Employee health and safety is an important part of any business or organization. All employers in BC, regardless of their size, are required by WorkSafe BC to ensure the health and safety of their employees. Whether you’re a small startup hiring their first few team members or a large company with over 200 employees, an Occupational Health and Safety Program is essential and required.
WorkSafe BC has an abundance of information on Occupational Health and Safety Programs for your organization but if this is new to you, it can feel overwhelming trying to sort through the details. Depending on the size of your organization, WorkSafeBC requires different levels of health and safety programs. The smaller the organization, usually the less formal your program needs to be.
Determine whether you need to implement a formal or informal Occupational Health and Safety Program
The size of your organization and type of work will determine how formal your health and safety program will be. The bigger the organization and higher work risk, the more formal the program. See the chart below to understand what level of program would suit your needs
This chart is a good starting point, but WorkSafeBC may require smaller workplaces to update their Occupational Health and Safety Programs from a less formal program to a formal program in situations like high-risk work, serious injuries or fatalities, high number of injury claims, and repeated infractions with the Workers Compensation Act or Occupational Health and Safety Regulation. It is extremely important to have these safety programs in place to stay compliant and prevent injuries.
2) Determine if your organization needs a formal joint health and safety committee
Joint health and safety committees or worker health representatives representatives are employee delegates that ensure safety meetings and policies are being upheld by everyone on the team. They meet to review the Occupational Health and Safety Programs, review and address any safety concerns brought up by employees and make changes as necessary. Depending on the size of your organization, you may need to create a committee or have a designated representative on your team.
In certain circumstances, WorkSafeBC may require an organization to have a designated health and safety representative regardless of size.
3) Training and certification for your Joint Health and Safety Committee or Worker Health Representative
If your workplace requires a joint health and safety committee or representative, they must go through required training from WorkSafeBC. Representatives will have 4 hours or training while a joint committee with need 8 hours of training for each member. This mandatory training can be delivered by the employer through the WorkSafeBC course material or an external training provider than is certified to do Occupational Health and Safety Training.
Exalt HR Consulting has a team of certified, expert trainers than can help educate your joint committee or representative on important health and safety material from WorkSafeBC. Our team can help implement a compliant Occupational Health and Safety Program onsite and ensure you are up to date on any new regulations or changes.
Contact us today to get started on an Occupational Health and Safety program that matches your needs. We have options that can help a team of any size stay compliant and safe!
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