Foundations for Workplace Health and Safety
- Worker Representative Requirements or
- JOHS Committee Requirements
- Save Health and Safety Meeting Minutes
- Download JOHSC Meeting Minutes and Annual Evaluation Checklist
- Implement JOHSC Terms of Reference
Health and Safety Meetings
As a clinic employer, you must schedule regular monthly meetings with staff to discuss workplace health and safety matters.
Depending on the size of your clinic, you also may need to have either a worker health and safety representative or a Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee (JOHSC) to support a safe and healthy workplace. These meetings and representatives help to identify issues in the clinic, recommend improvements, and ensure worker participation in health and safety matters.
Health and Safety Meeting Requirements
Regular meetings between employers and staff to discuss health and safety matters are required in every workplace. Health and safety meetings help make the clinic safer, and ensure the clinic follows health and safety rules. Health and safety meetings also allow physician employers and their staff to voice, discuss, and resolve health and safety issues collaboratively. Topics may include clinic inspections, bullying and harassment, and violence prevention.
- Health and safety meetings must occur once per month.
- Health and safety meetings must focus on preventing and correcting unsafe conditions and practices while maintaining a cooperative interest in workplace health and safety.
- Employers must maintain records of the meetings and the matters discussed.
Clinics with 10 to 19 regularly employed workers must have a worker health and safety representative who participates in monthly health and safety meetings to ensure worker participation in health and safety discussions.
Clinics with 20 or more regularly employed workers must establish a JOHSC with at least two worker representatives and two employer representatives. The JOHSC is then required to hold monthly meetings, which will fulfill the employer’s requirement to conduct monthly staff safety meetings.
Worker Representative Requirements
A worker health and safety representative is required if your clinic has 10 to 19 regular employees.
- A worker health and safety representative must be selected from staff at the workplace who do not have managerial functions and must be elected by a ballot.
- If staff members do not make their own selection after being given the opportunity, the employer must assign a worker to act as the health and safety worker representative.
The employer must ensure that the worker health and safety representative receives at least four hours of instruction and training within six months of being selected. To meet educational requirements, WorkSafeBC offers a free virtual course.
Save Health and Safety Meeting Minutes
This meeting template can be used to record the details of the monthly health and safety meeting if your clinic has 19 or fewer workers. Once your clinic is required to have a JOHSC (20 or more workers), you can use the JOHSC Meeting Minutes template. Health and safety meeting minutes must be kept. It is recommended that records be retained for at least 2 years.
JOHSC Requirements
A JOHSC is required if your clinic has 20 or more regularly employed workers.
- For businesses with multiple clinics, each clinic with 20 or more workers needs its own JOHSC. A single JOHSC may be allowed if the clinics operate similarly and include worker representation from each location — a written approval from WorkSafeBC is required.
- The committee must meet at least once a month, and minutes must be recorded and kept for at least 2 years. These monthly meetings fulfill the employer’s requirement to hold regular staff discussions on workplace health and safety.
- The JOHSC members’ names and work locations must be posted in a visible area for all clinic staff.
- The JOHSC meeting minutes from the past three months must be posted in the workplace for all clinic staff to access.
- The JOHSC must undergo an annual written evaluation conducted by the co-chairs , the employer, or by their designated representatives.
For consistency, it is recommended that all 12 meetings be scheduled in advance on the same day of the week at the same time. For example, a clinic could hold its JOHSC meeting on the third Thursday of each month at 3 p.m.
Download JOHSC Meeting Minutes and Annual Evaluation Checklist
The JOHSC Meeting Minutes template offers JOHSCs a structured format to follow at monthly health and safety meetings. The Annual Evaluation Checklist can be completed by the committee co-chairs, employer, or their delegates to fulfill the annual evaluation requirement for JOHSCs.
JOHSC Rules and Membership
A JOHSC must be established in accordance with the following:
- The committee must have at least four members to function.
- Employer members cannot outnumber workers.
- Worker members should not perform managerial functions in the clinic.
- Employer members should perform managerial functions in the clinic, and the physician employer may act as a representative.
- Two co-chairs must be chosen: one selected by the worker representatives and the other by the employer representatives.
- The employer must ensure that each JOHSC member receives at least eight hours of instruction and training within six months of being selected.
To meet the educational requirements for new committee members, the BC Employers’ Advisers Office offers free virtual education.
Implement JOHSC Terms of Reference
JOHSC and Worker Representative Responsibilities
Consult and discuss with staff and the employer on all workplace health and safety matters.
Recommend improvements to occupational health, safety, and the work environment.
Conduct joint regular workplace inspections and identify potential health and safety hazards.
Review accident investigations, their root causes, and corrective actions.
Jointly discuss and implement corrective actions to potential hazards.
Advise the employer on proposed changes to the workplace that may affect the health or safety of workers.
