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Occupational Health & Safety

This page is intended to give PEA members information on health and safety including news, upcoming education, and helpful resources. 

The following links to the Employer’s policy on OH&S in the workplace: Occupational safety and health (PDF, 97KB) 

OH&S Committees

GLP Joint OH&S Committee
The Employer and the Union agree to establish a Joint Safety Committee consisting of three representatives from each party, together with a mutually acceptable chairperson. Its function shall be to investigate areas of special concern in the field of safety and to make recommendations to the Employer concerning on-the-job safety for employees. The Committee shall have the power to order work on a particular job or project to cease until the Committee rules that the unsafe condition has been rectified.

Committee Members
Dwayne Anderson, Chair (GLP Chapter Chair)
Andrea Mears, Labour Relations Officer

Joint OH&S Committees 

Get to know your basic OHS rights 

Workers in BC have four basic health and safety rights – the right to know, the right to participate, the right to refuse unsafe work, and the right to protection from prohibited action.

1. Right to know about workplace hazards

The Employer Must: 

  • Ensure you are aware of known or foreseeable hazards 
  • Inform you of your rights and duties 
  • Provide you with information, instruction, training and supervision 
  • Make a copy of the WCA and OHS regulations readily available. 
  • Post WCB inspection reports and give the committee a copy 
  • Provide the committee with information on:
          -Hazards in your workplace
          -Experience of other workplaces; and
          -WCB orders and penalties 

2. Right to refuse unsafe work

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. 

3. Right to participate in health and safety

You have the right: 

  • To participate as a worker on the health and safety committee 
  • To report OHS concerns to your supervisor and to your committee 
  • To be consulted about OHS issues such as ergonomics and workplace violence 

4. Right to protection from prohibited actions

An employer or union must not threaten or take action against you for: 

  • Exercising a right or carrying out a duty under the WCA or OHS regulation 
  • Giving OHS information to the employer, workers, union or the WCB 
  • Timelines to file: 60 days if wages involved, 1 year otherwise 

External OH&S Resources

General OHS: 

  • WorkSafe BC 
  • Government of Canada Labour Program 
  • BC Federation of Labour Health & Safety Centre 
  • International Labour Organization 
  • Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety 

Psychological Health and Safety: 

  • Stress Assess (OHCOW Mental Injury Toolkit) 
  • BC’s Hub for Workplace Mental Health 
  • Guarding Minds at Work 
  • Workplace Strategies for Mental Health 
  • CSA Standard on Psychological Health & Safety in the Workplace 
We acknowledge and respect the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples and the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations on whose traditional territory we work.

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