, tell you more about the holistic occupational disability prevention program.

In addition to refreshing and updating all of our support material, Prevention Link is undergoing major revisions and updates to all of our core courses and topical workshops, including the creation of a new workshop on Mental Health Awareness estimated to be completed in the Spring of 2017.

One constant is change. As the laws, policies and procedures change, so too must our material. That is why Prevention Link is undertaking this important and much needed curriculum review, revision and update. We look forward to having the updated curriculum available to you shortly.

If you have any questions, or need any special assistance, please contact Prevention Link by phone at 416-443-7686 or via email at info@preventionlink.ca.

How do I order material?

We are pleased to inform you that Prevention Link has streamlined the process for ordering materials.

Now, you or your organization can visit our “Order Materials” page to place your order. Once your order has been received, you will automatically be sent a confirmation email indicating that your order is being processed. A Prevention Link team members will then be in touch with you to confirm the details of the order.

Our relationship with our partners, sponsors and advocates is extremely important to the success of Prevention Link, the OFL’s disability prevention program and we truly appreciate your support through the past 20+ years. Prevention Link is a labour of love and the entire team is deeply committed to providing you the best quality, service and value which will allow us to grow together.

If you have any questions, or need any special assistance, please contact Prevention Link by phone at 416-443-7686 or via email at info@preventionlink.ca.

Occupational Disability Response Training (ODRT) Level 3: Dec 5-9

Pssst! Want some holiday cheer? Prevention Link’s Communication and Outreach Lead, Ogho Ikhalo, has some great news for you in the video below or here.

Prevention Link’s ODRT Level 3: Appeals & Dispute Resolution training is fast approaching on December 5-9 and it’s not too late to sign up. Get the latest information on the appeals branch of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) in the third of six offerings within Prevention Link’s core certification courses. Read more and register today.

We encourage you to visit preventionlink.ca to see a full list of available courses and stay apprised of the latest program information. If you have any questions, or need any special assistance, please contact Prevention Link by phone at 416-443-7686 or via email at info@preventionlink.ca.

 

Pricing Refresh

Recently, the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) launched Prevention Link – a program designed to promote a culture of safety and improved return-­to-­work outcomes throughout Ontario. Building on the more than 25 years of success of the Occupational Disability Response Team (ODRT), which resulted in training more than 15,000 advocates and workplace representatives on Workplace Safety and Insurance Board matters across Ontario, Prevention Link will use the latest industry and sector data available to educate and further improve the knowledge transfer to Ontario workers on workplace safety and secondary prevention techniques.

As a registered non-profit organization, Prevention Link relies on grants and a cost-­recovery model for the delivery of services and the distribution of valuable content through our compulsory printed materials. To ensure the program remains sustainable, it is critical to continuously assess our business practices, including volume production, customization and the manufacturing process of all our products which have been impacted by various industrial cost increases throughout the years.

As such, Prevention Link has implemented a price adjustment on all materials effective December 1, 2016, to enable us to keep up with current market trends.

We are pleased to note that the price amendments will empower us to continue offering a 35 per cent price reduction for affiliate members and non-­profit organizations and that this discount is reflected in our updated pricing.

The revised price list is as follows:

Prevention Link Pricing Effective December 1st, 2016

Courses Pricing effective December 1st 2016
Level 1 & 2 (In house) $995
Return-to-Work $1200
Medical Orientation $ 995
Occupational Disease $1200
Level 3 (In house) $1800
W/E Level 1 & 2 $ 250 each
Topical Workshops $ 200
Instructor Training $ 2495 plus

 

Materials Pricing effective December 1st 2016
Level 1 & 2 $ 39 each
Return-to-Work $ 139
Medical Orientation $ 139
Occupational Disease $ 139
Level 3 $ 139
W/E Level 1 & 2 $ 39 each
Topical Workshops $ 39 each
Instructor Training Included

If you have any questions, or need any special assistance, please contact Prevention Link by phone at 416-443-7686 or via email at info@preventionlink.ca.

Ontario Federation of Labour Launches Prevention Program for Injured Workers

(TORONTO, ON) ─ The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) is pleased to launch Prevention Link, a program promoting a culture of safety and improved return-to-work outcomes throughout Ontario. This holistic and comprehensive disability prevention program supports the vision, goals and priorities outlined in the Chief Prevention Officer’s strategic framework for building healthy and safe Ontario workplaces.

Building on the more than 25 years of success of the Occupational Disability Response Team (ODRT), Prevention Link will use the latest industry and sector data available to better understand the areas of greatest need to focus and direct its outreach and intervention efforts.

