CHAPTER 2

Part III

CANADIAN OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND

SAFETY LEGISLATION

HISTORY
Canadian provincial and federal occupational health and safety (OH&S) legislation was mod-
eled after the British Factory Act from the 17th century. One of the first provincial OH&S
statutes was the Ontario Factory Act of 1884. The act provided for prohibitions on work site
activities for children and women and restricted work hours for all employees. However, the
act was extremely vague in definition and was therefore unenforceable. A first step, it did
little to protect workers. The act favoured employers because it did not clearly specify limits
of production although it attempted to make production safer. Eighty years went by with
little change in safeguards to the workplace.

A greater emphasis on workplace safety developed around 1964, when provincial legislation
took the form of industrial safety acts or OH&S acts. The Ontario Industrial Safety Act of that
era defined safety as ‘‘freedom from injury to the body or freedom from damage to health.’’1

In the 1960s and 1970s, issues of silicosis from uranium mining and asbestosis from asbestos
production caused greater concerns over health and safety conditions. The Ham Commission
in Ontario, appointed in 1974 to investigate health and safety in mines, included more than

1
Industrial Safety Act, R.S.O., 1964.

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100 recommendations on mine health and safety. The Ham Commission also introduced the
concept of accountability for government, employers, and workers, requiring that they work
together to improve health and safety at the work site. The commission encouraged joint
labour/management health and safety committees, providing workers for the first time with
the right to participate in health and safety recommendations.

The various Canadian OS&H statutes are listed in the accompanying table.

Canadian Occupational Health & Safety Statutes

Jurisdiction Statute
Federal Canadian Labour Code—Part II
Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Act
British Columbia Workers Compensation Act
Manitoba Workplace Safety and Health Act
New Brunswick Occupational Health and Safety Act
Newfoundland Occupational Health and Safety Act
Nova Scotia Occupational Health and Safety Act
Northwest Territories Safety Act
Nunavut Safety Act
Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act
Prince Edward Island Occupational Health and Safety Act
Quebec An Act Respecting Occupational Health and Safety
Saskatchewan Occupational Health and Safety Act
The Yukon Occupational Health and Safety Act

In addition to OH&S legislation and regulations, the federal and provincial governments may
also have specific acts relating to safety in various industries, including nuclear, railway,
trucking, shipping, motor vehicle, aviation, mining, oil, and gas.

Occupational health and safety acts provide for three fundamental rights of workers:

● The right to be advised about workplace health and safety hazards

● The right to participate in recommendations through hazard assessments or joint safety

committees

● The right to refuse work that endangers their health or safety

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THE RIGHT TO BE ADVISED

The acts place a duty on the employer to notify the worker of any risks in the work site.

THE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE

The employer has a duty to allow workers to participate in an OH&S program. This may be
in the form of joint committees or participation in hazard assessments. Members of a joint
committee may have the right to participate in the development of training programs, testing
processes, or safety incident investigations. The committees also participate in recommenda-
tions to employers for methods of improving conditions.

THE RIGHT TO REFUSE WORK

The legislation also provides for the right of employees to refuse work under limited circum-
stances where it may endanger their health or safety.

COMPONENTS OF A HEALTH AND SAFETY PROGRAM

The nature of security is such that it has a close synergy with safety within an organization.
Often security either has responsibility for safety within the organization or has a responsibility
to support health and safety programs. The main components of a safety program are compa-
rable with those of a security program. Most safety programs include the following compo-
nents:

● risk analysis

● a policy outlining management commitment

● investigations of accidents, incidents, and near misses

● training

● surveys

● communications (meetings, rewards, promotions, and inductions)

● contractor and off-the-job component

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DEFINITIONS
The following definitions apply to key terms in occupational health and safety:

Safety Control of loss

Accident An undesired event that results in harm to people, damage to property, or

loss to process

Incident An undesired event that under slightly different circumstances could have
resulted in harm to people, damage to property, or loss to process (in other
words, could have been an accident)

Critical Task A task which has produced or possesses the potential to produce a major
loss to

● people,

● property,

● process,

● environment, or

● business

when not performed properly.

