Joint Health and Safety Committees and General Requirements

About this Section

This section will cover two main components. First, we will cover the general requirements such as required posters, according to the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Secondly, we will overview what a Joint Health and Safety Committee is, their powers at the workplace, and the legal requirements to follow for your committee. Let's get started!

** This course does not replace any legislation provided by the Federal Government of Canada, the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (2015) Regulations, nor does it constitute as legal advice.**

Watch the Video Below to Get Started!

Legal Language

A Brief Overview of the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act

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It is strongly recommended that as an HR professional, you should try your best to read the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act. It is a legal requirement for all workplaces in Ontario, however we understand that the legal terms used within the act may be challenging to comprehend. Therefore, we have put together this overview of the Ontario Health and Safety Act, and have included several resources for you to refer back to later on within the course of your HR career. Some helpful resources have been produced by the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development department, and are available and free to view. Please see the list of links at the bottom of this page to refer to helpful resources (Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).

Try the Matching Game Below to Learn the Language used in the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act!

Use your mouse to drag and match the terms with the definitions, drag them on top of each other to make them disappear.

General Requirements

Requirement #1: Jurisdiction Coverage

The first step is for you to determine if you and/or your workplace are covered by the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act. As an HR professional working for an organization, let's determine if that organization is covered by the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act. It's important to remember the legislation is a provincial legislation. If you are an HR professional outside Ontario, refer to the provincial Occupational Health and Safety Act for your jurisdiction (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).

Organizations That Fall Under Provincial Jurisdiction

Most organizations and employees in Ontario are covered under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act with the exception of a few exemptions (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development). Constructions workers who are working on individual projects, suppliers, and equipment and materials manufacturers are also covered by the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).

Two Exceptions to Coverage

You or your organization may not be covered by the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act if either of the following two rules apply:

The person working is the "owner or occupant, or a servant of the owner or occupant, in a private residence or in the lands and appurtenances used in connection with the private residence," (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development). This means that if you are the owner or occupant of your private residence, you are not covered by the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The workplace falls under federal jurisdiction. Federal jurisdiction includes crown corporations or workplaces who operate across borders (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety). More specifically, this includes "post offices, airlines and airports, banks, some grain elevators, telecommunication companies, interprovincial trucking, shipping, railway and bus companies," (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development). But that does not mean you are not covered by any health and safety regulation. Companies that fall under federal jurisdiction may be regulated by the Canada Labour Code (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety).

What do I do if I am unsure if the Occupational Health and Safety Act applies to me or my workplace?

If you are unsure, you can always call the Ontario Ministry of Labour on the toll free number: 1-877-202-0008

(Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development)

Requirement #2: Employee Rights, Responsibilities, and Training

You will observe that several times within this course, we mention that as an employee in Ontario covered by the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act, you have certain rights and responsibilities. As an employee you have 3 basic rights: "the right to know, the right to participate, and the right to refuse unsafe work (Stevenson). As an HR professional it is very important that you understand these rights.

3 Basic Rights of Employees under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act

The Right to Know

Employees should be aware of any hazards in the workplace. It is the duty of the employer, supervisor, and in some cases also the HR department to make sure employees are aware of these hazards (Stevenson). This is why we have put together this course, so you can best education your employees in compliance with the current legal regulations. Hazards can be "people, equipment, materials, the environment and processes," (Stevenson). For example, an employee using a type of machine that has a blade should be informed on the potential dangers and hazards if the equipment is not used properly, and they should be given thorough instructions on the process of using the equipment.

The Right to Participate

The right to participate may look like an employee who is a member of the organization's Joint Health and Safety Committee, an employee telling their employer or supervisor about an unknown hazard and developing a safety plan, or even an employee asking questions about the training given or safety in general (Stevenson). As an HR professional, you should encourage your employees to do these things and let them know it is one of their basic rights, they will never be punished or terminated for doing these activities.

Moreover, it is illegal to terminate an employee for participating in safety hazard identification, training, awareness, etc. (Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act). Employees "have the right to ask questions about issues concerning their health and safety or that of a coworker," (Stevenson). This also can look like employee involvement in the "process of identifying, assessing, controlling workplace health and safety hazards, [and] reporting unsafe conditions to the supervisor or employer, (Stevenson).

The Right to Refuse Unsafe Work

Workers may refuse work where they believe it is likely to endanger themselves or any other worker. The Act includes a detailed process for refusing unsafe work and explains the employer’s responsibility for responding to work refusals. The Act also provides workers with protection from reprisal or retaliation from the employer should they decide to refuse unsafe work (Stevenson).

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Employee Responsibilities & Training

Employees are also responsible for certain requirements under the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System regulation, this will be covered in depth in the next section. Furthermore, employees should complete the Worker Safety Awareness in 4 Steps, provided by the Government of Ontario. There is one for supervisors also, this is called Supervisor Safety Awareness in 5 Steps. They should save their certificate when completed and provide it to their employer. The link to this training is provided below.

Link to Worker Safety Awareness Training for Employees and Supervisors

Requirement #3: Employer Duties

One duty that all workplaces under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act is to comply with the assessment of provincial Health and Safety Inspectors (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development). Sometimes, these inspectors will assess if you have given the proper training and information to employees. Some information is required to be posted by the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act. These are called posters. These posters are required and have been created by the government. Please see the required posters below.

