Joint OH&S Committees

This article provides general information concerning joint OH&S committees. In HSAA bargaining units, Joint OH&S Committees are required by the collective agreements - since OH&S committees are not required under Alberta legislation. The language varies, so please check your collective agreement. Some other provinces do require Joint OH&S committees, set out their duties, and require a minimum amount of education for committee members.

Code of Conduct
HSAA Joint OH&S Committee members attend meetings as union representatives - not as employees. They should obtain input from and report back to the local unit and membership. These principles are important for union representatives to follow..

Committee Structure

Measuring Effectiveness

A Report Card for Joint Committees - prepared by Jason Foster, Director of Policy Analysis with the Alberta Federation of Labour for the November 2005 HSAA OH&S Conference
10 Keys to Effectiveness - prepared by Jason Foster, Director of Policy Analysis with the Alberta Federation of Labour for the November 2005 HSAA OH&S Conference

OH & S

This section provides an overview of information you need to be an effective OH&S Representative for Health Sciences: Alberta OH&S legislation; Hazard assessments; How to be an effective union representative; Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committees and Effective workplace inspections. We’ve also included quick links to selected parts of the Code and Code Explanation Guide.

Notice of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Regulation Review Public
Consultation

The OHS Regulation is due to expire on March 31, 2013. A review of the
Regulation is now underway. Human Services is proposing a number of changes to the Regulation based on suggestions received from workers and employers.
The next step is to give all Albertans an opportunity to provide their
views about the proposed changes. You are invited to complete the survey
available on the Human Services website until March 20, 2012.

Human Services will consider comments received by March 20, 2012 and
finalize recommendations. The final recommendations will be forwarded to
Human Services Minister Dave Hancock.

Psychological Hazards "Best Practices" document now available!

A series of Best Practices Guidelines for OHS in the Healthcare Industry is now complete. The final installments, Best Practices for the Assessment and Control of Psychological Hazards and an eLearning awareness program, are now available.
www.employment.alberta.ca/ohs-healthcare

www.employment.alberta.ca/documents/bp013-bestpractices-volume5.pdf

For printed copies, call the Occupational Health and Safety Contact Centre at
1-866-415-8690 (toll free in Alberta).

HSAA's OHS Officer, Joanne Monro, participated on working groups which developed all five (5) volumes in the series. HSAA is acknowledged as a contributing organization for the entire series.

click here for a news article on Best Practices Guides