IHSA Safety Podcast

This episode of the IHSA Safety Podcast discusses the roles and legal requirements of Joint Health and Safety Committees (provincial legislation) and Workplace Health and Safety Committees (federal legislation) in Ontario and features IHSA's Alain Leger and Doug Heintz.

A Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) and a Workplace Health and Safety Committee (WHSC) are composed of workers and employee representatives who are mutually committed to improving health and safety conditions in the workplace. They help raise awareness of health and safety issues in the workplace, recognize and identify workplace risks, and develop recommendations to the employer to address those risks.

Alain and Doug explain the differences in legislative requirements for a health and safety committee in provincial and federally regulated workplaces. For workplaces in Ontario with 20 or more employees, a Joint Health and Safety Committee is required, and it must have at least two members. For those with 50 or more employees, a committee must have at least four members. For federal requirements, workplaces with 20 or more employees require a Workplace Health and Safety Committee; however, there is no specification on the number of members required.

Alain and Doug mention and define other committees in the workplace, such as the Worker Trades Committee (provincial) and the Policy Committee (federal). They also discuss the definition of ‘regularly employed’ from both provincial and federal perspectives, to help determine if a Joint/Workplace Health and Safety Committee is required in a workplace.

Free Resources

Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC)

JHSC/Health & Safety Representative

Guideline for Health and Safety Representatives

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