Alert First Aid

Saskatchewan Legislation

Workplace Violence & Harassment

This is not an official source of information. It has been assembled as a

convenience to students for reference and further study. Some extracts from

official sources such as Regulations are provided. These are not guaranteed to

completely cover all the material available in the Regulations. URL’s of those

official sources are provided to allow the full text to be consulted.

Saskatchewan summary for “Violence in the Workplace”

Violence means the attempted, threatened or actual conduct of a person that

causes or is likely to cause injury, and includes any threatening statement or

behaviour that gives a worker reasonable cause to believe that he/she is at risk

of injury.

The legislation applies to certain types of places of employment, as prescribed in

the regulations, which provide services or activities involving a risk of violence

(e.g. law enforcement services, financial services, retail establishments open

between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., and taxi services).

An employer at a prescribed place of employment where violent situations have

occurred or may reasonably be expected to occur must develop and implement a

written policy statement to deal with potentially violent situations after

consultation with the occupational health committee, the occupational health and

safety representative, or the workers where there is no committee or

representative. The policy statement must address certain issues prescribed in

the regulations, and the employer must ensure that it is reviewed and, where

necessary, revised every three years and whenever there is a change of

circumstances that may affect the health or safety of workers.

The policy statement on violence in the workplace must include the employer’s

commitment to minimize or eliminate the risk, and the actions he/she will take to

do so, including the use of personal protective equipment, administrative

arrangements and engineering controls.

The policy statement on violence in the workplace must include the procedure to

be followed by the employer to inform workers of the nature and extent of the risk

from violence, including, except where the disclosure is prohibited by law, any

information in the employer’s possession related to the risk of violence from

persons who have a history of violent behaviour and whom workers are likely to

encounter in the course of their work.

The policy statement must also contain the employer’s commitment to provide a

training program for workers that includes the following:

1. the means to recognize potentially violent situations;

2. the procedures, work practices, administrative arrangements and

engineering controls that have been developed to minimize or eliminate the risk

to workers;

3. the appropriate responses of workers to incidents of violence, including how

to obtain assistance; and

4. the procedure for reporting violent incidents.

The employer must credit time spent by a worker attending a training program as

time at work and ensure that he/she loses no pay or other benefits.

A copy of the policy statement must be made readily available to the workers by

the employer.

The policy statement on violence in the workplace must include the procedures

for the reporting of a violent incident by workers and for the documentation and

investigation of the incident by the employer. The policy statement must also

include a recommendation that any worker who has been exposed to a violent

incident consult his/her physician for treatment or referral for post-incident

counselling. The employer must credit time spent by a worker receiving

treatment or counselling as time at work and ensure that he/she loses no pay or

other benefits.

Saskatchewan provides a Sample Policy for Workplace Violence:

Part 1; http://www.lrws.gov.sk.ca/Default.aspx?DN=7c7716b5-5458-4046-8464-

b8880cb3cef0

Part 2; http://www.lrws.gov.sk.ca/Default.aspx?DN=6da838cb-64c4-44dd-a01a-

3ddf1a5749a0

The Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 1996

PART III

General Duties

General duties of employers

12 The duties of an employer at a place of employment include:

that is necessary to protect the health and safety of workers at work;

Harassment

36(1) An employer, in consultation with the committee, shall develop a policy in

writing to prevent harassment that includes:

(a) a definition of harassment that includes the definition in the Act;

(b) a statement that every worker is entitled to employment free of

harassment;

effort to ensure that no worker is subjected to harassment;

(d) a commitment that the employer will take corrective action respecting

any person under the employer’s direction who subjects any worker to

harassment;

(e) an explanation of how complaints of harassment may be brought to the

attention of the employer;

(f) a statement that the employer will not disclose the name of a complainant

or an alleged harasser or the circumstances related to the complaint to any

person except where disclosure is:

(i) necessary for the purposes of investigating the complaint or taking

corrective action with respect to the complaint; or

(ii) required by law;

(g) a reference to the provisions of the Act respecting harassment and the

worker’s right to request the assistance of an occupational health officer to

resolve a complaint of harassment;

(h) a reference to the provisions of The Saskatchewan Human Rights Code

respecting discriminatory practices and the worker’s right to file a complaint

with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission;

(i) a description of the procedure that the employer will follow to inform the

complainant and the alleged harasser of the results of the investigation; and

(j) a statement that the employer’s harassment policy is not intended to

discourage or prevent the complainant from exercising any other legal rights

pursuant to any other law.

(2) An employer shall:

(a) implement the policy developed pursuant to subsection (1); and

(b) post a copy of the policy in a conspicuous place that is readily available

for reference by workers.

Violence

37(1) In this section, “violence” means the attempted, threatened or actual

conduct of a person that causes or is likely to cause injury, and includes any

threatening statement or behaviour that gives a worker reasonable cause to

believe that the worker is at risk of injury.

(2) On and after January 1, 1997, places of employment that provide the

following services or activities are prescribed for the purposes of subsection

14(1) of the Act:

(a) services provided by health care facilities mentioned in subclauses

468(b)(i) to (v) and (xii);

(b) pharmaceutical-dispensing services;

(d) police services;

(e) corrections services;

(f) other law enforcement services;

(g) security services;

(h) crisis counselling and intervention services;

(i) retail sales in establishments that are open between the hours

of 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.;

(j) financial services;

(k) the sale of alcoholic beverages or the provision of premises for the

consumption of alcoholic beverages;

(l) taxi services;

(m) transit services.

(3) A policy statement required by subsection 14(1) of the Act must be in writing

and must include:

(a) the employer’s commitment to minimize or eliminate the risk;

(b) the identification of the worksite or worksites where violent situations

have occurred or may reasonably be expected to occur;

have been, or may reasonably be expected to be, exposed to violent situations;

(d) the procedure to be followed by the employer to inform workers of the

nature and extent of risk from violence, including, except where the

disclosure is prohibited by law, any information in the employer’s possession

related to the risk of violence from persons who have a history of violent

behaviour and whom workers are likely to encounter in the course of their

work;

(e) the actions the employer will take to minimize or eliminate the risk,

including the use of personal protective equipment, administrative

arrangements and engineering controls;

(f) the procedure to be followed by a worker who has been exposed to a

violent incident to report the incident to the employer;

(g) the procedure the employer will follow to document and investigate a

violent incident reported pursuant to clause (f);

(h) a recommendation that any worker who has been exposed to a violent

incident consult the worker’s physician for treatment or referral for postincident

counselling; and

(i) the employer’s commitment to provide a training program for workers

that includes:

(i) the means to recognize potentially violent situations;

(ii) procedures, work practices, administrative arrangements and

engineering controls that have been developed to minimize or eliminate

the risk to workers;

(iii) the appropriate responses of workers to incidents of violence,

including how to obtain assistance; and

(iv) procedures for reporting violent incidents.

(4) Where a worker receives treatment or counselling mentioned in clause (3)(h)

or attends a training program mentioned in clause (3)(i), an employer shall credit

the worker’s attendance as time at work and ensure that the worker loses no pay

or other benefits.

(5) An employer shall make readily available for reference by workers a copy of

the policy statement required by subsection 14(1) of the Act.

(6) An employer shall ensure that the policy statement required by subsection

14(1) of the Act is reviewed and, where necessary, revised every three years

and whenever there is a change of circumstances that may affect the health or

safety of workers