Federally Regulated Employees and Health and Safety

Applicable to employees working at CN, CPKC, VIA, G&W etc.

Part 2 of the Canada Labour Code (sections 122 to 166) pertains to occupational health and safety.it mandates the creation of Workplace Policy or Joint Health and Safety Committees in the workplace, lists the duties of employers to protect the health and safety of employees, and obligates duties upon employees to inform their employer of hazards, comply and cooperate with prescribed workplace safety procedures, allows for the Right to Refuse dangerous work, and provides for a complaint process in respect to hazards.

The Canada Labour Code is divided into 4 parts:

Part 1 Industrial Relations -deals with those employed or in connection to federal work, Trade Unions and Employer’s Organizations.  (Includes the right to bargain collectively, s.57(1) do now grieve and grieve later, etc).

Part 2 Occupational Health and Safety– Health and Safety Committees, Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations, duties of Employers & Employees etc.

Part 3 Standard Hours, Wages, Vacations and Holidays – Federal Labour Standards, leave of absences, etc. 

Part 4 Administrative Monetary Penalties –Financial Penalties for violating parts of the Canada Labour Code.

Part 2 of the Canada Labour provides us with the following rights: 
  • the right to know
  • the right to participate
  • the right to refuse
For more information: https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/legisl/legislation/three_rights.html

If you have taken any health and safety training, you may have heard about the Hierarchy of Hazard Controls? If not, it is the approach we use to eliminate or reduce workplace hazards. 

It ranks the effectiveness of controls from most effective to least effective in respect to protections from hazards. For employers and employees, the goal is to assess the feasibility of the most effective control first before moving on to the second, and so forth. 

The controls from most effective to least effective are: 

  1. Elimination
  2. Substitution
  3. Engineering Controls
  4. Administrative Controls
  5. PPE
 
Click here for some good info on the Hierarchy of Hazard Controls from the Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety.

Part 2 of the Canada Labour Code also provides the mandatory establishment of Workplace Health and Safety Committees (s.135) and Policy H&S Committees (s.134.1) .  the General (s.124), Specific (s.125) and further Specifc duties of Employers (s.125.1) and just as importantly, the Duties of Employees (s.126) are listed. 

What is a Legislation?

It is a written law passed by Parliament that provides rules of conduct. It is proposed in Parliament in the form of a Bill.  

Regulations, are not passed by Parliament. They further define and support the Legislation.

Click here for more info on how laws and regulations are created.
The Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations (COHSR)

COHSR were born out of the Canada Labour Code duties of the Employer and Employees, by developing the minimum standards for training, equipment safety, threshold limit values for lighting/noise and hazardous substances, and for mandate that Federally Regulated Employers must create a Hazard Prevention Program. This program provides how the employer shall report accidents, injuries, diseases or other occurrences. For the COHSR, the scope deals with in and around buildings at the workplace. The Government body that regulates the COSHR is the Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). They also deal with Employment Insurance and Federal labour standard complaints.

The On-Board Train Health and Safety Regulations (OBTOHSR)

OBTOHSR were created in 1987 similar to the COSHR but provide the necessary H&S standards while on Locomotives.  Transport Canada is the regulator for this.

Information on Hazard Prevention Programs: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/health-safety/reports/hazard-prevention.html
The second important piece of Legislation

The Railway Safety Act governs Canadian railways in matters of safety and security responsibilities. For context, the Transportation Minister order regarding the need for Covid vaccines were made under this act (Ministerial Orders s.32.01). For raging fires, like the ones out west last year, the Minister can implement Emergency Directives under s.33.  

The new and flawed Duty and Rest Period Rules were created under the Railway Safety Act under s.19. 

Unique to the Canadian Railway industry, We have the Railway Safety Management System Regulations, Which were developed after the Lac Megantic disaster to ensure rail carriers have a process for compliance, accountability, safety policies, identification/reporting process of hazards and continuing obligations to improve/monitor these systems to ensure safe operations. 

For complaints relating to Health and Safety- it is critical to understand the Canada Labour Code Part 2 and the obligations of the Employer and Employees and to know the regulations in which the complaint falls under ( in and around buildings it is the COSHR, on the locomotives it is the OBTOSHR).

Following the escalation process is the most important part. Any violation or hazard must be reported to the front line supervisor first (ideally in writing). If they are reminded and are unable to resolve the issue or provide a negative decision, it can be brought to the Health and Safety Committee for review.

Links:

Regulations pertaining to safety standards in the workplace