In order to properly track safety statistics both within the various working sites of an organiza-
tion and externally with other organizations, it is necessary to adopt a standardized system
of accident classification. Doing so allows an organization to compare its program with other
organizations in similar activities. The accompanying table lists eight classes of accidents.

Accident Classification
1. Fatality
2. Permanent Total Disability
3. Permanent Partial Disability Numbers 1-6 are usually referred to as
4. Lost Time Injury recordable injuries.
5. Restricted Work Injury
6. Medical Treatment Injury
7. First Aid
8. Near miss

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SAFETY STATISTICS
Most organizations compare their safety statistics with some version of a formula for total
recordable injury frequency (TRIF). The formula divides the number of total recordable
injuries by the number of exposure (working) hours and multiplies the result by 200,000.
(The average worker has 2,000 hours per year, so 200,000 roughly represents the exposure
hours of 100 workers). The formula is as follows:

#TRI
TRIF   200,000
Exposure Hours

Lost time injury frequency is another statistic that is often used for comparison. This formula
divides the number of lost time injuries by the exposure hours and multiplies the result by
200,000. The formula is as follows:

#LTI
LTIF   200,000
Exposure Hours

IDENTIFICATION OF CAUSE
One of the most fundamental methods of reducing the number of safety incidents is an
investigation or root cause analysis to establish the cause of any incident, accident, or near
miss. The significant difference between security investigations and safety investigations is
that the thrust of the safety investigation must be fact finding, not fault finding. The safety
investigator looks beyond the obvious cause of the loss to people, property, process, or profit
to establish the contact that caused the loss. From there, the investigator establishes the
immediate cause of the loss, the basic cause, and finally the management control issue that
was the ultimate reason for the event. The accompanying chart shows the cause-finding
process in a safety investigation.
Identification of Cause

LOSS CONTACT IMMEDIATE BASIC CAUSE MANAGEMENT

CAUSE CONTROL
People With substance
Property ➔ or source of ➔ Substandard ➔ Personal ➔ Inadequate program,
Process energy beyond act or or standards or
Profit tolerance condition job factors compliance

PROACTIVE APPROACH
Organizations with a strong safety program develop a five-part proactive approach to manag-
ing safety. The steps are as follows:

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1. Develop an adequate program.

2. Establish adequate standards.

3. Maintain compliance with the standards.

4. Control activities that cause risk.

5. Conduct investigations to determine causes and provide for corrections.

ENFORCEMENT
Occupational health and safety officers (also called ‘‘inspectors’’) have broad powers within
the federal and provincial statutes. Powers include the right to enter any workplace without
a warrant or notice to question any person in relation to the inspection. They also have the
right to handle, use, or test any equipment, machinery, or material and to take away samples.
They have the right to review any documents or records and take them from the workplace.

Where there is a joint health and safety committee, a worker representative has the right to
accompany the inspector. The worker representative may be a worker member of the joint
committee, a health and safety representative, or another knowledgeable and experienced
worker (selected by the union, if there is one). This worker is considered to be at work during
the inspection and must be paid at the applicable rates of pay. The inspector can also be
accompanied by a person with special expertise or professional knowledge. For example, an
inspector may bring an engineer into a workplace to test machinery for purposes of operator
safety. The employer and all workers must do everything possible to assist an inspector, and
it is a contravention to interfere in any way with an inspection. Interference includes giving
false information, failing to give required information, or interfering with any monitoring
equipment left in the workplace.

INSPECTORS’ ORDERS
Inspectors have the right to prepare a report and may make recommendations for improved
health and safety practices. Where there is a contravention of the legislation or the regulations,
the inspector will issue written orders or directives to the employer to be in compliance
within a certain period or immediately if the hazard is serious and imminent. The order may
require the work site to submit a plan specifying how it will comply with the act or regulations.
Inspectors also have the right to shut down a work site or some portion of it where there is
imminent danger. Where an inspector has stopped work at a site, the site cannot be restarted
without a further inspection. The legislation contains provisions for the appeal of an inspec-
tor’s order.

