Creating a workplace safety and health committee

Creating a committee

Manitoba’s Workplace Safety and Health Act and Regulations require that employers with 20 or more employees establish a workplace safety and health committee.

Each workplace safety and health committee must meet the following criteria:

The committee must have at least four members and no more than twelve members.
At least half of the committee consists of worker members who are not associated with management (employer members).
Worker members must be appointed according to the union’s constitution. If no union exists, they should be elected by the workers they represent.
The employer appoints members representing the employer.
A committee has two co-chairs. The employer members select one management co-chair, and the worker members select one worker co-chair.
Term of office usually lasts two years, after which a representative can run for re-election.
The employer or prime contractor must make sure that the names of the committee members are posted conspicuously in the workplace.

Appointment of a safety and health representative

The worker safety and health representative should be appointed according to the union’s constitution in workplaces with fewer than 20 but more than five workers. If there is no union, they should be elected by the workers.

The worker representative, in cooperation with an employer representative, performs the same duties as the safety and health committee.

Rules of procedure

All safety and health committees must establish written rules of procedure so that everyone knows how the committee will function. Some items that should be included in your rules of procedure are:

when the safety and health committee plans to hold regularly scheduled meetings (day, time and place
the procedure to follow if a regularly scheduled meeting needs to be changed
rules governing the conduct of committee meetings
how you plan to establish membership and leadership roles in the committee
clarification of committee members’ expectations
how the committee will reach an agreement on goals and objectives
how you will develop group procedures, such as:
- how disagreements will be managed
- how information will be shared
- how decisions will be made
- how priorities will be set

Training

All workplace safety and health committee members and safety and health representatives must receive competent training to fulfill their duties. Such training covers understanding safety and health rights, roles and responsibilities, as well as the tasks they might be asked to carry out.

The employer is expected to provide the committee or its representative with information to identify hazards, assist with inspections and investigations and grant access to records as required by Regulation 217/2006, Part 2, Section 3.12.

Besides offering training tailored to the workplace’s needs, the employer must also permit each committee member or representative to attend safety and health training programs or courses each year. The members must be compensated at their regular rate for sixteen hours of training or the equivalent of two shifts, whichever is greater.

Committee training opportunities

Find related courses on the SAFE Work Manitoba Training Portal.
Attend the Committee Leadership Conference in the fall. It was created to provide training opportunities for co-chairs of workplace safety and health committees.
Learn about setting up a workplace safety and health committee guide.
Explore industry-specific training with our partners:

Committee duties

Safety and health committees oversee workplace safety, listen to workers’ concerns and recommend actions for employers to address hazards and prevent injuries. The committee conducts regular inspections and participates in investigations of accidents and hazardous incidents.

Meetings

A committee must meet at least once every three months. The first meeting must be held within one month of the committee’s formation, and committee members must receive at least three days’ notice of an upcoming meeting.

Committee members are allowed to take time off from their regular duties to perform the responsibilities of a committee member. This includes at least an hour to prepare for committee meetings, time to attend the meetings and time to participate in safety and health training as required by The Workplace Safety and Health Act, Section 44. The employer compensates members at regular or premium pay for the time spent on these duties.

Even if some members cannot attend a meeting, it can still proceed. However, for any actions to proceed, at least half of the worker members and half of the employer members must be present. Members who are unable to attend the meeting may have someone represent them. An employer member can designate their replacement, while a worker member’s replacement must be chosen by the other worker members on the committee.

Committees must record the minutes of each meeting, which must be distributed to the committee members, alternates and relevant managers. The minutes must be signed by both co-chairs and kept on file at the workplace for a minimum of ten years.

Minutes of the meetings must include:

the full name and address of the workplace
the total number of employees at the workplace
the names of those attending the meeting
the list of concerns, the date each concern was first raised at a committee meeting, the recommended actions and the person responsible for taking action

Bulletin board

Employers must install a bulletin board in a clearly visible area of the workplace, designated solely for use by committee members or worker safety and health representatives. The bulletin board must display the following information:

The names of each committee member (or the worker representative) and the date their term expires.
Scheduled dates for committee meetings (or meetings with worker representatives).
The agenda for every meeting.
Copies of minutes from each safety and health meeting, signed by the co-chairs or their designated representatives who attended the meeting on their behalf.
Any orders or other documentation that must be posted by WSH.

Inspection and investigations

A workplace safety and health committee also has responsibilities for inspection and incident investigation.