Regional Joint Occupational Health & Safety Committee (JOHSC)

Any safety concerns or issues at any College location can be brought forward to any one or all of members of the committee for review. The committee will then make recommendations to the College for the resolution of the issue brought before them.

The Regional Committee also provides assistance, guidance and aids in relaying information for the other committees and worker representatives.

Regional JOHSC Terms of Reference

The Northern Lights College (NLC) Regional Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee (RegJOHSC) is formed to help promote the health and safety of everyone at Northern Lights College. The committee will adopt and promote the safety statement:
Northern Lights College is committed to ensuring a healthy and safe, working and learning environment. It is our position that we as a college will:

  • Remain steadfast in our belief that nothing will impede us from maintaining a safe and healthy environment for our students, staff, faculty and employees.
  • Be committed to implementing up to date health and safety practices to maintain a leadership role within our community
  • Be vigilant in researching new health and safety practices to ensure a constant health environment for everyone at Northern Lights College.
  • Meet or exceed any current health and safety regulations or legislation.

The Role of the Committee:

The RegJOHSC’s role at NLC will include but not be restricted to:

  • the promotion safe work practices at all campuses and NLC properties
  • assisting in creating a safe and healthy workplace by collaborating with the other Joint Health and Safety Committees (JOHSC) or Worker Representatives
  • recommending actions which will improve the effectiveness of the occupational health and safety program and
  • promoting universal compliance with WorkSafeBC Regulation.

Duties and functions of the committee:
Collaborate with the JOHSC Representatives and Safety Representatives from each campus to aid with

  • Identifying situations that may be unhealthy or unsafe for workers and provide guidance or advice on resolution to those situations
  • Provide assistance in dealing with complaints relating to the health and safety of everyone at NLC
  • To consult with workers and the College and Health, Safety and Environment Advisor (HSEA) on issues related to occupational health and safety and occupational environment and provide direction where and when necessary
  • To make recommendations to the College, HSEA and the workers for the improvement of the occupational health and safety and occupational environment of everyone at NLC
  • To make recommendations to the College on educational programs promoting the health and safety of everyone at NLC and compliance with the Workers Compensation Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation and to monitor their effectiveness
  • To advise the College and HSEA on programs and policies required and to monitor their effectiveness
  • To advise the College and HSEA on proposed changes to the workplace or the work processes that may affect the health or safety of everyone at NLC
  • To ensure that accident investigations and regular inspections are carried out as required and provide any assistance where required
  • To participate in inspections, investigations, and inquiries if required and make any recommendations that may result from deficiencies experienced during investigations or inspections
  • To carry out any other duties and functions prescribed by regulation

Membership of the Committee

In accordance with the Workers Compensation Act the committee will consist of equal numbers of members representing both works and the College Administration. The number of College Administration staff will never exceed that of the worker representatives.
The RegJOHSC shall consist of:

  • Two co-chairs, one of these co-chairs shall be the HSEA who will act on behalf of the College and the other co-chair will be elected at the beginning of the year, for the term of 1 year, by the members of the committee to represent the workers. The worker co-chair can be from bargaining unit, support or faculty.
  • 1 member from each JOHSC at Dawson Creek and Fort St. John. The position of co-chair can also serve to satisfy this requirement. Each of these members should if at all possible name a designate that will attend in their absence. It would be ideal that a new person from each committee fill the role annually but it is not a requirement.
  • The safety representative from each of the remaining campuses. Each of these members should if at all possible name a designate that will attend in their absence. It would be ideal that a new person from each committee fill the role annually but it is not a requirement.
  • The committee will have a recorder whose duty will be to record minutes, collect agenda items and distribute information before and after meetings. If this person is excluded from the bargaining units s/he will not have a vote if his or her presence causes the number of members representing the College to number more than the amount of members representing the workers.

Meetings
Meetings will be held on the 3rd Monday of every month where practicable. The call for agenda items will occur on the 2nd Monday of the month with a deadline of the end of the workday on Wednesday of that week. The meeting agenda will be circulated by noon Friday of that week. Any late submission regardless of how critical may be carried over until the next meeting or circulated via email among the committee members prior to the Monday meeting. Meetings will be held at the Regional Administration Conference Room or Boardroom. Members of the committee not on the Dawson Creek campus will attend via teleconference.
In the event of serious incidents, emergencies or unusual circumstances meetings may be convened on very short notice.
Records
Minutes will be kept for every meeting. The minutes will be circulated via email to the membership following the meeting to ensure accuracy. Once the minutes have been agreed upon by all, the minutes will be posted to the College website in the Staff Only directory. Each member of the committee will be responsible for printing out the minutes and posting them on his or her campus bulletin board.
Only for the purpose of investigation or complaint arbitration will the committee request the following forms:

  • First Aid Record
  • Employers Form 7
  • Campus Risk Management Incident Reports.

Copies of these reports will be obtained by the HSEA and sanitized prior to viewing to ensure that College and governing privacy guidelines are not violated.
Recommendations to the College Administration
If the committee finds that any situation requires a recommendation to the College Administration then the committee will draft a letter quoting the situation and accompanying resolution in accordance with WorkSafeBC Occupational Health and Safety Regulation (OHSR). The letter will be signed the Committee co-chair representing the workers and then inturn the letter will be forwarded to the HSEA within 21 days of the JOHSC meeting.
Assistance in Solving Disagreements
In the event of a dispute regarding regulation or unsafe work practices the committee will use the WorkSafeBC OHSR and aid in resolution of the dispute.
If the HSEA is in any way shape or form involved in the dispute then the HSEA will exit for that period of discussion. The committee will consult with the worker or worker representative involved and then forward all documentation to the Human Resources Director for resolution.
Amendments
These terms of reference will be formally reviewed each December and any changes voted on by the committee after election of positions the following January.