Published on: March 16, 2017

Changes to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation relating to joint health and safety committees will take effect April 3, 2017. These changes include amendments to the mandatory minimum training requirements for health and safety committee members and worker representatives. In particular, new committee members who join after April 3, 2017 must receive a total of eight hours of instruction and training, within their first six months.

New training resources will be available on worksafebc.com, including:

• An online course for worker health and safety representatives (4 hours)
• A joint committee training course with an online component (2 hours), and a classroom component that could be conducted in-person, or remotely by webinar (6 hours)

Once they are made available, employers and trainers will be able to download these free materials and customize them for their workplace or industry.

Updated April 26, 2017: New joint committee resources now available