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- Employee wellbeing
Michelle Ann Zoleta, Health & Safety Team Manager
(Last updated )
Michelle Ann Zoleta, Health & Safety Team Manager
(Last updated )
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OHS Alberta is responsible for health & safety in workplaces across the province. The body helps ensure employers take all reasonable precautions to protect the health and safety of their employees. In this blog, we’ll provide an Alberta OHS explanation guide, which will help you ensure compliance with Alberta OHS legislation.
Workers in Alberta have three basic rights, they are:
The OHS Code “sets the technical requirements for health and safety in Alberta’s workplaces”, which OHS Alberta does across 41 parts.
The Code sets requirements for all industries, such as:
As of March 31st, 2023, the biggest update to the Alberta OHS Code is now in effect. These changes are designed to make the Alberta OHS Code easier to understand and modernize certain elements. They ensure the Code keeps up with modern health and safety standards, technology, and best practices.
The update harmonized language, reduced duplication, and included adoption of best practices across eight parts. OHS Alberta also aligned technical requirements with the current health and safety standards.
The eight parts updated were:
Part of the update to the Alberta OHS Code involved assigning health and safety responsibilities to the party best prepared to address them – ensuring hazards are controlled.
The Alberta OHS Act establishes the framework for health and safety in workplaces across the province, including providing proper health and safety practices and minimum standards.
Spread across twelve parts, the Alberta OHS Act sets guidelines for:
Rules and laws outlined in the Act are enforced by OHS Alberta through inspections, investigations, orders, administrative penalties, fines, and prosecutions.
The Alberta OHS Act applies to most provincially regulated workplaces in Alberta.
Exceptions include:
According to OHS Alberta, this Regulation “defines terms for the purposes of the OHS Act and Code and authorizes the Minister to establish programs.”
The legislation explains the reasoning behind the rules and guidelines outlined in the Alberta OHS Code and Act. It also sets procedures for how the employment ministry will establish health and safety programs.
Through the Regulation, OHS Alberta addresses health & safety based on four categories:
Employers have certain duties and responsibilities with respect to Alberta OHS legislation. By following regulation, you’ll help prevent serious injuries and illnesses in your workplace. Plus, it’ll save your business time and money.
The Alberta OHS Act requires you to ensure the health and safety of all those who:
Additional employer duties to OHS Alberta include:
OHS Alberta requires employers with a certain number of employees to either form a health and safety committee or appoint a health and safety representative.
Here's how to determine if your workplace needs an HSC or HS representative:
Businesses with fewer than five employees are not required to have either in place. Health and safety representatives have the same duties as committees.
You are required to post the names and contact details of HSC members or health and safety representatives. Additionally, you’ll need to record the minutes for HSC meetings. These minutes must be provided within seven days of the meeting taking place. Minutes can be provided in physical or electronic formats. OHS Alberta states you are required to hold onto these minutes for two years.
Some additional requirements for JHSCs in Alberta include:
According to the Alberta OHS Act, HSCs are responsible for:
Employers have certain responsibilities they must fulfill under Alberta OHS legislation. This is in addition to the requirement that they form a JHSC or appoint a health & safety representative (based on specific criterion).
These responsibilities include:
OHS Alberta defines a competent person as someone who is:
In Alberta, workers in certain industries are legally required to complete certain OHS approved training. Such as:
In Alberta, workplace violence and harassment are considered hazards under Part 2 of the Alberta OHS Code. Employers are required to address these concerns to ensure the safety of their workers. The Alberta OHS Code states employers must develop and implement violence and harassment prevention plans. These plans include dedicated violence and harassment prevention policies and procedures.
You must develop your plans with:
To ensure compliance with OHS Alberta, your violence and harassment policy should include:
The Alberta OHS Code outlines exceptions where you must investigate or take action, when you must alert workers of a potential threat to their wellbeing, or any other instance where the law dictates you to disclose this information.
Violence prevention procedures should cover:
To ensure compliance with OHS Alberta, your workplace harassment plan should feature the following statements:
Except for circumstances when:
OHS Alberta requires employers to review their violence and harassment policies. When doing so, consult with your JHSC, representative or workers – your requirements may vary under Alberta OHS legislation.
A review must take place if:
OHS Alberta requires employers to educate workers with proper violence and harassment training. Your training should include:
OHS Alberta officers conduct inspections to ensure businesses in the province are following Alberta OHS legislation. OHS officers have the authority to enter workplaces through proactive or reactive investigations. If a business fails to meet OHS standards, they can issue a compliance order, which the employer must follow before resuming operations.
Inspections conducted without warning are known as proactive inspections. They help mitigate potential hazards and ensure health and safety in the workplace.
Proactive inspections tend to focus on:
Current OHS Alberta inspection programs focus on the following sectors:
Past OHS Alberta proactive inspection programs have focused on construction, healthcare, manufacturing, packaging, processing, mining, and service sectors.
However, an OHS Alberta officer may conduct a reactive inspection if:
All members of your organization are required to comply with the officer’s requests. If an employer refuses the officer entry into the work site, OHS can seek a warrant from a judge.
However, if the work site is located within a private dwelling, the OHS officer will need consent to access the work site. Once on scene, an officer may do the following to collect information:
Before the investigation you can expect:
During the investigation, you can expect:
Throughout the inspection process, OHS Alberta officers document their interactions, observations, and findings. They compile this information into a contact report.
