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Provincial legislation requires safety training for personnel
Workers Compensation legislation exists in every province to safeguard the health and safety of workers. The following are two key excerpts from the BC Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Act of 1998. Every province has similar legislation but there are some minor variations, and so employers and employees should refer to the legislation from their particular province.
Part 3—Occupational Health and Safety
Purposes of Part
107 (1) The purpose of this Part is to benefit all citizens of British Columbia by promoting occupational health and safety and protecting workers and other persons present at workplaces from work related risks to their health and safety .....etc.
Division 3—General Duties of Employers, Workers and Others
General duties of employers
115 (1) Every employer must
(a) ensure the health and safety of
(i) all workers working for that employer, and
(ii) any other workers present at a workplace at which that employer’s work is being carried out, and
(b) comply with this Part, the regulations and any applicable orders.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), an employer must
(a) remedy any workplace conditions that are hazardous to the health or safety of the employer’s workers,
(b) ensure that the employer’s workers
(i) are made aware of all known or reasonably foreseeable health or safety hazards to which they are likely to be exposed by their work,
(ii) comply with this Part, the regulations and any applicable orders, and
(iii) are made aware of their rights and duties under this Part and the regulations,
(c) establish occupational health and safety policies and programs in accordance with the regulations,
(d) provide and maintain in good condition protective equipment, devices and clothing as required by regulation and ensure that these are used by the employer’s workers,
(e) provide to the employer’s workers the information, instruction, training and supervision necessary to ensure the health and safety of those workers in carrying out their work and to ensure the health and safety of other workers at the workplace,
(f) make a copy of this Act and the regulations readily available for review by the employer’s workers and, at each workplace where workers of the employer are regularly employed, post and keep posted a notice advising where the copy is available for review,
(g) consult and cooperate with the joint committees and worker health and safety representatives for workplaces of the employer, and
(h) cooperate with the board, officers of the board and any other person carrying out a duty under this Part or the regulations.
General duties of workers
116 (1) Every worker must
(a) take reasonable care to protect the worker’s health and safety and the health and safety of other persons who may be affected by the worker’s acts or omissions at work, and
(b) comply with this Part, the regulations and any applicable orders.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), a worker must
(a) carry out his or her work in accordance with established safe work procedures as required by this Part and the regulations,
(b) use or wear protective equipment, devices and clothing as required by the regulations,
(c) not engage in horseplay or similar conduct that may endanger the worker or any other person,
(d) ensure that the worker’s ability to work without risk to his or her health or safety, or to the health or safety of any other person, is not impaired by alcohol, drugs or other causes,
(e) report to the supervisor or employer
(i) any contravention of this Part, the regulations or an applicable order of which the worker is aware, and
(ii) the absence of or defect in any protective equipment, device or clothing, or the existence of any other hazard, that the worker considers is likely to endanger the worker or any other person,
(f) cooperate with the joint committee or worker health and safety representative for the workplace, and
(g) cooperate with the board, officers of the board and any other person carrying out a duty under this Part or the regulations.
