Worker Representative / Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee (JOHSC)

Workplaces with 10 to 19 regular employees must have a worker health and safety representative, and those with 20 or more must have a joint occupational health and safety committee (JOHSC). For this specific requirement, only workers directly employed by the employer count; contractors and subcontractors are excluded.

In medical clinics, only staff directly employed by the clinic, such as administrative personnel and non-contract clinicians, are counted. Contract physicians, medical residents, locum physicians, Primary Care Network (PCN) professionals, and other allied healthcare workers working as contractors are excluded.

A worker health and safety representative is required if your clinic has more than nine and less than 20 regularly employed workers.

• A worker health and safety representative must be selected from staff at the workplace who do not exercise managerial functions and must be elected by a ballot.
• If the staff 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.

A Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee is required if your clinic has 20 or more regularly employed workers.

• For businesses with multiple clinics, each clinic needs its own JOHSC if it has 20 or more workers. 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 or 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.

Use this agenda template to record monthly JOHSC meetings, and this checklist to support the legally required annual committee evaluation:

A joint occupational health and safety committee 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 joint committee member receives at least eight hours of instruction and training within six months of being selected. To meet the educational requirements for new joint committee members, the BC Employers’ Advisers Office offers free virtual education.

The joint committee must establish its own rules of procedures (Terms of Reference).

A joint occupational health and safety committee has the following key 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, including significant proposed changes to equipment and machinery, or the work processes that may affect the health or safety of workers.

A worker health and safety representative has the same duties and functions as a joint committee.