The Virtual Health & Safety Conference is a meticulously crafted event tailored to meet the needs of human resources, industrial relations professionals, executives, union officers, and representatives, as well as health and safety/workers’ compensation specialists, and labor and employment lawyers/consultants.
This premier gathering serves as a dynamic platform for industry thought leaders and practitioners to engage in insightful discussions and collaborative exchanges. The conference features illuminating panels that delve into crucial topics, including the “Annual Check-Up,” where experts meticulously dissect key cases and legislative developments, offering participants a comprehensive understanding of the evolving legal landscape.
Conference Co-Chairs
Conference Advisory Committee
Thursday, September 12, 2024
Introduction: 12:30 p.m. – 12:35 p.m.
In this session, expert panelists will address recent cases and legislative developments impacting workplace health and safety. Topics to be addressed include:
- What are notable trends in recent prosecutions for workplace health and safety violations? What key legislative developments impacting occupational health and safety have been implemented cross-country in the past year?
- When will an employer be held liable under occupational health and safety legislation for injuries or deaths that occur in the course of work that is not performed under the employer’s direct supervision or control? How does the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision in v. Greater Sudbury (City), which interprets Ontario’s occupational health and safety legislation, apply to other jurisdictions?
- How have arbitrators and adjudicators assessed the reasonableness of employer-ordered drug and alcohol testing in recent decisions?
- What key principles have emerged in recent caselaw regarding workplace harassment investigations conducted pursuant to occupational health and safety legislation? For example, how much information regarding the investigation must an employer disclose to the union and/or the complainant? What consequences may flow from a failure to conduct an investigation?
- How should workplace parties respond when employee’s human rights conflict with an employer’s occupational health and safety obligations?
Final selection of topics will take place in the weeks leading up to the conference, ensuring coverage of the latest and most important developments.
Break: 1:50 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Employers have an obligation to ensure that workplace investigations are conducted effectively and comply with legislation, workplace policies, and collective agreements. These obligations extend to both investigations into allegations of harassment and investigations following workplace injuries or accidents. In this panel, experts will address:
- What lessons can be drawn from recent caselaw about an employer’s duty to investigate claims of harassment? What about the essential elements of a fair, adequate, and effective investigation? Under what circumstances have investigations raised procedural fairness concerns?
- Do options besides an investigation, such as alternative dispute resolution, satisfy the duty to investigate under the Occupational Health and Safety Act?
- When will an employer’s request for post incident drug and alcohol testing be found unreasonable by an arbitrator?
- How much should independence factor into who should investigate workplace incidents and harassment? How can employers determine whether an external investigator is necessary?
- What are best practices for ensuring that systemic inequities and unconscious biases do not impact the investigatory process?
- How can investigators protect employee’s privacy rights during a workplace investigation?
- What considerations are particularly relevant to workplace investigations pertaining to off-duty conduct? Can employers justify access to employees’ personal devices for the purposes of an investigation?
Break: 3:10 p.m. – 3:20 p.m.
Coming Soon.
Break: 3:50 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Robin Angel
Strategic Advisor Occupational Health & Safety Correctional Services
Department of Justice Nova Scotia
In this session, expert panelists will explore best practices in building organizational cultures which prioritize health and safety. Speakers will address questions such as:
- How does creating a strong organizational health and safety culture differ from an employer’s requirement to provide a safe workplace under occupational health and safety legislation?
- How can employers and unions promote an organization-wide commitment to health and safety and achieve employee “buy-in” to health and safety initiatives? Should workplace parties seek to shift organizational culture through incentives, consequences for non-compliance, or some combination of the two?
- How can organizations ensure a robust workplace health and safety culture in remote work settings? Will obligations imposed under occupational health and safety legislation apply in such cases?
- Will new technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), assist or hinder the creation of a strong health and safety culture?
- How have organizations achieved positive shifts in their health and safety cultures?
Closing Remarks: 5:00 p.m.
This program has been approved by CPHR BC & Yukon for 4 Continuing Professional Development hours.
This program has been approved for 4 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours under Section A of the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Log of the Human Resource Professionals Association (HRPA).
This program has been approved by CPHR Alberta for 4 Continuing Professional Development hours per session.
- This program has been approved by the Law Society of British Columbia for 4 Continuing Professional Development hours.
- Members of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society may count this program for 4 Continuing Professional Development hours.
- Members of the Law Society of New Brunswick may consider this program for 4 Continuing Professional Development hours.
- CPD for Members of the Law Society of Ontario: 4 Substantive Hours; 0 Professionalism Hours.
- This event contains 3.5 technical hours and would be eligible for BCRSP CEU points. See the BCRSP website at www.bcrsp.ca for CEU point criteria.
