Newswire

Occupational Health Officers in Saskatchewan will be empowered to issue financial penalties for non-compliance with health and safety laws at workplaces throughout the province through summary offence ticketing.

"Occupational health and safety is a system of shared responsibility," Labour Relations and Workplace Safety Minister Don Morgan said. "Summary offence ticketing will serve as a deterrent to all stakeholders not following occupational health and safety laws in Saskatchewan workplaces and help keep the working population in the province healthy and safe."

Officers may use this additional tool to ticket employers, contractors, owners, suppliers, supervisors, self-employed persons and workers for any of 71 violations of the Occupational Health and Safety legislation. The 71 violations are infractions that reflect an on-going pattern of non-compliance, offences that are frequently recommended for prosecution or offences where non-compliance has a high risk of injury, illness or death.

Of the 71, 64 offences apply specifically to employers, one offence applies specifically to supervisors, two offences apply specifically to workers and four offences apply to any workplace party.

Voluntary payment amounts for infractions range from $250 to $1,000.

The regulation will become operational on January 1, 2013, and be followed by a six-month transition period in which ministry officials will work with stakeholders to introduce the ticketing system to employers and workers across the province.

While Occupational Health Officers will continue to prosecute flagrant violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, summary offence tickets will not be issued until July 1, 2013.

After a sufficient period of implementation, Labour Relations and Workplace Safety will conduct an evaluation of the new system to ensure it is serving as a deterrent for non-compliance in the workplace.

-30-