Joint Health and Safety Committee
By law, the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) (external link) requires every employer with more than 20 workers to establish and maintain a Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) in the workplace, which is defined as "any land, premises, location or thing at, upon, in or near which a worker works." The OHSA also prescribes the composition of these committees, the methods by which members are selected and their rights and duties.
Toronto Metropolitan University’s JHSC is the primary vehicle by which workers participate in meaningful ways to impact their health and safety.
The role of the JHSC
The JHSC play an advisory role and have the following functions and powers:
- Identify situations which may be a source of danger or hazard to workers.
- Make recommendations on establishment, maintenance and monitoring of programs, measures and procedures respecting the health and safety of workers.
- Make recommendations to improve the health and safety of workers.
- Investigate work refusals and serious accidents.
- Obtain information from the employer regarding potential or existing hazards.
- Inspect the physical condition of the workplace.
TMU is obligated to establish the JHSC, support their operation, provide time for workers to perform their committee functions, and respond to the recommendations of these committees. In addition, the university must ensure that at least two members of each committee (one representing management and one representing the workers) receives additional health and safety training and is "certified" in accordance with OHSA.
JHSC sub-committees
The Administration Committee covers the administrative areas of the university including offices, classrooms and other similar spaces. They review institutional policies and training.
The Laboratories and Workshop Committee covers wet and dry labs and workshops.
The Operations Committee includes safety-sensitive operational spaces such as kitchens, mechanical rooms and maintenance workshops, most often occupied by teams like Community Safety and Security, Facilities Management and Development and University Business Services.
Certification of committee members
JHSC committees are required to have at least one certified worker and one certified employer representative.
JHSC representatives at TMU
Co-chairs
Group |
Name |
|
---|---|---|
Management co-chair |
Darrick Heyd |
|
Worker co-chair (TFA) | Alex Ferworn |
Management representatives
Name |
|
---|---|
Silvana Babikian |
silvana.babikian@torontomu.ca |
Ken Ozdemir | iskender.ozdemir@torontomu.ca |
Lindsay Wiener |
Worker representatives
Group |
Name |
|
---|---|---|
OPSEU Unit 1 |
Jarrod Schwartz |
|
OPSEU Unit 2 | To be confirmed | To be confirmed |
CUPE 233 | Larry Sereda | lsereda@torontomu.ca |
CUPE 3904, Unit 1 |
Muhammad Yousaf |
|
CUPE 3904, Unit 2 |
Nagina Parmar |
Meetings
To achieve its purposes, the committee conducts yearly workplace inspections and holds regular meetings every six weeks, at which minutes are taken.
The JHSC meets every six weeks (excluding July and August).
If you would like to attend a meeting, please contact the co-chairs:
- Darrick Heyd, management co-chair at dheyd@torontomu.ca or 416-979-5000, ext. 553387
- Alex Ferworn, worker co-chair at aferworn@torontomu.ca or 416-979-5000, ext. 556968
Meeting minutes
Review JHSC meeting minutes (external link) .
Workplace inspections
Workplace inspections are a crucial part of preventing incidents, injuries and illnesses. Through critical examination of the workplace, inspections identify and record hazards for corrective action. Regular workplace inspections are an important role of the JHSC in supporting TMU’s commitment to a healthy and safe work environment.
Visit the Workplace Inspections page to learn more, including how hazards are categorized.
The JHSC conducts yearly workplace inspections across all TMU owned and leased buildings with support provided by the Environmental Health and Safety team at TMU. All inspections are documented and discussed in the meetings.
Ministry of Labour field visit report
Please log in with your my.torontomu ID to review the October 10, 2024 field visit report (external link) . Contact Environmental Health and Safety if you require an accessible version of this document.
Additional resources
For more information on the Joint Health and Safety Committee, review the Ontario Ministry of Labour’s Guide to the Joint Health and Safety Committee (external link, opens in new window) .
Learn more about the OHSA and JHSC Certification Training (external link) offered by the Ontario Ministry of Labour.