Write a safe work procedure for joint occupational health and safety meeting

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# Health and Safety Committee - Structure of Meetings (cont.) ## Is full attendance achieved at meetings? (cont.) Meetings should be scheduled well in advance, ideally for a set time of day and day of the week, to promote regular attendance and allow preparation time for committee members. Once the time and date are set, the meeting should not be postponed except for emergency reasons. Frequently postponed meetings will be seen as an indication of a lack of interest in safety, a lack of management commitment, and a lack of committee leadership. ## What time of day are meetings held? The timing of meetings may depend on many factors. For example, when different shifts have to be represented, a time immediately before or after a shift change might be best. Conflicts with the times when many key workers are most needed at their workstations should be avoided if possible. Whatever time is chosen, it should be the same for each meeting to promote attendance and emphasize the importance of committee activities. ## Where are meetings held? Where available, a conference room equipped with appropriate training aids such as flip charts, chalk- or whiteboards, and screens would be ideal. In any case, the area chosen should be one where meetings can be held under quiet, uninterrupted conditions. ## Do meetings start and stop on schedule? Like all important, well-organized meetings, those of the committee should start promptly at the designated time. Late starts are another warning sign of the lack of interest or commitment by members. On the other hand, since committee members have other duties to perform, meetings should also be well-chaired so that all matters are covered adequately, but the meeting closes at the scheduled time. ## Are meetings frequently interrupted? No matter how carefully it is planned, any meeting which is frequently interrupted by telephone calls, texts, or e-mails, people popping in to discuss something with individuals, or where committee mem…

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# Health and Safety Committee - Structure of Meetings (cont.) ## How are decisions reached at meetings? (cont.) The main function of the committee is to put forward recommendations. By ending each discussion item with a specific recommendation, the item is more likely to be resolved in a timely manner. As with any complex issue, a useful way of ensuring the response is appropriate is to see if the following questions are answered: What happened? Why did it happen? How did it happen? Where did it happen? When did it happen? And who did it happen to? are answered. The issue should be stated in clear terms based on known facts. The committee should investigate issues thoroughly and try to find their root causes. The recommended solution must be appropriate, meet all legislative requirements, and be the best possible practical method. The time frame should be specified in the recommendation. In some cases, such as when a waiting period is expected while new equipment is purchased and installed, an interim solution may be required. Finally, and perhaps most important, the individual(s) or group responsible for taking further action should be named. ## Are comprehensive minutes of meetings kept? The minutes of health and safety committee meetings are to keep track of safety issues and to state what recommendations have been made. Minutes also serve to promote safety to all workers and serve as a permanent record of health and safety committee activities. Items generally included are: - Time and date of the meeting. - Who attended. - Items discussed (reports, issues, statistics, education). Reasons for - recommendations (with all views being represented and recorded). - Recommendations (specifying action by whom, by when). - Time and date of next meeting. The minutes should be brief and highlight all recommendations and decisions. A designated committee member needs to be assigned to record the minutes for each meeting (could be the same member or alterna…

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# Health and Safety Committee - Structure of Meetings (cont.) ## Is the committee's authority clearly defined? (cont.) An organization may expand on the minimum authority granted by legislation. Normally such increased authority does not extend to situations where a supervisor's responsibility might be overridden, such as correcting unsafe acts or shutting down an unsafe operation (unless imminent danger exists). However, a committee member should have the right to discuss the resolution of safety matters with any supervisor. As with all committee matters, the degree of authority should be resolved through joint labour/management discussion. However, the committee's main role is to make recommendations for action. The authority for action, and hence the accountability for non-compliance, stays with the employer. Establishing a committee does not lessen the employer's accountability or responsibility for health and safety. ## To whom does the committee report? The individual to whom the committee reports should be fully knowledgeable about committee duties, health and safety issues and committed to the prevention of occupational injuries and illnesses. The best choice is usually a member of senior management since this person is most likely to be able to take direct action on issues presented to them. ## Should the committee meet regularly? A committee which does not meet on a regular basis will lose its drive and will be perceived by workers and management to be of limited effectiveness. Some legislation states that the committee must meet at least monthly, quarterly (every three months), or at least a specified number of times per year. Under certain circumstances, such as the initial stages of a newly formed committee or where urgent safety issues exist, it may be necessary to meet more often than the legal minimum. In organizations where conditions that cause incidents appear to be well managed, meeting time can be effectively used for additional health an…

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# Part 12 General Safety Precautions (cont.) ## Working on ice (cont.) Section 196 OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE Part 13 AR 191/2021 # Part 13 Joint Health and Safety Committees and Health and Safety Representatives ## Application of this Part 196 This Part applies to a work site that is required to have a joint health and safety committee under section 13 of the Act or a health and safety representative under section 14 of the Act. ## Worker membership selection - 196.1(1) In this section, "union" means any union that is a certified bargaining agent or has acquired bargaining rights on behalf of workers at a work site. - 196.1(2) Worker members of a joint health and safety committee who represent non-union workers must be selected by the non-union workers. - 196.1(3) Worker members of a joint health and safety committee who represent unionized workers must be selected by the applicable union. - 196.1(4) An employer must determine how many worker members are needed (a) to equitably represent any union at the work site and non-unionized workers, and (b) to address relevant occupational health and safety concerns. - 196.1(5) The employer shall specify a reasonable time by which any union and any non-unionized workers must provide the employer with the names of the worker representatives. 196.1(6) If the workers, or where applicable, the union representing workers, do not select workers for the committee, then the employer must select those worker members. ## Co-chairs of committee 196.2 A joint health and safety committee must have 2 co-chairs, one chosen by the persons representing the employer on the committee and the other chosen by the worker members on the committee. ## Terms of reference 197 An employer must ensure each joint health and safety committee develops written terms of reference (a) outlining the process to select co-chairs, (b) outlining the process for selecting worker members to the committee to ensure worker members a…

