The OHS laws require employers to implement various health and safety measures to protect workers from workplace hazards. But because of costs, engineering requirements or other considerations, some of these measures may be extremely burdensome or infeasible for a particular workplace.

9 Common Traps & How to Avoid Them
OHS laws give workers the right to refuse dangerous work, provided that the workers’ fears are reasonable. If the work isn’t really dangerous—or doesn’t reasonably appear to be dangerous—the refusal is unjustified and the worker may be subject to discipline for insubordination. Safety coordinators like you are often called in to help determine whether or not a worker’s refusal is justified. And your company is counting on you to get it right. If you say that a refusal is justified when it really isn’t, you let workers get away with disrupting operations. But if you make the opposite mistake, you may expose your company to liability if the worker is then disciplined for a refusal a court ultimately finds was justified.

The OHS laws require employers to protect all workers from the hazards of their workplace. This duty extends to workers who are particularly vulnerable, such as pregnant workers, and need special protection from particular hazards. But a company’s effort to protect pregnant workers must also comply with its duty not to discriminate on the basis of gender. And when the company treats a pregnant worker differently—even if its only motive is to protect her and her unborn child—it runs the risk of liability for discrimination.

Here’s a synopsis of 16 cases decided since August 2007 in which a court or tribunal had to analyze a company’s (or individual’s) due diligence defence in a safety prosecution.

An Overview of OHS Law Posting Requirements
Employers have many duties under the OHS law of their province. Those duties include matters that directly affect safety, such as providing safety training, inspecting the workplace and implementing engineering measures, such as machine guards and ventilation. But the laws also contain some duties that employers tend to overlook. One of these duties is the duty to post certain health and safety information in the workplace.

Workers shouldn’t have to dig up this information on their own—they should get it from you. Posting health and safety information is important not just because it’s required by law. Workers may need the posted information to work safely. Posting the information may also contribute to the effectiveness of the company’s JHSC or health and safety representative and to its overall safety culture.