Canada Exam Prep
JHSC Part One overview

JHSC Part One study guide: key rules on all 13 topics

Free JHSC Part One study guide: 181 key points from the Guide for health and safety committees and representatives (Ontario) in plain words, organised by topic, each topic linked to its practice questions.

By the ·

  • 13 topics
  • 181 key points
  • Free, no sign-up

This study guide collects our notes on every topic of the Ontario JHSC Certification Part One Evaluation on one page: 181 short points in our own words, grouped by topic and by handbook section. Read it from top to bottom before your first practice test, or jump to a topic from the list below.

Each topic ends with a link to its practice questions, so you can check what you just read straight away, and a link to the official chapter for the full wording. The notes summarise the Guide for health and safety committees and representatives (Ontario) from the Chief Prevention Officer, Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development — JHSC Certification Training Program Standard; they do not replace it, and where our notes and the official source differ, the official source wins.

Study these notes as flashcards →

Certification and the internal responsibility system

How JHSC certification works (Part One, Part Two, refresher, Chief Prevention Officer), what certified members do, and the internal responsibility system behind Ontario's law.

Practise Certification and the internal responsibility system questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

JHSC Certification Training Program Standard (Chief Prevention Officer, amended July 31, 2026)

  • The OHSA (s. 9) requires that, unless otherwise prescribed, at least one employer member and one worker member of a JHSC be certified.
  • The Chief Prevention Officer (CPO) sets certification requirements, approves training programs and providers, and certifies members (OHSA ss. 7.1, 7.2, 7.6, 22.3).
  • Certification = an approved Part One program plus an approved Part Two program; Part Two must be completed within 12 months of Part One.
  • Part One is generic to all workplaces: OHS law; rights, duties and responsibilities; hazard recognition, assessment, control and evaluation of controls; JHSCs; duties of members and certified members; health and safety resources.
  • Part Two covers at least six hazards relevant to the member's own workplace and includes drafting an action plan and recommendations; the employer should select the hazards with the JHSC after a hazard assessment.
  • Minimum hours: Part One three days (19.5 hours); Part Two two days (13 hours); Refresher one day (6.5 hours). Part One by eLearning alone: at least 13 hours, completed within 30 days; blended courses may include up to 6.5 hours of eLearning.
  • Part Two and Refresher training cannot be delivered by eLearning.
  • Classroom size is normally 6 to 25 learners.
  • Part One ends with a standardized evaluation; the learner needs at least 75 per cent to pass, and at least one hour is set aside for it. The approved provider marks it and gives feedback.
  • Refresher training must be completed within three years of certification and every three years after that; if it lapses, the member is no longer certified but may become certified again by completing refresher training (July 2026 change).
  • Members certified under the 1996 standards keep their certification.

Internal responsibility system (IRS)

  • The IRS is the foundation of Ontario's approach: everyone in the workplace shares responsibility for health and safety according to their ability to influence it.
  • Employers and workers work together to recognize and control hazards; the employer has the greatest responsibility.
  • Certified members help the workplace parties understand their roles in the IRS; they do not replace the employer's duties.

Proof and pay (ontario.ca training page; JHSC guide)

  • A certified member's proof is a record issued by the Chief Prevention Officer; employers must keep proof and show it to an inspector on request.
  • Certification is generally valid for three years after completing Part Two.
  • A member taking certification training is deemed to be at work and is paid at the regular or premium rate (OHSA s. 9(36)).

The OHSA and how the law works

How the Occupational Health and Safety Act, regulations, standards and guidelines fit together, key sector regulations, enforcement under Part VIII and penalties.

Practise The OHSA and how the law works questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

Structure of Ontario's occupational health and safety law

  • The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) sets general rights and duties; regulations under it set specific rules (for example Reg. 851 Industrial Establishments, O. Reg. 213/91 Construction Projects, Reg. 833 biological and chemical agents, O. Reg. 490/09 Designated Substances, Reg. 860 WHMIS, O. Reg. 297/13 training).
  • Standards, codes, guidelines, company policies and collective agreements support and add to the Act but do not replace it.
  • The Act has come into force since 1979; the ministry responsible is the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD).

enforcement

  • An inspector may enter any workplace at any time without warrant or notice, require documents, take samples, take photographs and question people (s. 54(1)).
  • A JHSC worker member may accompany the inspector during the physical inspection (s. 54(3)).
  • The employer must give the committee a copy of any order or report from an inspector (s. 57(10)).
  • Inspectors can issue orders, including stop-work orders, when the law is contravened.

