Health and Safety Meetings
Every employer must schedule regular monthly meetings with staff to discuss workplace health and safety matters.
Health and safety meetings are crucial for raising awareness and education, reviewing and preventing incidents, and ensuring compliance with regulations. Meetings also encourage open communication between management and staff and a collaborative and proactive approach to promote a culture of health and safety within the clinic. Topics can include clinic inspections, bullying and harassment, violence prevention and health and safety education programs.
Meeting Requirements
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Review Health and Safety Meeting Requirements
Safety meetings allow physician employers and their staff to voice, discuss, and resolve health and safety issues collaboratively.
- 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.
- If your clinic has more than nine and less than 20 staff members, a worker health and safety representative is required (review below). If your clinic has 20 or more staff members, a Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee is required (review JOHSC section).
A worker health and safety representative is required if your clinic has more than nine and less than 20 staff members.
- 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 (refer to the Additional Resources in JOHSC section).
Meeting Documents
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Review Health and Safety Meeting Agenda
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Additional Resources
Legal Requirements
OHS Regulation 3.2
Training
Worker Health and Safety Representative Fundamentals|WorkSafeBC’s
Access tip: Click view online and create a learner account for free access. Remember to leave the Affiliated Health and Safety Association blank.
Legal Requirements
Workers Compensation Act – Part 2 – Division 5: 45 Worker health and safety representative