Required Posters (with links to the posters from the Government of Ontario)

The "Health and Safety At Work" poster.
A copy of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
If you have more than 20 employees, you are required to post the the names and locations of your workplace joint health and safety committee members in a place that is easily accessible.
Post and updated your Health & Safety, Workplace Harassment, and Workplace Violence policies once a year.
If you are covered under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (this will be explained in Section 5.0, but for now most organizations are covered under the WSIB also known as the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board), then you need to post the "In Case of Injury" poster.
The "Health & Safety At Work: Prevention Starts Here" poster.

Case Study Scenario: Your 1st Health and Safety Inspection

The following scenario will give you a glimpse into an interaction with a provincial Health and Safety inspector. You are an close friend and HR consultant to an HR administrator named Eva. Eva is working at a nightclub with approximately 25 staff working.

In this scenario, a Health and Safety Inspector comes into your workplace, and you have to tell them what you have done so far to ensure health and safety is a priority in your workplace.

14 General Duties of the Employer

As an HR professional in Ontario, you are most likely representative of your employer and should be knowledgeable about the major employer duties as covered by the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act. Generally, there are 14 major duties that employers much oblige to ( Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development). Let's take a deeper dive into each duty below. Remember, if you find that your organization is not compliant with one or more of the duties, it is extremely important that they implement them as soon as possible. These 13 general duties are summarized below:

"Instruct, inform and supervise workers to protect their health and safety [clause 25(2)(a)]," (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).
"Assist in a medical emergency by providing; any information ... to a qualified medical practitioner," (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).
"Appoint [a] competent persons as supervisors [clause 25(2)(c)]," (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).
"Inform a worker, or a person in authority over a worker, about any hazard in the work and train that worker in the handling, storage, use, disposal and transport of any equipment, substances, tools, material, etc. [clause 25(2)(d)]," (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).
"Help joint health and safety committees (JHSCs) and health and safety representatives to carry out their functions [clause 25(2)(e)]," (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).
"Not employ or permit persons under the prescribed age for the employer's workplace [clauses 25(2)(f) and (g)]," (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).
"Take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker [clause 25(2)(h)]," (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).
"Post a copy of the OHSA in the workplace," and all required posters provided by the Government of Ontario, (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).
"Prepare a written occupational health and safety policy, review that policy at least once a year and set up and maintain a program to implement it," if your organization has more than 5 employees, "[clause 25(2)(j)]", (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).
"Provide the JHSC or the health and safety representative with the results of any occupational health and safety report that the employer has," and "advise workers of the result of such a report," [clause 25(2)(l)(m)], (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).
"Notify a Director of the [Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development] if [the Joint Health and Safety Committee] (or a health and safety representative) has identified potential structural inadequacies of a building, structure ... or any other part of a workplace, whether temporary or permanent, as a source of danger or hazard to workers [clause 25(2)(n)]," (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).
Not require an employee to wear an elevated heel unless they are a "performer in the entertainment and advertising industry," (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).
Create and post a workplace harassment and workplace violence policy, (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).
Follow WHMIS guidelines and regulations for toxic chemicals, (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).

Requirement #4: Workplace Violence & Harassment Policies

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As you may already know, Workplace Harassment and Workplace Violence is serious as is not only covered under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act, but certain actions may constitute as violations of the Canada Criminal Code and Human Rights Legislation (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).

It is important that employers and HR are familiar with the definitions of Workplace Harassment and Workplace Violence because they "must prepare policies with respect to workplace violence and workplace harassment and review them at least once a year," (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development). They should post these policies in an easily accessible place.

Use the right and left arrows to click through the slides below to learn the definitions.

Joint Health & Safety Committee

Requirements for A Joint Health and Safety Committee

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Do I need a Joint Health and Safety Committee?

Yes, if you have more than 20 regular employees (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development). At least half of the members of the committee "must be workers (selected by workers or by the trade union(s) that represent the workers) employed at the workplace and that do not exercise managerial duties (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development). The committee is there to monitor health and safety, identify potential hazards, and recommend improvements when required (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).

Certified Members

A “certified” member e is a member who has received "specialized training in occupational health and safety and has been certified by the Chief Prevention Officer under the OHSA as of April 1, 2012," (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development). The certified member is very important and has specialized powers under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).

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What is A Health and Safety Representative?

In some workplaces, a health and safety representative is chosen by employees to represent them in terms of Health and Safety at our workplace (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development). You may be exempt from requirements to have a Joint Health and Safety Committee if you have less than 20 employees and and more then 5 regularly scheduled employees you are only required to have a Health and Safety representative (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).

"A health and safety representative is required at a workplace or construction project where the number of workers in the workplace regularly exceeds five, and where there is no joint health and safety committee required [subsection 8(1)]. The health and safety representative must be chosen by the workers who do not exercise managerial functions and who will be represented by the representative, or by the union if there is one [subsection 8(5)]."

- Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development

Health and safety representatives have most of the same powers as joint health and safety committee members, except they cannot stop work.

What does the Committee do?

The committee has the power to enforce certain health and safety measures in the workplace. Some of their powers include identifying workplace hazards and complete workplace inspections, obtain important information from the employer, be consulted before any mandatory testing, make recommendations to the employer, investigate work refusals, investigate critical injuries' and fatalities, and obtain information from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development).

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