What is a Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee?
A Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee (JOHSC) is a committee made up of employer representatives and worker representatives whose purpose is to review health and safety issues and provide recommendations to the employer to resolve. In many workplaces, a JOHSC is required under regulation in accordance with the Workers Compensation Act, Division 5 – Joint Committees and Worker Representatives.
The JOHSC is a formal part of a Health & Safety Program and is a structure to allow for a collaborative space that both workers and employers can freely bring all manners of safety items to discuss and decide on the best steps for the operation.
The JOHSC can be a significant contributor to a great workplace. With the right foundation and preparation, the committee will have a positive input to safety and workplace wellness.
TEMPERATURE CHECK
The following are a list of considerations developed by the CSSHSA that is recommended as part of running a JHSC. Click on the list to go to sections.
Anyone can be part of the Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee (JOHSC). Diverse perspectives can bring forward unique and effective solutions to workplace problems.
At minimum, a committee should consist of at least 4 membership positions:
- At least ½ of the members must be worker and the other ½ employer representatives
- Two Co-Chairs must be selected, one from worker representatives and the other from employer representatives
- Alternate members should be selected to ensure representation at every meeting
Membership to the JOHSC is selected according to established selection processes.
Worker Representatives
Worker Representatives are workers selected (or appointed by applicable union(s)) that will represent the interests of workers in the operation. In some circumstances were there is no union, representatives may be selected from popular vote.
Worker Representatives selected should be knowledgeable about work practices and the workplace so that recommendations made are feasible.
Employer Representatives
Employer Representatives are selected from the leadership team and will represent the employer. Employer Representatives selected should have sufficient authority or ability to implement recommendations from the committee.
Safety Representatives
Where a JOHSC is not required by regulation, a Safety Representatives should be elected to represent workers. The Safety Representative will work with the Employer on matters related to safety in the same function as a JOHSC.
TEMPERATURE CHECK
Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee (JOHSC) is a regulated committee that is required by regulation to be administered in a specific manner.
Please review the following list of items that highlight the administrative requirements for the committee.
Monthly Meetings
The JOHSC is required to meet on a monthly basis.
It is recommended for the meetings to be held earlier in the month so if there are any conflicts or other issues, the meetings can be moved within the month.
Meeting Quorum
A meeting quorum is the minimum number of members attending a meeting before a decision or vote can be made.
If a meeting does not meet the minimum quorum, another meeting should be scheduled when quorum can be met.
Meeting Chair
A JOHSC will have two Co-Chairs that should take turns chairing the committee meeting.
By rotating between the two Co-Chairs, balanced perspectives from workers and the employer can be brought forward and discussed at the meeting.
Meeting Administration Support
It is the responsibility of the Employer to arrange for administrative support for the JOHSC meeting. This includes:
- Support for preparing an agenda
- Support for taking meeting minutes
- Other administrative support as required.
The administrative support cannot come from existing members of the committee.
Meeting Agenda
The JOHSC meeting must have an agenda that outlines the topics and discussion items. The agenda should ideally be distributed at minimum one week before the meeting to allow members to research and prepare for the discussion item.
A template meeting agenda has been prepared by CSSHSA that can be customized for your JOHSC meeting: Meeting Agenda Template.
Meeting Minutes
Meeting minutes are a critical document that captures the conversations that have occurred at the meeting. Committees will often reference these conversations in the future around conversations and decisions that have occurred in the past.
Meeting minutes are required to be written for every meeting. The last 3 months of meeting minutes are also required to be posted on the Health & Safety Board so that all workers have access to the discussions of the committee.
A template meeting minute has been prepared by CSSHSA that can be customized for your JOHSC meeting: Meeting Minutes Template.
TEMPERATURE CHECK
Incident Statistics
Injury statistics can give you an idea if you are effectively managing the risk in your operation. The JOHSC will review injury statistics at least annually to look for any injury trends or hazards trends from the data.
The JOHSC will respect the privacy of the workers impacted by injury as the committee is bound by confidentiality. As such, information can be shared freely with the committee.
Terms of Reference
The Terms of Reference (TOR) is a guiding procedural document for the JOHSC. The TOR will outline the rules and procedures for how the committee will conduct business. It is important that the TOR is established and understood by all members.
