Canada Gazette, Part I, Volume 147, Number 23: Policy Committees, Work Place Committees and Health and Safety Representatives Regulations

June 8, 2013

Statutory authority

Canada Labour Code

Sponsoring departments

Department of Human Resources and Skills Development, Department of Transport, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, and Department of Natural Resources

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Executive summary

Background

One of the objectives of the Code is to prevent accidents and injuries to health arising out of, linked with, or occurring in the course of employment. One of the key components in reaching this goal is the IRS. The IRS is a collaborative approach taken by an employer and the employees to resolve health and safety concerns in the work place. Health and safety committees and representatives are key to the effective operation of the IRS as they are the main forum through which occupational health and safety issues are discussed.

Prior to 2000, employers were required to establish work place committees or have a health and safety representative depending on the size of the work place. Amendments to the Code in 2000 introduced a number of important changes. Key to these changes were requirements for employers to establish policy committees when employing 300 or more employees and to provide specific training to policy committee members, work place committee members, as well as health and safety representatives.

Issue

The SHCRR prescribe the standards for the administration of work place committees and health and safety representatives in federally regulated work places.

As currently written, the SHCRR do not address the following elements added to the Code in 2000:

• the components of the health and safety training program now required by the Code;
• specific standards respecting the administration of policy committees; and
• some minor editorial and administrative changes, such as changing some of the terminology (e.g. “safety and health” to “health and safety” and “chairman” to “chairperson”).

Objectives

The objectives of the proposed Regulations are to

• reduce accidents, illnesses and fatalities in federally regulated work places by improving the capacity of policy committees, work place committees and health and safety representatives to identify and address hazards in the work place;
• harmonize the SHCRR with the Code;
• provide more direction on administrative procedures and requirements regarding the policy committees, work place committees and health and safety representatives; and
• ensure the SHCRR are up to date with the current practices and procedures in other jurisdictions.

Description

The proposed Regulations would replace the SHCRR as a result of changes to Part Ⅱ — Occupational Health and Safety of the Code that came into effect in September 2000. Many of these changes to the Code impact on and revolve around policy committees, work place committees as well as health and safety representatives. Several studies demonstrate that effective internal responsibility systems can reduce work place injuries, illnesses and fatalities through more proactive intervention.

Policy committees, work place committees and health and safety representatives provide a forum for bringing into practice the internal responsibility system for health and safety in work places. Both committees consist of employee and employer representatives who meet on a regular basis to deal with health and safety issues. The advantage of such committees is that the in-depth practical knowledge of specific tasks (employees) is brought together with the larger overview of company policies, and procedures (employer). Another significant benefit is the enhancement of cooperation among all parts of the work force toward solving health and safety problems.

Work place committees are required in federal work places (interprovincial and international transportation, chartered banks, telecommunications, the grain industry, most Crown corporations, and certain activities undertaken by First Nations) with 20 or more employees. Health and safety representatives are required in federal work places with less than 20 employees. They have many duties, including, but not limited to the following:

• participating in the implementation and monitoring of programs for the prevention of work place hazards;
• participating in all of the inquiries, investigations, studies, and inspections pertaining to employee health;
• participating in the implementation and monitoring of a program for the provision of personal protective equipment, clothing, and devices;
• ensuring adequate records are kept on work accidents, injuries and health hazards;
• inspecting all or part of the work place once a month; and
• considering and dealing with health and safety complaints.

A policy committee is required for federal jurisdiction employers with 300 employees or more. They address issues that, because of their nature, cannot be dealt with by the local work place health and safety committees. A policy committee can also ensure consistency across work sites. Their roles and responsibilities include, but are not limited to

• participating in the development of health and safety policies and programs;
• dealing with matters raised by members and those referred to it by a work place committee or health and safety representative;
• participating in the development and monitoring of a program for the prevention of work place hazards, according to Part XIX of the Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, that also provides for the health and safety education of employees;
• monitoring data on work accidents, injuries and health hazards; and
• participating in the planning, and in the actual implementation, of changes that may affect health and safety, including work processes and procedures.

The proposed Regulations would introduce the following changes to the existing requirements.

1. Health and safety training program: The proposed Regulations would prescribe the components of the health and safety training program required by the Code. Since 2000, Part Ⅱ of the Code requires that every employer “ensure that members of policy committees, work place committees and health and safety representatives receive the prescribed training in health and safety.” However, this health and safety training has not yet been prescribed in regulation. The proposed Regulations would address this void.

    Employers would be required to provide minimum training on the following issues:

   • the Code and any regulations made under it;
   • the means that allow a committee member or health and safety representative to fulfil his or her responsibilities under the Code;
   • the rules and procedures of each of the committees, if any; and
   • the principles of consensus building regarding health and safety issues.