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Inspectors may also conduct investigations where there is a serious or fatal injury. These are
often conducted when the inspector is accompanied by a representative of the employer and
a representative of the workers. There is, again, a duty to cooperate with an inspector during
an investigation.

OFFENCES AND PENALTIES

Most legislation provides for prosecution of any person or employer for a contravention of
the act or regulations or for failing to comply with an order of an inspector or a ministry. In
deciding whether to prosecute, the ministry or the inspector will take into account the
seriousness of the offence and will also consider whether there have been repeated contraven-
tions or ignoring of orders. Maximum penalties vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction but
provide for fines and imprisonment.

WHMIS
The Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) is both federal and provin-
cial. The federal statute sets standards for communication regarding hazardous materials.
The statute has three main components: labelling standards, the requirement for material
safety data sheets (MSDSs), and training programs. Labelling and MSDS requirements are
governed by the Hazardous Products Act2 and the Controlled Products Regulations.3 They
establish national standards for the classification of hazardous materials and set out require-
ments for environmental health hazards.

The provinces and territories have established WHMIS requirements for employers within
their jurisdictions. They require that hazardous products that are used, stored, handled, or
disposed of in the workplace be properly labelled and that MSDSs be available for workers and
for consumers of the company’s products. They also require that workers receive education on
the storage, handling, and use of any of the controlled products they may handle.

WORKING ALONE LEGISLATION

British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba have ‘‘working alone’’ legislation
that specifically addresses safety requirements for workers in isolation. In British Columbia,
the legislation is contained in the WCB Occupational Health and Safety Regulations4; in
Alberta, they are contained in the Occupational Health and Safety Codes.5 The Alberta statute

2
R.S., c. H-3.
3
SOR/88-66
4
B.C. Reg. 296/97.
5
Reg. 321/2003.

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was passed as a result of the murder of a retail worker on a late night shift in a fast food
outlet. The acts require that the employer conduct a hazard assessment and develop and
implement written procedures for checking the well-being of a worker assigned to work alone
where there is a risk of injury or violence. The concern of the acts is to ensure that workers
are able to secure assistance in the event of injury through accident or a criminal act. Workers
in isolation include employees who travel alone. Procedures must include a protocol for
checking a worker’s well-being and must establish the time interval between checks and
the procedure to follow in case the worker cannot be contacted, including provisions for
emergency rescue.

The statutes also require that a person be designated to establish contact with the worker at
the predetermined intervals and that the results be recorded. They also require that there be
a check at the end of the work shift. Time intervals for checking a worker’s well-being must
be developed in consultation with the worker assigned to work in isolation. High risk activities
require a shorter interval between checks. The preferred method for checking is visual or
two-way voice contact. Where that approach is not practical, a one-way system that allows
the worker to call or signal for help and that sends a call for help if the worker does not reset
the device after a predetermined interval is acceptable. Training is required for anyone working
in isolation and for anyone assigned to check on the worker.

Working alone procedures must be reviewed at least annually, and a review must also be
conducted if work arrangements are changed in a way that could adversely affect a worker’s
well-being or if a system is reported not to be working effectively.

WORKPLACE VIOLENCE
British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan specifically address workplace violence in their
OH&S legislation, and other provinces either have draft legislation or are considering it. British
Columbia defines violence to include only an act by a person other than a worker. The
statute states:

‘‘Violence’’ means the attempted or actual exercise by a person, other than a worker, of any
physical force so as to cause injury to a worker, and includes any threatening statement or
behaviour which gives a worker reasonable cause to believe that he or she is at risk of injury.6

The British Columbia Workers Compensation Board expressed the opinion that internal acts
of violence are already covered by other sections of the act.

The statutes generally require that a risk assessment be performed in any workplace where
there is a risk of injury to workers from violence arising out of their employment. The

6
Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, B.C. Reg. 296/97, s. 4.27.

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risk assessment must include the consideration of previous experience in that workplace,
occupational experience in similar workplaces, and the location and circumstances in which
the work will take place.

