Health and Safety Program for Your Workplace

Health and Safety programs are an excellent way for employers to be proactive in creating safe working conditions. These programs help prevent accidents in the workplace and provide companies with a response plan, should accidents occur.

In Alberta, employers with 20 or more workers are required to have a health and safety program in place. If an employer has fewer than 20 workers, a health and safety program is not required; however, documentation meeting the standards put in place the OHS legislation is still necessary–this would include assessment and control of workplace hazards and emergency response plans.

What Should a Health and Safety Program Include?

When employers are creating a health and safety program for their business, the following 10 core elements must be included:

  1. Health and safety policy
  2. Hazard assessment and control
  3. Emergency response plan
  4. Statement of OHS responsibilities of the employer, supervisors and workers at a work site
  5. Schedule and procedures for work site inspections
  6. Procedures for when another employer or self-employed person is working at the work site
  7. Health and safety orientation and training for workers and supervisors
  8. Procedures for investigating incidents, injuries and refusals to work
  9. Procedures for worker participation in work site health and safety, including inspections and investigating incidents, injuries and refusals to work
  10. Procedures for reviewing and revising health and safety programs

Let us help you create or review your health and safety program. Give us a call today!

Alberta’s OHS Act states that a company health and safety program should be reviewed every three years. There may be a need for more frequent reviews, if new circumstances with the potential to cause hazards to workers arise. For more information, call us at 1-888-207-0657.