Let’s dive deep into our most familiar
Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) Right.
Right to Refuse Dangerous Work
Across the jurisdictions of Canada, Occupational Health & Safety legislation ensures workers have the ability to stop work they feel is dangerous to their heath or safety, and to have the hazard remedied before they, or anyone else continues with the task.
Jurisdiction
Federal
Legislation
Canada Labour Code Part II
Scope/Definition
Any employee under Part II may refuse if they have reasonable cause to believe the work is imminently or seriously dangerous.
Alberta
Occupational Health & Safety Act section 17
Workers have the right to refuse ‘undue hazards’: a serious, immediate threat.
British Columbia
Occupational Health & Safety Regulation section 3.12 – 3.13
Right to refuse work or equipment that poses an undue hazard.
Manitoba
Workplace Safety & Health Act sections 42-43
The right exists where workers reasonably believe work threatens safety or health.
New Brunswick
Occupational Health & Safety Act section 19
Right exists where act likely in dangers self or others.
Newfoundland & Labrador
Occupational Health & Safety Act section 45
May refuse work if reasonable grounds that work, tool, or equipment is dangerous to self or others.
Northwest Territories
Occupational Health & Safety Act
Right where worker believes danger exists; immediate serious hazard.
Nova Scotia
Occupational Health & Safety Act sections 43-46
Right to refuse work believed unhealthy or dangerous to self or others.
Nunavut
Occupational Health & Safety Act
Right to refuse dangerous or unhealthy work on reasonable grounds.
Ontario
Occupational Health & Safety Act sections 43-50
A worker may refuse work they believe endangers health or safety including equipment or workplace conditions.
Prince Edward Island
Occupational Health & Safety Act section 28-29
Right to refuse work likely to endanger self or others.
Quebec
Loi sur la Santé et la Sécurité du Travail, arts 12-13
A worker may refuse work if they believe it poses physical or psychological danger to themselves or others.
Saskatchewan
Employment Act Part III Division 5 sections 3-31
May refuse ‘unusually dangerous’ work with reasonable grounds.
Yukon
Occupational Health & Safety Act
Right to refuse dangerous work with reasonable cause; hazards are immediate or serious.
If you feel unsure about any of the above, and have reasonable cause, you need to stop and inform your supervisor of your concerns.
Reasonable cause means a worker has an honest belief, based on objective facts that a situation presents a danger to their health or safety, and that belief would be shared by a reasonable person in the same situation.
Dangerous work can include any of the following:
- Lack of PPE such as not having the correct respirator cartridge to work around hazardous products or not having PPE at all when using a chemical
- Equipment that is faulty or defective, such as a scaffold missing a toe board.
- Working at heights with out fall protective equipment
- Working alone at night in a high crime area with no security measures
- Working outdoors in extreme heat or extreme cold
- Being untrained for a task, such as using a forklift
Each jurisdiction outlines similar processes for exercising the right to refuse:
- Identify and stop the task when dangerous work is identified.
- Report the concern to your supervisor or whomever company process requires.
- Employer investigates the concern, often with the involvement of the health and safety committee or health and safety representative.
- If the concern is not addressed, the issue is escalated to the provincial authority, who will investigate and provide a written decision.
- Perform safe work or appeal the decision.
