HR-003-Health and Safety Policy_2020r.-e
SAINT JOHN
Subject: Health and Safety
Category: Administrative Policy: Health, Safety and
Wellness
Policy No.:
M&C Report No.: N/A
Effective Date: October 7, 2020
Next Review Date: (3 years)
Area(s) this policy applies to: Staff
Office Responsible for review of this Policy:
Human Resources
Related Instruments:
Policy Sponsors: Commissioner of Human Resources
Document Pages: This document consists of 8 pages.
Revision History:
Common Clerk's Annotation for Official Record
Date of Passage of Policy Statement:
Nov 7, 2016
Date Created:
Common Council Approval
Date:
Contact:
05 22, 2020
Nov 7,2016
Human Resources
Contents
POLICYSTATEMENT............................................................................................3
SCOPE.................................................................................................................3
LEGISLATION AND STANDARDS...........................................................................4
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.............................................................................4
SENIOR STAFF/DEPARTMENT HEADS.......................................................................................................4
MANAGERS/SUPERVISORS........................................................................................................................4
EMPLOYEES............................................................................................................................................... 5
MANAGER OF HEALTH, SAFETY, AND WELLNESS.....................................................................................5
CONTRACTORS/SUB-CONTRACTORS: ....................................................................................................... 6
MONITOR AND REVIEWS....................................................................................6
IMPLEMENTATION..............................................................................................6
AUTHORIZATION.................................................................................................6
RESOURCES.........................................................................................................6
PROCEDURES......................................................................................................6
GLOSSARY........................................................................................................... 7
INQUIRIES...........................................................................................................7
APPENDICES........................................................................................................7
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POLICY STATEMENT
A central obligation of the City of Saint John is the health and safety of its employees and the
protection of public property from damage and loss. The City of Saint John and all of its
employees shall demonstrate a positive attitude toward health and safety by being duly diligent
in all respects.
Accidents causing injuries to employees and others, damage to equipment, and inefficiencies in
operations are preventable. Health and safety hazards shall be minimized through the
commitment of leadership and the attention to health and safety by employees of all levels.
The objectives of this policy are:
Maintain the health and safety of employees.
Generally define the role and responsibilities of workplace partners in support of the
City's Health and Safety Program.
iii. Conduct operations in compliance with applicable legislation.
iv. Provide for standards, procedures and guidelines designed to minimize injuries, damage
and loss of property.
V. Reduce costs resulting from workplace accidents (personal injury and/or damage and
loss to City property).
vi. Enable the Joint Health & Safety Committee(s) to fulfill its proper functions under
provincial legislation.
vii. Encourage and maintain positive attitudes, co-operation and communications conducive
to participation by all workplace partners concerning health and safety activities.
611�6110
This policy applies to all employees and officials of the City, and includes overseeing the work
carried out by contractors and sub -contractors retained by the City. The City is responsible to
ensure there are no uncontrolled hazards at the workplace.
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LEGISLATION AND STANDARDS
This Policy Document and all associated Standard Operating Procedures shall conform to and
where appropriate exceed the requirements of the New Brunswick Occupational Health and
Safety Act (NBOHSA) and Regulations.
The City recognizes that employees undertake a myriad of work tasks and activities on a daily
basis in the service of our community. The safety laws are either silent on or provide limited
guidance with respect to many of these situations. In other cases, minimum regulatory
requirements apply, but provide insufficient protection based on the hazard analysis. In either
case, due diligence demands that the City adopt legal minimums as only the starting point for
development of an appropriate control regimen.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Safety is a partnership, a shared responsibility among all workplace stakeholders. Our
partnership in safety reflects our commitment to and caring for each other and for the
community we serve. Common Council, City staff, civic unions and employees view safety and
service excellence as synonymous objectives, requiring effective leadership, communication,
work planning as well as disciplined execution and follow up at every level. Our partnership in
safety is a strategic direction of the organization which recognizes that "sustaining a healthy,
safe, and caring environment" is essential to strengthening organizational capacity.
SENIOR STAFF/DEPARTMENT HEADS
Since, under law, the employer controls the workplace, Senior Staff have the primary and lead
role in transformation of the workplace safety culture and in championing safety improvement.
Senior Staff provide essential leadership and set the standards that drive accountability for safe
work performance throughout the organization. In so doing, Senior Staff/Department Heads
serve as exemplars of the City's Health and Safety Program.
MANAGERS/SUPERVISORS
Managers and Supervisors lead the operation of the Safety Management System within their
areas of jurisdiction. This includes the key quality assurance role of ensuring the required safety
activities are carried out in accordance with defined standards of frequency and quality.
