Handling Work Refusals

It is important to know all about Work Refusals as they have legal ramifications if dealt with improperly. Typically, the Operations Department of a workplace will deal with these issues. Please use these tips as general guidance to help you through a Work Refusal. For sake of argument, we will be referring to the person dealing with the Work Refusal as the Operations Team Member.

1 ) Know and understand the prevailing Health and Safety Legislation, whether it be the Provincial Act or the Canada Labour Code.  Make sure the Operations Team Member:

• Understands and appreciates their duties and responsibilities
• Knows how to access pertinent sections the Legislation
• Understands how the steps required by the legislation are to be implemented in the workplace

2 ) Maintain an active and effective Health and Safety Program.  Usually, locations that maintain an active Safety Committee, regularly perform their workplace inspections, and respond promptly to their findings don’t have Work Refusals.  If they do, they are quickly resolved as the condition reported is clearly an unexpected condition that has occurred since the last inspection.

3 ) Remain calm and act professional at all times.  Unfortunately, in many cases, an Operations Team Member acts “impulsively” or “emotionally”. An Operations Team Member must be careful in this area, so that a Reprisal Complaint is not made against them. They must remember to:

• Refrain from saying anything that could be misconstrued as discipline, punishment, threat, intimidation, or act of coercion.
• Avoid using any profane words or jargon.
• Control facial expressions and other non verbal actions.

4 ) Ensure that the Employee is refusing unsafe work.   An Employee reporting a hazard to their Supervisor, and invoking their right to refuse unsafe work are two separate and distinct situations.  If in doubt, directly ask the Employee if “they are invoking their right to refuse unsafe work”.

5 ) Follow exactly the steps required by the Legislation.   Do not add or delete steps. If you are located in Ontario, you can learn more about the process here: http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/hs/pubs/ohsa/ohsag_7.php

6 ) Keep a copious amount of notes.  The list below is just a short collection of the prudent information that should be documented:

• Statements made by the Employee  (time, location, witnesses)
• Your actions throughout the event (calls made, persons contacted or interviewed)
• Names and positions of every person that becomes involved in the investigation or handling of this situation (why they were involved, what they had to say or offer)
• Time that a Member of the Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) was contacted, and their arrival time
• Observations made by yourself or the Member of the JHSC during your initial investigation (record any readings that could be used to help understand the situation)
• Your analysis of the conditions after the initial investigation
• The analysis of the Member of the JHSC of the conditions after the initial investigation
• Efforts made to resolve the reported situation, or explanation why no efforts were made
• Responses to any efforts made or suggestions to resolve the reported situation
• Time the appropriate Government Organization (Provincial Safety or HRSDC) was contacted and who was spoken to

7 ) Take pictures.  Also allow the Member of the JHSC to take pictures. Remember to document what pictures were taken, and why.

8 ) Error on the side of Safety.  Keep in mind that the general duty clause requires that you “do everything reasonable for the protection of the worker”.  Try to put yourself in the shoes of the Employee and see things from their perspective.

9 ) Do not hesitate to call in the appropriate Government Organization, if you truly believe that no hazards exist. In many cases, Operations Team Members are reluctant to make the call to request the assistance of the Ministry of Labour or HRSDC Inspector. Their past relationship was always one where the Inspector was there to write “orders” and cause the Employer “harm”. However, Inspectors will look through the “politics” or “underlying issues” causing the work refusal. It is permissible, to advise the Inspector of your beliefs that this work refusal is brought on by other conditions or situations not related to safety.

10 ) Do a Post mortem at your next Joint Health and Safety Committee Meeting.  Learn from the event: what was done correctly, opportunities for improvement, missing documentation, barriers to resolving the issue, etc.

If you follow these tips, and implement them properly, your organization will be in much better shape: your workers will respect the company for taking complaints seriously and your company will not face legal repercussions.