June 1st, 2018 saw some updates to the Alberta OH&S Occupational Health and Safety Act. Here's what the changes mean.
The Alberta Occupational Health & Safety Act has undergone its first review since 1976, with changes taking effect on June 1st, 2018. A number of the changes are semantic clarifications of terminology, or subtle changes to wording to better align with modern organizations. Other changes reflect meaningful adjustments to law, such as the new requirements on reportable incidents and specification about the right to refuse unsafe work.
" Worker entitled to be paid despite refusal 33(1) If a worker has refused to work or to do particular work under section 31(1) [Right to refuse dangerous work]
(a) the worker is entitled to the same wages and benefits that the worker would have received had the worker continued to work, and
(b) the employer may reassign the worker temporarily to alternate work.
Furthermore, the act has specified that workers may refuse medical examinations, includes non-physical forms of violence and harassment in it's scope and better defines the actual requirement to have a health and safety program.
A breakdown of the major adjustments and what they mean can be found here.