Understanding Saskatchewan's Health and Safety Requirements

As an employer, you play an important role in preventing workplace injuries and promoting a safe and healthy workplace. In fact, under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), you have a legal obligation to properly inform, instruct and supervise your employees and to do everything you reasonably can to protect them.

I have 5 to 9 employees:

• In workplaces where there are 5-9 employees there must be a health and safety representative.
• OHS Representatives work with employers and workers to create a healthy and safe work environment by detecting OHS hazards and developing practical approaches to eliminate or control those hazards.
• Duties include: helping employers identify, eliminate, or control hazards; talking with workers about health and safety concerns and helping resolve the concerns; inspecting the workplace regularly; and investigating reportable accidents and dangerous occurrences.
• More information is available on the Government of Saskatchewan website.
• WorkSafe Saskatchewan offers training for OHS Representatives.

I have 10 or more employees:

• OHS committees must be established in workplaces where there are 10 or more employees.
• OHS Committees work with employers and workers to create a healthy and safe work environment by detecting OHS hazards and developing practical approaches to eliminate or control those hazards.
• An OHC must have between two and 12 members and at least half must be workers not involved in management. Employers select the employer members; they cannot out-number the worker members.
• Duties include: helping employers identify, eliminate, or control hazards; talking with workers about health and safety concerns and helping resolve the concerns; inspecting the workplace regularly; and investigating reportable accidents and dangerous occurrences.
• More information is available on the Government of Saskatchewan website.
• WorkSafe Saskatchewan offers training for OHS Committees.

Health & Safety Program:

If you have 10 or more employees and work in the below types of workplaces, you are required to have an Occupational Health and Safety program.

Types of places of employment:

• Hospitals, nursing homes and home care.
• Metal foundries and mills, and,
• Mines.

Places of employment at which the following types of work are performed:

• Aerial crop spraying, operation of helicopters, water bombing.
• Auto body and automotive paint repairing, bumper electroplating, and auto.
• Rust proofing, auto glass installation, auto vinyl roofing, fibreglassing boats.
• Building construction.
• Camp catering.
• Farming and ranching.
• Forestry work other than pulp and paper production.
• Forwarding and warehousing as a business.
• Metal manufacturing and machining, marble works, and concrete block.
• Ready mix manufacturing.
• Oil well servicing.
• Oil and gas drilling, well servicing with a rig, water well drilling.
• Processing meat, poultry and fish.
• Road construction and earthwork, urban sewer and water construction.
• Tunneling.
• Trucking.
• Wholesale baking, dairy products, soft drinks and food preparation and,
• Packaging.

For more information, check WorkSafe Saskatchewan’s Guide to Developing a Health & Safety Program.

First-aid Kit & Requirements:

• Employers, contractors or owners must provide First-aid training and have First-aid supplies at their workplaces.
• The number of First-aid attendants needed, the extent of First-aid training, as well as the amount and the type of first aid supplies required, depend on the number of workers, distance to a medical facility, and how hazardous the work is.

See attached for the Summary of First-aid Requirements to determine what is necessary in your workplace. 

As the Regulation does not specify quantities for First-aid Kits, please see the table on page 9 of Occupational Health & Safety - First Aid in Saskatchewan Workplaces (2004).

New & Young Workers:

• The general minimum age of employment in Saskatchewan is age 16. To work in Saskatchewan, 14- and 15-year-olds are required to complete the Young Worker Readiness Certificate Course (YWRCC).
• Young people under the age of 14 cannot work unless the employer has an Authorization to Vary Youth Employment Permit from the Director of Employment Standards.
• Minimum age of employment rules do not apply to:
  • Family businesses employing only immediate family.
  • Self-employed.
  • Traditional farming operations.
  • Babysitters, and,
  • Newspaper carriers.

Click here for more information on New & Young Worker Regulations in Saskatchewan.

Harassment Prevention:

Employers have the responsibility to ensure a harassment-free workplace. What you will need to do:

• Understand what harassment is and take steps to prevent it from taking place.
• Create a harassment prevention policy.
• Prepare procedures for reporting an incident.
• Prepare Investigation procedures.

Learn more about what harassment is and how to deal with it in the workplace.

Violence Prevention:

Employers in the industries below must develop and implement a policy to deal with violence in the workplace:

• Services provided by health care facilities.
• Pharmaceutical-dispensing services.
• Education services.
• Police services.
• Corrections services.
• Other law enforcement services.
• Security services.
• Crisis counseling and intervention services.
• Late night retail premises.
• Financial services.
• The sale of alcoholic beverages or the provision of premises for the consumption of alcoholic beverages.
• Taxi services, and,
• Transit services.

Workers must be consulted in the development of the violence policy statement and in the implementation of the written violence policy statement and prevention plan.

The violence policy statement and prevention plan must include:

• The employer's commitment to minimize and eliminate risk, and to review and update the plan every 3 years.
• Identification of the worksite(s) where violent situations have occurred or may occur.
• Identification of staff positions that have or could be exposed to violent situations.
• The actions an employer will take to minimize and eliminate the risk of violence.
• The procedures for reporting a violent incident to the employer.
• The procedures the employer will follow to investigate violent incidents.

Learn more about how to deal violence in the workplace.

WHMIS Training:

• WHMIS is a legal requirement to protect employees who work with hazardous materials. Not sure if this is relevant to your workplace? If any products on the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) classes of hazardous materials list are present, your staff must have WHMIS.
• CFIB members can access a free online WHMIS course from VuBIZ.

CFIB is here to help you!

In addition to the Health and Safety Requirements, there are several other compliance measures your business should be considering. You can always contact Business Resources for further information, for an example of a Health and Safety Policy, Emergency Communication Procedure, or for more details on any Occupational Health and Safety issues at 1.888.234.2232 or email us at mssask@cfib.ca.