OHS in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut

In the Northwest Territories (NT) and Nunavut (NU), the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission (WSCC) oversees Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) and enforces the Safety Act and the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Regulations. 

A worker is anyone that is employed (full time, part time, temporary or seasonal) and expected to work at least 3 months.  

Employer’s duties under OHS 

To successfully manage safety and health in your workplace, you should first understand that as a business owner, you have obligations under the law. You must: 

• Ensure the safety and health of the people at or near your workplace
• Provide and maintain equipment, machines, and materials that are properly equipped with safety devices
• Provide information, instruction, training, supervision, and facilities to keep your workers safe
• Ensure that all workers are told about any health or safety hazards at your workplace
• Ensure that all workers know when and how to properly use all devices, equipment, and clothing required for their protection
• Make a copy of the Safety Act available to employees
• Establish a Health and Safety Committee at worksites where there are 20 or more workers
• Designate at least one health and safety representative for the workers at worksites with fewer than 20 employees
• Conduct your business so that workers are not exposed to health or safety hazards
• Cooperate with anyone performing a duty or exercising a power under the OHS provisions or the Regulations.
• Make your workers aware of their four basic rights:
  • The right to know of any hazards in the workplace
  • The right to participate—to identify and resolve issues
  • The right to refuse dangerous work
  • The right to carry out duties or exercise safety and health rights without being subjected to discriminatory action 

OHS Policy
OHS Program
Committees & Representatives
Posters, Signage, Printables
Violence & Harassment
Impairment
Orientation & Training
Young Workers
Working Alone
Accessibility
First Aid
Emergencies, Hazards & Communicable Disease
GHS (WHMIS)
Return to Work

OHS POLICY 

In the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, a health & safety policy is required as part of the OHS program at worksites where there are 20 or more employees. 

The policy should: 

• Be created in consultation with the Health and Safety Committee or Representative and the workers.
• Written and signed by senior management or business owner.
• Posted in a prominent location in the workplace. 

You are required to review the OHS policy annually and update as needed to be current with workplace changes and government legislation.

CFIB members can access a template Health and Safety policy in the Member Portal.  

OHS PROGRAM 

All employers in Northwest Territories and Nunavut with 20 or more employees at a worksite must establish a workplace health and safety program. 

Every worksite is different, and so every program will be different. However, your program should provide information on how you:

• Define safety responsibilities
• Identify and control hazards
• Orient and train workers
• Investigate workplace incidents, injuries, and unsafe work refusals
• Monitor health and safety issues and activities in your business.

WSCC has provided a guide to help employers develop their Health and Safety Program. 

COMMITTEES & REPRESENTATIVES 

In the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, a Worker Health and Safety (WHS) Representative is required when a business has fewer than 20 regularly employed workers. Regularly employed is not defined as a specific period. Count anyone on the payroll who is reasonably expected to stay employed.    

Each worksite should post the name of the representative in a prominent location, and ensure the representative is not connected with management.  

The representative is responsible for:  

• Any function that a Health and Safety Committee may typically do 
• Participating in regular inspections and investigating incidents
• Making recommendations to the employer to address health and safety issues
• Encouraging workers to report hazards and concerns to their supervisor 

You are required to establish a Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) when you have 20 or more regularly employed workers 

The committee needs to:  

• Have at least half of the members be elected by the workers and/or union 
• Have the other half selected by the employer 
• Have two co-chairs – one to represent the management and one to represent the workers 
• Be paid and given time away from regular duties to fulfill the role of the committee  

The JHSC is required to:  

• Hold monthly meetings with an agenda for the first three months, and then at least every quarter
• Record the minutes of every meeting and post in a conspicuous location 
• Participate in regular inspections and investigations of incidents 
• Make recommendations to the employer for improvements on health and safety issues 
• Encourage workers to first report hazards and concerns to their supervisor  

All joint committee members should be trained on the following topics:  

• How to identify and control industry-specific hazards, including ergonomic hazards
• How to conduct inspections
• How to investigate incidents and dangerous occurrences
• Familiarization with health and safety legislation in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut
• The Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS1988 and WHMIS2015)

You can find the NWT & Nunavut Code of Practice for Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committees here.  