Managers and Supervisors also play an important role in building the safety culture by
reinforcement of safe work practices, by driving accountability for safety performance, and by
strengthening communication around safety among front-line employees. They advocate
positive safety change and recognize that demonstrated progress on needed and requested
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safety improvement is the most effective means of sustaining employee engagement with and
commitment to the Safety Management System.
EMPLOYEES
Employees are responsible for their own health and safety and that of their coworkers.
Employees shall identify and where possible eliminate workplace hazards, and in every case,
shall fully document hazards for follow up through the Safety Management System. Employees
shall adhere to safety policies, procedures, and rules. Employees shall further model safety
excellence by continually proposing improved controls for current tasks and by contributing to
the development of innovative control strategies for new tasks within the service portfolio.
Finally, employees play a crucial role in defining the safety culture and in making the directions
in safety established by Senior Management, a sustainable organizational reality.
MANAGER OF HEALTH, SAFETY, AND WELLNESS
The Manager of Health, Safety and Wellness is responsible for the corporate Safety
Management System, for refining its processes and for raising the level of communication and
safety awareness system wide. This position is also responsible for charting the course of safety
improvement at the corporate level, for liaison with the City's regulators, and for preparing the
organization for legislative change. Accordingly, the Manager of Health, Safety, and Wellness
shall champion the development of accident prevention programs, collaborate in safety
improvement with our sister municipalities and senior levels of government, and provide
consulting support to the City's Joint Health and Safety Committee.
JOINT HEALTH AND SAFETY COMMITTEE(S):
The operation of the City's Joint Health and Safety Committee (J.H.S.C.) is established under the
NBOHSA and the Committee's Terms of Reference. The City's J.H.S.C. plays an important role in
championing the Safety Management System, and in considering variances and issues of
system -wide significance that are brought before it. The recommendations of J.H.S.C.,
supported by analysis, become part of the solution set available to Senior Management in
addressing these issues. While J.H.S.0 retains it legislative mandate as a voice in safety for
employee safety concerns on any scale, management and the unions recognize that the Safety
Management System of today addresses many of the issues that would formerly have been
tabled with the Committee. Consequently, J.H.S.C. is well positioned to focus on high level
trend analysis, accident statistics, prevention programming, and on formulating policy
recommendations to Senior Management, all of which enhances the stature of JHSC in the
workplace and improves the value proposition.
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CONTRACTORS/SU B-CONTRACTORS:
Contractors, including their sub -contractors, are from time to time retained by the City of Saint
John to perform work. In accordance with the NBOHSA, Contractors and their Sub -Contractors
are deemed to be in the employ of the City of Saint John. As a result, Contractors are required
to follow this and other established City of Saint John safety policies, procedures, guidelines,
and relevant regulatory standards, as applicable to the work proposed and undertaken.
MONITOR AND REVIEWS
This policy document will be reviewed annually by the City of Saint John's Human Resources
Division of Corporate Services in collaboration with the City's Joint Health and Safety
Committee and all business units of the City of Saint John.
IMPLEMENTATION
The Health and Safety Policy will be implemented by the City of Saint John's Human Resources
Division of Corporate Services as well as by the City Manager and Senior Staff in every service
area.
AUTHORIZATION
This Policy Document is authorized by City Manager pursuant to a resolution of Common
Council approving the associated Policy Statement.
RESOURCES
WorkSafeNB : Electronic access to Acts and Regulation
http://worksafenb.ca/acts-and-regulations
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS)
PROCEDURES
Standard Operating Procedures shall be developed, as required, to support the administration
of this Policy Document.
N.
rGOORRE"TA
Due Diligence
Due diligence is the level of judgement, care, prudence, determination, and activity that a
person would reasonably be expected to do under particular circumstances.
Applied to occupational health and safety, due diligence means that employers shall take all
reasonable precautions, under the particular circumstances, to prevent injuries or accidents in
the workplace. This duty also applies to situations that are not addressed elsewhere in the
occupational health and safety legislation. Reasonable precautions are also referred to as
reasonable care. It refers to the care, caution, or action a reasonable person is expected to take
under similar circumstances.
To exercise due diligence, an employer must implement a plan to identify possible workplace
hazards and carry out the appropriate corrective action to prevent accidents or injuries arising
from these hazards.'
INQUIRIES
Inquiries regarding this Policy Document can be addressed to the City of Saint John's Human
Resources Division of Corporate Services.
APPENDICES
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1 Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS)
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