Work Health and Safety (a) The employer and employee acknowledge their responsibilities under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and Work Health and Safety Regulations 2012.
(b) Where there is a Work Health and Safety Representative they must be elected and will carry out the tasks associated with the role of Work Health and Safety Representative set out within the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.
HEALTH AND SAFETY 7A01 The parties to this Collective Agreement endorse the importance of a safe and secure environment, in which nurses must work. The parties will work together in recognizing and resolving Occupational Health and Safety issues. 7A02 In accordance with the Workplace Safety and Health Act, the Employer agrees to make reasonable and proper provisions for the maintenance of a high standard of health and safety in the workplace and will provide safety and personal protective equipment where required and install safety devices where necessary. 7A03 The Workplace Safety and Health Committee shall cooperate with Union representation for the purpose of ensuring health and safety in the workplace and the identification of health and safety hazards. On an annual basis the Workplace Safety and Health Committee will be provided with and will review the Critical Incident Stress Response policy, security/response plans and all other applicable policies and regulations. The Employer will make available where it exists, support through the Critical Incident Stress Response (CISR) team, or where there is no CISR team, appropriate Critical Incident support, to a nurse affected by a Critical Incident, an incident or circumstances that are deemed by the nurse to be outside the normal experience of their duties/workplace, and/or upon request of the nurse, or the manager on behalf of the nurse. Where the Employer, does not currently maintain a CISR team, they shall provide the Union with the specifics of how nurses are provided support similar to that provided by CISR teams, and through what programs and/or services. Where maintenance of CISR teams is no longer reasonably possible the Employer shall provide the Union as much notice as possible and the parties shall meet to discuss what options are to be implemented to continue provision of similar support to nurses. The Employer will communicate to members the option to activate CISR as well as provide information as to the nature of the support provided by the CISR teams. The parties agree that there shall be a dedicated mental health support unit (over and above EAP), funded by PCOC, and established exclusively for nurses in the bargaining unit. The parties agree to establish a committee within sixty (60) days of ratification of this agreement to establish the scope, duties and terms of reference of the mental health support unit. 7A04 The Employer and the Union agree that no form of abuse, harassment or bullying of nurses will be condoned in the workplace. Both parties will work together in recognizing, facilitating the reporting of alleged abuse and resolving such problems as they arise. There shall be zero tolerance of abuse, harassment or bullying. Any nurse who believes a situation may become or has become abusive, harassing or bullying shall report this to the immediate supervisor. The Employer shall notify the Union ninety-six (96) hours after the receipt of the report. Every reasonable effort will be made to rectify the abusive situation to the mutual satisfaction of the parties. Any workplace injury or harmful exposure suffered by a nurse shall be reported to the Union no later than ninety-six (96) hours after the report/notification is made to the Employer. Such report to the Union will include the name of the affected nurse, if the nurse agrees, and a brief description as to the mechanism of injury/exposure. In regards to respectful workplace; there shall be a policy supporting a Respectful Workplace which shall be provided to the Union, and shall be reviewed annually by the Workplace Health and Safety Committee. Such policy shall address the issue of communication strategies, which will include signage. The Employer’s Respectful Workplace policy shall include a commitment to conclude the investigation as quickly as is reasonably possible. Where a respectful workplace complaint is filed by a nurse, the Employer shall notify the Union of such complaint no later than ten (10) business days following receipt of the complaint. Where the Union has concerns regarding the impartiality of an Employer conducted Respectful Workplace Investigation, the Union shall have the right to request the investigation be conducted by an individual from outside the work site. The Employer shall give all due reasonable consideration to such request. If a Respectful Workplace Investigation is conducted, a report of findings, or a summary of the report will be shared by the Employer with the complainant and respondent nurse(s). Where a summary is provided, rather than the full report the Union may request and the Employer shall provide the rationale for the provision of a summary rather than the full report. The complainant and respondent may share the report/summary with the Union if they wish. 7A05 At the request of a nurse, the Employer shall provide, at no cost to the nurse, vaccination(s) and/or immunization(s) for occupational illness(es) in accordance with the Canadian Immunization Guide from the Laboratory Centre for Disease for Health Canada. All reasonable efforts should be made to provide immunization(s) to the nurse during their regularly scheduled work hours. 7A06 Rehabilitation and Return to Work Program - The Employer agrees to actively participate and facilitate the rehabilitation and return to work of ill, injured or disabled nurses even when they are not covered under the D & R, WCB or MPI programs. For clarity, where a nurse is waiting for a decision from D & R, WCB, or MPI and has been medically cleared to return to work, the Employer will pay for all return to work hours. It is understood that the nurse will reimburse the Employer once their claim is accepted. Any such nurse will be supernumerary in nature when reasonably possible. The Union shall be notified by the Employer if there is a request for a Rehabilitation and Return to Work Program for a nurse. The Employer shall include the Union in the initial meeting with the nurse to review the provisions of the program to ensure that the work designated is within their restrictions and limitations. If required, the Employer shall schedule subsequent (progress) review(s) with the Union and the nurse and may proceed without the Union’s involvement subject to the Union’s concurrence. Where appropriate, by agreement between the Employer and the Union, job postings may be waived.
