Insights
Canadian safety compliance, answered.
The questions Canadian operators actually ask about COR audits, SECOR audits, contractor compliance platforms, and safety manuals. Written by the team that audits them.
Audit score trend
3-year cycle
COR & SECOR Basics
What the certificates are, who needs which one, and who administers them.
What is COR (Certificate of Recognition)?
What the certificate actually is, who issues it, which Canadian operators need one, and what the audit looks like end to end.
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What is SECOR? Small Employer Certificate of Recognition, explained
SECOR is Canada's COR program for companies with 10 or fewer workers. What the audit covers, how the 3-year cycle works, the WCB rebate, and which certifying partners issue it across Western Canada.
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COR vs SECOR, explained
Which Certificate of Recognition program fits the operation. Plain-English comparison of audit scope, scoring, and timing.
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Who needs a SECOR certificate in Alberta?
SECOR applies to employers with 10 or fewer workers in Alberta. Worker-count thresholds by province, the 4-step process, WCB PIR rebate, and the 3-year cycle.
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What Is a GAP Audit?
A pre-audit health check using the same protocol as a real COR or SECOR audit, with zero risk to your official record.
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What Is a COR Certifying Partner? Alberta's Full List
A certifying partner is the organization accredited to administer your COR or SECOR audit. Alberta's current official list has 9 - here's the full list and how to pick.
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The Audit Process, Cost & Timing
What an audit actually costs, how long it takes, and what happens after.
How much does a COR audit cost?
COR audit rates range from $98 to $175 per hour. What drives the cost, why companies plan 12 months out, and how the WCB rebate offsets the spend.
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How long does COR certification take?
COR certification takes 12 to 18 months for most companies. This guide walks through each phase — building the program, booking an auditor, the audit itself, and waiting for certification — with realistic timelines for Alberta and Western Canadian operators.
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COR audit preparation checklist
A timeline-based checklist from 12 months to audit day: booking the auditor, building records, briefing the team, and closing corrective actions after the report.
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What happens if you fail a COR audit?
Failing a COR audit means scoring below the certifying partner's pass threshold. The corrective action process, WCB rebate impact, re-audit timelines, and the most common failure points for Canadian operators.
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COR and WCB rebates: How Alberta contractors recover audit costs
Alberta's PIR program pays a WCB premium rebate to companies that hold an active COR certificate — up to 20% of WCB premiums, which for many contractors exceeds the full cost of the audit and safety program.
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Custom Safety Manuals
By province, by industry, and what separates a real manual from a template.
How Much Does a Custom Safety Manual Cost?
What actually drives the price - industry, provinces, company size, add-ons - and how to get a real quote.
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Safety manual vs template: what is the difference?
A template is generic. A custom safety manual is built for your operations, province, and certifying partner. The difference matters most when an auditor scores it.
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Custom Safety Manual Requirements in Alberta
What an Alberta manual has to reflect under the OHS Act and OHS Code - the six certifying partners it needs to align to, and the mistakes that show up most in a reused template.
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Custom Safety Manual Requirements in British Columbia
BC's risk-gated program threshold, Act-level committee rules, and eight industry-specific COR certifying partners - what a BC manual needs to reflect that Alberta's doesn't.
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Custom Safety Manual Requirements in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan's Table 7 program trigger, universal committee threshold, and six WCB-funded safety associations - the framework a Saskatchewan manual actually needs to match.
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What Goes in a Construction Safety Manual
Fall protection, excavation, scaffolds, cranes, and traffic control - the OHS Code sections construction carries that a generic manual doesn't, and where tickets differ from the law.
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What Goes in an Oil and Gas Safety Manual
H2S, confined space entry, and ground disturbance near pipelines - what Energy Safety Canada's protocol expects, and where H2S Alive is a site-access rule rather than a Code mandate.
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What Goes in a Trucking Safety Manual
Vehicle inspection thresholds, and the provincial-vs-federal hours of service split most templates get wrong - what a National Safety Code-ready manual actually has to say.
