You are required to have a Joint Health & Safety Committee (JHSC) or a Health & Safety Representative (H&S Rep) as specified in the legislation.
The requirement for a JHSC varies with the number of employees within your workplace: To figure out which one you need look at the table below:
| # of Employees | Requirements |
|---|---|
| 1 -5 | There are no legislative requirements for a JHSC or a H&S Rep. However, if your workplace uses designated substances than you are required to have a joint health and safety committee. |
| 6 - 19 | You are required to have one H&S Rep (Worker) who is selected by the employees they represent. |
| 20 - 49 | You are required to have a JHSC. The committee must have at least two (2) members. At least half of the committee members must be worker representatives, and selected by the employees they represent. |
| 50+ | You are required to have a JHSC. There has to be a minimum of at least four (4) members. At least half of the committee members must be worker representatives, and selected by the employees they represent. |
Employee participation as a H&S Representative is voluntary. You should reinforce how much you value your employees contribution to your business. If you have more than one volunteer for the position of H&S Rep your other employees are responsible for selecting the person to represent them.
The H&S Rep helps ensure there is a common ground for employees and management to work together on Health & Safety issues. The H&S Rep acts as a resource that helps stimulate awareness of safety issues. The particular duties of the H&S Rep include:
Although the H&S Rep is not required to have any specific training they should have general Health & Safety knowledge. They need to act as a Health & Safety resource and conduct workplace inspections. It is certainly a good idea, or best practice, for them to receive certification training.
Conducting workplace inspections helps insure that the Internal Responsibility System (IRS) is working. The Occupational Health & Safety Act sets out interlocking duties, obligations and rights for employees, managers and workers, so that everyone works as a team. This puts you and your employees in the best position to identify and solve Health & Safety concerns together. Having your H&S Rep conduct workplace inspections is the Internal Responsibility System at work! It helps identify hazards and unsafe work practices so that they can be corrected as soon as possible. It encourages open, cooperative and regular communication between employers and employees about on-the-job Health & Safety concerns. On top of all of this - it is also a legislative requirement.
The following list provides the requirements the H&S Rep has concerning workplace inspections:
This varies from workplace to workplace. It is important for you to work with your H&S Rep to make up your own checklists and schedules that meet the needs of your workplace. Inspections should include all potential hazards in the workplace, machinery/equipment, all work areas, all storage areas, first aid boxes, emergency systems and exits, fire extinguishers and stairwells, etc.
It is a good idea to sit down with your H&S Rep and discuss items that should be included on your monthly inspection. Use the checklist in the next column to document you preliminary list. As the inspections continue you may find that you have additional items to add to the list.
The form below includes some examples of how you might record the information. As you will see, the item and it's location are both listed on the checklist. This helps ensure that you cover all areas of your workplace. Use this checklist form to start recording information about your workplace.
This is a requirement of the Occupational Health & Safety Act. It makes specific reference to "written recommendations." However, it is also just a good habit to get into for all business practices. In many small companies there is often a direct relationship between the person who makes the decision and the H&S Rep. As with other information, informal requests may be passed by word of mouth from person to person without leaving any record. This allows for processes to be forgotten, or overlooked. If something is in writing it allows the opportunity for people to accept, evaluate or possibly improve the process.
When the H&S Rep becomes aware of a Health & Safety issues, they determine the need(s) for action and write them down . The recommendation needs to be addressed to, and received by, the senior management person responsible for Health & Safety.
You need to provide the H&S Rep with a written response to the recommendation within 21 days. There are three options for your response:
The response should include a description of the proposed recommendation and what you accept (i.e. accepted as recommended by the H&S Rep, or the alternative solution). It should also include the goal, a timeframe and the management person who is responsible for completing the action. If you do not accept the recommendation, accept only in part or if the issue is deferred the response should explain why.
That you have to have an emergency plan for your workplace covering procedures in case of fire, explosion, workplace violence, etc.