“Ontario’s labour movement made it clear to the Federation that secondary prevention services are crucial to ensuring safe and healthy workplaces for all workers,” said Chris Buckley, OFL President. “It has been a diligent, collaborative and persistent effort to secure support for Prevention Link and we are proud to once again have a tangible disability prevention program at work.”

There are approximately 5.3 million working Ontarians across 16 industries and each year thousands of those workers are injured on the job or die from work-related diseases. The most recent provincial statistics identify that in 2015, 212 fatality claims were attributed to workers who lost their lives due to an occupational disease. Additionally, there were 229,000 registered claims in Ontario for lost time due to a work-related injury or disease. We know, however, that the numbers are higher because official figures only capture those who received workers’ compensation benefits. Hundreds more die from under-reported illnesses and occupational diseases that go unrecognized in the compensation system.

“It’s a thrill to deliver a program that will place increased emphasis on the links between primary and secondary prevention of occupational injury, illness and disease in workplaces throughout the province,” said Prevention Link Executive Director Rob Halpin. “Through Prevention Link, Ontarians can be confident that the reputable and effective training and injury prevention resources we’ve long offered have been enhanced by the ODRT redesign.”

With the support of Ontario’s Ministry of Labour Prevention Office, Prevention Link has been improved to better represent its renewed ‘secondary prevention’ focus. It will build on the experience and success of a network of workplace-based volunteers to enhance primary and secondary prevention of workplace injury and illness. Initial prevention of injury and illness as well as preventing re-injury after return to work benefits both workers and employers.

While several external workshops featuring Prevention Link courses are already available, the program team will begin offering in-house Disability Response Training, including six core certification courses and more than 20 topical courses, in November 2016.

Prevention Link, which is supported by the Ontario Ministry of Labour’s Prevention Office and governed by the Ontario Federation of Labour’s Executive Committee, is the leading provider of training and advisory support on secondary prevention of workplace injury in the province. For information, visit preventionlink.ca and follow @PreventionLink on Facebook and Twitter.

The OFL represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario. For information, visit www.OFL.ca and follow @OFLabour on Facebook and Twitter.

For further information:

Ogho Ikhalo
Senior Communications & Outreach Specialist
Prevention Link
416-443-7654
oikhalo@preventionlink.ca

New look, same quality service!

A beloved program is back in the fold at the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) and for many, its return is a sight for sore eyes.

Building on more than 25 years of success operating as the Occupational Disability Response Team or ODRT, Prevention Link is now Ontario’s only holistic and comprehensive disability prevention program.

“When Patty, Ahmed and I took office, our sisters and brothers from the labour movement make it clear that the services provided by the former ODRT was crucial to ensuring safe and health workplaces for all workers,” said Chris Buckley, OFL President. “Since then, securing funding for Prevention Link has been top of mind and we are proud to once again have a tangible disability prevention program at work.”

Prevention Link, now funded by the Ontario Ministry of Labour’s Prevention Office and administered by the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL), will continue to offer quality training, mentoring, outreach and advisory services for unionized and non-unionized workers, workplace representatives, and employers – wishing to engage in cost-effective, collaborative and results based outcomes.

“It is a thrill to reinvigorate a respected program that has trained more than 15,000 workplace-based representatives to better understand the nature and causes of workplace injuries and to improve the culture of safety in their workplaces,” said Rob Halpin, Executive Director of Prevention Link. “Moving forward, we will place increased emphasis on the links between primary and secondary prevention of occupational injury, illness and disease in workplaces throughout the province.”

The innovative disability prevention program is supported by three distinct pillars, including:

  1. Occupational Disability Response Training, formerly the Occupational Disability Response Team, but ODRT all the same. This branch of the new program enables workers to apply their skills, and problem solve on primary and secondary prevention initiatives in their workplaces, and in their communities.
  2. Return to Work, the consulting branch of Prevention Link, facilitates a strategic fit with workplace return-to-work best practices and all applicable rights, health and safety, accessibility and worker’s compensation legislation.
    • The Lighthouse Initiative is the facet of Prevention Link that aims to serve two categories of vulnerable workers:
    • those returning to work after an injury; and
    • those who may not have been injured, but have limited knowledge of occupational health and safety laws and available resources.

“Prevention Link is a labour of love,” said Halpin. “Everyone involved in this robust program is deeply committed to improving the well-being of Ontario’s most vulnerable workers.”