Mandatory Program Provinces: Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan - and the federal jurisdiction require ALL employers to implement a formal OHS program regardless of the company's size or industry. Safety coordinators who come from these places should have a relatively easy time making the legal case for their programs. Non-Mandatory Program Provinces: Other the other side of the spectrum, there are two provinces where the OJS regulations don't expressly require a company to adopt an OHS program. In Alberta, a company doesn't have to implement an OHS program unless the government specifically orders it to do so. In New Brunswick, companies with 20 or more workers only have to adopt an OHS policy, not an OHS program. It All Depends Provinces: In five provinces, British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island - and all three territories, a company's obligation to adopt an OHS program will depend on how many workers it has. In MB, NS and PE, the threshold is 20 or more workers; in NL, NT and NU, it's 10 workers or more (In NL, companies that fall below the 10-worker cutoff must have an OHS policy instead of an OHS program). There are two jurisdictions BC and YT where the need to have a formal OHS program is based on a combination of the number of workers and the degree of hazard associated with the workplace in a particular industry. In BC, for example, the threshold for industries that are a "low" risk is 50 or more workers. If the industry is not "low risk" the threshold is 20 oer more workers. |