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What Goes in an Industrial and Manufacturing Safety Manual
Lockout/tagout, machine safeguards, powered mobile equipment, and hearing conservation - the OHS Code parts a fixed manufacturing facility carries, and why MHSA is the certifying partner that matters.
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What Goes in a Mining and Resource Safety Manual
Ground control, haul truck traffic, and blasting under OHS Code Part 36 - and why there's no single dedicated COR certifying partner for mining in Alberta.
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What Goes in a Trades and Services Safety Manual
Working alone at a client's site, and why a trade license doesn't substitute for a safety program - what a manual needs for a crew that's never in the same place twice.
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Hazard Assessments
FLHA and FHA - the two documents auditors ask for most.
What Is a Field Level Hazard Assessment (FLHA)?
What a compliant FLHA covers, how it differs from a JHA or JSA, and the audit findings that come up most often.
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What Is a Formal Hazard Assessment (FHA)?
An FHA is built in advance for a recurring task; an FLHA checks it on site. What a compliant FHA documents, how the risk rating works, and why it matters at audit.
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Training & Certifications
Which tickets are legally required, and which are industry or site-access standards.
Is online H2S training enough for Alberta oil and gas?
H2S Alive is the in-person certification required for Alberta oil and gas site access. Online H2S awareness training does not qualify workers for sour-gas zones. Plain-English comparison, who delivers H2S Alive, and when each applies.
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NCSO vs. Safety Officer vs. Safety Advisor: What's the Difference?
NCSO is a real, certified designation issued through Alberta's construction safety associations. "Safety Officer" and "Safety Advisor" are job titles with no standard behind them.
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What Is Ground Disturbance Training? Alberta's Rules, Explained
Alberta's OHS Code requires a locate before disturbing ground near buried utilities and sets hand-exposure distances - but the named course is an industry standard, not a codified requirement.
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WHMIS 2026: What Actually Changed (and Do You Need Retraining?)
Canada's WHMIS/GHS transition ended in December 2025. What changed on labels and safety data sheets, and whether existing WHMIS-trained workers actually need retraining.
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Alberta Regulations & Compliance Updates
What changed recently, and what every Alberta employer owes regardless of size.
Alberta's Violence and Harassment Prevention Plan: What Changed
Alberta rewrote the OHS Code's violence and harassment rules into one plan under Section 390, effective March 31, 2025. What the plan must contain, and real penalties already issued for not having one.
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What Is CSA Z1003? Psychological Health and Safety, Explained
Canada's voluntary standard for psychological health and safety at work. What it requires, whether it's mandatory in Alberta, and how it relates to COR certification.
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Working in Wildfire Smoke: What Alberta Employers Must Do
Alberta's OHS Code has no wildfire-smoke-specific rule or AQHI trigger number - smoke exposure falls under the same general hazard assessment duty as any other airborne hazard.
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Do You Need a Formal Safety Program? Alberta's Size Thresholds Explained
Alberta's written health and safety program requirement kicks in at 20 workers - not the same line as SECOR's 10. Every employer, at any size, still carries real minimum obligations.
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Contractor Compliance Platforms
ISNetworld, Avetta, ComplyWorks, CanQual, and SiteDocs, compared.
ISNetworld vs Avetta vs ComplyWorks vs CanQual
The four main contractor compliance platforms in Canada -- what each does, what the ISN RAVS score means, and how to decide which ones you need.
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ISNetworld RAVS 360: What Alberta contractors need to know
RAVS 360 rates your company on a scale of 0 to 100. Most Alberta prime contractors require a minimum score before awarding work. How the score is calculated, what documents ISNetworld asks for, and how to improve a low rating.
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What Is SiteDocs? Digital Safety Forms, Explained
How phone-based safety forms work, whether they hold up as audit evidence, and how they compare to printable templates.
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