SECOR® Program

The Small Employer Certificate of Recognition (SECOR®) Program is an occupational health and safety certification program for small Yukon employers (less than 10 employees).

SECOR® is an occupational safety and health accreditation program that verifies a fully implemented safety and health management system which meets national standards. The objectives of SECOR® are to provide industry employers with effective tools to develop, implement, assess, and promote continual improvement of their safety and health management system to prevent or mitigate incidents and injuries as well as their associated human and financial costs.

SECOR® is nationally registered, trademarked and endorsed by the Canadian Federation of Construction Safety Associations (CFCSA) and is delivered through member associations that have a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to serve as the Authority Having Jurisdiction to grant SECOR® in their respective province/territory.

Aimed at reducing the human and financial costs of workplace accidents and injuries, the SECOR® Program helps companies develop and maintain company-wide safety programs and introduce standardized safety training. SECOR® also helps Yukon employers understand Workers' Safety & Compensation Act and the Workplace Health & Safety Regulations, including employer and worker rights and responsibilities. Understanding these rights and obligations helps industries avoid liability, while also ensuring regulatory due diligence.

Yukon companies are continuously faced with competitive issues, such as declining markets, intense competition, and escalating operating costs. The SECOR® Program is a tool companies can use to reduce costs, improve profitability, and further professionalize their industry.

The SECOR® Program is offered in partnership between Northern Safety Network Yukon (NSNY) and the Workers' Safety & Compensation Board (WSCB). The program is administered by the NSNY and is available to all Yukon employers with less than 10 employees.

Small Employer Certificate of Recognition (SECOR®) Process

Step 1

Step 2

SECOR® Certification requires 3 courses. The company owner/senior manager should be the person taking the training, however if this is not possible then the employee taking the training on behalf of the company shall be a full time (regular or permanent) Yukon site employee. An employee is full-time (regular or permanent) when he/she is employed in a continuous capacity for the SECOR® company. This individual's name must appear on the company's payroll and be covered by the firm's WSCB account.

Please contact NSNY for further information if required.

Principles of Health & Safety Management (PHSM) - This course is designed to help the company develop and implement a health & safety program.
Leadership for Safety Excellence (LSE) - This course is designed to help the supervisors understand their health & safety roles and responsibilities. The course covers legislation, inspections, investigations and training (safety meetings, etc.). Note: See additional information on supervisors below.
Return to Work for Small Businesses & the Basics of Workers Compensation Online - Participants will explore the legal responsibilities of RTW. The course will also cover making the case for RTW; the duty to accommodate; choosing the job; RTW plan development; monitoring; adjusting and problem solving; RTW programs, making the connection to ongoing resources and RTW program evaluation. NSNY also offers a 2-hour refresher RTW course for all participants looking to re-certify once their training has expired.

Please refer to our course calendar and E-Learning page for required courses.

Supervisor Info

Best Practice is that all supervisors take the LSE training, however the current requirement is that 50% or more supervisors hold valid LSE certificates.

A supervisor is anyone who directs work activities over others, and may include workers who self delegate on a daily basis (for example working alone). Supervisors who direct work over new/young workers, and/or who supervise high hazard class work activities should be considered first by the company as to who should attend the Leadership for Safety Excellence course. Senior supervisors/managers are also recommended to be considered first for this training, as they hold a higher responsibility to the health & safety of all workers under their supervision.

Private course bookings are available at the NSNY location or off-site. Contact the Training Coordinator if you are interested in a private course booking.

Step 3

On completion of the required training, you will develop your company health and safety manual and submit it to NSNY for review. NSNY offers sample policies and template forms to assist you in creating your safety manual. If you need additional help developing your manual, please contact us. Once NSNY has reviewed and determined that your company health and safety manual meets the minimum standards for a COR health and safety program, your company can begin to implement your health & safety program.

Step 4

Once your company has at least 3-6 months' worth of documented safety activities, and is at medium to peak operating levels with an active worksite(s) to audit, arrangements for the certifying external audit must be made. Keep in mind that these arrangements can take from two to four weeks depending on audit load, availability of auditors, work season activities, etc. Please note that there is a cost associated with undergoing your external audit, and is a seperate agreement made between the company being audited and the auditor.

The external audit should take approximately 2 to 5 days to complete, for a company with up to 30 employees, depending on location of the active work site(s) in relation to Whitehorse. Once the audit is completed and the close out meeting (between the auditor and the company) has been held, and audit action plan has been created, the audit document must be forwarded by the company to NSNY for review.

Step 5

NSNY forwards a request for certification to the Workers' Safety & Compensation Board (WSCB) for issuance of the Certificate of Recognition. The whole process for audit review could take six to eight weeks to complete.

Maintaining SECOR® Certification

Once certification is achieved, SECOR® is maintained by keeping all training certifications valid and through the combined annual documentation review submission and external progress audits. The following maintenance schedules are in place:

Year 1: Certifying External Audit

The company will submit their health & safety manual for review and approval to the NSNY, complete the required SECOR® training courses.
The company will then undergo their certifying external audit.
Upon successful completion, the company will be issued with a Small Employer Certificate of Recognition. The certificate is valid for 3 years. The date of issue of the certificate becomes the company’s anniversary date.

Years 2-3: Annual Documentation Review Submission - Continuous Improvement

An annual documentation review must be submitted by the company to the NSNY for review and approval prior to the designated anniversary date for year 2 and 3.
Upon approval by the NSNY of the annual documentation submission, the company will be issued with a one-year Letter of Good Standing (LoGS)

For an example please see SECOR® Annual Submission Pkg.

Year 4: Recertifying External Audit

The end of the third year marks the completion of the SECOR® cycle. Continued participation in SECOR® requires the Employer to complete a re-certifying external audit.
Upon successful completion of the re-certifying external audit, the company will be granted certification and will begin a new 3 year cycle.

The annual documentation submissions and audits must be completed and submitted to the NSNY prior to the anniversary date of initial certification.

The Annual Documentation Review Submissions shall consist of a sampling of the following completed documentation:

Hazard Assessments
Site Inspections
Tailgate/Toolbox Meetings
Preventative Maintenance Records
Completed Investigation
Audit Action Plan progress
Emergency Response Plan(s)
Completed Orientations (if applicable)
Year End Safety Activity Summary Report

For more detail on the submission requirements, please see the SECOR Annual Documentation Review Submission Form