Canadian Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) legislation was enacted to protect workers throughout the country. However, it’s not effective if you don’t understand your rights and responsibilities. That’s why one of the largest contributors to OHS'ssuccess is the required health and safety training that many Canadian workers have to take.
Your employer is responsible for making sure all of their employees have completed the appropriate health and safety training to stay in compliance with OHS standards. Additionally, the OHS jurisdiction you work in, as opposed to by federal regulations, determines many of your training requirements.
Which OHS Agency Do I Fall Under?
There are fourteen OHS jurisdictions in Canada: the federal jurisdiction, ten providential jurisdictions, and three territorial jurisdictions. You most likely fall under your providence’s or territory’s jurisdiction, but there are special situations where you may fall directly under federal jurisdiction.
Employees that Fall Under Federal Jurisdiction
Examples of employees that fall under federal jurisdiction include the following:
- Federal employees
- Employeesof national corporations
- Bank employees
- Radio and television broadcasting employees
- Shipping services employees
- Uraniummining and processing employees
- Telephone system employees
Who Is Covered by the OHS Act?
All employees, no matter what province or territory you work in, are covered by the OHS Act of their region. The exception to this rule is employees who are employed by private homes or farming operations. As we said above, you’re most likely covered by your province’s or territory’s jurisdiction, so to confirm your coverage, you’ll need to check with your specific jurisdiction, oftentimes called a ministry or department of labor.
Each provincial or territorial agency is responsible for the administration and enforcement of its health and safety policies, so you’ll always want to use them as your first legislative resource.
We offer courses for each one of the industries required to complete Canada safety training:
- Construction Safety Training
- Forklift and Heavy Equipment Training
- General Safety Training
- Health and Safety Training
Explore our safety and health training courses for Canada to find the right one to meet your needs.