Does My Alberta Business Need a Joint Health and Safety Committee?

You have heard that every Alberta employer needs a joint health and safety committee, and you have heard that only large companies need one. Both claims come from somewhere, but neither one answers your question. In Alberta, the requirement depends on your work site, how many workers are on it, and how long the work is expected to last.

Start with the rule for committees in Alberta

Under Alberta's OHS Act, a joint work site health and safety committee is mandatory only where a Ministerial Order requires one or at a multi-employer work site with 20 or more workers and 90 days or more of work. At every other work site in the province, forming a committee is voluntary.

That means most owners do not need a committee. It does not mean most owners can ignore the subject, because two other requirements catch employers who assume the committee rule is the whole story: health and safety representatives, and multi-employer work sites.

Committee or representative: the difference

A committee is a group of worker and employer representatives who work together to identify and solve health and safety problems at the work site. Worker representatives are chosen by the workers; management representatives are chosen by the employer. The value of the joint structure is that workers get a voice in decisions that affect them, and problems get solved with both sides at the table.

A health and safety representative is a single worker who speaks for the crew. That person must work at the work site and be directly employed by you, and supervisors, managers and contracted service providers are not eligible for the role. Employers must provide the representative with training and paid time away from regular work duties to carry out the job.

If your committee members or your representative need grounding in hazard assessment, inspections or incident investigation, that is the kind of safety training we deliver to construction and trades crews.

When Alberta requires a committee, a representative, or neither

• Ministerial Order work sites: a joint work site health and safety committee is required at work sites named by a Ministerial Order. These orders apply to particular work sites and industries, so whether one covers you is worth confirming rather than assuming.
• You employ 5 to 19 workers at a work site, and the work is expected to last 90 days or more: designate a health and safety representative.
• You send workers to a multi-employer work site with 20 or more workers, and the work is expected to last 90 days or more: a site-specific health and safety committee must be designated. The prime contractor, or the employers working together where there is no prime contractor, establishes it, and your workers may be required to join it.
• You send workers to a multi-employer work site with 5 to 19 workers, and the work is expected to last 90 days or more: the prime contractor or the employers together must designate a site-specific health and safety representative, and your worker may be the one who fills that role.
• Every employer, whatever the size: workers must be involved in assessing and controlling hazards, with or without a committee.

When you count workers, include full-time, part-time and self-employed workers at the work site each day, and count everyone across all shifts. If the number changes day to day, average it over the previous 12 months, or since the business started operating if that is less.

What a committee actually does

• Inspects the work site for hazards and follows up on what inspections turn up.
• Responds to health and safety concerns workers bring forward.
• Helps solve difficult problems, including ones that cross trades or employers.
• Analyses the causes of incidents so they do not repeat.
• May help develop safety policies and safe work procedures, and may help orient new workers.
• Makes recommendations to the employer and keeps records of meetings, inspections, investigations and recommendations.

Why volunteer for one anyway

A committee that meets, inspects and follows through changes the information you get. Concerns reach you in a meeting instead of after an injury, which is the difference between fixing a hazard and paying for it. Fewer incidents also means fewer WCB claims, and WCB premiums are experience-rated, so claim costs follow your business. COR audits look for evidence that workers take part in health and safety, and committee minutes are a straightforward way to show it.

A committee does not deliver those results just because it exists on paper. It needs terms of reference, meetings the crew knows about, minutes posted where workers can read them, and a simple way to track each recommendation until it is closed out.

If you would rather not work through ministerial orders, worker counts, terms of reference and training on your own, this is the work we do. Salient Health & Safety helps Alberta construction and trades employers decide whether a work site needs a committee or a representative, build one that functions, and train the people who sit on it. Start with our OHS program development service or book a free discovery call.

Frequently asked questions

When must you have a health and safety committee in Alberta?

A committee is mandatory at work sites that a Ministerial Order requires to have one. A site-specific committee must also be designated if you send workers to a multi-employer work site with 20 or more workers where the work is expected to last 90 days or more. Outside those situations, committees in Alberta are voluntary.

What are the responsibilities of a health and safety committee?

Committees inspect the work site for hazards and follow up on what turns up, respond to concerns workers bring forward, and help solve problems that are hard to fix from one side. They analyse the causes of incidents so they do not repeat, and they may help develop safety policies and safe work procedures. Making recommendations to the employer, and keeping records of meetings, inspections, investigations and recommendations, is part of the job.

What is the purpose of a joint worksite health and safety committee?

It acts as a communication link between workers and management, giving workers a voice in the health and safety decisions that affect them. Worker and employer representatives work together to identify hazards, respond to concerns and solve problems at the work site. A committee also promotes awareness of health and safety across the workforce.

Do committee members or representatives need certification?

Alberta's guidance requires employers to provide health and safety representatives with training and paid time away from regular work duties so they can carry out the role. Some provinces use a formal certification program for committee members, which is why the term shows up in search results. In Alberta, what matters is that the people in these roles know how to inspect, investigate and make recommendations.