Hazard Assessments: have you seen yours?

By Dewey Funk

UNA OH&S Advisor

First: what is a “Hazard Assessment”?

It is a document that must be developed by employers that “identifies existing and potential hazards“ and sets out “methods used to control or eliminate the hazards identified.”

This directly affects your health and safety! Yours, not that of your patients. When you can’t do your job in a healthy and safe environment, how can you properly look after patients, clients, and residents?

Part 2, of the Occupational Health and Safety Code, which deals with hazard assessments, speaks in Section 8 about worker participation:

An employer must involve affected workers in the hazard assessment and in the control or elimination of the hazards identified.

An employer must ensure that workers affected by the hazards identified a hazard assessment report are informed of the hazards and of the methods used to control or eliminate the hazards.

This is part of the Three Rs enshrined in the Occupational Health and Safety Act: The Right to Know, the Right to Participate and the Right to Refuse.

What this means is that not all affected workers need to be involved, but some affected workers on the unit must be involved in the development of the hazard assessment. So some workers need to receive training in how to do hazard assessments.

Instead, many workers have hazard assessment forms slapped down in front of them, are told to look it over and sign it off at the end of their shift.

Would you sign a mortgage document without reading it? Your paycheck is tied to your mortgage, so most people put a lot of thought into that agreement.

Your hazard assessment deserves the same consideration. Your paycheck is also tied to this document, because it can affect your safety on the job. All the hazards you are exposed to need to named in this assessment, as well as the controls required to mitigate them.

Your employer has an obligation to educate you about the hazards in your workplace, and the means to control them. This is not a “joint responsibility” – it is the employer’s responsibility in law to inform and educate and train you on the policies, procedures and risks in your workplace.

You should not have to find this information out “when you have time.”

I had the opportunity to attend UNA District Meetings in April and make a presentation on hazard assessments and their importance to nurses. Each time I asked, “How many of you have seen your hazard assessments and it is astounding at how many of you have not seen these documents?” Many nurses had not.

The law requires that the hazard assessment is readily available to you.

OH&S Regulation Section 8(2) says: “If an employer is required to develop procedures or to put procedures in place under the Act, the regulations or the adopted code, the employer shall ensure that a paper or downloaded copy of the current procedures is readily available for reference by workers at the work site affected by the procedures.”

How often is the hazard Assessment to be reviewed?

Part 2, Section 7, of the OH&S Code says: “an employer must ensure that the hazard assessment is repeated ... at reasonably practicable intervals to prevent the development of unsafe and unhealthy working conditions … when a new work process is introduced … when a work process or operation changes, or … before the construction or significant additions or alterations to a work site.”

So here’s your homework: Ask your employer to provide you with a copy of your hazard assessment, read it over and familiarize yourself with the document.

If you don’t know where the polices mentioned are located, as your employer. It’s not enough for your employer to write policies, the employer must educate you and actually show you where the policy is for reference. There’s a difference between written policy and implementation of policy.

If you see an unidentified hazard, notify your employer and have the hazard added to the Hazard Assessment document. If your employer doesn’t want to add the hazard, have this concern brought up at your OH&S committee meeting and follow the process in your Collective Agreement.

This legislation came into effect in May 2004, 10 years ago. It’s time to ensure it’s obeyed. It’s your right!

Work Healthy, Play Safe!