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Safety rights and responsibilities

The Workplace Safety and Health Act (WSH Act) supports every worker’s right to a safe and healthy workplace. It assigns responsibility to each person for creating and maintaining a safe and healthy workplace to the extent they have the authority and ability to do so.

Worker rights

Each worker has basic, legally protected rights when it comes to workplace safety and health. All workers have the following four basic rights:

All workers have the right to be aware of workplace hazards and to understand how to control the associated risks. Included is the right to be informed of the hazards at work, trained to recognize those hazards, trained to protect themselves and informed of their rights under the law.

Workers have the right to take part in workplace safety and health activities. This means having the ability to participate in keeping the workplace safe and healthy. Workers are the workplace’s eyes and ears. As they perform their day-to-day tasks, they are well-positioned to identify issues and concerns, making their input into the safety program essential. A safety and health committee is one of the key ways in which workers can participate in safety.

Workers have the right to refuse work they reasonably believe is dangerous to themselves or others. Dangerous work is defined as work involving safety and health hazards that are not normal for the job. Workers should be encouraged to share safety concerns and report them to their supervisor immediately. Learn more about the right to refuse unsafe work.

Workers are entitled to exercise their rights under the WSH Act without being penalized by their employers. Protection from reprisal is a fundamental right and the cornerstone of developing and maintaining a positive safety culture. It is crucial that workers feel safe when raising safety and health issues or exercising safety and health rights.

Workers are responsible for their own actions or inaction. Workers’ legal safety and health responsibilities include:

  • taking reasonable care to protect themselves and others who may be affected by their actions or omissions 
  • proper use of safety equipment, clothing and devices 
  • cooperating with the workplace safety and health committee or representative and others on workplace safety and health matters 

Employer responsibilities

Since employers have the greatest degree of authority and control over workplace operations, you have the greatest degree of responsibility for workplace safety and health. An employer’s legal safety and health responsibilities include:

  • developing safety and health programs 
  • taking necessary precautions to ensure the safety, health and welfare of workers 
  • providing and maintaining a safe workplace, equipment, tools and systems 
  • ensuring all workers and supervisors are aware of hazards in the workplace and the precautions necessary as outlined in the safe work procedures 
  • providing workers with competent supervision 
  • providing all new workers with a safety and health orientation 
  • providing the training necessary to protect workers’ safety and health before they begin a new job  
  • taking necessary precautions to ensure that other people are not exposed to safety or health risks due to the activities of the workplace 
  • cooperating with others on workplace safety and health matters 
  • establishing a safety and health committee in workplaces with twenty or more workers 
  • designating a worker as the safety and health representative in workplaces with five to nineteen workers 
  • consulting and cooperating with the workplace safety and health committee or representative 
  • seasonal workplaces where twenty or more workers are expected to work for at least ninety days must have a safety and health committee 

The main duties of the various types of people in the workplace are listed below, however review The Workers Compensation Act (the Act) for a full description of rights and responsibilities.

Supervisors have the responsibility and authority to oversee a group of workers within a workplace. The legal safety and health duties of supervisors include:

  • taking necessary precautions to protect the safety and health of workers under their supervision 
  • ensuring that workers comply with safety and health procedures and use safety equipment, clothing and devices 
  • advising workers of safety and health hazards in the work area 
  • cooperating with the workplace safety and health committee or representative 
  • cooperating with others on workplace safety and health matters 

Committees and representatives play an important role by providing input and advice to employers on safety and health matters. However, they are not responsible for managing safety and health in the workplace. The legal responsibilities of committees and representatives include: 

  • making safety and health recommendations to the employer 
  • dealing with the safety and health concerns of workers 
  • participating in the development and promotion of safety and health precautions, as well as safety and health education and training programs 
  • conducting regular workplace inspections 
  • conduct safety and health investigations 
  • cooperating with others on workplace safety and health matters 
  • Learn more about workplace safety and health committees.  

Contractors are described under the WSH Act as persons who hire an employer or self-employed person on contract and direct their activities. Contractors’ legal safety and health duties include: 

  • taking necessary precautions to ensure that activities and hazards within their control do not create a safety and health risk 
  • cooperating with others on workplace safety and health matters

Prime contractors are required on construction projects where more than one employer or self-employed person is involved. The legal safety and health responsibilities of prime contractors include:

  • coordinating, organizing and overseeing work on the project to ensure the safety and health of workers and others who may be affected by activities on the project (including coordinating the safety and health programs of employers working on the project) 
  • setting up an effective system to ensure everyone working on the project fulfils their legal safety and health responsibilities 
  • cooperating with others on workplace safety and health matters 

Prime contractors must establish a project safety and health committee on construction projects expected to last more than ninety days where twenty or more workers are expected to work. 

Self-employed persons are responsible for their own actions or inaction. Their legal safety and health duties include:

  • taking necessary precautions to ensure their activities do not create a safety and health risk to themselves or others who may be affected by their activities 
  • cooperating with others on workplace safety and health matters 

The owners of buildings or land used as a workplace have legal safety and health responsibilities that include: 

  • taking necessary precautions to ensure that property under their control does not create a risk to safety and health 
  • cooperating with other people on workplace safety and health matters 

The legal safety and health duties of suppliers include: 

  • taking necessary precautions to ensure that tools, equipment and other materials supplied to a workplace are safe when used according to instructions provided 
  • cooperating with others on workplace safety and health matters 

Related links

The right to refuse unsafe work
Workplace Safety and Health Act
Reporting serious incidents