    The proposed Regulations would also require employers to review and update the health and safety training program, as necessary, whenever there is a change of circumstances that may impact the content of the training, or at least once every three years. The development and review of the training program must be undertaken with the participation of the policy committee, work place committee or health and safety representatives.

    Ensuring policy committees, work place committees and health and safety representatives have the capacity to be effective in their roles and responsibilities is essential. Peer reviewed studies have demonstrated a correlation between the knowledge of policy committee members, work place committee members and health and safety representatives and their effectiveness at preventing work place injuries and fatalities.

2. Policy committees: The proposed Regulations would set administrative details and procedures for the policy committees on subjects such as the selection of members and the roles of chairpersons. Since 2000, the Code requires employers that directly employ 300 employees or more to establish a policy committee to address health and safety matters in the work place. The administrative details and procedures of these policy committees are not currently expounded in the Regulations. The proposed Regulations rectify this gap.

3. Selection process and duties for chairpersons: The selection process for chairpersons in the current Regulations was added to the Code in 2000, and therefore would be repealed. The proposed Regulations, however, would add general items for consideration when committees establish their chairpersons' responsibilities.

4. Meeting minutes and rules of procedures: Amendments are proposed to allow for electronic transmission of meeting minutes in order to harmonize the SHCRR with changes made to the Code in 2000.

5. Selection of policy committee members, work place committee members and health and safety representatives: To provide for a fair selection process, the proposed Regulations would require that policy committee members, work place committee members or health and safety representatives of employees who are not represented by a trade union be selected through a vote by secret ballot, should the employees request it. The Code already provides that, where employees are represented by a trade union, the union shall select the committee members or health and safety representatives.

6. Elimination of legislative duplication and lack of legislative authority: Certain sections in the SHCRR have been found to repeat requirements that are already stated in the Code, or have questionable legislative authority to be included (e.g. subsection 5(1) of the SHCRR repeats what is already stated in subsection 135.1(7) of the Code). The proposed Regulations would repeal such sections.

Regulatory and non-regulatory options considered

No other non-regulatory options were considered given that the SHCRR needed to be updated as a result of the changes made to the Code in 2000. Retaining the SHCRR would perpetuate their incompatibility with the Code, and revoking them could result in decreased protection for employees.

These new provisions were seen as the best means of achieving our goals of harmonizing the SHCRR with the Code and of reducing the number of work place injuries, illnesses, diseases and fatalities.

Benefits and costs

A cost-benefit analysis for the new proposed Regulations was completed in 2011 by the Research and Analysis Unit, Occupational Health and Safety Division of the Labour Program, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC). A summary of economic benefits and costs to Canadians appears in Table 1 below.

It is estimated that, over the span of 20 years, the proposed Regulations would cost approximately $68M in constant 2011 dollars, almost entirely due to the training requirements. These include both the initial core training and refresher training required every three years.

However, the net direct and indirect benefits are estimated in the range of $155M. The most significant economic benefit anticipated from this regulatory initiative stems from its impact on the injury and fatality rate. It is expected that the increased training requirements for policy committee members, work place committee members and health and safety representatives would lead to better recognition of potential work place safety hazards. This would in turn reduce the number of injuries and fatalities in the federal jurisdiction. A literature review was undertaken within the Labour Program of HRSDC and found that a large number of academic studies came to this same conclusion. Direct economic benefits include lower workers' compensation and health-care costs, as well as reduced absenteeism and improved productivity.

Overall, an annual net benefit of approximately $4.3M (averaged out over the entire 20-year period) is expected from this proposal, in constant 2011 dollars.

Cost-benefit statement

Table 1: Summary of economic benefits and costs to all Canadians (select years)

Cost-Benefit Statement	Key Stakeholders	Base Year: 2013	2015	2019	2021	2025
A. Quantified impacts (in 2011 dollars)
Benefits	Federal jurisdiction employers and employees	4,288,654	8,247,269	8,200,165	8,172,884	8,113,159
Costs	Federal jurisdiction employers	7,325,707	1,571,269	3,039,053	2,452,783	3,117,010
Net benefits	Federal jurisdiction employers and employees	–3,037,053	6,676,000	5,161,112	5,720,101	4,996,149
B. Quantified impacts in non-dollars — e.g. risk assessment
Positive impacts (avoided accidents(see footnote a1))	Federal jurisdiction employers and employees	217	417	417	416	415
Negative impacts	Federal jurisdiction employers	High initial cost

