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Occupational Health And Safety Programs

Health & safety programs

Health and safety programs are aimed at ensuring workers are protected, risks are minimized, and a healthy and safe workplace is maintained. All employers must establish some form of health and safety program at the workplace. The type of program you need depends on the number of workers you have and the risks associated with their work.

Course Content

What an effective health and safety program looks like

An effective program will:

  • Identify and control hazards in the workplace.
  • Help prevent injuries and disease.
  • Limit an organization’s financial losses resulting from injuries and disease.
  • Promote a positive health and safety culture.
  • Outline the importance of, and provide guidance on, health and safety processes such as workplace inspections, investigations, safe work procedures, management meetings for health and safety, joint health and safety committee requirements, and the tracking and trending of OHS records and statistics.
  • Include sub-programs focused on health and safety issues pertinent to your site. For example, your site may have a specific lockout program, a fall protection program, or a confined space entry program.

Formal versus less formal health and safety programs

You must have a formal health and safety program if you have either of the following:

  • A workforce of 20 or more workers and at least one workplace where there is a moderate or high risk of injury
  • A workforce of 50 or more workers

    • See OHS Guideline G3.1 for information on formal health and safety programs.

Small businesses or employers with fewer than 20 workers need a health and safety program too. These programs can be simpler. We refer to them as “less formal” health and safety programs. See OHS Guideline G3.2 for information about the contents of a less formal health and safety program.

If you’re not sure if you need a formal or informal program, follow these steps:

  1. Determine how many workers are regularly employed in your workplace. Include all workers, supervisors, and managers who have worked for at least one month.
  2. Determine if your workplace is classified as low (L), moderate (M), or high (H) risk. Reviewing OHS Guideline G3.16 or talking to one of our prevention officers can help you understand the level of risk in your workplace.
  3. Use the table below to identify the type of program required for your workplace. Keep in mind that in certain situations we may require smaller workplaces to update a program from informal to formal. This may happen if or when your workplace includes high-risk work, has had a high number of injury claims, or has had multiple serious injuries or fatalities

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Create & manage a healthy & safe workplace

The basic requirements

Creating a healthy and safe workplace means having an effective health and safety program and meeting other basic requirements.

Enhancing a health and safety culture (beyond the basics)

Creating a healthy and safe workplace means having an effective health and safety program and meeting other basic requirements.

​In British Columbia, BC, Canada, applicable provincial occupational health and safety regulations and the workers compensation act requires all small and large businesses (employers) by law to ensure an effective occupational health and safety program plan policy manual for BC has been developed and implemented for their workers. Non-compliance with these regulations can result in hefty fines, penalties, sanctions or stop work orders by local enforcement officers (WorkSafeBC). Our occupational health and safety programs BC plans manuals policy templates have been professionally developed/designed by experienced OHS consultants to meet with WorkSafeBC & BC’s Occupational Health and Safety Regulations/Act and can be utilized by any business/industry across British Columbia, BC.

What mainland Safety provides, overview of the program

  • SECTION 1 – COMPANY SAFETY POLICY 6
  • SECTION 2 – HAZARD ASSESSMENT
  • SECTION 3 – SAFE WORK PRACTICES
  • SECTION 4 SAFE JOB PROCEDURES
  • SECTION 5 – COMPANY
  • SECTION 6 – PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (P.P.E.)
  • SECTION 7 – PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE
  • SECTION 8 – TRAINING
  • SECTION 9 – INSPECTIONS
  • SECTION 10 – INVESTIGATIONS
  • SECTION 11 – EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
  • SECTION 12 – RECORDS AND STATISTICS
  • SECTION 13 – ENVIRONMENTAL
  • SECTION 14 – WORKPLACE VIOLENCE
  • SECTION 15 – RETURN TO WORK
  • SECTION 16 – FIRST AID
  • SECTION 17 – Health & Safety Representative/Jo

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Would you like to find out if your current health and safety program is in compliance with the 2019 Provincial occupational health and safety regulations?

Mainland Safety has helped hundreds of clients across Vancouver, BC in conducting site safety inspections, accident investigations, site safety audits, job safety analysis(s), safety program development, and safety training. As a leader in the safety industry, we offer professional safety consulting services to assist your company’s safety culture and to ensure compliance with WorkSafeBC OHSR provincial legislation in BC.

Part of our health and safety consulting service is our safety program auditing process, which is an effective tool to evaluate your current health and safety program. Problem areas are identified and solutions are suggested in the following areas: provincial and federal regulatory requirements, management commitment, employee involvement and accountability, work site job hazard analysis, record keeping (due diligence), safety training, and hazard recognition and control. Mainland Safety accomplishes this by providing outstanding customer service with the highest level of ethical standards and professional integrity. We pride ourselves on the ability to strategically align our company’s services within your organizational structure to assist you in accomplishing your company safety goals.

We will thoroughly review your current health and safety policies and procedures to ensure compliance with WorkSafeBC regulations. We audit both your overall company (due diligence) and your physical location(s), providing you accurate findings, recommendations, and then develop policies and procedures to address the limitations in your current health and safety programs. Mainland Safety will teach you how to conduct proper inspections, prevent accidents, and control hazardous substances to minimize injuries appearing in your health and safety programs, ensuring compliance with WorkSafeBC and Federal occupational health and safety regulations.

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According to the Workers Compensation Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation in BC, it’s the employer’s responsibility to implement an occupational health and safety program, as per WorkSafeBC regulations, to prevent employee workplace injury and disease. All businesses in BC and every other province in Canada are required by WorkSafeBC law to have an occupational health and safety program developed and implemented for each work site. OHS safety programs in British Columbia must meet certain WorkSafeBC safety regulations and standards. This ensures that the employer is exercising due diligence in taking steps to meet WorkSafeBC OHS regulations, act and standards. All large employers in BC must have a ‘formal’ health and safety program manual developed and implemented if you have either a workforce of 20 or more workers and at least one workplace where there is a moderate or high risk of injury and when you have a workforce of 50 or more workers. Small businesses or employers with fewer than 20 workers need a written health and safety program too. These OHS program manuals can be simpler. They are referred to as “informal” health and safety programs. Failure to do so could result in your company receiving fines, penalties, sanctions and/or stop worker orders by local government safety officers.
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​Health and safety program manuals are aimed at ensuring workers are protected, risks are minimized, and a healthy and safe workplace is maintained. All employers must establish some form of health and safety program at the workplace. The type of program you need depends on the number of workers you have and the risks associated with their work. Though every workplace and every occupational health and safety (OHS) program are different, there are some key elements common to all programs.