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# OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY REGULATION (cont.) WORKERS COMPENSATION ACT B.C. Reg. 296/97 # OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY REGULATION Part 3 - Rights and Responsibilities (5) The employer and the joint committee must each provide to the other a copy of the evaluation if the other does not have a copy. (6) The joint committee must (a) discuss the evaluation at the joint committee meeting immediately following (i) receipt of the evaluation, if the employer or a person retained by the employer conducted the evaluation, or (ii) the completion of the evaluation, if members of the joint committee conducted the evaluation, and (b) ensure that the evaluation and a summary of the discussion referred to in paragraph (a) are included in the report of that meeting. [en. B.C. Reg. 312/2016, App. A; am. B.C. Reg. 279/2019, App. D, S. 10.] ## Minimum training requirements for new joint committee members or worker health and safety representatives - 3.27 (1) In this section, a reference to a joint committee does not include a joint committee established and maintained under section 32 of the Workers Compensation Act, if (a) an order under section 32 (1) of the Workers Compensation Act respecting the joint committee provides for a variation as set out in subsection (2) (b) of that section of that Act, and (b) the variation is in regards to providing instruction and training to the members of the joint committee. (2) The employer must ensure that each member of the employer's joint committees who was selected on or after April 3, 2017 to be a member receives, as soon as practicable but no more than 6 months after becoming a member, a total of at least 8 hours of instruction and training, as set out in subsection (4). (3) The employer must ensure that the worker health and safety representative at each of the employer's workplaces who was selected on or after April 3, 2017 to be a representative receives, as soon as practicable but no more than 6 m…

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# Health and Safety Committee - Structure of Meetings (cont.) ## Is the agenda distributed to all members well before each meeting? (cont.) A detailed agenda will help make sure that committee meetings proceed in an orderly manner, but there are other considerations as well. The meeting should not be used as a forum for airing general complaints and grievances, which have other channels for consideration. Disciplinary, human resources and personnel matters should be left to the appropriate managers, human resources, and union staff to handle while the committee devotes its attention to health and safety matters. Workers are encouraged to resolve day-to-day safety concerns with their supervisor or manager. When such items reoccur on the committee agenda, it may be an indication that there are unclear terms of reference for the committee, workers are not aware of the reporting structure, or that the reports from workers are not being appropriately addressed. Committees should take concerns seriously when workers are not satisfied with the corrective actions or when no efforts appear to have been made to resolve an issue. Dealing with these instances can be challenging, and it is important that the committee take steps to not discourage workers from reporting health and safety concerns. Committee members must be aware of actions taken to resolve cases of items in order to be able to share the information or to take further action as a committee. Disagreement is to be expected on some issues, but these should be resolved in a non-adversarial manner based on known facts and logical thinking, which lead to reasonable recommendations. ## How are decisions reached at meetings? All committee members should understand the manner in which decisions, recommendations, or committee activities are made. As far as possible, decisions should be made by consensus building. Formal voting should be avoided if possible because of its inherent "taking sides" nature. No one individu…

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# Health and Safety Committee - Structure of Meetings (cont.) ## Are meetings frequently interrupted? (cont.) An agenda serves both as a guide to members' preparation for the meeting and as an outline for the order of business at the meeting itself. Items which might be considered are: - Roll call. - Introduction of visitors. - Approval of minutes. - Business arising from the minutes (including progress reports on outstanding items). - Reports (inspections, incidents, statistics, etc.). - New business (itemized). - Education or training session. - Time, date, and place of next meeting. - Adjournment. ## What is the procedure for the inclusion of new items of business on the agenda? All members of the organization (management and workers) should be encouraged to submit items to their committee representatives, who in turn must be given the opportunity to present the items for discussion. However, since the committee has only a limited time to deal with all health and safety aspects, these items may need to be screened before the whole committee addresses them. Priorities might be established based on incident experience, inspection reports, or events such as the introduction of new equipment or procedures. Approval of agenda items could be made by the committee as a whole, but there is a risk that the committee may spend too much time discussing priorities rather than on actual health and safety issues. The decision might best be left to the discretion of the co-chairpersons as long as both workers and management are represented in the decision. ## Is the agenda distributed to all members well before each meeting? One of the reasons for preparing an agenda is to allow each member to prepare for the meeting. This preparation may involve discussions with the group that the member represents, the study of health and safety issues noted on the agenda, or gathering information. Each member needs to know the topics under consideration in order to contr…