Procedures, policies, and work environment arrangements should be established to eliminate

the risk to workers from violence. If elimination of the risk to workers is not possible, there
should be procedures, policies, and work arrangements to minimize the risk to workers.

The violence policy statement must be readily available to workers and must include the
following elements:

● employer’s commitment to minimize or eliminate the risk

● identification of the worksites where violent situations have occurred or may occur

● identification of any staff positions that have been or may be exposed to violent situations

● steps that the employer will take to inform workers of the nature and extent of the risk
of violence

● actions that the employer will take to minimize or eliminate the risk

● reporting procedure to be used by a worker who has been exposed to a violent incident

● procedure that the employer will follow to document and investigate a violent incident

● recommendation that any worker who has been exposed to a violent incident consult
a physician for treatment or referral for post-incident counseling

● employer’s commitment to provide a training program

Many employers meet the requirement to create a workplace violence policy by including
violence in a respectful workplace or harassment policy.

The Saskatchewan statute applies specifically to the following types of employers:

● health care facilities (hospitals, nursing homes, special-care homes, and home care)

● pharmaceutical-dispensing services (such as drug stores and pharmacies)

● education services

● police services

● corrections services

● other law enforcement services (such as government inspection/enforcement services)

● security services

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● crisis counseling and intervention services

● retail establishments open between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

● financial services (such as credit unions and cheque cashing establishments)

● premises used for the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages (such as bars and
licensed restaurants)

● taxi services

● transit services

The employer must provide instruction addressing the nature and extent of the risk to workers
who may be exposed to the risk of violence. The British Columbia statute also provides for
a duty to inform workers of the risk from persons who have a history of violent behaviour
and whom workers are likely to encounter in the course of their work. The training must
include instruction on recognition of the potential for violence; the procedures, policies, and
work arrangements developed to minimize or control the risk to workers; and the appropriate
response to incidents of violence, including means of obtaining assistance and procedures
for reporting, investigating, and documenting incidents.

The employer must also ensure that a worker reporting an injury or adverse symptom as a
result of an incident of violence is advised to consult a physician of the worker’s choice.

CRIMINAL CODE SANCTIONS

In 2004 the federal government passed amendments to the Criminal Code in Bill C-45. The
bill provided for a new occupational health and safety criminal negligence offence. The bill
expanded corporate criminal liability for all offences to make it easier for prosecutors to
convict organizations and senior officers. It also created a new offence of criminal negligence
for health and safety offences.

The bill was created to do the following:

● Establish rules for attributing criminal liability to organizations, including corporations,

for the acts of their representatives.

● Establish a legal duty for all persons directing work to take reasonable steps to ensure
the safety of workers and the public.

● Set out factors for courts to consider when sentencing an organization.

● Provide optional conditions of probation that a court may impose on an organization.

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The bill provided for a new section in the Criminal Code:

Every one who undertakes, or has the authority, to direct how another person does work or
performs a task is under a legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent bodily harm to that
person, or any other person, arising from that work or task.7

The bill is a response to the Westray mine disaster in Nova Scotia, in which 14 miners were
killed as a result of poor safety practices. It also addresses other offences in the Criminal
Code, including fraud and false pretences, and was part of a federal initiative on corporate
governance as a result of the Enron scandal and other financial problems in the United States.

Criminal negligence is established where the organization or individual, in doing anything

or in omitting to do anything that is a legal duty, shows wanton or reckless disregard for the
lives or safety of others.

The amendments move the burden of proof on the prosecution from standard criminal
liability to a strict liability offence where the Crown does not need to prove intent to commit
a contravention. The penalties in the amendments provide for maximum imprisonment for
senior officers from 10 years to life depending on the seriousness of the offence, and they
provide for unlimited fines for the organization.

The Criminal Code sanctions do not preclude occupational health and safety authorities from
taking parallel action for the same incident. Meeting minimum legislated standards may not
be enough if similar organizations have more stringent programs.

