Safety roles and responsibilities

From deputy ministers to supervisors to front-line staff, we are all workers. We all have safety rights and responsibilities.

Contribute to a safe workplace by following safe work procedures, reporting unsafe conditions or incidents, and being prepared to respond to a workplace injury or emergency.

These are your roles and responsibilities:

• Understand your workplace health and safety requirements
• Inspect equipment and the workplace regularly
• Be alert for hazards
• Report unsafe work practices and conditions to your supervisor right away
• Report incidents/accidents, near misses, injuries and illnesses to your supervisor right away
• Follow safe work practices and procedures
• Cooperate with others to promote occupational safety and health

Safety rights

All workers have 4 safety rights:

The right to know

You have a right to know what hazards are present in the workplace, and to be given the information, training and supervision you need to protect yourself.

The right to participate

You have a right to participate in keeping your workplace healthy and safe. This may include selecting or being a health and safety representative or committee member. You also have a right to report unsafe conditions and practices.

The right to refuse unsafe work

You must refuse work that you think could be dangerous to yourself or your co-workers. Review how to refuse unsafe work.

The right to protection from prohibited action

An employer or Union, or a person acting on behalf of the employer or Union, must not take or threaten a prohibited action against a worker exercising any OHS duty or right as required under the Workers Compensation Act, Part 2, Division 6.