1. Workplace Health and Safety PART 1: Roles and Responsibilities
Billie Bear Resort

2. A Role for Everyone in the Workplace
Everyone in the workplace – from employer to supervisor to the newest employee – has a role to play in preventing work- related injury or illness.
Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act spells out the required duties of employers and supervisors as well as the duties and rights of workers in keeping the workplace safe.
Under the law, who do you think is assigned the most responsibility for workplace safety: employers, supervisors, or workers?
The OHSA assigns the most responsibility for workplace safety to those with the most authority: employers.

3. Billie Bear’s Responsibilities as Employer
Create health and safety policies and procedures and ensure that everyone knows and follows them.
Ensure that all employees know about hazards and how to work safely. (In Part 2, you’ll learn about working safely at Billie Bear.)
Ensure that supervisors know how to deal with health and safety issues.
Provide and maintain adequate personal protective equipment and ensure that workers use and wear it as required.
Resolve workers’ concerns about safety.
Do everything reasonable to prevent work-related injury or illness.

4. Supervisors’ Responsibilities (Board Liaison, BBLCC President, Safety Officer, Water System Operator)
Tell workers about hazards and show them how to work safely.
Make sure workers follow the law and the workplace safety policies and procedures.
Make sure workers use and wear protective equipment as required.
Do everything reasonable to prevent work-related injury or illness.

5. Perhaps you know of someone who has been seriously hurt at work.
It happens to many people – the number of people in Ontario who have suffered work-related injury or illness would fill a dozen big hockey rinks. Such illness or injury isn’t always immediate – it can develop later as a result of prolonged exposure to workplace hazards. Do you think older workers or young workers are the most likely to be injured at work? New or young workers are four times more likely to be injured at work than older or experienced workers. Young or new workers may not know what to expect, may be unsure about asking questions, and may be less aware of hazards.

6. It is therefore important that you understand your RIGHTS as employees:
You have the right to know how to avoid hazards – it is our job to make sure you know how to do your work safely.
You have the right to speak up to identify any hazards you perceive in the workplace and to ask questions until you are sure you understand how to use equipment and perform tasks safely – it is against the law for an employer to penalize you (or even threaten to penalize you) for insisting on what the law requires.
You have the right to refuse to do any work that you perceive as unsafe – it is our job to resolve safety concerns by removing the hazard.

7. The OHSA also assigns you specific RESPONSIBILITIES as workers:
You must follow the health and safety policies and procedures set out by your employer.
You must use or wear the protective equipment that the employer provides, as specified for the task at hand.
You must work and act in a way that will not hurt yourselves or others.
You must report any hazards that you encounter RIGHT AWAY, before proceeding with the job, so that the employer can correct the problem.
These are LEGAL REQUIREMENTS that pertain to ALL employees.