The definition of an organization is very broad. It includes the following:

Public body, body corporate, society, company, firm, partnership, trade union, municipality and
associations, with a common structure that holds itself out as an association.8

The previous common law definition required that the individual be a ‘‘directing mind’’ of
the organization, but the amendments changed the definition of a senior officer to a lower
level within the organization:

‘‘Senior officer’’ means a representative who plays an important role in the establishment of an
organization’s policies or is responsible for managing an important aspect of the organization’s
activities and, in the case of a body corporate, includes a director, its chief executive officer and
its chief financial officer. . .9

The organization, employees, or both may be charged with criminal negligence where a senior
officer does any of the following:

7
R.S., c. C-34, s. 217.1.
8
R.S., c. C 34, s. 2.
9
R.S., c. C 34, s. 2.

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● commits the offence

● directs a representative to commit the offence

● fails to prevent a representative from committing an offence that the individual knew
was about to occur

● demonstrates a lack of care

Preventive measures that an organization may undertake to avoid criminal liability include
security surveys to identify risk; implementation of appropriate countermeasures; staff training
and awareness; a paper trail for any safety measures implemented; physical security; contin-
gency planning; and creating the right culture. The organization may use due diligence as
a defence.

CONCLUSION
Canada’s occupational and health and safety legislation is based on the right of the employee
to be advised of risks, to participate in safety programs, and to refuse work that may cause
risk. There is a duty on the employer to provide a safe work environment, including protection
from violence at the work site.

APPENDIX

Appendix A: Comparison of Occupational Health and Safety Legislation

Appendix B: Violence in the Workplace: Risk Assessment

Appendix C: Violent Incident or Threat Report

Appendix D: Working Alone Policy

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APPENDIX A

COMPARISON OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY LEGISLATION

Federal AB BC MN NB NFLD NS NWT NT ON PEI QC SK YK
INSPECTIONS
● Right of entry ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

● Issue orders and

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
directives
● Power to obtain
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
information
ENFORCEMENT
● Closure orders ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

● Administrative
● ●
procedures
● Prosecution ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

RIGHTS AND DUTIES

● Right to know ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

● Right to participate ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

● Right to refuse
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
unsafe work
● Protection from
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
discrimination
● Protective
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
reassignment
● Duty to promote
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
health and safety
● Duty to provide
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
training
● Occupational health/
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
medical programs
● Confidentiality of
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
information

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APPENDIX B

VIOLENCE IN THE WORKPLACE RISK ASSESSMENT

Location: Date:
1. Is your workplace involved with financial transactions or licenses and permits? If Yes, please explain:
2. Does your workplace deal with environmental issues, enforcement, regulations and compliance, dispute
resolution, or the courts? If Yes, please list:
3. Is your workplace involved with persons who themselves are at risk or who may be emotionally unstable or
distraught? If Yes, please explain:
4. Are there businesses or other organizations in close proximity that deal with high risk clients? If Yes,
please list:
5. Is the work location in a high crime area? If Yes, please explain:
6. How many workers are usually employed at your workplace? Please give approximate number:
7. Is there ever a situation where a worker is working alone? If Yes, please explain:
8. Is it a high traffic workplace with a large number of clients? If Yes, please give approximate number of
clients per hour:
9. Is it easy for clients or others to gain access to the work area without authorization? If Yes, please explain
how:
10. Are the public access areas and private workplaces clearly marked and separated? If Yes, please explain
how:
11. Are employees regularly outside an office and subject to working alone or in non-secure or high crime
areas? If Yes, please explain:
12. Are equipment, tools, or utensils easily at hand that could be used by a client in a violent act? If Yes,
please list:
13. Is there a record of violent acts or threats at your workplace in recent history (2-3 years)? If Yes, please
explain:
14. Do you record any incidents of physical or verbal abuse/threats? If Yes, please explain:
15. Have the police ever been summoned to your workplace? If Yes, please explain:
16. Have you or any of your coworkers had any training in hostility management? If Yes, please explain:
17. Are workers working alone or in isolation, or in locations not readily accessible by other workers, able to
obtain assistance should it be required? If Yes, please explain how:
18. Have you witnessed any incidents of verbal or physical violence? If Yes, please list:
19. Are you aware of polices or procedures at your workplace related to violence prevention? If Yes, please list:
20. A safe room is a room that is easily accessed and locked from inside by a worker, is equipped with a
telephone or other means of communicating with authorities, and is not accessible to the public. Does your
workplace have easy access to a safe room or to an alternative exit that is not used by the public? If Yes,
please describe:
21. What strategies have been implemented to eliminate or reduce the potential for violence? Please explain:
Other comments:

Courtesy British Columbia Public Service Agency.