Cost- Statement	Key Stakeholders	2027	2032	Total (PV)	Average Annual
A. Quantified impacts (in 2011 dollars)
Benefits	Federal jurisdiction employers and employees	8,081,514	8,000,102	73,148,074	7,743,130
Costs	Federal jurisdiction employers	2,896,467	3,335,740	36,567,802	3,419,348
Net benefits	Federal jurisdiction employers and employees	5,185,047	4,664,362	36,580,272	4,323,782
B. Quantified impacts in non-dollars — e.g. risk assessment
Positive impacts (avoided accidents(see footnote a2))	Federal jurisdiction employers and employees	414	412		395
Negative impacts	Federal jurisdiction employers
C. Qualitative impacts
Safer work places, increased productivity, improved employee morale, increased awareness of work place safety.
D. Stakeholder impacts
Benefits	In the federal jurisdiction, injury rate reductions are expected to be 1% in unionized work places versus 0.5% in the non-unionized sector; with associated average yearly cost-savings in these sectors expected in the range of $5 million and $2.7 million respectively.
Costs	Costs related to occupational health and safety training will increase for federal jurisdiction employers, but costs on a per unit basis will not vary between employers.

“One-for-One” Rule

The “One-for-One” Rule does not apply to the proposed Regulations as there is no change in administrative cost to business.

Small business lens

The proposed Regulations will affect approximately 5 600 small businesses under federal labour jurisdiction. These businesses were consulted throughout the development of the proposed Regulations via the Regulatory Review Committee (RRC). One of the key members of the committee is the Federally Regulated Employers — Transportation and Communication (FETCO), which represents the trucking industry, a sector that accounts for approximately 58% of all federally regulated small businesses.

It is estimated that the proposed Regulations would cost approximately $1.6M per year for the first two years to the small business sector in general. Average costs for the remaining years of the 20-year period are estimated at $600,000. The average annual cost to each small business is estimated at $129 over the 2013–2032 period.

Consultation

In 1986, Labour Canada, now the Labour Program, established the RRC for the technical revision of federal occupational health and safety regulations. This Committee consists of an equal membership drawn from organized labour and employer organizations in the federal jurisdiction.

As a result of the changes to the Code that came into effect in September 2000, the RRC established a working group to review the proposals and positions of unions, management and the Labour Program. Six meetings were held between March 2003 and January 2004. Representing a wide range of industrial sectors, the employee members of the working group were appointed by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and the employer members were appointed by the FETCO and the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA). A complete list of members is available upon request.

The training to be prescribed for policy committee members, work place committee members and health and safety representatives was a major item of discussion throughout the meetings. Although a consensus was achieved on the majority of amendments proposed, no consensus was reached on votes by secret ballot for non-unionized committee members or representatives.

Employers expressed concern that the appointment procedure being proposed would not be administratively feasible, notably for larger employers. The Labour Program responded that employees at the work place retain the ability to select their health and safety representatives and members of the policy committee and work place committees through a different method, but that a vote by secret ballot would provide a fair and equitable process if the employees deem it necessary. Such a process is currently used in other jurisdictions.

Further consultations were completed in spring 2011 with stakeholders who employ persons on ships, trains or aircraft as well as on, or in connection with, exploration or drilling for the production, conservation, processing or transportation of oil or gas in frontier lands. Overall, stakeholders were in favour of the proposed Regulations.

Rationale

The proposed Regulations provide the greatest overall benefit to stakeholders. The proposed Regulations would reduce the generalized risk of work place accidents and, in so doing, would provide savings estimated at $155M over a period of 20 years to employers and to Canadian society as a whole. Further, the proposed Regulations would address outstanding legislative inconsistencies with the Code that must be corrected.

Risk assessment

Risk analysis was completed to address the generalized risk of occupational accidents and disease in the federal jurisdiction because the proposed Regulations do not deal with a specific risk factor. In 2009, the risk of suffering an occupational injury resulting in time lost from work in the federal jurisdiction as a whole was a little under 2%, and the risk of suffering a fatality was 5/10 of 1%. Risks vary depending on the industry. It is expected that the proposed Regulations would lower these risks by approximately 1%. The significance of this reduction will be fully revealed over the next 20 years, as it is anticipated that the implementation of the proposed Regulations would lead to up to 7 900 fewer injuries and 9 avoided fatalities over this period, translating into significant savings to the Canadian economy.

Training for members of both policy committees and work place committees and for health and safety representatives is expected to improve and enhance their capacity for identifying work place hazards. This is expected to lead to reductions in the number of safety hazards workers are exposed to in the work place and in turn lower the risk of occupational accidents and disease. The federal jurisdiction has a well established role for policy committees, work place committees and health and safety representatives, and it has been shown that training is a central component influencing their effectiveness. In the federal jurisdiction, the risk of a work place accident occurring has been more than halved in the last 20 years, in large part due to a greater emphasis on work place safety and its continued innovation. The proposed Regulations are consistent with and would enhance this practice.

