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OHS Updates 2022-04-18 2 min read
Health and Safety Committee Legislation Changes
Alberta's OHS legislation changes redefined when joint health and safety committees are required and what they must do. If you have 20 or more workers, this directly affects your compliance obligations.
Revisions to the Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Act took effect on December 1st, 2021 and made extensive changes to the requirements for Health and Safety Committees and representatives.
What’s ChanginG
Prime Contractor Responsibilities.
- Health and safety committees or representatives are still mandatory on work sites with 20 or more workers regularly employed, even if there is a prime contractor.
- Prime contractors are required to coordinate health and safety issues between workers and employers. Prime contractors must also designate a person to ensure cooperation between employers and workers occurs.
- Workers may also access their individual employers’ health and safety committee or representative.
- OHS directors still have the ability to require a committee or representative for any work site.
- If there is no prime contractor, the person in control of the site may voluntarily designate a prime contractor, who assumes prime contractor responsibilities for health and safety.
- If there is no prime contractor, committees or representatives are still required on multiple-employer sites
The method for calculating “number of workers” for deciding if an employer requires a health and safety committee or representative has been simplified. The new calculation now excludes volunteers, and anyone not financially compensated to more accurately represent the number of “regularly employed” persons under normal conditions.
Technical requirements and rules for the committees and representatives were moved from the Act to the OHS Code
Certain committee and representative provisions apply to eligible farms and ranches with modified training requirements, but farms and ranches are subject to applicable parts of the OHS Code based on their operations and hazards.
Training Requirements
- The requirement for government-approved training providers was removed, but training must still meet the OHS Code’s content and adequacy requirements to ensure committee members are competent.
- Training requirements will now include all committee members in addition to the committee co-chairs. (Exempt for farms and ranches.)
The new revisions were introduced in order to eliminate duplication, simplify language, and overall make the OHS laws easier to understand and follow.
December 2021, Changes to occupational health and safety OHS laws https://www.alberta.ca/ohs-act-regulation-code.aspx
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This update is for informational use only and does not supersede any bylaws or legislation. Please visit your local municipality’s website for applicable up-to-date information for your area.
Frequently Asked Questions
Health and safety committees are required at worksites with 20 or more regularly employed workers. The presence or absence of a prime contractor does not affect the requirement for a health and safety committee.
Prime contractors must ensure cooperation and coordination of health and safety activities among all employers and workers on site, designate a competent person to facilitate this, and ensure workers can access their own employer’s health and safety committee or representative.
Employers must ensure health and safety committee members receive adequate training as per OHS Code guidelines. There is no specific requirement that training be government-approved, and no exemption for farms and ranches is specified in the current legislation.
Employers can benefit from fractional safety leadership, safety program development, and OHS compliance consulting to establish effective health and safety committees and meet Alberta’s legislative requirements.
Written by
Safety Ahead Team
Alberta-based safety consultants with decades of field experience — COR auditors, OHS advisors, and WCB specialists working with employers across the province.
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