Tagged: Alberta bill 30
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We are a school board that has 15 different schools and as I read bill 30 to me we would have to start a safety committee at each location for our schools that are over 20 employees. Can I get some clarification on this part’ Would we have to create one committee or 15 different committees for each location?
Yes, your reading is accurate. Safety committees would be required AT EACH SITE that employs 20 or more workers. (Health safety representatives would be required at each site with 5 to 19 workers). HOWEVER, under Section 16(4) of the OHS Act (which Bill 30 doesn’t change), you can still go to a govt Director and ask for an exception to the safety committee rules based on the nature of the work and other conditions of the particular site(s). I pasted in Section 16(4)-(5) below so you can see the rules and the factors the Director considers in deciding whether to grant an exemption.
As a practical matter, I would talk to other school boards and see how they’re handling this issue. You’re all in the same boat here and if you act in coordination, you’ll probably make life easier for all–not to mention present a stronger case to the Director for relief from the safety committee requirements if that’s the way you decide to go.
Hope this helps and I’m sorry I took so darn long to get back to you. Shame on me–Bill 30 is only 2 weeks away! Glenn
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OHS Act, Section 16(4) (unchanged by Bill 30)
(4) The Director may issue an approval to an employer or a prime contractor to establish a joint work site health and safety committee otherwise required by subsections (1) and (2) with variations regarding the practice and procedures of a committee from the provisions otherwise applicable under this Act, the regulations and the OHS code.
(5) In considering whether to issue the approval under subsection (4), the Director shall take into account
(a) the nature of the work performed at the work site,
(b) the level of support of the variations by workers or unions representing workers at the work site,
(c) the frequency of injury or illness at the work site or in the industry in question, and
(d) any additional criteria set out in the regulations or the OHS code.The way I read the statute (OHS Act, Section 16), you’d need a separate JHSC for each work site with 20 or more workers. The official guidance backs this up. See, https://www.alberta.ca/assets/documents/ohs-multiple-work-sites.pdf
“What are employer requirements for multiple work site situations’
Employers need to calculate the number of workers on a work site to determine if the joint work site health and safety committee (HSC) or health and safety representative (HS representative) is needed for that work site. This is different than considering the total number of workers employed by a particular employer. An employer may employ hundreds of workers at many different work site locations. This may result in an employer with workers represented by various combinations of HSC and/or HS representatives.” (emphasis added).
This is spelled out even more directly in the Fig. 1 Flow Chart included in the same guidance, which indicates that a JHSC is needed at “each site” where there are 20 or more workers. For some reason, I can’t paste the doggone thing into this note but if you send me an email at glennd@bongarde.com, I’ll paste it into my reply. Or you can just go to the link and scroll down to page 2.
Of course, there’s still the possibility of an exemption under Sec. 16(4), as noted in my above reply. -
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