Contact reports may include:
The order may also include notices and documentation you will need to produce, guidance on how to post orders, and the timing for doing so.
The officer will typically deliver the contact report in person and on the same day as the inspection. They will also likely review the report with work site representatives.
OHS Alberta investigates serious work site incidents, especially those that caused fatalities. Serious incidents must be reported to the OHS Director.
The employer or prime contractor must log the following:
The investigations unit will assign an OHS officer to investigate. The process follows these seven steps:
Step 1
The OHS Alberta officer will visit and investigate the work site. They will determine the causes and circumstances behind the injury or incident.
Step 2
Throughout the investigation, OHS Alberta will receive and collect information. They will analyze it to figure out the facts and determine if there is noncompliance with OHS.
Step 3
OHS will conduct an enforcement action review. This will determine if this file should be submitted to Alberta Justice for potential prosecution. Files not submitted to Alberta Justice will be considered closed.
Step 4
Submitted files to Alberta Justice are reviewed to determine if charges are supported by evidence. If evidence is not found or the prosecution is not in the public interest, the investigation is closed.
Step 5
If Alberta Justice believes prosecution is likely and is in the interest of the public, charges are laid.
Step 6
At this stage, work site parties can be acquitted, found guilty, or have charges withdrawn/stayed.
Step 7
Following investigations and court proceedings, fatality investigation reports are posted and disclosed online.
Under the Alberta OHS Act, officers have the authority to issue orders.
The four types of OHS orders include:
Following an inspection, an OHS Alberta officer can take a wide range of actions in response to noncompliance. The response is typically based on the nature and severity of the noncompliance. These include:
Employers can appeal a compliance order issued by an OHS inspection officer. This is done through the Alberta Labour Relations Board (ALRB) – the appeal body for OHS matters.
The following can be submitted for review by the ALRB:
When an officer feels the use of equipment may seriously injure workers, they can issue a stop use order. The order will be lifted when the order requirements are met.
If an OHS Alberta officer believes the work being done at a work site is unhealthy or unsafe, they may issue a stop work order. This order requires all work to stop immediately.
The order may apply to:
The order will be lifted when all OHS Alberta requirements are met.
OHS directors can issue the same orders as OHS officers and have the same powers. However, they can also require work sites to perform specific actions to ensure health and safety.
For example:
When employers are in noncompliance with Alberta OHS legislation, they may receive a fine known as an administrative penalty. Administrative penalties are issued for serious or repeated instances of OHS noncompliance. When an OHS officer provides an order, acceptance or approval at a worksite, they may also issue an administrative penalty.
Administrative penalties are determined on a case-by-case basis. However, there are certain factors OHS Alberta considers.
Such as:
The maximum amount of an administrative penalty per contravention is $10,000/day.
Any work site party listed under part one of the Alberta OHS Act can receive an administrative penalty.
These include:
OHS officers can issue tickets for noncompliance with specific portions of Alberta OHS legislation. OHS violation tickets can be issued on the spot and to workers, supervisors, a worksite party, or employers.
Ticket fines typically range from $100 to $500 and each comes with a 20% victim surcharge.
Examples of ticketable offences include:
Once charges have been laid, the defendant can be:
And if a worksite party is found guilty, this may result in:
The defendant may also receive a combination of these options:
Maximum fines for first offence under OHS Alberta:
Up to $500,000 and or/up to 6 months in prison per violation. If the party persists with the offence, they can be fined $30,000/day.
Maximum fines for second or subsequent offences:
Up to $1 million and/or up to 12 months in prison per violation. If the convicted party persists, they may also receive a fine of $60,000 until the issue is resolved.
In Alberta, workers have the right to refuse work they believe to be dangerous. The right to refuse dangerous work is guaranteed under the Alberta OHS Act.
Important things to keep in mind following a work refusal:
Based on OHS Alberta guidelines, employees refusing dangerous work should do the following:
When an employee refuses to perform work they deem dangerous, you are required to address and resolve the hazard. If you cannot resolve the issue immediately, you must speak to the worker and take the necessary steps.
As an employer you must:
You cannot resume work until you have completed a hazard inspection. You must also eliminate the hazard or determine there is no hazard.
As an employer, you are required to minimize your workers exposure to any substance listed under Schedule 1, Table 2 of the Alberta OHS Code.
The OHS Code sets requirements for chemical hazards, biological hazards, and harmful substances.
These requirements cover:
A full list can be read with the Alberta OHS Code, found here.
As an employer, you are required to ensure employees are trained on WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System).
The main points of the WHMIS system include:
Federal legislation requires that employers:
WHIMIS requirements are based on a mixture of federal and provincial legislation. The federal requirements/elements are subject to the Hazardous Products Act and the Controlled Products Regulations. WHMIS symbols, labeling, and classifications of hazards will be the same from province-to-province.
Specific guidance for Alberta can be found in Part 4 of the Alberta OHS Code.
Employers and employees may contact OHS Alberta for the following reasons:
You can contact OHS Alberta at 1-866-415-8690 (toll free) or you can reach its Edmonton headquarters at 780-415-8690. You can also submit an OHS concern or ask a question here.
Ensuring compliance with OHS Alberta is essential, however there’s a lot to keep up with. Our experts can help you prepare for workplace inspections, develop relevant health and safety policies, and ensure OHS compliance. Call us today at 1 (866) 931-9541 to learn more.