penalties

  • An individual convicted of an offence faces a fine of up to $500,000, imprisonment of up to 12 months, or both.
  • A corporation faces a fine of up to $2,000,000.
  • A director or officer who fails to comply with s. 32 faces up to $1,500,000 or 12 months.
  • Aggravating factors include death or serious injury, recklessness, ignoring an inspector's order and prior convictions.

basic awareness training

  • Every worker must complete basic occupational health and safety awareness training as soon as practicable; supervisors within one week of starting as a supervisor.
  • Worker awareness covers worker rights and duties, employer and supervisor duties, the roles of JHSCs and representatives, the roles of the ministry and the WSIB, common hazards, WHMIS, and occupational illness including latency.
  • Employers keep records and give written proof on request, including within six months after the worker leaves.

Duties of the workplace parties

Duties of employers, supervisors, workers, owners, suppliers and corporate directors, the competent person, and the health and safety policy and program.

Practise Duties of the workplace parties questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

employer duties

  • Provide equipment, materials and protective devices and keep them in good condition; follow prescribed measures.
  • Provide information, instruction and supervision to protect workers (25(2)(a)).
  • Appoint a competent person as supervisor (25(2)(c)); the employer may be the supervisor if competent.
  • Acquaint workers with hazards in the work and in handling, storing, using and disposing of agents (25(2)(d)).
  • Assist and co-operate with the committee and the health and safety representative (25(2)(e)).
  • Take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker (25(2)(h)).
  • Post a copy of the Act and ministry explanatory material in English and the workplace's majority language (25(2)(i)).
  • Prepare and review at least annually a written health and safety policy, keep a program to implement it, and post the policy (25(2)(j)–(k)); not required where five or fewer workers are regularly employed.
  • Give the committee the results of occupational health and safety reports (25(2)(l)).

definitions

  • A "competent person" is qualified by knowledge, training and experience to organize the work, knows the Act and regulations that apply, and knows the potential or actual dangers.
  • A "supervisor" is a person who has charge of a workplace or authority over a worker.

supervisor duties

  • Ensure workers work in the manner and with the protective devices and procedures the law requires, and use the equipment the employer requires.
  • Advise workers of any potential or actual danger the supervisor knows about.
  • Provide written instructions where prescribed, and take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances.

worker duties

  • Work in compliance with the Act and regulations; use or wear required equipment and protective devices.
  • Report missing or defective equipment and any hazard or contravention to the employer or supervisor.
  • Do not remove or disable protective devices, do not work in a way that endangers anyone, and no pranks, contests or rough conduct.

owners, suppliers, directors and officers

  • Owners must ensure prescribed facilities are provided and maintained (s. 29).
  • A supplier who leases equipment must ensure it is in good condition and complies with the law (s. 31).
  • Every director and officer of a corporation must take all reasonable care that the corporation complies with the Act, regulations and orders (s. 32).

Worker rights: know, participate, refuse

The right to know, the right to participate and the right to refuse unsafe work, the two-stage work refusal process, and protection from reprisals.

Practise Worker rights: know, participate, refuse questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

The three rights

  • Right to know: employers must tell workers about hazards and give information and instruction (OHSA s. 25(2)(a), (d)); supervisors must advise workers of dangers (s. 27(2)(a)); awareness training and WHMIS (O. Reg. 297/13).
  • Right to participate: through the JHSC or health and safety representative, inspections, investigations and reporting hazards.
  • Right to refuse: OHSA s. 43.

work refusal

  • A worker may refuse work if they have reason to believe equipment they use is likely to endanger them or another worker, the physical condition of the workplace is likely to endanger them, workplace violence is likely to endanger them, or a contravention of the law is likely to endanger them or another worker.
  • Some workers (police, firefighters, correctional and some health care workers) cannot refuse when the danger is inherent in their work or a refusal would directly endanger another person.
  • Stage one: the worker promptly reports to the employer or supervisor, who investigates at once in the presence of the worker and a worker member of the committee (or the health and safety representative, or a worker chosen by the union or workers). The worker stays in a safe place near their work station.
  • Stage two: if the worker still has reasonable grounds, the employer or worker notifies an inspector, who investigates with the parties and gives a written decision. Meanwhile the worker stays in a safe place or does reasonable alternative work.
  • Another worker may not be assigned to the refused work unless told of the refusal and reasons in the presence of a worker representative (s. 43(11)).
  • Time spent by the worker representative in the investigation is paid work time.

no reprisals

  • An employer may not dismiss, discipline, suspend, penalize, intimidate or coerce a worker for acting under the Act, seeking its enforcement or giving evidence.
  • The worker may go to arbitration under a collective agreement or file a complaint with the Ontario Labour Relations Board; an inspector may refer the matter with the worker's consent.
  • The employer carries the burden of proving it did not act in reprisal.

