Ontario Clean W ater Agency 2012 Annual Report 17 Bypasses at OCW Aoperated Facilities Sever e weather conditions such as heavy rainfall and certain maintenance activities can cause bypass events wher e wastewater is diverted fr om any portion of the collection and or tr eatment systems Bypass events ar e necessary in or der to avoid damage to the facility collections systems and private pr operty Certifcates of Appr oval include bypass limits and r eporting pr ovisions OCW A strives to minimize bypass events and ensur e they ar e only performed when absolutely necessary to pr otect health and safety or the integrity of the tr eatment pr ocess In 2012 OCW A signifcantly r educed the volume of fow bypassed and all bypass events met r eporting and sampling r equir ements Occupational Health Safety OHS The health and safety of our employees and contractors is a top priority at OCW A Our str ong commitment to the safety of our employees and the communities we serve is part of our cultur e In or der to pr omote and support a safe and healthy work envir onment we have established a thor ough Occupational Health and Safety System OHSS and set a goal of zer o lost time injuries L TI and a r eduction in the occurr ence of medical aid events In 2012 OCW A had one L TI which is a marked impr ovement over the nine that occurr ed in 2011 W e wer e also able to decr ease the number of medical aid events by 16 OCW A maintains its focus on occupational health and safety by pr oviding its employees with extensive training on topics ranging fr om defensive driving to r egulatory and facilityspecifc issues Our employees r eceive an average of 27 health and safety training hours each year T o further our commitment in this ar ea the Agency featur es important safety topics each month in our Health and Safety Calendar W e also host an annual health and safety r epr esentative confer ence and annual Safety W eek to pr omote health and safety awar eness and continuously impr ove OCW A s OHSS The Agency r ecognizes employee ef forts to pr omote health and safety thr ough our employee r ecognition pr ograms This past year our Pr esident and Chief Executive Of fcer Jane Pagel signed the Senior Executive Health and Safety Leadership Charter demonstrating our commitment to the health and safety of OCW A employees The Charter signed annually pr ovides a series of guiding principles endorsed by organizational senior executives and is intended to support continuous impr ovements to workplace health and safety It is founded on the principle that ef fective leadership of health and safety is essential to the operation of a successful business As a signatory of the Charter OCW A joins an esteemed list of Canadian organizations that ar e committed to the health and safety of their employees and the communities in which they operate including Bruce Power and the W orkplace Safety and Insurance Boar d of Ontario Thr oughout 2012 OCW A s Joint Health and Safety Committee participated in an employee wellness pr ogram that included lunch and lear n sessions and a pedometer challenge In addition OCW A employees also r eceive r egular newsletters and information fr om the Agency s Employee Assistance Pr ogram EAP pr ovider ShepellFGI The EAP is available to pr ovide employees with counselling and advice on a wide range of personal and workr elated issues and concer ns In the coming year OCW A will continue to use inter nal and exter nal r esour ces training and communication strategies to pr omote safe behaviour and healthy workplaces for our employees 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 1 08 06 04 02 0 of ow Bypassed 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Lost T ime Incidents