BILL 18
An Act to Amend the
Occupational Health and Safety Act
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and
consent of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, enacts as follows:
1 Section
1 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, chapter O-0.2 of the
Acts of New Brunswick, 1983, is amended by repealing the definition “health
and safety representative” and substituting the following:
“health and safety representative”
means a health and safety representative elected under section 17 or designated under section 17.1; (délégué à
l’hygiène et à la sécurité)
2 Section
9 of the Act is amended
(a) in subsection
(2)
(i) by adding after
paragraph (a) the following:
(a.1) ensure that the place of employment
is inspected at least once a month to identify any risks to the health
and safety of his employees;
(ii) in paragraph
(e) by adding “or designated” after “elected”;
(b) by adding
after subsection (2) the following:
9(3) An employer shall develop a program for the inspection referred
to in paragraph (2)(a.1) with the joint health and safety committee,
if any, or the health and safety representative, if any, and shall
share the results of each inspection with the committee or the health
and safety representative.
3 Paragraph
12(e) of the Act is amended by adding “or designated” after “elected”.
4 Section
14 of the Act is amended
(a) by adding
before subsection (1) the following:
14(0.1) This section does not apply to a project site.
(b) in
subsection (1) by striking out “Subject to subsection (1.1),
every” and substituting “Every”;
(c) by repealing
subsection (1.1);
(d) by repealing
subsection (7);
(e) by repealing
subsection (11);
(f) by repealing
subsection (12).
5 The
Act is amended by adding after section 14 the following:
Training for committee members —
non-project site
14.1(1) This section does not apply to a project site.
14.1(2) An employer shall ensure that each person who is designated to
serve on a joint health and safety committee
(a) has attended an educational program
as prescribed by the regulations, or
(b) attends an educational program prescribed
by the regulations within twelve months after being designated, if
the person has not attended such program.
14.1(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to a person who, immediately before
the commencement of this section, was a member of the committee at
a place of employment, but only for so long as that person continues
to be a member of the committee at that place of employment.
14.1(4) A person referred to in subsection (3) may attend an educational
program prescribed by the regulations if the committee of which the
person is a member recommends to the employer that the person attend,
and the employer grants leave to the person.
14.1(5) Where an employer does not grant leave in accordance with subsection
(4), the Commission may order the employer to grant the person leave
to attend the educational program.
14.1(6) Each member of the committee shall, for the periods during which
the member is taking any educational program required under this Act
that relates to the member’s service on the committee or during
which the member is attending any committee meetings, receive pay
at his or her rate and other benefits to which he or she would otherwise
be entitled.
Joint health and safety
committees for project site — general
14.2(1) This section applies to a joint health and safety committee that
is established for a project site.
14.2(2) The employer and employee representatives of a committee shall
each elect a co-chairman from their respective groups.
14.2(3) A committee, unless it is dissolved under subsection 14.3(6), continues until work on the project
site is completed, regardless of the number of employees working on
the site.
14.2(4) A committee shall meet at least once
a month.
14.2(5) A committee shall
(a) take and maintain minutes of its
meeting on a form approved by the Commission,
(b) promptly provide the contractor
with a copy of the minutes signed by the co-chairmen of the committee,
and
(c) send a copy of the minutes signed
by the co-chairmen of the committee to the Commission.
14.2(6) Where a committee cannot agree on a matter related to health
and safety, the committee shall call an officer to resolve the problem.
14.2(7) Section 15 applies with the
necessary modifications to a committee and the contractor on a project
site, except as follows:
(a) the reference to “employer”
in paragraph (d) shall be read as “employers on the site”;
(b) the reference to “employer”
in paragraph (g) shall be read as “employers”;
(c) subparagraph (k)(ii) shall be read
as follows:
(ii) may be assigned to a committee by
agreement between the committee and the contractor, or
14.2(8) A contractor who is responsible for a project site for which
a committee is established shall ensure that
(a) the names of the members of the
committee are posted in a prominent place or places at the project
site, and
(b) the minutes of the most recent committee
meeting are promptly posted in a prominent place or places at the
project site.
Joint health and safety
committees — medium-sized project site
14.3(1) This section applies to a project site where
(a) work on the site has continued for
more than ninety days, and
(b) thirty or more employees but fewer
than five hundred employees work at the site.
14.3(2) A contractor who is responsible for a project site shall ensure
that a joint health and safety committee is established within two
weeks after the criteria set out in subsection (1) have been met.
14.3(3) A contractor shall ensure that a committee
(a) is constituted of both employer
and employee representatives, of which not less than half of the representatives
are designated by employees in accordance with this section,
(b) has at least two employee representatives
designated by employees in accordance with this section, and
(c) has at least one person designated
by the contractor as the representative of the contractor.
14.3(4) Where an employer has six or more employees working at a project
site,
(a) the employer may designate a person
to serve on the committee as an employer representative, and
(b) the employees shall designate a
person to serve on the committee as an employee representative.
14.3(5) Nothing in subsection (4) prevents employees who work for one
employer from designating an employee who works for another employer
to serve on the committee as an employee representative.
14.3(6) If the number of employees working at the site at any time exceeds
four hundred and ninety-nine, the committee established under this
section is dissolved, and the contractor shall establish a committee
in accordance with section 14.4.
14.3(7) The documents, minutes, records and any other material of the
committee that is dissolved become the documents, minutes, records
and material of the committee that is subsequently established.
Joint health and safety
committees — large project site
14.4(1) In this section, “trade” means a trade prescribed
by regulation and includes any trade designated by a committee under
subsection (8).
14.4(2) This section applies to a project site that has five hundred
or more employees working on the site at any time.
