This is a committee comprising of representatives of both the employer and employees. Their role is to ensure health and safety in the workplace. For this, they bring health and safety issues to the attention of the employer. The employer also informs them of health and safety developments, and a worker member of the Joint Health and Safety Committee conducts an inspection of the workplace once every month.
Generally speaking, you are required by law to have such a committee in place if you employ more than five workers. If the number of employees on your payroll is 19 or less, the committee must have a workers' representative. There must be two health and safety members on the committee if you employ up to 49 workers, and four if it is 50 or above. At any time, two committee members (one representing workers and the other representing management) must be certified.
To obtain a health and safety certificate, they have to undergo health and safety training. This involves receiving joint health and safety certification training Part I & II that demonstrate safety procedures.
The members of the Joint Health and Safety Committee also need to meet once every three months.