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APPENDIX C

VIOLENT INCIDENT OR THREAT REPORT

1. Identifying Information
Name Job Title

Workplace
Location/Address

Location of Incident (Specify—for example, reception, hallway 2nd floor, road check, etc.)

Date and Time of Incident

Type of Assault/Threat □ Verbal □ Struck □ Pushed □ Written Threat

□ Telephone Threat □ Other

Add additional information on nature of threat, if appropriate (e.g., struck with, bitten, etc.)

Describe incident (what happened). Use additional paper if required.

Medical attention/first aid obtained? Yes No

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2. Assailant
Who was the assailant, if known (name or position)?

Description □ Male □ Female

Age Complexion Height Weight

Other

3. Other Information
Was the assailant (if known) in any previous violent incidents? □ Yes □ No

Have there been similar incidents in the past? □ Yes □ No

Are there any measures in place to prevent a similar incident? □ Yes □ No

Please provide any additional information you think may be relevant, including any recommendations for preventive
measures.

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Investigation initiated? □ Yes □ No

Reported to supervisor? □ Yes □ No

Reported to police or security? □ Yes □ No

Name of supervisor

Note: This report does not take the place of an incident investigation report but can be attached to it.

Courtesy British Columbia Public Service Agency.

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APPENDIX D

WORKING ALONE POLICY

1. PURPOSE
To ensure employee safety and provide a means of notification and assistance when the
employee is working alone or in isolation.

2. POLICY
Employees working alone or in isolation and who face a risk of a disabling injury and who
might not be able to secure assistance in the event of injury or emergency will be tracked
by a person check system. Managers/supervisors will ensure that all employees required to
work alone are trained and instructed in working-alone procedures and risk levels.

For the purposes of this policy, general risk categories of working alone include the following
(note that the list does not replace a more detailed risk assessment where that may be required):

Risk Level 1

● working alone in an identified low risk office or similar building location, either before
or after normal working hours

● travelling alone on regularly used public roads

Typical tasks

● no direct interaction with customers/clients

● working over the phone with customers/clients

● engaging in other work activities that present a low risk of injury

Risk Level 2

● traveling or working alone in remote or rural areas or on infrequently travelled roads in

low or medium risk situations

● working in isolated situations in low or medium risk situations

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Typical Tasks

● interacting with customers/clients not known or predicted to exhibit aggressive behavior

● traveling alone in remote/rural locations

● engaging in work activities, alone or in isolation, that have an identified risk for injury
for which immediate assistance may not be available

Risk Level 3

● working alone or in isolation in high risk situations

Typical Tasks

● interacting with clients known or believed to exhibit violent behavior

● engaging in other high risk work activities

Note: Working alone or in isolation in high risk situations should be eliminated where possible,
and the worker should work or travel with a coworker.

3. REQUIRED CHECK-IN PROCEDURES

Risk Level 1
Employee advises manager/supervisor or other personal contact of schedule and location.
Formal check-in is not required.

Risk Level 2 or 3
Employee initiates check-in procedure, consistent with working alone program requirements:

● Employee ensures that his or her cellular phone, radio phone, pager, or other communica-
tions device is working normally.

● Employee advises the contact person of the following:

 request for a person-check
 name
 location, intended destination, and route of travel
 estimated duration of travel time or visit

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 any pertinent details/circumstances, such as remote location, hazardous area due to

location, or possible threat situation
 time employee will be checking in again
 cellular phone number or radio phone frequency
 manager’s/supervisor’s name and phone number (if applicable)
 vehicle make, model, colour, and license number, especially when travelling in a
remote location.

