A 1-day Joint Health and Safety Committee refresher course is required every three years to keep your certification. Read on to learn the relevant aspects of this course, and trust Acute Safety & Safety Services to get you trained. The importance of health and safety in the workplace can’t be overstated, and business owners must make sure their companies are doing everything possible to protect employees. ACUTE provides comprehensive health and safety training, on-site safety services and consulting services – contact ACUTE today!
Joint Health and Safety Committee Refresher: What You Need to Know
What is a Joint Health and Safety Committee?
The Occupational Health and Safety Act [Subsection 9(12)] requires most workplaces with 20 or more workers to have at least one worker and one management person serve as certified members of a workplace Joint Health and Safety Committee.
A JHSC is also required at:
- Construction projects expected to last three months or longer with 20 or more workers
- Any workplace (other than a construction project) to which a designated substance regulation applies
- Any workplace where an order has been issued under OHSA section 33 dealing with toxic substances
- Any workplace where the Minister of Labour orders one to be established.
If your workplace has more than five but less than 20 workers, you’re typically not required to have a JHSC. Instead, workers must select a person from among themselves to be a health and safety representative.
Having said all that, what exactly is a JHSC? In general terms, it’s a panel of at least two persons who represent the workers and management at a workplace. Their primary role is to identify workplace health and safety problems, bring them to the attention of the administration, and help work towards effective solutions.
In order to receive official certification, the members of the committee must receive training in health and safety law, as well as the identification, assessment, and control of hazards.
A JHSC is a panel of at least two persons who represent the workers and the employer at a workplace.
3 Stages of Joint Health and Safety Committee Training
The JHSC training is broken into two parts, and is to be taken by at least two persons from the workplace who will form the group.
According to the Government of Ontario, Part 1 of the training is generic to all workplaces that require both management and worker certified members, regardless of workplace sector. Topics include:
- Occupational health and safety law
- Rights, duties, and responsibilities of the workplace parties
- Hazard recognition, assessment, and control as well as evaluation of hazard controls
- Joint health and safety committees
- Duties and responsibilities of JHSC members and certified members
- Health and safety resources.
Part 2 of the training focuses on:
- The concepts of hazard recognition, assessment, and control, and evaluation of hazard controls
- Participants will learn how to apply these concepts to a minimum of six (6) hazards relevant to their own workplaces. The learner will practice drafting action plans and recommendations for the administration through an activity.
Once you have completed JHSC training Part 1, you must sign up for Part 2 within 1 year.
That brings us to the third stage, the Joint Health and Safety Committee refresher, where you can expect the following:
- Review of key concepts from Part 1 and Part 2 training
- Relevant updates to legislation, standards, codes of practice, and occupational health and safety best practices
- Opportunity for certified members to share and discuss best practices and challenges.
Note: The minimum hours for training are: Part 1 – 3 days (or 19.5 hours); Part 2 – 2 days (or 13 hours); Refresher training – 1 day (or 6.5 hours)
Once you have completed JHSC training Part 1, you must sign up for Part 2 within 1 year. Both of these courses include full day long classes (8 hours). From that point on, the 1-day refresher is required every three years in order to keep your JHSC Certification.
Watch this video For more on ACUTE’s JHSC training.
Trust ACUTE for Joint Health and Safety Committee Refreshers and Training
ACUTE has helped our partners not only earn and maintain JHSC certification, but also to be empowered to effectively ensure and promote meaningful health and safety initiatives in their organizations.
The following unique traits set our JHSC certification training apart:
- We use a variety of teaching styles for all learning types
- We can conduct the training at your facility if that is your preference
- We can customize the course materials to your company policies, procedures, and workplace
- Live customer service answers the phone every time you call
- Comfortable training facilities if you choose to conduct the training at our facility
Acute Safety & Safety Services is a consulting and training team based in Waterloo, offering on-site and off-site training based on your needs.
Here’s what our clients are saying about ACUTE:
“We have used Acute Environmental & Safety Services Inc. for many years and our personnel always come back well trained, energized and bringing lots of ideas. They are provided with substantial and in-depth knowledge together with challenging opportunities to put into practice what they have learned into our field operations.” – Dante, Environmental Service Company
ACUTE services customers from cities such as Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Hamilton, Milton, Kitchener, London, Guelph, and others across Ontario.
