Joint Health and Safety Committees Policy

Effective: September 2000
Reviewed: June 2023
Revised: June 2023
Signature/Position: Vice-President, Finance and Operations

Applicable Legislation:

Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), R.S.O. 1990, 

Applicability:                                                           

This policy applies to all University employees (faculty and staff) at the Guelph Campus, Ridgetown Campus and Research Stations. 

Policy Statements:

1. The Guelph campus of the University shall have a Central Joint Health and Safety Committee (CJHSC) as the entity that meets the legislated requirements set out in section 9 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, (OHSA).  The Committee will be structured in accordance with OHSA Section 9.
2. Local Joint Health and Safety Committees (LJHSC) at the Guelph campus shall be recognized under the Central Joint Health and Safety Committee, with all rights and responsibilities as designated under Section 9 of the OHSA.
3. Ridgetown campus and University Research Centres shall establish their own site-specific Joint Health and Safety Committees (JHSC) or designate a Health and Safety Representative as applicable.  These committees shall be structured in accordance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act, (OHSA) Section 9 and the Health and Safety Representative with the rights and responsibilities as designated under Section 8 of the OHSA.
4. All members of joint health and safety committees or health and safety representatives shall be employees of the University (the Employer) at the workplace.  A member of a committee or a health and safety representative who ceases to be employed by the University ceases to be a member of the committee or a health and safety representative in accordance with the Act.
5. The CJHSC shall adopt and be governed by its own terms of reference in accordance with prescribed requirements under the OHSA.  
6. The site-specific JHSCs shall adopt and be governed by their own terms of reference in accordance with prescribed requirements under the OHSA.  
7. All joint health and safety committees shall have employer members and worker members representing all employees. 
8. Worker members will be selected and appointed to the joint health and safety committees by the bargaining groups.  Employer members of joint health and safety committees will be appointed by the Employer; for LJHSCs this may include the Department Head or Chair.
9. The CJHSC and the site specific JHSC committees will have at least one member of the committee representing the employer and at least one member of the committee representing the workers certified.  
10. The CJHSC shall rely upon assistance from local (departmental) health and safety committees to inspect the physical condition of workplaces at the Guelph campus in accordance with OHSA requirements. The Central Joint Health and Safety Committee shall receive reports of the workplace inspections which may be posted electronically (for example Courselink).
11. A member representing the workers on site-specific JHSCs must inspect the physical condition of the workplace in accordance with prescribed requirements under the OHSA.  The JHSC shall receive reports of the workplace inspections.  
12. Safety hazards identified through workplace inspections shall be reported to the supervisors of the areas where the hazard was identified.
13. All joint health and safety committees shall keep and make available minutes of their activities.
14. Appointments to and resignations from joint health and safety committees shall be reported to Environmental Health and Safety (EHS).