Alberta Health and Safety Policy

The Alberta Health & Safety Policy communicates a high-level health and safety policy statement and clarifies the responsibilities of the company, managers and staff.  

Note:  This Health & Safety Policy can't be the only written communication you have in place regarding safety for workers.  Of equal importance is the creation of an OHS program that outlines the training requirements for employees, specific safety hazards and procedures, as well as various other safety topics required by law.  The ConnectsUs template provides a placeholder for you to easily link out to your program. 

ConnectsUs HR™ provides a high level policy statement because safety programs vary significantly from one company and one industry to another.  

• Promotes a “safety culture”, letting employees know that you care about their health, safety and wellness.
• Outlines everyone’s role, accountability and responsibility for safety in the workplace.
• Demonstrates safety adherence and intention to be compliant with the Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Act.
• A good or improved safety record decreases your premiums.

• You’re not compliant.
• An employee is injured or dies.
• The owner or a manager is held responsible and liable in the event that someone is seriously injured at work.
• If you don’t have a written policy, and a prospective employee who has been given an offer of employment is signing off on your Handbook/Manual, you won’t be getting their signature confirming that they understand their individual safety responsibilities.

To create the policy:

No expertise is required since this policy is a general statement of intent and responsibilities.

To create an OHS Program:

Your Employee Handbook or Manual should provide a link or point employees to your OHS plan. It's not enough to simply communicate a policy statement with no meat behind it. 

The creation of this program would require you to understand your company’s work environment and the hazards that exist within it. Depending on the complexity of those hazards, specialized expertise in safety may or may not be required to customize it. 

For example, if your workforce is made up of office workers, you won’t require much expertise and you’ll likely be able to create a safety program by referring to the online resources listed below. 

But if your workplace has a high likelihood of accidents, illness or injuries - such as in the construction industry - safety will be a highly complex topic that will require significant expertise and time to develop.  You may want to engage an experienced consultant that specializes in your industry.

• The time and effort to create your Health & Safety policy is minimal.
• The time and effort to create your safety programs is dependent on the safety complexity of your workplace and industry. 

• Legal review of this policy is recommended but optional. 
• Legal review or review by a subject matter expert of your safety programs is highly recommended if your workplace or industry’s safety requirements are complex.

This policy can be independent.  Other topics it may reference:

• Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination
• Prevention of Workplace Violence

• Determine  what type of committees you're required to have in place under Act.   

  • Joint work site health and safety committees are important forums for workers to participate in OHS. They ensure supervisors and workers discuss health and safety issues in the workplace and work collaboratively to find ways to address them.

    As of June 1 2018:

    • larger employers (20 or more workers at a work site) must have a joint work site health and safety committee for work lasting 90 days or more
    • smaller employers (5-19 workers at a work site) must have a health and safety representative for work lasting 90 days or more
    • an employer can use an alternative approach to meeting these requirements with approval from an OHS director
• Who will be responsible for managing your policy and program for Health and Safety?  HR or a specialized Safety Team?
• How will training of staff and managers be administered?
• Who will review the policy as ascribed by law? 

If you don’t have a Health and Safety Committee/Representative, this topic should be approved by:

• Highest level executive in your company
• Highest level safety/compliance/HR position in your company
• Highest level executive that safety/compliance/HR reports to.

The following resources are meant for you, the customizer of the employee handbook: 

• OHS changes effective June 01, 2018. 
• OHS Information for Employers, Workers and Prime Contractors + sample templates
• Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Before you start customizing this topic, we recommend you:

1. Understand the safety requirements for your industry
2. Meet with your senior management team:

• Educate them on the consequences of non-adherence to safety laws.
• Get their buy in and ensure they support your safety initiatives.
• Discuss the safety culture your leadership team wants to create.

3. Customize the Health and Safety policy.
4. Create your safety programs