When a JHSC is required and how it runs

Which workplaces need a committee or a representative, membership, co-chairs, meetings, minutes, postings, paid time and worker trades committees.

Practise When a JHSC is required and how it runs questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

which workplaces

  • 1 to 5 workers: no committee or representative needed unless a designated substance regulation applies.
  • 6 to 19 workers: workers select one health and safety representative (s. 8); a JHSC is required if a designated substance regulation applies.
  • 20 or more workers regularly employed: a JHSC is required (s. 9(2)); also construction projects with 20 or more workers expected to last three months or more, and workplaces under a Director's or Minister's order.
  • The Minister may permit one committee for several workplaces (multi-workplace committee).

Membership

  • Fewer than 50 workers: at least two members; 50 or more: at least four (s. 9(6)).
  • At least half the members must be workers who do not exercise managerial functions, selected by the workers or their union (s. 9(7)–(8)); the employer selects the rest from people with managerial functions (s. 9(9)).
  • Two co-chairs: one chosen by worker members, one by management members (s. 9(11)).
  • Certified members are not required at workplaces with fewer than 20 regularly employed workers, at construction projects with fewer than 50 workers, or at projects lasting less than three months.
  • Names and work locations of members are posted or available electronically (s. 9(32)).
  • The Act sets no term of office; the ministry recommends at least one year, staggered.

Meetings and pay

  • The committee meets at least once every three months, in person or virtually (s. 9(33)).
  • Minutes are recorded and available to an inspector (s. 9(22)); the guide recommends co-chairs sign and post them.
  • Each member gets at least one hour of paid preparation time per meeting, plus paid time for meetings, inspections, critical injury investigations and certification training (s. 9(34)–(36)).
  • The Act sets no quorum; the committee makes its own rules consistent with the law.

Worker trades committee (s. 10)

  • At a construction project that needs a JHSC, lasts three months or more and has 50 or more workers, the committee must establish a worker trades committee to tell the JHSC about trades workers' concerns.

JHSC powers and recommendations

What the committee may do: identify hazards, obtain information, recommend improvements, the employer's 21-day written response, consensus and co-chair recommendations, and inspector visits.

Practise JHSC powers and recommendations questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

committee powers

  • Identify situations that may be a source of danger or hazard to workers.
  • Make recommendations to the employer and workers for improving health and safety.
  • Recommend programs, measures and procedures for protecting workers.
  • Obtain information from the employer about potential or existing hazards of materials, processes or equipment, and about health and safety experience and standards in similar industries.
  • Be consulted about, and have a designated worker member present at the beginning of, health and safety testing in the workplace.
  • Obtain information about tests of equipment, materials or agents done for health and safety purposes.

OHSA s. 9(19.1)–(21) and JHSC guide

  • The committee is advisory; it works best by consensus.
  • If the committee cannot reach consensus after trying in good faith, either co-chair may make written recommendations to the employer.
  • The employer must respond in writing within 21 days; an acceptance includes a timetable, and a rejection gives reasons.

Employer assistance and information

  • The employer must assist and co-operate with the committee (s. 25(2)(e)).
  • The employer gives the committee copies of inspector orders and reports (s. 57(10)) and lets a worker member accompany the inspector (s. 54(3)).
  • The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board must send the committee, on request, an annual summary of fatalities, lost workday cases, workdays lost, medical-aid cases and occupational illnesses (s. 12).
  • It is an offence to knowingly hinder or give false information to a committee member doing their duties.

Other functions (JHSC guide)

  • Receive worker concerns and complaints, and give input on health and safety programs.
  • Under O. Reg. 490/09, the employer consults the committee on assessments of exposure to designated substances.
  • A worker member must be present at a work refusal investigation (s. 43(4)).
  • The employer must notify a Director if the committee identifies potential structural inadequacy of a building as a hazard (s. 25(2)(n)).

Certified members and dangerous circumstances

What dangerous circumstances are, investigating complaints, bilateral and unilateral work stoppages, cancelling a direction and complaints of reckless use.

