The regulation defines workplace harassment as any behaviour that is known or should be expected to be known to be unwelcome that would demean, embarrass, humiliate, annoy, alarm or threaten an employee’s health and safety. This can be on a one-time or repeated basis, and includes sexual harassment.
In every workplace, however, conflicts can arise that may be unpleasant, but do not escalate to the point of bullying or harassment. Differences of opinion or minor disagreements are not generally considered to be workplace harassment.
Actions taken by the employer to manage daily operations are considered a normal part of employment, and would not constitute bullying or harassment. This might include:
New Brunswick was one of a few Canadian provinces and territories without legislation to mitigate and prevent workplace harassment.
Stakeholders from a variety of sectors including health care, education, and retail voiced their concerns about sources of violence or harassment in their workplaces and its impact on their employees and business. Following consultation with our stakeholders, these changes to legislation were introduced as an extension of the health and safety measures all employers and workers should embrace in their workplace.
The legislation pertaining to harassment will impact all NB workplaces. Each workplace will be required to develop a code of practice to prevent and manage harassment.
When you’re hurt on the job, WorkSafeNB is there to help you get back to work and feeling like yourself again. We can provide compensation coverage and arrange for treatment.
In the case of workplace harassment, WorkSafeNB can provide compensation coverage to a worker when the incident has resulted in a diagnosable injury or illness. With violence, it may be physical, but for harassment the injury may be psychological. Compensation is available for psychological injuries when they meet the criteria of a traumatic event, which is defined as being exposed to one or more of the following:
Section 91(2) of Regulation 91-191 states: “An employer shall provide high visibility safety apparel that meets the requirements of CSA standard Z96-15 (R2020), High-visibility safety apparel or a standard offering equivalent or better protection to any employee who is exposed to a risk of injury from vehicular traffic, powered mobile equipment, industrial lift trucks or mobile cranes, and the employee shall wear the apparel.
At this time, the regulation does not specify the colour of the reflective shirts, nor the colour of the reflective striping.
Sections 38(1) and 41(2) of Regulation 91-191 apply to personal protective equipment (PPE) in a warehouse setting.
Under Section 38(1), an employer must provide PPE and ensure that the employee is trained in its proper use and care.
Section 41(2) states that employees exposed to a hazard at the workplace (other than a project site) that could injure the foot must use protective equipment appropriate to the hazard and that conforms to CSA standard CSA Z195:14 (C2019), Protective Footwear or a standard offering equivalent protection. Also note that employers are required to acquaint workers with hazards associated with the work being carried out (Section 9(2)(b)).
Click here for WorkSafeNB’s legal interpretation of “Definition of provide.”
As of May 29, 2020, the legislation references the CSA standard for first aid kit content only. As of January 2024, amendments to all the other requirements (first aid training, emergency first aid protocol, first aid room, first aid refresher, etc.) were added.
The CSA standard lists three types of kits: personal, basic (for lower hazard work) and intermediate (for higher hazard work). The basic and intermediate kits come in small, medium and large sizes, based on the number of employees per shift.
When determining the classification, size and number of kits, the level of risk for the specific environment should be considered.
To help clarify kit selection, please see First aid page.
Furthermore, employers have flexibility in choosing a combination of kit sizes to best suit workplace needs. For example, an employer required to have two medium kits could comply by having four small kits or one large kit.
The definition of high hazard work in the First Aid Regulation 2004-130 lists the types of workplaces considered high risk.
“High hazard work” means work that carries a greater likelihood of injury or damage to health and a greater severity of potential injury because of the place of employment or the nature of the work, and includes work carried out
(a) At a project site or mine,
(b) In a confined space or in an isolated area where emergency medical help is not in close proximity to the work area,
(c) On electrical transmission, generation or distribution systems,
(d) At foundries or machine shops,
(e) At gas, oil or chemical processing plants, steel or other base metal processing plants,
(f) At woodland operations, sawmills or lumber processing plants,
(g) At brewery or beverage processing plants, meat packing or processing plants, and
(h) With explosives or heavy equipment.
Subsection 4(3) of the First Aid Regulation requires employers to assess the risk employees are likely to face and provide additional first aid supplies, equipment, services and facilities in regard to those risks. The assessment will not only help you determine which additional industry specific items to include in your kits but also whether you should upgrade from a basic to intermediate kit. The CSA standard provides guidance on performing a workplace first aid risk assessment in Annex A and Annex B.
