Preventing Violence in the Workplace
The Saskatchewan Employment Act (the Act) contains protection against violence for workers, including supervisors, students, independent and dependent contractors and volunteers that are permitted by an employer to perform work or who are trained by an employer. All provincially regulated workplaces are required to have a policy statement and prevention plan to eliminate workplace violence. Section 3-21 of the Act outlines the employer's responsibility for developing and implementing a written policy statement and prevention plan.
Definition of Workplace Violence
Violence is the attempted, threatened or actual conduct of a person that causes or is likely to cause an injury. This includes any threatening statement or behaviour that gives a worker reasonable cause to believe the worker is at risk of an injury.
Requirements of the Policy Statement and Prevention Plan
All policy statements and prevention plans need to be tailored to the risks identified for a particular workplace. Mitigation and preventive measures, engineering controls and practices in the plan must address the risks identified for that workplace. Late night retail premises may have additional requirements to meet under the Act. Workplaces where the incidence of violence is known to be high-risk may need to include extra mitigation measures in their policy statement and prevention plan to reduce or eliminate specific risks.
The policy statement on violence and prevention plan must be in writing and readily available to workers.
It must include:
- the employer's commitment to minimize and eliminate risk and review and update the plan every three years;
- identification of the worksite(s) where violent situations have occurred or may occur;
- identification of staff positions that have or could be exposed to violent situations;
- the procedures to inform workers about the nature and risk of violence at their place of employment, and any information the employer has about people who have a history of violent behaviour who could become a risk to the workers;
- the actions an employer will take to minimize and eliminate the risk of violence including:
- providing personal protective equipment;
- establishing administrative arrangements; and
- engineering controls (e.g., surveillance cameras).
- the procedures for reporting a violent incident to the employer;
- the procedures the employer will follow to investigate violent incidents;
- a recommendation that workers who have been exposed to violent incidents consult a physician for treatment or obtain a referral for counseling; and
- a commitment to provide a training program for workers that includes information about:
- how to recognize potentially violent situations,
- procedures, work practices, administrative arrangements and engineering controls that have been developed for their protection;
- how to respond to violent incidents and obtain assistance; and
- procedures for reporting violent incidents.
When preparing a violence policy statement and prevention plan, employers are required to consult and co‑operate with the occupational health committee, occupational health and refer to section 3-26 and 3-27 of The Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 2020 to learn more about the regulatory requirements for a violence policy statement and prevention plan.