CSA Group is in the process of developing what would be Canada’s first voluntary national standard on first aid in the workplace. The standards organization is now calling for participants from employer, employee, regulator, training-provider and general-interest stakeholders to volunteer on the Technical Committee (TC) on Workplace First Aid to create the new consensus-based standard, CSA Group said in a statement on May 8.

“I think it’s a really exciting project, and I think that it’s very timely,” said Jeanne Bank, health and safety standards manager with CSA Group in Toronto. “What we’re hearing from a lot of the regulatory bodies is that they were going to be having to update their programs anyway, so to be able to do it under our umbrella makes a lot more sense.”

The Canadian Red Cross and regulators approached CSA Group about exploring the feasibility of a national standard due to the differences that exist across jurisdictions for workplace first-aid requirements, Bank said. In October 2014, CSA Group and the Canadian Red Cross held their first stakeholder consultation to discuss the idea.

“There’s been quite a positive response so far. So we’re hoping to be able to establish a good technical committee that has that balance of representation,” Bank said. There is a strong interest from employees, employers, training providers, regulators and people involved in prevention, she added.

“Any of the meetings or conferences that we’ve been at, people have been anxiously asking, ‘When is this going to be started?’ and ‘How can we get involved in it?’”

The final standard should be completed within 18 months of the first TC meeting, according to Bank. Once the committee has reached a consensus on the draft document, there will be a 60-day public review period. After reviewing the public’s comments, the standard will be revised and voted on by the committee. Provincial regulators will then decide whether to endorse or implement that standard within their jurisdictions.

The application process for the TC on Workplace First Aid will be open until June 30, and the first TC meeting is planned for the fall. Those who are interested in sitting on the TC are being asked to submit a bio or CV along with a statement of interest to CSA Group.