Occupational Health & Safety

Section 3.12 of the WCB Occupational Health and Safety Regulations states that you have the right to refuse work you believe endangers your safety or those around you. You cannot be disciplined for refusing unsafe work 

• Tell your supervisor or employer; 
• Your supervisor must investigate and fix the hazard, or let you know that s/he doesn’t agree that there is a hazard; 
• If you still believe that the work is dangerous, then you can continue to refuse and the supervisor must continue the investigation in the presence of the worker and a worker representative from the OH&S committee, a union representative or a co-worker selected by you; 
• If the hazard is still not fixed and you consider the work unsafe, you can continue to refuse and both you and the employer must contact the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB). A WCB officer must investigate the matter without delay and issue whatever orders considered necessary; 
• You may be reassigned to alternate work, at no loss in pay, while you wait for the WCB officer’s decision; 
• Always let your local OHS representative and shop steward know that you are refusing unsafe work. 
• If you are assigned to a task that has previously been refused by another worker, you employer or supervisor must inform you in writing the basis for the previous refusal, the reasons provided for each refusal, the reasons why the work would not create an undue hazard for you or any other person, and of your right to refuse unsafe work.