If workers submit safety concerns through the employer’s reporting system but see no action taken, what steps can they take to ensure the issue is addressed?
Under Alberta’s Alberta Occupational Health and Safety laws, employers are required to identify, investigate and control workplace hazards and take steps to address them. Reports made through systems like Hour Zero still count as formal hazard reports and must be reviewed and acted upon.
If workers feel their reports are not being taken seriously, there are several steps they can take:
- Document everything. Keep copies or screenshots of incident reports submitted through Hour Zero, including dates, times, and details of the hazard. This creates a record showing the concern was reported.
- Follow up in writing. If no action is taken, workers can request an update from the employer or the Joint Health and Safety Committee (or Health and Safety Representative, if one exists).
- Raise the issue at the committee level. Health and Safety Committees and Health and Safety Worker Representatives have a legislated role in reviewing hazards and making recommendations to the employer. These representatives must be meaningfully involved in this process.
- Contact Occupational Health and Safety directly. If hazards are being ignored or not properly investigated, or controlled, workers have the right to contact Alberta Occupational Health and Safety to report concerns. Complaints can be made confidentially, and the employer is not allowed to discipline or retaliate against a worker for raising safety concerns in good faith.
Important to know:
Without a union or collective agreement, enforcement of safety concerns relies primarily on the legal requirements in Alberta’s OHS legislation and the willingness of workers to document concerns and escalate them when needed. However, the law still requires RVS to investigate hazards and maintain a functioning health and safety system.
Administrative staff are experiencing increased verbal abuse and aggressive behaviour from parents, and/or students, and it is negatively affecting our mental health. What protections do workers have, and what responsibilities does the employer have to address this?
Under Alberta OHS legislation, verbal abuse, threats, and aggressive behaviour are considered forms of workplace violence and are recognized hazards under Alberta Occupational Health and Safety legislation.
Employers are legally required to:
- Assess the risk of workplace violence, including risks from parents, students, or members of the public.
- Put controls in place to reduce the risk, such as clear reporting procedures, training, staffing supports, and response plans.
- Investigate reported incidents of violence or harassment and take reasonable steps to prevent it from happening again.
- Protect worker health and safety, which includes psychological health where workplace behaviour is causing harm.
Workers should:
- Report all incidents of Violence and Harassment (ex. Verbal abuse or aggression, physical or psychological) using the employer’s reporting systemubmit these incident reports to the JHSC worker representatives. Keep personal records of what occurred, including dates and details including who, what, where, when, why and how.
- Request follow-up if no action is taken after a report is submitted.
- Contact Occupational Health and Safety directly at Alberta Occupational Health and Safety if workplace violence risks are not being addressed. Or request the worker representatives on the Joint Health and Safety Committee or have your worker representative contact Alberta OHS Enforcement on your behalf.
Important to know:
Suggesting workers to seek help from a psychologist does not replace RVS’ legal duty to address workplace hazards. RVS must take reasonable steps to reduce the risk of workplace violence, including verbal abuse from the public.
How is information about known aggressive or high-risk behaviour shared with staff who may be new to a site or covering a position, if incidents are not entered into formal reporting systems?
Under Alberta Occupational Health and Safety requirements, employers have a duty to ensure workers are informed and trained, and workers have the right to know about hazards they may be exposed to in the workplace, including known risks of aggressive or high-risk behaviour.
Where a worker may be new to a school or covering a position, they have a right know about hazards or risks in the workplace and a right to participate in OHS. RVS is responsible for ensuring there is a reliable system to communicate relevant safety information, so that workers are not unknowingly placed at risk.
In practice, this should include:
- A clear process for flagging known safety risks and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) (such as behaviour concerns that may pose a risk to staff).
- Ensuring relevant staff (including substitutes, new hires) are briefed on hazards they need to be aware of to work safely – this is your right to know and right to participate.
- Communication between HR, administration, learning support team, security, counselors and joint health and safety committee and relevant support staff so that safety-critical information is not lost when assignments change.
- Use of the Joint Health and Safety Committee or Health and Safety Representative, where applicable, to ensure consistent identification and communication of workplace hazards.
While RVS may use internal tools or forms to document behaviour, those systems must still support the legal requirement to identify hazards and communicate them effectively to workers who need the information to stay safe.
If workers are being placed in situations where known risks are not being shared appropriately, this may indicate a gap in RVS’ hazard communication system. Concerns can be raised internally, in consultation with the JHSC or worker representatives. If not addressed, workers may contact Alberta Occupational Health and Safety for guidance or to file a complaint.
Are workers allowed to report to Alberta Occupational Health and Safety if they are discouraged from reporting, or face discipline for raising safety concerns at work?
Yes. Under Alberta Occupational Health and Safety legislation, workers have the right to raise health and safety concerns, and employers are prohibited from discriminatory Action (Reprisals) like penalizing or disciplining workers.
If a worker submits a report or raises a safety concern in good faith and experiences negative treatment as a result (for example, being told not to report, discouraged from reporting, or facing consequences for reporting), that may be considered disciplinary action or reprisal, which is not allowed under OHS law.
Workers in this situation do have the right to file a complaint directly with Alberta Occupational Health and Safety. The formal process is called a disciplinary action complaint, and it allows OHS to review whether a worker has been penalized for raising safety concerns or exercising OHS rights.
OHS complaint link:
https://www.alberta.ca/ohs-discriminatory-action-complaints
While the right to file a complaint exists for all workers, non-union workers often face additional challenges in navigating the process.
CUPE has the extensive resources and Health and Safety experts available to help guide members through such a process.
If I am assigned to assist medically fragile students (for example, with catheters or feeding tubes), what health and safety protections and training am I entitled to?
If you are asked to assist medically fragile students (for example, with feeding tubes or catheters), your employer is responsible for ensuring the work can be done safely.
This includes:
- Providing proper training before you are expected to perform any medical or personal care tasks.
- Supplying appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and ensuring you know how to use it correctly.
- Completing hazard assessments and putting safe work procedures (SOPS) in place.
If my job duties now include medical procedures, do I still have the right to refuse the work if I feel it is unsafe or I am not properly trained?
This is outside of the scope of Health and Safety, unless there are hazards and risks could result in a worker or co-worker or student/public being injured. If you believe you will cause injury or harm you need to report this to your supervisor and the JHSC.
Is my employer still required to complete a risk assessment even if we are not unionized?
Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) laws apply to all workplaces, whether workers are unionized or not.
Employers are required to have health and safety policies in place and must follow the regulations outlined in the OHS legislation. This includes developing risk assessments, as well as clear procedures and processes to address workplace hazards.
These policies and procedures—including emergency response processes—should be posted on your workplace Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) board so workers can easily access them.