In addition to a joint health and safety program, operations with 20 or more workers must establish a joint health and safety committee and ensure that both employer and worker representatives are appointed to the committee.
An employer must establish and maintain a joint health and safety committee in each workplace where 20 or more workers are regularly employed. A worker is considered regularly employed after being employed for at least one month.
Employers with fewer than 20 workers must have at least one worker designated as a health and safety representative.
The joint committee must have at least four members, or a greater number if specifically required by the regulations, and at least half of the members must be worker representatives. Each committee must have two co-chairs, one selected by the worker representatives and the other selected by the employer representatives.
Duties of a joint committee
A joint committee has the following duties and functions in relation to its workplace:
(a) to identify situations that may be unhealthy or unsafe for workers, and to recommend effective systems for responding to those situations;
(b) to consider and expeditiously deal with complaints relating to the health and safety of workers;
(c) to consult with workers and the employer on issues related to occupational health and safety and the occupational environment;
(d) to make recommendations to the employer and the workers for the improvement of the occupational health and safety of the workplace;
(e) to make recommendations to the employer on educational programs promoting the health and safety of workers, and then to monitor their effectiveness;
(f) to advise the employer on programs and policies required under the regulations for the workplace and to monitor their effectiveness;
(g) to advise the employer on proposed changes to the workplace or the work processes that may affect the health or safety of workers;
(h) to ensure that accident investigations and regular inspections are carried out as required;
(i) to participate in inspections, investigations and inquiries; and
(j) to carry out any other duties and functions prescribed by the regulations.
Each joint committee must establish its own rules of procedure, including rules respecting how it is to perform its duties and functions. However, a joint committee must meet regularly at least once each month, unless another schedule is permitted or required by the regulations.
Leave with pay for joint committee matters
Also note that members of a joint committee are entitled to time off from work with pay for the time required to attend meetings of the committee, as well as any other time that is reasonably necessary to prepare for such meetings and to fulfill the other functions and duties of the committee. The employer must also provide the joint committee with the equipment, premises and clerical personnel necessary for the carrying out of its duties.
In addition, each member of a joint committee is entitled to an annual educational leave, totalling eight hours, for the purpose of attending occupational health and safety training courses conducted by or with the approval of WorkSafeBC. Such leave must be provided without loss of pay or other benefits and must pay for, or reimburse the worker for, the costs of the training course and the reasonable costs of attending the course.
Employer cooperation
On request of the joint committee, the employer must provide the committee with information regarding:
(a) the identification of known or reasonably foreseeable health or safety hazards to which workers at the workplace are likely to be exposed;
(b) health and safety experience, work practices and standards in similar or other industries of which the employer has knowledge; and
(c) orders, penalties and prosecutions under the act or the regulations relating to health and safety at the workplace.
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