POSTERS, SIGNAGE, PRINTABLES 

In the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, businesses must post the following information: 

• The Safety Act 
  • Northwest Territories
  • Nunavut
• The OHS Regulations 
  • Northwest Territories
  • Nunavut
• A copy of the Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee meeting minutes
• Fire Safety Plan
• Smoking signs at the entrance to each designated smoking area
• The location of the first aid station clearly identified and appropriate emergency procedures displayed

VIOLENCE & HARASSMENT

At worksites where violence has, or could reasonably be expected to, occur, a written violence prevention policy must be implemented. The employer should develop the policy in conjunction with the JHSC or the H&S Representative. 

The policy should include:

• Employer’s commitment to eliminate or reduce the risk of violence at the work site
• Identification of the worksite where violence has, or could reasonably be expected to occur
• Identification of job positions that have been, or could reasonably be expected to be exposed to violence
• How the employer will notify workers of the nature and risk of violence
• How the employer will eliminate or reduce the risk of violence
• Procedure for reporting an act of violence
• Procedure to be followed to investigate reported violence
• Recommendation that any employees exposed to violence seek counselling
• Employer’s commitment to provide training on how to recognize violence, ways to eliminate and reduce the risk of violence, how employees should respond to acts of violence

The policy should be made available to all employees. It should be reviewed and revised, if necessary, at least every 3 years. 

CFIB members can access a template Violence Prevention Policy in the Member Portal. 

Employers should also implement a written harassment prevention policy. Harassment is defined in the OHS Regulations as:
“a course of vexatious comment or conduct at a work site that (a) is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome; and (b) constitutes a threat at the work site to the health or safety of a worker.”

To be considered harassment, any one of the following must have occurred:

1. repeated conduct, comments, displays, actions or gestures; or
2. a single, serious occurrence of conduct, or a single, serious comment, display, action or gesture, that has a lasting, harmful effect on the worker’s health or safety.

Reasonable, respectful actions taken by an employer or manager do not constitute harassment:

• changing work assignments
• scheduling, assessing and evaluating work performance
• inspecting workplaces
• implementing health and safety measures
• taking disciplinary action such as dismissing, suspending, demoting, or reprimanding with just cause

The policy, which the employer should develop in conjunction with the JHSC or H&S Representative, must include:

• A definition of harassment consistent with the one provided by the Regulations
• A statement affirming employees’ right to work free of harassment
• Employer’s commitment to make a reasonable effort to ensure employees are not subject to harassment
• Employer’s commitment to take corrective action if a worker is harassed
• Procedures for making a harassment complaint
• A statement confirming the employer will keep the names of the complainant and alleged harasser, as well as details of the situation, confidential unless disclosure is necessary to investigate the complaint or required by law
• Procedure the employer will follow to inform the complainant and allege harasser of the results of the investigation
• A statement indicating that the policy does not prevent a complainant from exercising their legal rights.

A copy of the policy should be made available to all employees.

CFIB members can access a template Harassment Prevention Policy in the Member Portal. 

IMPAIRMENT

All employers should have an impairment policy which includes:

• the duties of workers.
• the duties of employers:
  • identifying impairment,
  • protecting workers, and
  • disciplinary measures if an employee breaks the policy.
• information on how the policy will be implemented.
• a hazard identification and assessment methodology.
• preventive measures to be undertaken by employers and workers.
• worker education programs.
• a policy evaluation mechanism.

CFIB members can access a template Drug, Alcohol and Medication Policy in the Member Portal. 

ORIENTATION & TRAINING 

Employers have a duty to ensure the health and safety of their workers this includes training workers to:

• perform their tasks safely
• use equipment and machinery safely
• use and maintain any personal protective equipment (PPE)

While the training will vary depending on the location, industry, job tasks of the position, there are 3 topics that must always be covered in training:

• Rights and Responsibilities
• Workplace Hazards
• Safe work procedures

Supervisors must take a Supervisor OHS Familiarization Course from a WSCC-approved training provider. 

For new and returning employees, and those who have moved to a different part of the worksite and will face new hazards, orientation should include:

• Emergency procedures that everyone needs to follow in the event of a fire or other emergency,
• Location of fire alarms, evacuation plan, fire escapes, and muster point(s)
• Where the first aid station and other first aid equipment (e.g., eye wash) is
• Any restricted areas of the worksite
• Precautions workers must take to protect themselves from exposure to hazardous substances.
• A review of their health and safety responsibilities as workers, as well as all safety policies, and programs your workplace may have.