● Employee reports any itinerary changes immediately to the contact person.

● If employee forgets to check in when required and realizes he or she is overdue, the
employee should immediately phone the contact person.

Emergency Contact Only

If the employee needs emergency assistance, such as police attendance or medical assistance,
he or she should phone 911 or . The employee should obtain the
emergency contact number before travelling. If unable to contact emergency assistance, the
employee should phone the contact person. When calling either emergency services or the
contact person, the employee should state his or her name and identify the nature of the
emergency and the location. If the employee is unable to talk and has dialed 911, he or she
should not hang up. The employee should stay in place if he or she is able and it is safe to
do so.

Contact Person
The contact person should record all information given by the checking-in employee, including
the following:

● employee’s name

● current task or activity

● intended destination

● estimated travel time and duration

● any pertinent details/circumstances, such as remote location, hazardous area due to

location, or possible threat situation

● time the employee will be checking in again

● cellular phone number, radio frequency, or pager number

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● manager’s/supervisor’s name and phone number, if not already known

● vehicle make, model, colour, and license number, as required

If the employee has not called by check-in time, the contact person should initiate a follow-
up with the last phone number the employee gave. The contact person should confirm that
he or she has the correct number. If practical and especially if the work location is isolated
but near at hand, the contact person should dispatch another worker to check on the employee.

If the person-check is unsuccessful, the contact person should contact the appropriate man-
ager/supervisor or initiate designated response procedures.

Response should include contacting the following parties:

● last known and next parties the employee was scheduled to visit

● employee’s designated personal emergency contact person, as directed by the supervisor

or following previously agreed procedures

● Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) or local police, as directed by the supervisor
or following previously agreed procedures

The caller should then follow the instructions of the supervisor, RCMP, or local police as
required.

The decision for initiating a search will be based on several factors:

● location of the employee—the more remote or isolated the location, the more quickly
a search will be initiated

● degree of hazard associated with the job or task the employee was undertaking

● the extent to which changing conditions make a search more critical (such as weather
or darkness)

Employee safety is a first priority. A search will be initiated if the supervisor has any doubts
with regard to the well-being of the employee. Depending on the situation, the supervisor
may call on the following resources:

● other employees, trained and/or equipped as conditions require

● search and rescue through the local police, RCMP, or Coast Guard

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4. DETERMINING THE CHECK-IN INTERVALS BASED ON RISK

As described above, the specific check-in procedure must reflect the risk associated with the
working alone activity. The level of risk will determine how often the check-in should occur.
It may also help determine how the employee will communicate. The lower the risk, the less
frequent the check, and the higher the risk, the more frequent. Higher risk tasks may also
require more sophisticated communication devices, especially for remote locations.

5. CHECKOUT PROCEDURE
When the work is finished, the worker will check out by notifying the contact person. The
contact person will record the checkout and close the file or log.

6. PROGRAM REVIEW
The policies and procedures established for the working alone program should be reviewed
annually, when a change to work arrangements has occurred, or when an incident and
resulting investigation indicates program improvements are necessary.

Those responsible should consult with occupational health and ensure the following:

● Working alone procedures are in place and working effectively.

● Positions, tasks, or situations that pose a risk of working alone have been identified, and
any necessary risk assessments have been undertaken.

● Reports of incidents that have occurred since the last review period are reviewed in
order to determine if appropriate follow-up and prevention actions have been taken.

7. DOCUMENTATION
The working alone program should include the following key documentation:

● inventory of positions, tasks, or situations where workers are required to work alone or
in isolation

● completed risk assessments

● working alone policy or procedures

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● training records for affected workers and the contact person

● contact person log book

● minutes of safety meetings related to the working alone program

● results of the program review

WORKING ALONE POLICY: ATTACHMENT 1—

EXAMPLES OF POSITIONS THAT MAY INVOLVE
WORKING ALONE OR IN ISOLATION

● facility operator or attendant on weekends or evenings

● janitorial and maintenance staff

● inspectors, regulatory persons, or family support workers at or travelling to investigations

or meetings

● custodial guards and security guards

● technicians or inspection staff on call-out after hours or undertaking sampling or servicing

in remote or isolated locations

● residential caretakers

● enforcement staff on patrol

● building inspectors

● workers who travel in the course of work and who travel on rural, remote, or other
seldom travelled roads by car, boat, or other means

● regulation or bylaw enforcement officers

Courtesy British Columbia Public Service Agency.