Practise Certified members and dangerous circumstances questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

dangerous circumstances

  • "Dangerous circumstances" means a provision of the Act or regulations is being contravened, the contravention poses a danger or hazard to a worker, and any delay in controlling it may seriously endanger a worker. All three must be present.
  • Work-stoppage sections do not apply to police, firefighters and correctional workplaces, or to some health care workplaces if a stoppage would directly endanger another person.

bilateral work stoppage (the normal procedure)

  • A certified member who believes dangerous circumstances exist may ask a supervisor to investigate; the supervisor must do so promptly in the certified member's presence.
  • If the danger continues after the supervisor's investigation and any remedy, the certified member may ask a second certified member representing the other workplace party to investigate together.
  • If both certified members find dangerous circumstances exist, they may direct the employer to stop the work or stop the use of any part of the workplace or any equipment.
  • The employer must comply immediately and in a way that does not endanger anyone.
  • If the two certified members disagree, either may ask an inspector to investigate; the inspector gives a written decision.
  • After fixing the problem, the employer may ask the certified members or an inspector to cancel the direction; the members cancel it jointly, or an inspector may.

unilateral work stoppage

  • If the bilateral procedure will not protect workers, a certified member or an inspector may apply to the Ontario Labour Relations Board; the Board may declare the employer subject to the unilateral procedure.
  • The unilateral procedure also applies if the employer advises the committee in writing that it adopts it.
  • Under it, one certified member who finds dangerous circumstances may direct the employer to stop the work; the employer complies immediately, then investigates in the certified member's presence.
  • Disagreements go to an inspector; the member who made the direction or an inspector may cancel it.

OHSA ss. 48–49

  • A certified member who receives a complaint that dangerous circumstances exist is entitled to investigate it; the time is paid work time.
  • An employer, worker or union may complain to the Board within 30 days if they believe a certified member used, or failed to use, the stop-work power recklessly or in bad faith; the Board may decertify the member.

Program standard 8.1.5 and 8.1.12

  • Certified members exercise the right to stop work responsibly; they must know when and how they interact with the ministry.
  • The employer must investigate when a certified member reports a dangerous circumstance.

Workplace violence and harassment

Legal definitions, policies, programs, risk assessments, the committee's role, reporting incidents, domestic violence and the Human Rights Code.

Practise Workplace violence and harassment questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

definitions

  • Workplace violence: the exercise of physical force against a worker in a workplace that causes or could cause physical injury; an attempt to do so; or a statement or behaviour a worker could reasonably interpret as a threat of such force.
  • Workplace harassment: a course of vexatious comment or conduct against a worker in a workplace, including virtually through technology, that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome; it includes workplace sexual harassment.
  • Workplace sexual harassment: vexatious comment or conduct because of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression; or a sexual solicitation or advance by someone able to grant or deny a benefit, known or reasonably known to be unwelcome.

employer duties

  • Prepare written workplace violence and workplace harassment policies, review them at least annually, and post them (posting is not required with five or fewer regularly employed workers unless an inspector orders it).
  • Assess the risks of workplace violence from the nature, type and conditions of work; advise the committee or representative of the results and give a copy if written; reassess as often as necessary.
  • The violence program includes measures to control risks, summon immediate help, report incidents, and how incidents will be investigated.
  • The harassment program is developed in consultation with the committee or representative; it includes how to report (including to someone other than the employer or supervisor if they are the alleged harasser), how complaints are investigated, confidentiality, and how the parties are told the results.
  • The employer must ensure harassment is investigated appropriately, inform both parties of the results in writing, and review the harassment program at least annually.
  • Domestic violence that may expose a worker to physical injury in the workplace: the employer must take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances.
  • Workers must receive information and instruction on the violence policy and program, and information about a person with a history of violent behaviour they may meet at work (no more personal information than necessary).

Notices and the committee (s. 52; program standard 8.1.5)

  • If a worker is disabled from usual work or needs medical attention because of workplace violence, the employer gives written notice to the committee within four days.
  • The JHSC's role includes being consulted on the harassment program and advised of violence assessment results.
  • Inappropriate behaviours, for example stemming from racism, may lead to harassment or violence.
  • Under the Ontario Human Rights Code, every person has the right to be free from racial discrimination and harassment in employment.

Hazard recognition and categories

Hazard, injury and illness, the six hazard categories, the five contributing factors, states of matter, routes of entry and acute versus chronic effects.

