Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) System Review

Thank you for taking this survey. The Government of Alberta needs your input to help prepare recommendations to improve Alberta’s occupational health and safety (OHS) system for workers and employers now, and into the future.

The input you provide will be considered to look at how government can modernize Alberta’s OHS Act, improve how it enforces OHS laws, and prevent occupational illnesses and injuries.

Instructions for completing this survey:

The survey should take 30 minutes to complete. It can be saved at any time and completed at a later date.

The survey is broken down into three subject areas; responsibility, worker engagement and prevention:

• Clarify responsibility in legislation. To support positive behavior, the legislative framework should clearly express the duties and responsibilities of all work site parties, including employers, workers, suppliers, supervisors, contractors and prime contractors. At the same time, enforcement tools must be progressive, proportional and effective to reinforce OHS responsibilities. Some of the key tools (for example, joint work site health and safety committees and health and safety programs) that other jurisdictions embed in their legislation are fundamental elements of the internal responsibility system. Legislation that is consistent between Canadian jurisdictions makes it easier and less costly for companies to operate in more than one province.
  


• Improve worker engagement in workplace health and safety. The internal responsibility system supports three key health and safety rights to ensure meaningful engagement of workers in OHS; the right to know about workplace hazards, the right to participate in decisions related to OHS, and the right to refuse unusually dangerous work. For workers to effectively carry out their responsibilities they must be given opportunities to participate in health and safety initiatives and acquire the knowledge and ability to keep themselves and their co-workers safe.
  


• Improve coordination and make better use of the tools available to renew our focus on prevention. Many prevention activities contribute to reducing illness and injury and can help build a positive health and safety culture. Enhancing access to data and information to inform actions, public awareness and knowledge, and partnerships between government, industry and other supporting organizations can all help build a robust prevention environment.

Each area begins with general questions and then focuses on detailed technical questions. You can skip a question at any time.