Every New Brunswick employer must meet minimum health and safety requirements.* Determine yours by starting with the number of people you regularly employ.
These are minimum requirements. WorkSafeNB encourages all employers to go beyond the requirements by developing and encouraging a culture of wellness and safety. If you need help, we offer free health and safety consultation services.
With three or more employees, full or part-time, you must also register for workers' compensation coverage.** Under the Workers' Compensation Act, you have reporting and return-to-work requirements.
With five or more employees, you must also have a safety policy. The policy sets out the responsibilities of the employer, supervisors and employees and and may include a requirement for a health and safety representative.
If 20 or more employees work in New Brunswick, you must have a written health and safety program.
When is a committee required? A committee is required for every employer with 20 or more employees regularly employed at a workplace.***
* You may have additional requirements depending on the hazards in your workplace. See WorkSafeNB's Guide OHS Legislation or call 1 800 999-9775.
** Some exceptions apply. You may choose voluntary coverage for fewer than three employees.
*** Project sites have different requirements.
“Employee” means: someone employed at or in a place of employment or someone at or in a workplace for any reason connected to employment.
Regularly employed is not affected by full-time or part-time status. For example, if your organization employs 10 full-time workers and 10 part-time workers, the organization has 20 regularly employed workers. This includes seasonal employment, (excluding high hazard work), if employed for at least three consecutive months and it is expected to be recurring.
The number of hours is only a factor if the pattern of employment is not predictable, meaning not seasonal or repeated in a predictable fashion on a monthly basis. For example, if a worker works 10 hours a week, every week, then that worker is regularly employed.
Consideration must also be given to the reason for any person to be at a place of employment. For example, clients of an assistive employment agency may be employed by the agency itself, may be participating in training so they can be employed within the community, or may be low-functioning and are at the agency for life-skills training. People who are there for basic employment or life skills training are at that place of employment as a client more so than as an employee. When determining employee status, WorkSafeNB considers the totality of the circumstances, though in the example above, the latter two classes of clients are unlikely to be considered to be regularly employed under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Seasonal employees count as regularly employed.
Regularly employed is not affected by full-time, part-time or seasonal status. For example, if your organization employs 10 full-time workers and 10 part-time workers, the organization has 20 regularly employed workers. This includes seasonal employment, (excluding high hazard work*), if employed for at least three consecutive months and it is expected to be recurring.
Where high hazard work is carried out, an employer who has 20 or more workers employed for less than three consecutive months other than on a project site, must ensure the establishment of a joint health and safety committee (JHSC) and a written health and safety program for the duration of the work. Instead of a JHSC, workers may select a health and safety representative as a substitute for the JHSC. If the employer allows workers to select a representative, that person would require within two weeks of the start of the work or at the first available date for a WorkSafeNB training session, as stated in paragraph 14.1(2)(a). On a project site, joint health and safety committees shall be established in accordance with sections 14.3, 14.4 or 17.1.