CONTRACT WORK HOURS AND SAFETY STANDARDS As per the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (40 U.S.C. 3701-3708), where applicable, all Customer Purchase Orders in excess of ,000 that involve the employment of mechanics or laborers must include a provision for compliance with 40 U.S.C. 3702 and 3704, as supplemented by Department of Labor regulations (29 CFR Part 5). Under 40 U.S.C. 3702 of the Act, each contractor must be required to compute the wages of every mechanic and laborer on the basis of a standard work week of 40 hours. Work in excess of the standard work week is permissible provided that the worker is compensated at a rate of not less than one and a half times the basic rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in the work week. The requirements of 40 U.S.C. 3704 are applicable to construction work and provide that no laborer or mechanic must be required to work in surroundings or under working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous or dangerous. These requirements do not apply to the purchases of supplies or materials or articles ordinarily available on the open market, or contracts for transportation or transmission of intelligence.
Health and Safety Committee The Employer and the Union agree that they mutually desire to maintain standards of safety and health in the Home in order to prevent injury and illness.
(a) A joint management and employee health and safety committee shall be constituted, with representation of at least half by employees from the bargaining unit, which shall identify potential dangers, recommend means of improving the health and safety programs and obtaining information from the Employer or other persons respecting the identification of hazards and standards elsewhere. The committee shall normally meet at least once a month. Scheduled time spent in such meetings is to be considered time worked. Minutes shall be taken of all meetings and copies shall be sent to the Employer and to the Union. Two (2) representatives from the Joint Health and Safety Committee, one (1) from management and one (1) from the employees, shall make monthly inspection of the workplace and equipment and shall report to the health and safety committee the results of their inspections. In the event of accident or injury, such representatives shall be notified, and if available, shall assist in investigating and report as soon as possible to the committee and to the Employer on the nature and causes of the accident or injury. Furthermore, such representatives must be notified of the inspection of a Ministry of Labour inspector and shall have the right, if on shift, to accompany him on his inspections. Scheduled times spent in all such activities shall be considered as time worked. Employees who are not direct care employees will be made aware of special procedures required of them to deal with these circumstances. The parties agree that all employees are aware of the requirement to practice universal precautions in all circumstances.
(b) Union staff or Union Health and Safety advisors or consultants shall be provided access to the workplace, with the approval of the Administrator if required to attend Health and Safety Committee meetings, or for inspecting, investigating or monitoring the workplace.
(c) Union members of the Health and Safety Committee shall be entitled to time off from work with no loss of seniority or earnings to attend seminars sponsored by government agencies or the Union for instruction and upgrading on Health and Safety matters. Such time off shall be at the discretion of the Administrator and shall not be the subject matter of a grievance.
(d) The Joint Health and Safety Committee and the representatives thereof shall have reasonable access to the annual summary of data from the Workers' Compensation Board relating to the number of work accidents, fatalities, the number of lost workday cases, the number of non-fatal cases that required medical aid without lost workdays, the incidence of occupational injuries, and such other data, as the Workers' Compensation Board may decide to disclose.
(e) The Employer shall make all affected direct care employees aware of residents who have serious infectious diseases. The nature of the disease need not be disclosed. Employees who are not direct care employees will be made aware of special procedures required of them to deal with these circumstances. The parties agree that all employees are aware of the requirement to practice universal precautions in all circumstances.
Health and Safety Committees In order to provide a safe and healthful workplace, local unit level LMCs shall establish Health and Safety Committees. Each committee will be composed of an equal number of representatives appointed by the Union and the Employer and will be co-chaired by a Union and Employer representative. A Union representative must be a member of the unit but either party may be accompanied by staff and/or other subject matter experts who may participate, but not vote, at meetings. Each party shall prepare and submit an agenda to the other party one week prior to any scheduled meeting. If neither party submits an agenda, the meeting shall be canceled. Each committee’s general responsibility will be to provide a safe and healthful workplace by recognizing hazards and recommending the abatement of hazards and educational programs. Each committee will:
1. meet on an established schedule;
2. arrange periodic inspections to detect, evaluate and offer recommendations for control of potential health and safety hazards;
3. appoint members of the committee to participate in inspections, investigations, or other established health and safety functions to the extent necessary;
4. receive and review a quarterly summary of job-related health and safety reports including accident reports and make appropriate recommendations;
5. investigate all types of employee job-related accidents and all types of occupational illnesses and make recommendations;
6. promote health and safety education;
7. study the use of VDTs and make appropriate recommendations to ensure the health and safety of employees regarding such use;
8. maintain and review minutes of all committee meetings; and
9. review the availability and adequacy of first aid supplies and equipment and address any inadequacies. In cases where summary reports are provided, a committee member may request and receive an individual case file or report. In no case will an employee’s records be provided when the law forbids disclosure. In addition, employees’ names will normally be deleted but may be provided to all committee members in instances where committee members need to know the name(s) of employee(s) to effectively represent the bargaining unit(s) and disclosure of name(s) is not prohibited by law. The Employer may require committee members and Union representatives to sign confidentiality statements. Members of each Health and Safety Committee will be paid by the Employer while performing committee duties, including travel time, and will also be paid for any time spent in committee approved training related to health and safety. The Committee will develop an annual training program for its members. Each Health and Safety Committee will establish rules consistent with the above principles. A mechanism to coordinate the efforts of individual Health and Safety Committees will be established at each agency.