14.4(3) A contractor who is responsible for a project site shall ensure
that a joint health and safety committee is established within two
weeks after the criterion set out in subsection (2) has been met.
14.4(4) A contractor shall ensure that a committee
(a) is constituted of both employer
and employee representatives, of which not less than half of the representatives
are designated by employees in accordance with this section,
(b) has at least two employee representatives
designated by employees in accordance with this section, and
(c) has at least one person designated
by the contractor as the representative of the contractor.
14.4(5) Where there are one or more employers engaged in work on a project
site and the employees of those employers are working in the same
trade at the site, the employees working in that trade shall designate
a person to serve on the committee as an employee representative.
14.4(6) Nothing in subsection (5) prevents employees who work in one
trade from designating a person who works in another trade to serve
on the committee as an employee representative.
14.4(7) Nothing in this section prevents employers who provide services
in one trade from designating a person who is a employer who provides
services in another trade to serve on the committee as an employer
representative.
14.4(8) Where a committee is of the opinion that it is desirable to have
a representative from a trade that has not been prescribed by regulation,
the committee may designate the trade for the purposes of the definition “trade”
in subsection (1) and shall promptly advise the contractor that the
trade has been designated, and the contractor shall ensure that the
employers and employees in that trade are advised of the designation.
14.4(9) Subsections (4) to (7), inclusive, apply in respect of a trade
designated under subsection (8).
Training for committee members —
project site
14.5(1) This section applies to a project site.
14.5(2) On and after the date that is one year after the commencement
of this section, no person may be elected to be a co-chairman of a
joint health and safety committee unless the person has attended an
educational program prescribed by the regulations.
14.5(3) On and after the date that is two years after the commencement
of this section, no person may be designated to serve on a committee
unless the person has attended an educational program prescribed by
the regulations.
14.5(4) Subsections (2) and (3) do not apply if the person designated
to serve on a committee was a member of a committee or a health and
safety representative on a project site at any time within the twelve
months previous to the commencement of this section.
14.5(5) A person referred to in subsection (4) may attend an educational
program prescribed by the regulations if the committee of which the
person is a member recommends to the employer that the person attend,
and the employer grants leave to the person.
14.5(6) Where an employer does not grant leave under subsection (5),
the Commission may order the employer to grant the person leave to
attend the educational program.
14.5(7) Each member of a committee shall, for the periods during which
the member is taking any educational program required under this Act
that relates to the member’s service on the committee or during
which the member is attending any committee meetings, receive pay
at his or her rate and other benefits to which he or she would otherwise
be entitled.
6 Section
17 of the Act is amended by adding before subsection (1) the following:
17(0.1) This section does not apply to a
project site.
7 The
Act is amended by adding after section 17 the following:
Health and safety representatives —
project site
17.1(1) This section applies to a project site
(a) with more than five but fewer than
thirty employees working on the site, regardless of the length of
time work is carried out on the site, or
(b) where work carried out on the site
has not exceeded ninety days, and thirty or more but fewer than five
hundred employees work on the site.
17.1(2) On and after the date that is one year after the commencement
of this section, no person may be designated as a health and safety
representative unless the person
(a) has attended an educational program
prescribed by the regulations, or
(b) has served as a health and safety
representative or as a member of a joint health and safety committee
on a project site within the twelve months preceding the commencement
of this section.
17.1(3) Subject to subsection (4), the contractor and the employees working
on a project site shall jointly designate a health and safety representative
within two weeks
(a) after work on the project site has
commenced,
(b) after a person designated as a health
and safety representative resigns, is removed or ceases to work at
the site, and
(c) after any increase in the number
of employees working on the site warrants another designation.
17.1(4) Subject to subsection (5), health and safety representatives
shall be designated as follows:
(a) for five to fifty employees working
at the site – one representative; and
(b) for every fifty employees thereafter
working at the site, or any portion in excess of a multiple of fifty –
one representative.
17.1(5) Where the contractor and the employees working at the site are
unable to agree on a joint designation under subsection (3), the employees
shall designate a health and safety representative within one week
after the applicable period set out in subsection (3), and the contractor
may designate a health and safety representative within the same period,
and subsequent health and safety representatives shall be designated
by the employees and may be designated by the contractor in accordance
with subsection (4).
17.1(6) A person who is designated as a health and safety representative
remains in the position until he resigns, is removed, no longer works
at the site or a committee is established under section 14.3 or 14.4.
17.1(7) Section 18 applies with the necessary modifications to health and
safety representatives and a contractor on a project site.
17.1(8) Each health and safety representative shall, for the periods
during which he or she is taking any educational program required
under this Act that relates to his or her service as a health and
safety representative, receive pay at his or her rate and other benefits
to which he or she would otherwise be entitled.
17.1(9) A person referred to in paragraph (2)(b) may attend an educational
program prescribed by the regulations if the person requests the training
and the employer grants leave to the person.
17.1(10) Where an employer does not grant leave under subsection (9),
the Commission may order the employer to grant the person leave to
attend the educational program.
17.1(11) The contractor shall post the name of the health and safety
representatives in a prominent place or places at the project site.
8 Subsection
37(3) of the Act is amended by striking out “where such a representative
has been elected” and substituting “, if any”.
9 Paragraph
42(3)(a) of the Act is amended by striking out “where one has
been elected” and substituting “, if any”.
10 Section
51 of the Act is amended by adding after paragraph (dd) the following:
(dd.1) respecting the content, duration,
administration and delivery of an educational program for persons
who are or may become members of joint health and safety committees
and or a health and safety representative;
(dd.2) prescribing trades for the purposes
of subsection 14.4(1);
11 This Act or any provision of it comes into
force on a day or days to be fixed by proclamation.