Employer Responsibilities Under The Workers Compensation Act

Employers, workers, supervisors, owners, officers, directors and suppliers are all required to comply with the Workers Compensation Act and regulations concerning occupational health and safety. This article covers the important responsibilities for employers.

DUTIES FOR EMPLOYERS

As an employer, you have a duty to ensure the health and safety of all those working for you, and any other workers present at a site where your work is being carried out. In order to meet this duty, you must:

(a) remedy any workplace conditions that are hazardous to the health or safety of your workers;

(b) ensure that the workers

  • are made aware of all known or reasonably foreseeable health or safety hazards to which they are likely to be exposed by their work,
  • comply with the act, the regulations and any applicable orders, and
  • are made aware of their rights and duties under the act and the regulations,

(c) establish occupational health and safety policies and programs in accordance with the regulations;

(d) provide and maintain in good condition protective equipment, devices and clothing as required by the regulations and ensure that these are used by the workers;

(e) provide workers with all information, instruction, training and supervision necessary to ensure their health and safety when carrying out their work and to ensure the health and safety of other workers at the workplace;

(f) make a copy of the act and regulations readily available for review by the workers and, at each workplace where workers are regularly employed, maintain a posted notice advising where the copy is available for review;

(g) consult and co-operate with the joint committees and worker health-and-safety representatives for workplaces of the employer; and

(h) co-operate with the board, officers of the board and any other person carrying out a duty under the act or the regulations.

For more information concerning the general duties of workers, supervisors, owners, officers, directors and suppliers, see Part 2, Division 4 of the Workers Compensation Act.

Information provided by Ryan Anderson, an employment lawyer with Mathews Dinsdale & Clark LLP. The information provided in this article is necessarily of a general nature and must not be regarded as legal advice. For more information about Mathews Dinsdale & Clark LLP, please visit mathewsdinsdale.com.

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