Practise Hazard recognition and categories questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

terms and categories

  • A hazard is any source of potential harm to a worker (CCOHS: any source of potential damage or harm).
  • Occupational illness (OHSA s. 1): a condition resulting from exposure in a workplace to a physical, chemical or biological agent that impairs the worker's health; it may appear long after exposure (latency). An occupational injury is physical harm from a workplace event.
  • The process is to recognize, assess and control hazards, and evaluate the controls (often called RACE).
  • Six hazard categories used in certification training: physical, chemical, biological, musculoskeletal, psychosocial and safety.
  • Examples (CCOHS): physical — radiation, temperature extremes, pressure, noise, vibration; chemical — depends on the product's physical, chemical and toxic properties; biological — bacteria, viruses, fungi, insects, plants, animals; musculoskeletal (CCOHS calls it ergonomic) — repetitive movements, poor workstation setup; psychosocial — stress, violence, harassment; safety — slips and trips, poor machine guarding, equipment breakdowns.
  • Five factors that can contribute to a hazard: people, equipment, materials, environment and process.

Routes of entry and effects (program standard; CCOHS)

  • Substances exist as gases, liquids or solids; heat, pressure or processes can change their state (for example a liquid evaporating into a vapour, or a solid being ground into dust).
  • Routes of entry: inhalation (breathing, the most common at work), absorption through skin or eyes, ingestion (swallowing) and injection (skin puncture, for example a needlestick).
  • Once inside, chemicals travel in the bloodstream and can harm organs far from the point of entry.
  • Effects may be acute (soon after a short exposure), chronic (after repeated or long exposure), local (at the point of contact), systemic (elsewhere in the body), latent (appearing long after exposure) or interactive (two exposures combining).

Hazard identification

  • Identify hazards during design, before tasks, during tasks, during inspections and after incidents or near misses.
  • Look at routine and non-routine work (maintenance, cleaning), all shifts, injury records, and talk to workers who know their jobs best.
  • Consider groups at different risk: young or new workers, persons with disabilities, expectant mothers.

Workplace inspections

Who inspects, how often, preparing and doing an inspection, reporting hazards to the committee and other ways to find hazards.

Practise Workplace inspections questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

committee inspections

  • Worker members designate a worker member to inspect the physical condition of the workplace; if possible, that member is a certified member.
  • The same member does not have to do every inspection.
  • The workplace is inspected at least once a month, unless a regulation or an inspector's order says otherwise.
  • If monthly full inspection is not practical, the whole workplace is inspected at least once a year with at least part inspected each month, on a schedule set by the committee.
  • The employer and workers give the inspecting member the information and help they need.
  • The member reports hazards to the committee, which must consider them within a reasonable time.
  • A health and safety representative has similar inspection duties (s. 8(6)–(7)).

doing an inspection

  • Hazard recognition is the initial identification of the potential for, or existence of, a hazard.
  • Prepare: gather information (past reports, incident records, checklists, maps) and tools before the inspection.
  • Inspect, identify hazards, write an inspection report for the committee, and follow up.
  • Other ways to identify hazards: documenting worker concerns, observation, reviewing workplace records, WSIB data and ministry reports.

Hazard identification methods

  • Workplace inspections, job safety analysis, incident investigations, records review, hazard reporting by employees and hazard mapping.
  • Work as a team, combining people who know the area with people who bring fresh eyes.

Hazard assessment and exposure limits

Methods for assessing how serious a hazard is, exposure monitoring, the committee's right to be at the start of testing, and TWA, STEL and ceiling limits.

Practise Hazard assessment and exposure limits questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

hazard assessment

  • Hazard assessment helps determine how serious a hazard is (how likely harm is and how severe it could be).
  • Methods: inspections, investigations, job hazard analysis, observations, interviews, measurement against a workplace or recognized standard, checking compliance with regulations, and comparison to other accepted practices.
  • Exposure monitoring measures workers' exposure to agents so it can be compared with limits.
  • A designated worker member has the right to be consulted about, and present at the beginning of, workplace health and safety testing (OHSA s. 9(18)(f)); they should check that valid procedures are used and results are accurate.

Reg. 833 (Control of Exposure to Biological or Chemical Agents)

  • TWA (time-weighted average limit): the average airborne concentration a worker may be exposed to over a work day or work week.
  • STEL (short-term exposure limit): the maximum concentration for any 15-minute period, no more than four times in an eight-hour shift, with at least one hour between exposures.
  • C (ceiling limit): the maximum concentration a worker may be exposed to at any time.
  • Ontario's limits come from Reg. 833 and O. Reg. 490/09 (Designated Substances), with reference to the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) threshold limit values (TLVs).

