George Gritziotis will be the first to hold the position mandated by Bill 160
Ontario has appointed George Gritziotis as the province's first chief prevention officer.
The position was created following a review of Ontario's occupational health and safety prevention and enforcement system led by Tony Dean, a professor at the University of Toronto's School of Public Policy and Governance.
The creation of the role was one of the key recommendations in a December 2010 report the expert panel. The report resulted in the creation of Bill 160, which overhauled the province’s health and safety legislation and mandated the new position.
As chief prevention officer, Gritziotis will be responsible for developing a provincial occupational health and safety strategy, co-ordinating and aligning Ontario's workplace health and safety prevention system and providing advice on the prevention of workplace injuries and occupational diseases, according to the province.
Gritziotis served as a founding executive director of the Construction Sector Council (CSC). He was a key participant in the negotiations that brought the Canadian Federation of Construction Safety Associations into CSC’s activities, which allowed CSC to develop targeted construction safety programs, increasingly partner with provincial occupational health and safety organizations, and identify and share best practices across Canada, according to the ministry.