While the cost of implementation is relatively high, the risk that a net loss to the Canadian economy will result is relatively low since expected benefits are substantially higher. For example, even if the proposed Regulations were to have minimal impact (injury and fatality reductions of less than 1%), there would still be a net benefit to the Canadian economy. This is in large part due to the fact that the proposed Regulations manage generalized risk and are expected to lead to reductions in all types of occupational injury and disease.

Implementation, enforcement and service standards

The purpose of the Labour Program's compliance policy is twofold. First, it provides employers and employees with a better understanding of the mechanism used to achieve compliance with the Code. Second, it outlines the steps that the Labour Program would take to ensure compliance with the Code.

Compliance with occupational health and safety requirements is monitored through a number of techniques. Consulting with employer and employee groups on the development of regulations and promoting public information and education programs aim to ensure that the Code and regulations are understood and accepted by all parties.

Policy committees and work place committees are the primary mechanism through which employers and employees work together to solve job-related health and safety problems. Health and safety officers assist the industry in establishing and implementing policy committees and work place committees, and related programs. The statutory powers of health and safety officers allow them to enter a work place and perform various activities to enforce compliance with the Code and the regulations. For example, health and safety officers may conduct safety audits and inspections. They may also investigate the circumstances surrounding the report of a contravention, work accident, refusal to work, or hazardous occurrence.

An Assurance of Voluntary Compliance (AVC) may be received by the health and safety officer from the employer or employee. The AVC is a written commitment to a health and safety officer that a contravention will be corrected within a specified time. Failure to complete the corrective actions specified in the AVC will lead to the issuing of a direction.

A direction is issued to an employer by a health and safety officer whenever a dangerous condition exists and when an AVC is not obtainable or has not been fulfilled. A direction is a written notice directing the employer or employee to terminate and correct a contravention within a specified time.

If non-compliance continues, prosecution can be initiated. Offences can lead to imprisonment. The maximum penalty for offences is, on summary conviction, a fine of $1,000,000, or on conviction on indictment, imprisonment for up to two years and/or a fine of $1,000,000.

Contact

Bruce Kennedy
Policy Analyst
Occupational Health and Safety Policy Unit
Program Development and Guidance Directorate
Labour Program
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
165 De l'Hôtel-de-Ville Street, 10th Floor
Place du Portage, Phase II
Gatineau, Quebec
K1A 0J2
Telephone: 819-994-0938
Email: bruce.kennedy@labour-travail.gc.ca

PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT

Notice is hereby given that the Governor in Council, pursuant to subsections 135.2(1) and 136(11) (see footnote a) and section 157 (see footnote b) of the Canada Labour Code (see footnote c), proposes to make the annexed Policy Committees, Work Place Committees and Health and Safety Representatives Regulations.

Interested persons may make representations concerning the proposed Regulations within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. All such representations must cite the Canada Gazette, Part Ⅰ, and the date of publication of this notice, and be addressed to Bruce Kennedy, Policy Analyst, Occupational Health and Safety Policy Unit, Labour Program, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, 165 Hôtel-de-Ville Street, 10th Floor, Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0J2 (tel.: 819-994-0938; fax: 819-953-1743; email: bruce.kennedy@labour-travail.gc.ca).

Ottawa, May 30, 2013

JURICA ČAPKUN
Assistant Clerk of the Privy Council

POLICY COMMITTEES, WORK PLACE COMMITTEES AND HEALTH AND SAFETY REPRESENTATIVES REGULATIONS

INTERPRETATION

1. In these Regulations, “Act” means Part Ⅱ of the Canada Labour Code.

PART 1

POLICY COMMITTEES AND WORK PLACE COMMITTEES

APPLICATION

2. This Part applies in respect of policy committees and work place committees.

SELECTION OF MEMBERS

3. Employees who are not represented by a trade union must select members of a committee by a majority of the votes. The employees may require a secret ballot.

QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS SELECTED BY THE EMPLOYER

4. Subject to section 135.1 of the Act, the members of a committee selected by the employer must be employees who exercise managerial functions.

CHAIRPERSONS

5. (1) The chairpersons of a committee who are designated in accordance with subsection 135.1(7) of the Act must act alternately.

(2) The committee members must designate the responsibilities of the chairpersons, including the following:

• (a) scheduling the committee meetings and notifying the members about those meetings;
• (b) preparing the agenda of each committee meeting;
• (c) ensuring that each item under discussion at a committee meeting concludes with a decision; and
• (d) ensuring that a committee carries out its functions.

