Suspension Form

BENEFITS

When workers violate your safety rules and procedures, it’s important that you discipline them or else you’ll undercut any future due diligence defence. But you must discipline them appropriately. The best approach is to use progressive discipline in which the penalty for an infraction increases as workers commit subsequent violations. For example, a first offence might warrant a warning, while a second would be result in a suspension.

HOW TO USE THE TOOL

Adapt this model suspension letter for your OHS program, the OHS and employment standards laws in your jurisdiction and the terms of the collective agreement, if necessary. Complete it whenever you suspend a worker for a safety-related violation. Give copies to the worker and his supervisor and retain one in the worker’s personnel file. Ensure that a supervisor or the safety coordinator follows up with the worker when he returns from the suspension and completes the interview section at the end of the letter.