A template Terms of Reference has been prepared by CSSHSA that takes into consideration all the administrative requirements mentioned above that can be customized for your JOHSC meeting: Terms Of Reference Template.
With the meeting administrative elements in place, running a JOHSC meeting will be a more streamlined process allowing for more throughout safety conversations to be held.
It is the responsibility of the Co-Chair to ensure a committee is run thoroughly and effectively allowing members have an equal opportunity to participate in conversations.
TEMPERATURE CHECK
Co-Chairs need to have command of the meeting to ensure topics do not go off-topic in non-safety related direction. Co-Chairs need to ask themselves when topics are discussed
- Is the conversation related to the item in question?
- Will a resolution be reached in the time allotted? Should the conversation be carried in a separate conversation?
- Is the discussion being carried out in a respectful manner?
If the discussions are straying from the topic at hand, the Co-Chair has the authority and responsibility to pause the conversation and steer it back to the discussion point.
This can be challenging depending on the sensitivity of the conversation so it must be done tactfully and respectfully.
It is also important that the Co-Chair is prepared for the meeting. By being prepared, the Co-Chair can better gauge how much time can be spent for each conversation and whether items need to be carried forward to the next meeting.
The following is a checklist prepared by CSSHSA for Co-Chairs to prepare for the month Joint Occupational Health & Safety Committee Meeting: Co-chair Prep Checklist.
Not all items and discussions are going to have complete consensus. This will especially be the case for sensitive matters.
CSSHSA has prepared some strategies to utilize when there is a topic that is generating some heated and contentious conversation.
TEMPERATURE CHECK
Show of Hands vs. Secret Ballot
Depending on the discussion, there may be members that are not vocal as they do not want to encounter conflict. A show of hands may require less effort to administer but may not be a true reflection of the opinion of the committee.
If an issue is contentious, consider use of a Secret Ballot.
Expert Opinion
There may be times that a situation is not well understood and may result in fear or outrage being generated. Having an expert present and share their risk assessment may help the committee decide on the best course of action.
What have others done?
The safety problems an organization or operation has encountered is highly likely not unique or new. Asking other operations may bring forward new ideas that haven’t been considered before.
If an issue likely has occurred in other organizations or operations before, consider reaching out to other Joint Occupational Health & Safety Committees for their resolution to the issue.
Deadlock – Request assistance from WorkSafeBC
In the event of a deadlock where none of the strategies to get resolution are working, the committee may request WorkSafeBC to investigate and order a decision. In accordance with the regulations, WorkSafeBC Officers have the authority to review a circumstance and appropriately order an employer or worker to adhere to the order.
This should only be used as a last resort as it may take a duration of time for the WorkSafeBC Officer to understand the situation and the outcome may not be what either side may want.
If you are in a difficult situation, please contact your CSSHSA Advisor to discuss possible solutions or other strategies that may further help the committee arrive at a decision.
The Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee is responsible to put forward recommendations to the employer to consider in making the workplace a safer work environment.
Recommendations from the JOHSC is a powerful tool to make change in the workplace as the employer is required to respond to recommendations. Not all recommendations can be adopted, but the employer must respond to the reasons why to the satisfaction of the JHSC.
There are different forms of recommendations.
Informal Recommendation
Informal Recommendations are recommendations offered to the employer through conversation or other informal means. Most often informal recommendations are carried from the JOHSC meeting directly to the employer given the Employer Representative are connected with the Employer.
This is the 1st Step in Recommendations allowing the Employer more flexibility with implementation.
TEMPERATURE CHECK
Formal Recommendation
Formal Recommendations are recommendations put forward to an employer following the WorkSafeBC Worker’s Compensation Act Section 39 mechanism.
Formal recommendations must be responded to within 21 Days or an escalation to WorkSafeBC for follow up investigation is possible.
Formal Recommendations must be agreed by the committee and put in writing. Recommendations following this mechanism cannot be issued by individual members of the committee. The recommendation is typically drafted by the Co-Chairs of the committee directed to the respective Employer.
CSSHSA has prepared a Recommendation Template to be used by the committee when drafting the recommendation letter: Recommendation Template.