VACANCY

6. If a committee member ceases to be a member and by reason of the vacancy the composition of the committee fails to meet the requirements of section 135.1 of the Act, a new member must be selected and appointed

• (a) in the case of a policy committee, within 60 days after the day on which the vacancy occurs; and
• (b) in the case of a work place committee, within 30 days after the day on which the vacancy occurs.

QUORUM

7. A quorum of a committee consists of the majority of the members, at least half of which are representatives of the employees and at least one of which is a representative of the employer.

MINUTES

8. (1) As soon as possible after each committee meeting, the minutes must be sent to both chairpersons for their approval and the approval document, if any, must be attached to the minutes.

(2) As soon as possible after having received the minutes and the approval document, the chairperson selected by the employer members of the committee must provide a copy of these documents to the employer and each member of that committee.

(3) As soon as possible after receiving a copy of the minutes and of the approval document, the employer must provide a copy of them

• (a) to the work place committee, in the case of minutes of a policy committee meeting; and
• (b) to the policy committee, if it so requires, in the case of minutes of a work place committee meeting.

(4) As soon as possible after receiving a copy of the minutes and of the approval document, the employer must make a copy of the minutes of the work place committee readily available to the employees for one month.

(5) The employer must keep, at the following locations, a copy of the minutes and of the approval document of each committee meeting for a period of two years after the day on which the meeting was held:

• (a) in the case of a policy committee, at the employer's head office; and
• (b) in the case of a work place committee, at the employer's head office or at the work place.

ANNUAL REPORT ON WORK PLACE COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES

9. (1) On or before March 1 each year, the chairperson selected by the employer members of the work place committee must submit an annual report of the committee's activities during the 12-month period ending on December 31 of the preceding year

• (a) if the committee is established in respect of employees to whom the On Board Trains Occupational Safety and Health Regulations apply, to the regional health and safety officer of the Department of Transport (Railway Safety), Ottawa;
• (b) if the committee is established in respect of employees to whom the Maritime Occupational Health and Safety Regulations apply, to the regional health and safety officer at the regional office of the Department of Transport (Marine) for the administrative region of that Department in which the employees are based;
• (c) if the committee is established in respect of employees to whom the Aviation Occupational Health and Safety Regulations apply, to the regional health and safety officer at the regional office of the Department of Transport (Aviation) for the administrative region of that Department in which the employees are based;
• (d) if the committee is established in respect of employees to whom the Oil and Gas Occupational Safety and Health Regulations apply, to the regional health and safety officer at the office of the National Energy Board for the administrative region in which the employees are based; or
• (e) if the committee is established in respect of employees to whom the Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations apply, to a regional health and safety officer.

(2) The report must be in the form set out in the schedule, contain the information set out in the form, and be signed by each chairperson.

(3) As soon as possible after the report has been submitted, the employer must post a copy of it in the conspicuous place or places in which the employer has posted the information referred to in paragraph 125(1)(z.17) or subsection 135(5) of the Act and keep the copy posted for a period of two months.

PART 2

HEALTH AND SAFETY REPRESENTATIVES

APPLICATION

10. This Part applies in respect of health and safety representatives.

SELECTION OF REPRESENTATIVE

11. Employees who are not represented by a trade union must select a health and safety representative by a majority of the votes. The employees may require a secret ballot.

TERM OF OFFICE

12. The term of office of a health and safety representative is two years.

VACANCY

13. If a health and safety representative ceases to be a representative, a new health and safety representative must be selected and appointed within 30 days after the day on which the cessation occurred.

PART 3

HEALTH AND SAFETY TRAINING PROGRAM

TRAINING

14. (1) For the purposes of paragraph 125(1)(z.01) of the Act, the training that the member of a policy committee or work place committee or health and safety representative is to receive is developed by the employer after consultation with the policy committee or the work place committee or the health and safety representative and must cover at a minimum the following aspects:

• (a) the Act and any regulations made under it;
• (b) the means that allow the committee member or the health and safety representative to fulfil their responsibilities under the Act;
• (c) the rules and procedures of each of the committees; and
• (d) the principles of consensus building regarding health and safety issues.

(2) The health and safety training program must be reviewed and updated at least once every three years, and whenever there is a change of circumstances that may affect the content of the training.

REPEAL

15. The Safety and Health Committees and Representatives Regulations (see footnote 1) are repealed.

COMING INTO FORCE

16. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

SCHEDULE
(Subsection 9(2))

ANNUAL REPORT ON WORK PLACE COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES

[23-1-o]