On October 1, 2015, the Chief Prevention Officer (CPO) established a new Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) Certification Training Program Standard, a new JHSC Certification Training Provider Standard, and new training and other requirements for JHSC learners. They took effect on March 1, 2016.
How to become certified
To become certified, a JHSC member must complete both Part One and Part Two of a CPO-approved JHSC certification training program, delivered by a CPO-approved training provider. Certified members must then take refresher training every three years to maintain their certification.
Training providers must be approved by the CPO under the standards to deliver JHSC certification training.
Members trained under the old standards
- Members certified under the 1996 standards remain certified and are not subject to the new requirements, including refresher training.
- Members who completed only Part One under the 1996 standards must complete Part Two under the new standards to be certified, and must then take refresher training every three years.
What each part covers
- Part One is generic and applies to every workplace where a JHSC is required. It covers health and safety topics, including legislative requirements and the roles and responsibilities of workplace parties under the OHSA. Part One is a minimum of 3 days (19.5 hours). Up to 6.5 hours of specific learning outcomes can be delivered by eLearning.
- Part Two focuses on a minimum of six hazards relevant to the workplace, applying the Recognize, Assess, Control and Evaluate (RACE) method to those hazards. The minimum length is 2 days (13 hours).
- Refresher training reviews concepts from Part One and Part Two. The minimum length is 1 day (6.5 hours).