Consider this: an employer spends considerable time and money on a strong health and safety policy and program. It gives workers health and safety orientation, regular training updates and highly recommended supervisors. Then a safety inspector makes an unscheduled visit, finds a worker working unsafely and concludes that the Occupational Health and Safety Act has been violated. Both the employer and the supervisor are charged with failing to take "every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker".
What could the employer have done differently to protect itself, its supervisor and its worker?
The role of a supervisor
Every employer must do what is reasonable to ensure a safe work environment. Employers often hire supervisors to monitor and enforce health and safety compliance, but hiring a supervisor does not relieve the employer of its duty to ensure a safe workplace.
Reasonable supervision is about consistency and deliberate observation, detection and correction. Supervisors should be present at the workplace or job site often enough to detect hazards or unsafe behaviour and, when they find them, take steps to fix them.
What good supervision includes
- Training: every supervisor must be trained well enough to understand and implement the workplace's health and safety programs.
- Observation: supervisors should observe health and safety compliance regularly, consistently and systematically.
- Record keeping: supervisors should keep detailed notes of what they observe and any remedial or follow-up steps taken with workers.
- Communication: supervisors should communicate regularly with workers, other supervisors and senior managers to identify issues and deal with them promptly.
- Enforcement: supervisors and employers must enforce all health and safety requirements consistently and transparently.
- Zero tolerance: it may seem harsh, but supervisors and employers should have a zero-tolerance policy for health and safety violations.