Hazard control and evaluating controls

Controlling hazards at the source, along the path and at the worker, the hierarchy of controls with examples, qualities of good controls and evaluating them.

Practise Hazard control and evaluating controls questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

Program standard 8.1.9–8.1.10

  • Hazard control means reducing or eliminating hazards.
  • Controls can be applied at the source, along the path between source and worker, and at the worker.
  • Five types of control, in order of the hierarchy: elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls and personal protective equipment (PPE).
  • Learners must be able to explain the qualities of an effective control; CCOHS stresses that a control must not introduce a new, greater hazard and that engineering controls are reliable only if designed, used and maintained properly.
  • Evaluating controls checks whether they work as intended and keep working.

Hierarchy of controls

  • Elimination physically removes the hazard and is the most effective (for example buying quieter equipment, using a reach pole to avoid working at heights, removing unused products).
  • Substitution replaces a hazard with a less hazardous one (water-based paint instead of solvent-based, pellets instead of fine powder, electric instead of diesel motors); check that the substitute does not create new harm.
  • Engineering controls deal with the hazard at the source before it reaches the worker: isolation, enclosures, machine guards, local exhaust ventilation, mechanical lifting devices, guardrails, wet methods for dust.
  • Administrative controls change how people work: safe work procedures, training, job rotation or work-rest schedules, scheduling high-exposure work when few people are present, restricting access, preventive maintenance, housekeeping and warning signs. They rank lower because they do not remove the hazard.
  • PPE (respirators, gloves, hearing protection) is the last line of defence because it depends on correct fit and use every time.
  • More than one control can be combined; controls should be reviewed to confirm they are adequate.

Reporting and investigating incidents

Notices of death, critical injury, lost-time injury and occupational illness, the critical injury definition, preserving the scene, and committee investigations.

Practise Reporting and investigating incidents questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

death or critical injury

  • If a person is killed or critically injured from any cause at a workplace, the employer (and constructor) must immediately notify an inspector, the committee or representative, and the union, by telephone or other direct means.
  • The employer must send a written report within 48 hours to a Director and to the committee, representative and union.
  • No one may disturb the scene, wreckage or anything connected with it until an inspector gives permission, except to save life or relieve suffering, maintain an essential utility or public transportation, or prevent unnecessary damage to property.

Critical injury (Reg. 834, as explained in the JHSC guide)

  • An injury of a serious nature that places life in jeopardy, produces unconsciousness, results in substantial loss of blood, fractures a leg or arm (not a finger or toe), amputates a leg, arm, hand or foot (not a finger or toe), burns a major portion of the body, or causes loss of sight in an eye.

other notices

  • If a person is disabled from usual work or needs medical attention because of an accident, explosion, fire or workplace violence, the employer gives written notice within four days to the committee, representative and union (and a Director if an inspector requires).
  • If the employer learns a worker or former worker has an occupational illness or a WSIB claim for one, written notice goes within four days to a Director, the committee or representative, and the union.
  • At a project site or mine, certain incidents (such as equipment failure, cave-in or flood) require written notice within two days.

OHSA s. 9(31)

  • Worker members designate one or more worker members to investigate deaths and critical injuries; the member may inspect the place and any equipment, but must not disturb the scene, and reports findings to the committee and a Director; findings may be shared with an inspector.

good investigations

  • Investigations look for root causes so the incident does not happen again; an effective reporting system catches near misses too.
  • Tools: careful note taking, interviewing, data analysis, report writing, recommendations and a compliance schedule.
  • The ministry, police and workplace parties each have roles; JHSC members may experience stress or trauma and should seek help if needed.

Written in our own words from: Guide for health and safety committees and representatives (Ontario)

FAQ

JHSC Part One study guide: common questions

What is the best way to use this JHSC Part One study guide?

Read one topic, then answer that topic's practice questions while the rules are fresh. Note the questions you miss, re-read those notes, and finish with a full practice test across all 13 topics.

Is this the official JHSC Part One handbook?

No. It is our own summary of the Guide for health and safety committees and representatives (Ontario). Use it to review, and use the official handbook when you need the exact wording of a rule.

Can I print the study guide?

Yes, with your browser's print command. For practice questions on paper with an answer key, use our printable questions and answers page instead.

Keep practising

Practice by topic