At the end of the day, every person should return home safe from work. It goes without saying, yet injuries and safety violations happen too often across all lines of employment that endanger lives. Thankfully, regulations exist to protect people and your safety—understanding your rights could mean the difference between a healthy job and an unhealthy one.
Safety in the workplace is more than safety from catastrophic life-altering injury. Regulations include everything from proper ventilation to ergonomic workstations, safety training, and PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). Unfortunately, these standards are set because too many employees have suffered and died in the workplace because common sense standards were not applied.
Understanding Provincial Safety Laws
In Alberta, The Occupational Health and Safety Act outlines jurisdictional governing standards that stipulate what is safe in the workplace. There are stipulated duties of care for employers, supervisors and even employees themselves. Employers are meant to provide proper safety conditions, safety instruction, and necessary PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). Employees should be aware of hazards, be able to contribute to safety programs and refuse work if conditions are unsafe.
Yet the average employee doesn’t know how protected they are. Employment standards extend beyond a stocked first-aid kit in the break room. Employers must maintain safety inspections and OSHA record keeping to note trends in injury either based on employee action or inadequate precautions.
In a unionized setting, additional layers of caution exist via collective bargaining agreements. Unions like the Alberta teamsters union advocate for stronger safety standards which means workers have advocates when employers fail to provide basic needs—and all employees need their voices boosted.
Safety training is also mandated depending upon duty. Construction employees need different safety oversight than an office needs from safety oversight from retail and industrial employees. Unfortunately, once again, those lazy employers seeking to cut corners fail to include—let alone minimize—safety training in the name of expedience and getting the job done.
Right to Refuse Work
One of the best forms of protection is having the right to refuse work to the employee’s discretion as unsafe. It’s not about laziness; it’s about protecting oneself if working conditions are not up to snuff.
When employees notify supervisors/employers about an unsafe condition, there is a process in which someone above them needs to respond. In the interim, employees are protected from lost pay—or termination—for refusing to work while waiting for a response.
Unfortunately, employers fire employees all the time who raise challenges to unsafe worksites. They don’t always fire them overtly, but they cut hours or otherwise give poor shifts to make an employee want to quit. Or otherwise paper trail them with something that would inevitably look bad on a resume. The best forms of protection stem from guaranteed rights to employment without sanction.
A Dangerous Work Environment
Safety violations occur more than most people realize—whether it’s financially motivated, or due to inconvenience, negligence or ignorance, employees need to know what to do when their employers cannot create a safe work atmosphere.
First is always looking within. If there is a safety committee or a designated committee overseeing safety concerns, it must be notified first; documentation is key—date and time, what violations exist (or fail to exist) according to the Occupation Health and Safety stipulations need to be noted should this step fail.
Second is contacting provincial safety officers who can come in for an inspection. Investigators will check the scene and determine if compliance—or lack thereof—exists, and if so, can shift employees away from the scene at the employer’s expense due to non-compliance. Reporting mechanisms are also confidential; employers should never know who reported the issue unless that employee divulges that information.
Third, injury compensation exists for those injured as a result of violations. Workers’ compensation will account for medical expenses, lost wages, and rehabilitation moving forward—but filing these claims can be complicated when going up against powerful employers.
Creating a Safety-Oriented Environment
The best way to maintain successful safety measures comes from employee-driven concerns instead of just employer top-down mandates. Safety committees should have both management and employee stakeholders; employees may flag important issues their managers may otherwise ignore. Weekly or bi-weekly safety check-ins keep safety at the forefront of people’s minds and not as an afterthought.
Good employers recognize that lower insurance costs and fewer lost-time employees from injury mean investment in safety is worthwhile down the line. Bad employers fail to recognize it as an investment and instead see it as a cost.
Employees have more power than they realize in maintaining a safe workspace. Employees must act when hazards are present and supervisors are aware; colleagues who support their coworkers who flag deviations from the norm raise better chances for success.
The key is understanding that workplace safety isn’t just the employer’s responsibility. While employers have the primary duty to provide safe working conditions, workers also have rights and responsibilities in creating safe workplaces. Knowing these rights and how to exercise them effectively can prevent injuries and save lives.
