Safety Representative Responsibilities

Legislation in different jurisdictions across Canada states that health and safety committees must adhere to certain standards, as follows:

• Be composed of one-half management and one-half labor representatives
• Meet regularly, with some jurisdictions requiring committee meetings at least once every three months and others requiring monthly meetings
• Be co-chaired by one management chairperson and one worker chairperson
• Ensure employee representatives are elected or selected by the workers or their union

A health and safety committee can serve several purposes, as follows:

• Act as an advisory body
• Identify hazards and obtain information about them
• Recommend corrective actions
• Assist in resolving work refusal cases
• Participate in accident investigations and workplace inspections
• Make recommendations to the management regarding actions required to resolve health and safety concerns

The safety representative has a right to view and access certain confined spaces documents regarding a construction project, as follows:

• A copy of the coordination document
• A copy of the program
• A copy of the assessment
• Worker training records required under section 9.1

The safety representative has a right to view and access certain confined spaces documents, unrelated to construction projects, as follows:

• A copy of the coordination document
• A copy of the program
• A copy of assessment

The employer can consult with the safety representative about the following issues:

• Development and maintenance of the confined space program
• Development of general worker training
• Review of confined space general training regularly, on an annual basis, and whenever there is a change in circumstances

To learn more about Confined Space Competent Person/Supervisor visit our Confined Space Competent Person/Supervisor Online Training web page.