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WORKING ALONE POLICY: ATTACHMENT 2—

RISK ASSESSMENT WORK SHEET
Job Title: Assessment Done By:
Task: Date:

(A) (B) (C) (D) (E) (F) (G)

Kinds of Hazard Examples Worst Likelihood Likelihood Likelihood Rating
(based on history) Probable of the of Disabling of Help DEF
Incident Accident Injury Available (if above
That Could Happening 250, check-
Happen to in required)
Worker
Use of Equipment Equipment with rotating
or moving parts that can
cut, crush, clip, puncture,
catch, or pull
Machine or vehicle
movements
Free movement of parts
or material (falling,
sliding, tipping, flying off,
swinging, collapsing),
resulting in employee
being hit
Work Practice or Hazardous surfaces,
Layout working at heights,
awkward movements or
postures (such as over
terrain or during
inspection of equipment
or structures), tripping/
slipping on wet or
slippery surface, struck
by, struck against, falling
Use of/Proximity to Power lines, step
Electricity or Other potential, static,
Energy Source grounding
Electrical switch gear and
installations, circuits
Lightning
Environmental Corrosion, oxidation,
Factors and asphyxiation, poisoning,
Working Climate explosion, infection,
drowning
Fire, illumination,
radiation, steam, hot
materials, cold, freezing

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WORKING ALONE POLICY: ATTACHMENT 2—

RISK ASSESSMENT WORK SHEET, (cont.)

(A) (B) (C) (D) (E) (F) (G)

Kinds of Hazard Examples Worst Likelihood Likelihood Likelihood Rating
(based on history) Probable of the of Disabling of Help DEF
Incident Accident Injury Available (if above
That Could Happening 250, check-
Happen to in required)
Worker
Interaction with Working with clients with
Others and Human known or suspected
Factors violent behaviours
Enforcement and
inspection of known or
suspected violators
Isolation, remoteness to
human contact
Other

INSTRUCTIONS
Complete the work sheet with the worker for each situation where a worker is working alone and may be at risk of an
injury that would prevent him or her from obtaining help.
Consider which hazards in column (A) might apply and specify the injury in column (C).
For column (D), assess the probability of the accident.
For column (E), assess the likelihood that the accident would result in an injury serious enough to be disabling.
For column (F), assess the likelihood of help being available to the worker.
Rate the requirement for check-in by multiplying the number in column (D) by the number in column (E) by the
number in column (F), and enter the number in Column (G)

CHECK-IN INTERVALS
For values of (G) up to 200 (low), no further action is required.
For values of (G) between 200 and 400 (moderate), a check-in procedure must be instituted.
● At minimum, a check-in at the start and at the end of the task is required.
● An intermediate check-in will be likely, depending on the length of time spent undertaking the task.
For values of (G) higher than 400 (high), the checks must be frequent.
● More frequent check-in will be required in situations that have had a previous history of hazard exposure (remote
travel in winter conditions on roads with known poor road conditions, or enforcement or inspection tasks with known
or suspected violent or abusive persons, etc.).
● More frequent check-in will be required where conditions or circumstances can change rapidly (weather, terrain, etc.).
● Intervals of 30 minutes or less should be considered in high risk situations.

Courtesy British Columbia Public Service Agency.

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REFERENCES
Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Codes. Reg. 321/2003.

Bill C-45. R.S., c. C-34, s. 217.1.

British Columbia Occupational Health and Safety Regulations. B.C. Reg. 296/97.

Controlled Products Regulations. B.C. Reg. 296/97.

Hazardous Products Act. R.S., c. H-3.

Ontario Factory Act (1884).

Ontario Industrial Safety Act (1964). R.S.O.

R.S., c. C 34, s. 2.

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