How do I report an incident?
If a serious incident happens or has the potential to happen, call the Occupational Health and Safety Contact Centre at 1‑866‑415‑8690.
Serious incidents, as defined under the OHS Act, must be reported. Once reported, an Occupational Health and Safety Officer may look into the incident. This notification is separate from any notification you are required to give to the Workers’ Compensation Board or police. You are also required to carry out your own investigation of the incident and make your report available to an OHS Officer upon request.
To learn more about incident reporting and investigation, refer to the Occupational Health and Safety Bulletin: Reporting and Investigating Injuries and Incidents.
How do I get a Certificate of Recognition (COR)?
Certificates of Recognition are awarded through the Partnerships in Injury Reduction program. They are given to employers who develop health and safety programs that meet established standards. Certificates are issued by Employment and Immigration and are co-signed by Certifying Partners. Contact a Certifying Partner to get started.
What should I do if I have a health and safety concern at my workplace?
The Occupational Health and Safety Contact Centre can answer your questions and provide any additional information that you may need. The Contact Centre can be reached:
- 1‑866‑415‑8690 (Toll-free within Alberta)
- 780‑415‑8690 (Edmonton and surrounding area)
- Deaf/hard of hearing with TDD/TTY: 780‑427‑9999 in Edmonton, 1‑800‑232‑7215 throughout Alberta
Where can I find information about hazard assessments?
Information about hazard assessments can be found in Part 2 of the Occupational Health and Safety Code Explanation Guide.
Where can I find health and safety information for my industry?
Each industry sector has unique hazards, risks and issues to be considered. OHS has resources and publications that are designed for certain industries.
How do I choose a certifying partner?
A company seeking Certificate of Recognition certification may choose any one of the Certifying Partners to work with in developing their health and safety management system. Typical questions to ask when choosing a certifying partner include:
- What are the mandatory courses an employee of the company needs to complete to audit for a COR?
- What are the costs of the courses?
- How many training days are required?
- How often are courses offered in my area?
- Does your association provide local training in and around my area? How often?
- What other safety courses does the association offer? (e.g. First Aid/CPR)
- What services do you provide in addition to the mandatory training?
- Is onsite assistance available if needed?
- Is phone or email support and assistance available?
- Do you have a local office?
- Will my organization have access to safety information (e.g. online library, videos and/or reference documents)?
- Are there any other services you provide to your members (e.g. regular meetings or annual general meetings)?
I’m applying for a Certificate of Recognition. How do I develop a health and safety management system?
Employers are encouraged to work with a Certifying Partner when they begin developing their health and safety management system.
A health and safety management system is a process put in place by an employer to minimize the incidence of injury and illness to workers involved in the operations carried out by the employer. This is accomplished through identifying, assessing and controlling hazards to workers in all workplace operations. The scope and complexity of a health and safety management system will vary according to the type of workplace and the nature of operations carried out.
For more information, see Building an Effective Health and Safety Management System.
Who is responsible for health and safety in the workplace?
Health and safety in the workplace is a shared responsibility. Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, employers, workers, suppliers and contractors each have a set of responsibilities.
Employers must protect the health and safety of workers, workers must work safely and cooperate with their employers’ health and safety programs, suppliers must supply tools and equipment in safe operating condition, and contractors who have employers working for them must ensure the employers are complying with the Act.
For a complete description of responsibilities, refer to Section 2 of the OHS Act, and the Employer’s Guide and Worker’s Guide to the Act.
When do I need to contact OHS about an injury or incident? If I contact the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB), isn’t that enough?
The OHS Act and Workers’ Compensation Act are separate pieces of legislation, each with their own set of reporting requirements.
Section 18 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act outlines the conditions under which incidents must be reported to Employment and Immigration. For more information, refer to the Health and Safety Bulletin, Reporting and Investigating Injuries and Incidents.
Refer to the Workers’ Compensation Board for information about what incidents need to be reported under the Workers’ Compensation Act.
Who do I talk to if I have a question about the OHS legislation?
If you have questions about the OHS Act, Regulation and Code, you can:
- Review publications that provide Explanations of OHS Legislation
- Phone the Occupational Health and Safety Contact Centre at 1‑866‑415‑8690 during regular business hours, or
- Send an email to the Contact Centre or use the online ‘Ask an Expert’ form.
How do I order OHS posters?
Posters and other print materials can be ordered through the Occupational Health and Safety Contact Centre by calling 1‑866‑415‑8690.
I’m not covered by Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB). Does the OHS legislation still apply to me?
Alberta’s OHS legislation applies to all work sites where the Alberta legislature has jurisdiction. The exceptions are federally regulated work sites, such as banks and national airlines, and most work sites in the farming and ranching industry
If you are not covered by workers’ compensation legislation, you may still be covered under OHS legislation.
If my company has more than one WCB account number and/or industry code does it make a difference to the audit process? Can one audit and COR cover them all?
When an employer arranges for an audit they should determine which operations and/or facilities are to be covered. One audit can be used to cover all the operations of an employer, but when applying for a COR the employer must specify which WCB account, industry code(s) and facilities were covered by the audit.
The WCB account number and industry code(s) covered by the audit will be indicated on the COR when it is issued.
Note: Only one WCB account number can be linked to an individual COR, but multiple industry codes and/or facilities can be assigned to a COR.
If my company acquires/merges with another company, or sells part of its operations, will the current COR apply to the new organization?
When employers change the structure of their business operations they may also be changing the management system of their company. If the management system audited for the original COR is substantially changed by the acquisition/merger or sale, then a new audit would be required and the original COR would not be considered valid.
