The Dawson Creek campus JOHSC is comprised of the following people:
Co-chairs – Shawna Jabs and Tanya Jones
Committee – Gary Farquharson, Leo Manning, Lindsey Borek, Curtis Newby, and Les Beck
Any safety concerns or issues on the Dawson Creek campus should be brought forward to any one, or all of, the members of the committee for review. The committee will then make recommendations to the College for the resolution of the issues brought before them.
Dawson Creek JOHSC Terms of Reference
Northern Lights College is committed to ensuring there is a healthy and safe working and learning environment at the College’s worksites. Therefore, the College will:
Remain steadfast in the belief that nothing will impede the maintenance of a safe and healthy environment for all the employees and the general public, by meeting or exceeding any current health and safety regulations or legislation.
Be committed to implementing up-to-date health and safety practices and vigilant in researching new health and safety practices, and to maintain a leadership role within our community.
Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee (JOHSC)
Terms of Reference
The Dawson Creek Campus Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee was formed to educate and help promote health and safety at the College.
The Role of the Committee
The JOHSC’s role shall include, but not be limited to:
- The promotion of safe work practices,
- Liaise with the other JOHSCs or worker representatives,
- Assist the HSEA in developing the College’s Health and Safety Program, policies and procedures, and SOP,
- Provide recommendations of problem resolution,
- Education and training of members.
Duties and Functions of the Committee
The JOHSC shall:
- Identify non-compliant issues or safety risks and provide suggestions to the College on resolution to those situations.
- Expeditiously deal with complaints relating to the Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) of everyone at the College.
- Consult with workers and the employer on issues related to OH&S and occupational environment and provide direction where and when necessary.
- Make recommendations to the College for the improvement of the OH&S of everyone at the College.
- Make recommendations to the College on training programs promoting the health and safety of everyone at the College to comply with the Workers Compensation Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation.
- Advise the College on programs and policies required for workplace compliance and monitor their effectiveness.
- Advise the College on proposed changes to the workplace compliance needs or the work processes that may affect the health and safety of everyone at the College.
- Document and provide summary accident investigations and ensure regular inspections are carried out as required by the Regulation.
- Participate in inspections, investigations, and inquiries as provided by the Regulation (or their appointed alternate).
- Carry out any other duties and functions prescribed by the Regulation.
Membership or Composition of the Committee
In accordance with the Workers Compensation Act and the Collective Agreements of the employee representatives, the joint committee for a workplace must be established based on the following:
- It must have a minimum of 4 members or, if a greater number of members is required by regulation, that greater number,
- It must consist of Employee representatives and Employer representatives,
- At least half the members must be Employee representatives,
- It must have 2 co-chairs, one selected by the Employee representatives and the other selected by the Employer representatives,
- The Employer representatives on a joint committee must be selected by the Employer from among persons who exercise managerial functions for the College and, to the extent possible, who do so at the workplace for which the joint committee is established.
Meetings
Meetings will be held on the third Thursday of the month, where practicable. The meeting agenda will be prepared by the co-chairs and circulated one week in advance of the meeting date. In the event of a serious incident, or unusual circumstances, ad hoc meetings will be convened at short notice. A quorum shall consist of 3 members, with at least 1 voting member representing the Employer and 1 voting Employee representative. The College will ensure that a copy of the minutes is promptly posted in the mailroom on the Union bulletin board and digitally on the NLC website.
Records
The committee will keep accurate records of all matters that come before it. The committee will maintain copies of its minutes for a period of at least two years from the date of the JOHSC meeting from which they relate.
The College must, if so requested by a union representing employees at the workplace, send a copy of the minutes to the Union, and ensure that the retained minutes are readily accessible to the joint committee members and everyone at the College.
Examples of other records the committee may request are the following forms:
- First Aid Record
- Employers Form 7
- Incident/Near Miss Reports
- Refusal of Unsafe Work documents
Copies of these records will be maintained by the HSEA and a sanitized copy will be provided to the committee to ensure the College’s Privacy guidelines are not violated.
Post Committee Information
At the workplace where workers of the College are regularly employed, the College must post and keep posted:
- The names and work locations of the joint committee members (Committee member posters),
- The reports of the 3 most recent joint committee meetings, and
- Copies of any applicable orders under this Division for the preceding 12 months.
Recommendations to the College
Recommendations to the College will meet these guidelines directly related to health and safety:
- Feasible and within reasonable time frame (reasonably capable of being done).
- Include all pertinent information required to make decisions (College will not need more information to make a decision).
When the joint committee sends a written recommendation to the College, the College must respond in writing to the committee within 21 days of receiving the recommendation, either indicating acceptance or refusal of the recommendation, with clearly stated information on the reason for refusal.
If the College does not accept the committee’s recommendations, a co-chair of the committee may report the matter to the Workers Compensation Board, which may investigate and attempt to resolve the matter.
If it is not reasonably possible to provide a response before the end of the 21-day period, the College must provide within that time a written explanation for the delay, together with an indication of when the response will be provided.
If the joint committee is not satisfied that the explanation provided is reasonable in the circumstances, a co-chair of the committee may report this to the Workers Compensation Board, which may investigate the matter and may, by order, establish a deadline by which the College must respond.
Assistance in Resolving Disagreements
If the JOHSC is unable to reach agreement on a matter relating to the health and safety of everyone at the workplace, a co-chair of the committee may report this to the Workers Compensation Board, which may investigate and attempt to resolve the matter.
Educational Leave
Each member of a joint committee is entitled to an annual educational leave totalling 8 hours, or a longer period if prescribed by the Regulation, for the purposes of attending occupational health and safety training courses.
A member of the joint committee may designate another member as being entitled to take all or part of the member’s educational leave.
The College must provide the educational leave under this section without loss of pay or other benefits and must pay for, or reimburse the worker, the costs of the training course and the reasonable costs of attending the course.
Amendments
These terms of reference may be amended at any time by agreement of the committee members.
Approved May 30, 2008.
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—Created May 2008│Reviewed March 2021│Review Date March 2022—