No one knows a workplace better than the people who work in it, so Part II of the Canada Labour Code gives the workplace parties—the employees and employers—a strong role in identifying and resolving health and safety concerns. The provisions of the Code are designed to strengthen employers' and employees' self-reliance in dealing with occupational health and safety issues and thereby making workplaces safer.
The Canada Labour Code gives you the following rights:
You have the right to be informed of known or foreseeable hazards in the workplace and to be provided with the information, instructions, training, and supervision necessary to protect your health and safety.
The Code requires the use of appropriate methods of communication for all employees including those with special needs. Such methods are Braille, large print, audiotapes, sign language, and oral communication.
In addition, you are given the right to have access to government or employer reports related to the health and safety of employees through your policy health and safety committee, workplace health and safety committee or health and safety representative.
As health and safety representatives or workplace health and safety committee or policy health and safety committee members, employees have the right to participate in identifying and correcting work-related health and safety concerns.
Employers with 300 or more employees are required to establish a policy health and safety committee. The purpose of the committee is to handle issues that are organization-wide in nature.
Part II of the Code also provides for employee participation through the use of an internal complaint resolution process.
You have the right to refuse to work if you have reasonable cause to believe that:
In order for you to be protected by the Code when exercising your right to refuse to do dangerous work, you must follow the proper procedure. For information on this procedure and other aspects of the right to refuse dangerous work, see Right to refuse dangerous work – Pamphlet 4.
As an employee under the Canada Labour Code, you are required to:
For more information, see:
As an employer, you play an important role in preventing workplace accidents and injuries, and promoting safe and healthy workplaces.
These responsibilities and obligations fall under Part II of the Canada Labour Code and apply to workplaces under federal jurisdiction only.
Employers must ensure that employees have the necessary information, training and supervision to perform their jobs safely. Managers, supervisors, health and safety committees and representatives must also understand their roles and responsibilities under the Code.
Additional areas of employer obligations and responsibilities under the Code include investigations, inspections, accident reporting, and the Hazard Prevention Program.
As an employer, you must ensure that employees have the necessary information, training, and supervision to perform their work safely. This includes:
You must also ensure that health and safety committees/representatives understand their duties with respect to:
In addition, you must ensure that managers and supervisors understand their duties related to the internal complaint resolution process, refusals to work, and accident investigations and reporting.
Under Part II of the Canada Labour Code, employers are required to protect the health and safety of employees at work, by ensuring that employee complaints, including refusals to work, and accidents and injuries are properly investigated.
Regular inspections help ensure that occupational health and safety hazards are addressed before they result in possible injuries. Part II of the Canada Labour Code requires the health and safety committee/representative to carry out monthly inspections in the workplace in whole or in part.
In the event that a hazard is identified, and the committee/representative is not authorized to remove it, recommendations must be forwarded to the employer.
The employer is required to provide a written response to the committee/representative within 30 days on how the issue will be resolved.
Accident investigations and reporting play an important role in preventing similar incidents from re-occurring in the future. Employers must report serious injuries to the Labour Program within 24 hours.
Employers must also submit written investigation reports to the Labour Program, for all temporary and permanent disabling injuries, within 14 days of the occurrence. The report must include all the information required on the Hazardous Occurrence Investigations Report – LAB1070.
Employers must submit three annual reports to the Labour Program: Employers Annual Hazardous Occurrence Report, Employer Annual Harassment and Violence Occurrence Report and the Work Place Committee Report.
For additional information on employer responsibilities related to occupational health and safety, please select the following:
The following are the Labour Program’s Occupational Health and Safety Compliance standards for the fiscal year 2017-2018, which measure the Program’s performance with respect to key compliance activities involving stakeholders. Each occupational health and safety activity includes the Program’s performance target in relation to the standard, which indicates whether the Program is meeting the standard for the respective activity.
Non-fatal Hazardous Occurrences are responded to based on severity. Each Hazardous Occurrence reported to the Labour Program is responded to as soon as it is triaged and assigned to a Health & Safety Officer. However, hazardous occurrence investigations only take place if they are required under the Canada Labour Code.
In cases where workplaces are not easily accessible or are located in very remote areas, the Program may require more than 24 hours for traveling purposes.