Human Resources committee  To start with, I want to reiterate that the health and safety of workers is a priority for the government, and the right of employees to refuse dangerous work is paramount and remains in the legislation. There is no intent to restrict the right to refuse dangerous work. The rat

Human Resources committee  As I mentioned, it's an accumulation of administrative data. We have regular discussions with our stakeholders.

Human Resources committee  No, we don't have a discussion paper, but as I mentioned, we have been looking at our administrative data with regard to refusals to work, and this information has been provided to our stakeholders.

Human Resources committee  Our administrative data doesn't allow us to make that direct link.

Human Resources committee  No, it's not. The right for a worker to refuse remains and is enshrined in the code.

Human Resources committee  Absolutely not. Health and safety officers remain key to enforcement of the code, and there is no intention to reduce the number of health and safety officers.

Human Resources committee  Absolutely not. Critical to enforcement of the code is ensuring that our officers have the expertise and skills to assist employees and employers to make sure the workplaces are healthy and safe.

Human Resources committee  Thank you for the question. It's a very important point. The clarification of the definition of danger continues to protect employees from imminent or serious dangers to their life or health. This would include protection for pregnant and nursing women. In fact, under part 2 of

Human Resources committee  That's correct. The definition doesn't limit a worker's refusal to work when they believe they're exposed to any sort of hazardous substance that could result in anything such as an occupational illness. As well, it continues to provide the protections from all hazards, whether

Human Resources committee  Thank you. It's a very important point. In the workplace it's the employees and employers who know their workplace and are best placed to determine if there's a particular hazard in the workplace, and best placed to work together to ensure that they identify that hazard and put

Human Resources committee  I would also add that I think the reinforcement and the strengthening of the internal responsibility system is to get at some of those 80% of refusal-to-work situations that could be dealt with by the workplace parties if they ensured that each of the workplace parties was playin

Human Resources committee  Thank you for your question. Mr. Chair, allow me to answer in English. I think with respect to the 80% of refusals to work that were found to be not dangerous situations, the workplace may have contained potential hazards. These hazards can be mitigated so they don't create dan

Human Resources committee  Thank you for the question. With regard to the definition of danger, essentially what we are doing is clarifying the wording of the definition of danger. The previous definition was very long and confusing. The clarified definition focuses on imminent or serious threat to life o

Human Resources committee  Essentially, when there is a refusal to work process, currently an employee would refuse to work and an employer would be required to undertake an investigation to look at the situation to try to resolve it. If there is no agreement and the employee continues to refuse to work, w

Human Resources committee  Thank you for your question. If I understand correctly, your concern is with regard to the clarification of the definition of danger and whether or not it continues to provide protections to employees with respect to impacts upon life or health that are longer-term. The clarif