Meetings and Inspections

Committees must meet regularly in order to discuss safety and health issues in their workplaces. The main function of meetings is to talk about hazards that have been identified and try to come up with recommendations on ways to eliminate or control those hazards. Meetings MUST take place during the following work hours, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

How Often so Committees Have to Meet?

In order to carry out its duties, the legislation requires a committee to hold meetings at least once every three months. However, given the ten month timeline in a school division, committee meetings should be held during the following months:

• Meeting 1:  September, October
• Meeting 2:  November, December, January (considers Winter Break)
• Meeting 3:  February, March, April (considers Spring Break)
• Meeting 4:  May, June

The first meeting must be within one month after the committee is established.  Committee members must be given at least three days notice that a meeting will be taking place.

Committee co-chairs or worker representatives can call special meetings to deal with urgent matters.

Booking Substitutes:

The school division will cover the cost of subs for all safety & health committee representatives that will be attending the committee meeting.  Please record the safety committee meeting release on time-sheets as “SAT PD–Workplace Safety & Health.”  Please book a sub for those needing one in SmartFind.  Select - "Safety & Health Committee" (code 051) as the reason for your request.

SmartFind link:  https://subs.pembinatrails.ca/logOnInitAction.do

Minutes of Meetings:

Committees must record minutes of each meeting. Minutes are a record of what went on at the meeting. Mainly, they will detail any workplace hazards that were discussed during the meeting and recommendations that were made to address those hazards. They should also include some administrative information, such as the date of the meeting and a list of members who were present.

Setting Agendas:
It is recommended that the co-chairs get together to set the agenda for each meeting. This must be posted on the safety and health committee bulletin board prior to each meeting and distributed to committee members at least three clear days ahead of the meeting. Following is a generic agenda outline that could be used in creating your own agendas.

• Review minutes of last meeting: You will need to determine if all issues have been resolved or if actions have been taken as indicated and next steps agreed to and noted.
• Review issues resolved by individual committee members or supervisors.
• Review illness, injuries and accidents since last meeting: This could also include a brief review of working procedures, rules and policies related to the illness, injuries or accidents and recommendations for changes to same. A review of corrective measures for all accidents must also be done. This review determines if the corrective measure is working.
• Review of violent incidents since last meeting: This includes a review of the online violent incident reports. As a reminder, staff and student names must be omitted during discussion. Discussion involves what corrective measures were incorporated for the student and what protection was put in place for the staff members and if they are working or need improvement.
• Consider new concerns or problems: These may arise out of inspection tours, surveys, investigations by committee or concerns brought to the committee's attention by employees or management.
• Review of educational material and availability of safety and health training programs.

Additional Requirements for Minutes:

• Minutes must be recorded in a format that is legible and acceptable to Workplace Safety & Health Division, Dept. of Labour. A sample of a minute form is available on the "Related Links" to the right of this page.
• Minutes must be signed by both co-chairpersons, or designates who have attended the meeting on their behalf.
• Minutes must be posted on a dedicated safety and health bulletin board in a conspicuous location at the workplace.
• Minutes must be kept on file at the workplace for at least 10 years.
• The employer must forward a copy of the minutes to the divisional Safety Officer and to each committee member within seven days of the meeting.  the province of Mb, Workplace Safety & Health office no longer requires a copy.

Safety and Health Bulletin Board:

The school administration is responsible to provide a safety and health bulletin board for the exclusive display of safety and health related materials. The bulletin board shall be prominently located in an area that is accessible to all workers within the facility.

The employee co-chair shall be responsible to ensure that the information on the bulletin board is current and shall include:

• the names and contact information of all committee members;
• minutes of the most current meeting;
• safety news and information as recommended by the committee or its members;
• list of all first aiders at the workplace;
• list of emergency numbers;
• Concern Register forms.