There has been some confusion about the new "National Standard" for COR (Certificate of Recognition).  The "National Standard" claim by the CFCSA (Canadian Federation of Construction Safety Associations) is made especially misleading by the fact their website mentions that it is nationally trademarked, presumably by the association.

This "National Standard" applies only to the construction industry.  Certifying partners in other industries have been administering CORs for many years, and do not endorse the construction standard.  Enform, for example, publishes the audit protocol for the oil and gas industry, and have recently updated their requirements in 2011, which have little resemblance to the construction requirements.  Similarly, WorkSafe BC publishes large and small company COR audit protocols for a wide range of industries, and it too does not follow the "National Standard" [Note: the BC audit review instruments are also available in SafetySync].  And neither of these organizations makes any claims or references to trademarks.

Despite all this, the "National Standard" is certainly a good idea, even if it only applies to the construction industry.  It allows safety management systems like ours to design common functionality around a general set of expectations.  [The audit protocols are remarkably similar though, even between industries and across provinces.]  Despite the goal of having a single list of requirements for the construction industry across Canada, provincial organizations are creating work-arounds.  In Manitoba, for example, the CSAM has added a 14th section to the audit requirements covering specific topics such as Hearing Conservation, Lockout / Tagout and Working Alone.

The good news for our current and prospective clients construction industry is that our audit review component now has functionality to help HSE personnel compile and prepare for the CFCSA National Standard, and the CSAM Manitoba supplement (section 14).
 
Simply check the box next to the appropriate audit standard(s) within the administrator portal in SafetySync to start managing these or any other COR audit protocols.