Frequently Asked Questions

The money from administrative penalties goes to the WorkSafeNB Accident Fund and will be used to support health and safety initiatives in New Brunswick.

Failure to pay an administrative penalty is a debt owed to WorkSafeNB and may be filed in the Court of King’s Bench of New Brunswick and may be enforced by judgement by the court.  The judgement may also include reasonable additional costs and charges resulting from the filing, entering and recording of certificate in the court system.

Yes, you still need to report your payroll even if it is $0. That will ensure that you are billed correctly when premiums are collected again in June.

Fraud can be committed in different ways. Some examples include:  

Worker fraud

• Providing false or misleading information claiming that an injury is work-related
• Exaggerating an injury or delaying return to work to continue receiving WorkSafeNB benefits
• Working and/or earning income while receiving WorkSafeNB benefits
• Workers misrepresenting travel expenses (i.e. distance travelled to/from medical appointment).

Employer fraud

• Intentionally failing to register a company to WorkSafeNB
• Intentionally understating or falsifying assessable payroll
• Failing to report workplace injuries to WorkSafeNB resulting in an injured worker not receiving deserved benefits.

Assessed Employers select the Report tab at the top of the page and then select Claim Status in the drop-down menu.

Self-Insured Employers select the Employer tab at the top of the page and then select Claim Status in the drop-down menu.

There are a few ways that a code of practice on violence could be found to be ineffective, and the remedies vary:

• An employee could identify deficiencies to the joint health and safety committee, health and safety representative or to the employer. In this case, the employer should consider the issue that was identified and assess the alternatives available to fix the issue.
• The required annual review of the code of practice may identify opportunities to improve the code. Recommendations to improve the code of practice should be communicated to the employer. The employer should consider the recommendations and provide a response.
• With respect to the code of practice for violence, your workplace could revisit your risk assessment to determine if all identified risks were captured and incorporated in the code.
  
• A health and safety officer may visit your workplace to conduct an inspection, respond to a complaint or investigate an incident. An officer who determines that the code of practice on violence is incomplete or ineffective may issue compliance orders, with instructions to review or revise the code.

Most earphones associated with recreational use, such as those attached to personal listening devices, are not considered hearing protective devices (HPDs). In many cases, these devices can actually increase an individual’s noise exposure in noisy environments as people will raise the volume of the music to drown out background noise.

There are HPDs available that are designed for communication purposes and/or have the ability to play music that are designed to meet the requirements of an acceptable Standard.  However, there are certain conditions that must be met in order for them to be considered as acceptable in the workplace.

The new CSA Standard Z94.2 states that if you are using such HPDs in the workplace, there are three conditions that need to be met:

1. The HPD needs to comply with the CSA standard (should be indicated on the device itself).
2. There needs to be a built-in noise limiter to control volume to below 85 dBA to meet the CSA Standard Z107.56 (also indicated on the device or in literature accompanying it).
3. The HPD cannot impede the safety alarms set in the workplace. Alarms must be heard through the music at the highest level (below the 85 dBA) or the workplace must have a visual alarm system in place to warn of dangers. 

If the HPD meets all of the above criteria, it is proven to be acceptable; however, the workplace must be able to demonstrate this to a Health and Safety Officer upon request.

Workplace violence is defined as the attempted or actual use of physical force against an employee, or any threatening statement or behaviour that gives an employee reasonable cause to believe that physical force will be used against the employee, and includes sexual violence, intimate partner violence* and domestic violence

Some examples are: statements or behaviour threatening physical force against an employee, arguments, property damage, sabotage, pushing, physical assault, and anger-related incidents. 

“intimate partner violence” means violence committed against a person by another person who is or has been in an intimate personal relationship with the person and includes the following:

(a) abusive, threatening, harassing or violent behaviour used as a means to psychologically, physically, sexually or financially coerce, dominate and control the other member of the relationship; and

(b) deprivation of food, clothing, medical attention, shelter, transportation or other necessities of life.

The regulation defines workplace harassment as any behaviour that is known or should be expected to be known to be unwelcome that would demean, embarrass, humiliate, annoy, alarm or threaten an employee’s health and safety. This can be on a one-time or repeated basis, and includes sexual harassment.

In every workplace, however, conflicts can arise that may be unpleasant, but do not escalate to the point of bullying or harassment. Differences of opinion or minor disagreements are not generally considered to be workplace harassment.

Actions taken by the employer to manage daily operations are considered a normal part of employment, and would not constitute bullying or harassment. This might include:

• Hiring and firing employees
• Performance evaluations and/or performance corrective actions
• Staff assignments, transfers or restructuring
• Periodic workload fluctuations and/or assignment changes
• Timeline pressures
• General work environment, including health and safety concerns, and union issues

New Brunswick was one of a few Canadian provinces and territories without legislation to mitigate and prevent workplace violence or harassment.

Stakeholders from a variety of sectors including health care, education, and retail voiced their concerns about sources of violence in their workplaces and its impact on their employees and business. Following consultation with our stakeholders, these changes to legislation were introduced as an extension of the health and safety measures all employers and workers should embrace in their workplace.