YOUNG WORKERS 

Young workers are defined as workers under 25 years of age.   

WSCC has a Young Workers Program, containing tools, guides and resources to help train Young Workers. There is also an online course that the Young Worker can take, providing a general understanding of workplace safety and their rights and responsibilities. 

WORKING ALONE 

If working alone is necessary, the employer must identify risks to the worker when working alone and develop a safe work procedure in consultation with the worker. The employer must set up a communication system, using a reliable communication device, to monitor the worker's safety. The employer must determine how frequently the worker should be monitored based on the risks involved. 
 
Emergency situations should be considered when identifying risks to the worker and the control measures that should be in place. 
 
It is the responsibility of the employer to provide information, instruction, and training to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare of the worker. The safe work procedure should be reviewed at least annually, and more often if there is a change in working conditions, or the procedures are not effective. 

WSCC has a Working Alone Code of Practice. They also offer a Working Alone Check-in Procedure. 

ACCESSIBILITY  

The Northwest Territories and Nunavut do not currently have accessibility legislation; however, there are steps you can take to make your business more accessible, including:

• Review your premises for physical barriers (entrances, washrooms, aisles).
• Train staff on accessible customer service.
• Develop a process for accommodating employees and customers with disabilities.

FIRST AID 

To determine the first aid needs of your business, you must conduct a first aid assessment, taking into consideration:

• Number of employees
• Proximity to EMS
• Proximity of the workplace to a medical facility
• Activities of the workplace

The assessment determines the level of training, and the equipment required for your workplace. It should be reviewed annually, and a full reassessment done when there are changes to the workplace. 

Employers are required to:  

• Post the location of first aid, and how to call for assistance, in a suitable location in the workplace. 
• Provide a plan as to how the attendant is to respond to a call for first aid. 
• Provide transportation of the injured worker.  

EMERGENCIES, HAZARDS & COMMUNICABLE DISEASE 

An emergency response plan is part of a workplace’s Code of Practice and Occupational Health and Safety Program. In the Northwest Territories and Nunavut the Code of Practice is required for all workplaces that have 20 or more workers.  

Emergency situations will produce unknown hazards, for which no controls have been implemented. These unseen hazards can significantly increase the danger of an emergency to workers, the organization, equipment and more. The only effective method for reducing risk during an emergency is to plan that the emergency will occur and prepare appropriately for it.  

Emergency response plans need to be specific to the worksite; a plan developed for an office environment should not be used in the field.
 
For more details about your emergency response plan requirements, please see page 30 of the Occupational Health and Safety Program Code of Practice NT and NU guide.  

CFIB Members can access an Emergency Preparedness Guide in the Member Portal. 

We have information on our website regarding flood mitigation and the benefits of having a storm day policy. 

While it’s not required, it is a best practice to have a plan for mitigating the risk of communicable diseases. 

The Communicable Disease plan should include:

• A process for monitoring and reviewing information on communicable diseases issued by regional or provincial medical health officers.
• Policies to support staff who have symptoms of a communicable disease, so they do not come into the workplace when sick.
• Policies/posters/procedures regarding handwashing and covering coughs and sneezes.
• The cleaning schedule, who is responsible for cleaning, and whether they have received the appropriate training.
• Details on how policies are communicated at the workplace.
• Information on how workers can escalate health and safety concerns; the involvement of H&S Representatives or JHSC; and how you will monitor the effectiveness of the policies implemented.

CFIB Members can access a template Communicable Disease Prevention Plan in the Member Portal. 

GHS (WHMIS) 

WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System) and GHS (Globally Harmonized System) are world-wide systems providing information on hazardous materials used in the workplace. Employees need to know how to work safely, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to implement costly training programs.

You can also find information on our website and the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety website.  

RETURN TO WORK  

Return to work is a standardized process for when an injured employee is ready to reintegrate back into the workplace. Returning to work is an essential part of the recovery process and can also help limit the impact a workers’ compensation claim has on your business if the injury is received at work. 

It is best practice to have a Return-to-Work Policy that clearly lays out the rights and responsibilities of both the employer and employee when injury occurs. 

CFIB Article: Return to Work: Be prepared. Save your business 

Information and resources are also available on the WSCC website.