Under the Workers Compensation Act and Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) regulations, all workers have the right to a safe and healthy workplace. Every worker should understand these rights. This will make the workplace safer for you and your coworkers. Understanding and defending these rights also encourages compliance by your employer.
Your four basic safety rights are:
1. RIGHT TO KNOW: you have the right to know about workplace risks and hazards, foreseeable and unforeseeable.
2. RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE: you have the right to participate in workplace health and safety through your workplace joint OHS Committee, and to report all workplace hazards to your supervisor.
3. RIGHT TO REFUSE: you have the right to refuse unsafe work if you perceive the task or duty is unsafe.
4. RIGHT TO NO DISCRIMINATION: you cannot be discriminated against when exercising your health and safety rights on the job.
If a worker perceives the work is unsafe, they must immediately inform their supervisor of the unsafe work that is being refused. The supervisor must then investigate and remedy the concerns before the worker returns to the task.
If the supervisor disagrees with the worker, and believes the work is safe, then a member of the OHS committee will be brought in. The OHS committee member will do an investigation with the supervisor and worker to determine whether the work is safe or not.
If the OHS committee member determines the work is safe, the worker can call in a WorkSafeBC (WSBC) officer to investigate. If the WSBC declares the work to be safe the worker must return to the work or task, although an appeal can be launched.
If you would like more information on health and safety rights in the workplace contact the BCGEU OHS department: [email protected]
This safety tip is brought to you by your Component 5 Occupational Health and Safety Committee:
Kusam Doal
Christine Younie
Ana Treijs
Kimberlee Macgregor
UNIFOR467/MoveUP
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