New rules for violence prevention take effect May 17

On May 17, 2024, amendments to the occupational health and safety provisions of the Saskatchewan Employment Act will come into force requiring all provincially regulated workplaces to have a policy statement and prevention plan (PSPP) to eliminate workplace violence.

Previously, only prescribed workplaces in high-risk industries were required to have a PSPP.

And employers should be ready, according to John Agioritis, partner at MLT Aikins in Saskatoon.

“If the history of inspections continues the way it has with harassment policies in the province, one can expect that the occupational health and safety authorities will likely conduct inspections, routine compliance inspections, to ensure that employers in the workplace that were not… previously in the high-risk group now have their violence policy and prevention plan in place.”

Before Saskatchewan had a list of prescribed workplaces, such as health care and transit operators, where historically there’s been a high prevalence of violence, says Sean Tucker, professor in HR management at the University of Regina.

“But we know ... it's not just those prescribed places of employment, so while the prevalence [of violence] may be lower in other work settings, it exists. And it's important that organizations have a policy and prioritize prevention of violence in all workplaces, because when it occurs, it can have a significant impact on the health of workers.”

High-risk workplaces

Previously, employers that were operating at a prescribed place of employment where violent situations have occurred, or may reasonably be expected to occur, needed to develop and implement a written policy to deal with them, and then communicate it to the government, says Agioritis.

“There was a laundry list of prescribed employers set out in the regs and they included healthcare facilities, places where the sale of alcohol was to be conducted like a bar, financial services… any sort of law enforcement, and taxi services and transit services.”

While those kinds of employers should already have existing measures and plans in place, “what they should be doing now is double checking those existing policies and updating them to meet any new requirements,” he says.

“Like the obligation to investigate every occurrence of violence in the workplace — that wasn't specifically a requirement in the past.”

Requirements of PSPPs in Saskatchewan

Now, Saskatchewan has imposed a requirement on every workplace in the province to having violence policy and prevention plan in place, says Agioritis.

“As you can imagine, that could be any office, any size of employer that would potentially have any kind of violence in the workplace. And even if you don't, you still need to have a violence policy and prevention plan in case — you're obligated to have one now. So that was a sea change in our province.”

When it comes to workplace violence, it’s more than physical assault, according to Saskatchewan’s Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, which define workplace violence as “the attempted, threatened or actual conduct of a person that causes or is likely to cause injury, and includes any threatening statement or behavior that gives a worker reasonable cause to believe the worker is at risk of injury.”

And all PSPPs will need to be tailored to the risks identified for a particular workplace. The policy statement and violence prevention plan must include:

• the employer's commitment to minimize or eliminate risk and review the policy and plan every three years
• identification of the worksite 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 persons who have a history of violent behaviour who could become a risk to the workers
• the actions an employer will take to minimize or eliminate the risk of violence
• 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 counselling
• a commitment to provide a training program for workers.

On Jan. 30, the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 190 (C190), the Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019, formally entered into force in Canada, just one year after its ratification. C190 is the first-ever global treaty on ending violence and harassment at work.

Assessing risk of violence in workplace

When it comes to assessing workplace risks, employers should ensure their PSPP includes mitigation and preventive measures for all identified risks and hazards, says the government.

It says employers should “gather and assess” information about prior incidents of violence, present risk and possible future risk. This information is needed to develop practices and policies aimed at minimizing or eliminating these risks.

“The regulations, as they currently exist, indicate that an employer has an obligation to conduct a risk assessment of their workplaces effectively, and to determine the risk of violence with certain positions, and there's a requirement to identify positions that might be at risk,” says Agioritis.

“It effectively requires you to conduct a hazard assessment and a risk assessment of where violence might arise.”

That can mean looking at previous instances of workplace violence, such as a fight between two employees or an angry or intoxicated customer, he says.

“Other areas that you could look at would be contacting industry associations, looking at similar industries and worksites to determine whether they've had instances of violence that might be a useful source of information; potentially consulting with the occupational health committee that you have, and the representative that might be on that committee and reviewing old occupational health committee minutes that might exist, to give insight as to where violence has occurred.”

Also, it might be a matter of conducting, from the ground up, a risk assessment of things to look out for, says Agioritis.

“Are there people that work late? Are there people that have to walk to a parking lot in a relatively secluded area? Is there appropriate lighting?... Are there security features in your building, for instance, like cameras or security guards that you would need to have, considering the new changes for workplace violence?”

And when there are violent incidents or cases of harassment in the workplace, they must be properly investigated, says Tucker.

“That's another part of this legislative change is the explicit requirement on employers to investigate complaints.”

It shouldn’t be too onerous for an employer to come up with a policy for workplace — it’s the next steps that matter, says Tucker.

“What are we doing to prevent violence in the workplace, prevent harassment in the workplace, to... provide a safe and reliable reporting process for employees who feel that they have been targeted by harassment or violence?”

Just recently, the Saskatoon transit operators union put out several posts about members experiencing violence on the job from members of the public, which is “a good reminder that just having a policy is not enough,” he says.

Training considerations with new workplace violence laws

Another new rule is that Saskatchewan employers must now train staff on how to recognize potentially violent situations, along with what administrative arrangements are in place, what the protocol is if there's a violent incidents in the workplace, or whether security needs to be called those kinds, says Agioritis.

“That is a big change. And I think all employers need to understand that they need to train their employees on the means to recognize potentially violent situations and the fact that violence could be an issue in any workplace.”

In teaching occupational health and safety classes, Tucker says there’s a lack of understanding among workers, supervisors and employers of workplace harassment and violence.

“I think all organizations need to do a better job of educating their workforce about the definition of what is harassment, what is not harassment, what's violence,” he says.

“We sometimes get into a trap where we don't want to talk about real life examples of what that can look like. But I think it's important for prevention to have those discussions and bring clarity to what it is — I mean, it's not about disagreements among employees, necessarily; it's not about the manager providing direction to an employee. And I find this in my work, there's still a lot of misunderstanding.”

Outside of training, when there are complaints made and investigations undertaken, it’s also important to learn from those by asking questions, says Tucker.

“Where can we do better with our training? How could we better prevent these incidents? Just taking a step back from the specifics of the complaint and thinking about more of a kind of assistance approach is a great opportunity; I think that you've got everything to gain from that.”

Overall, in communicating the new policy and preventative measures, employers should convey that this is a positive benefit, he says.

“I would advise employers not to approach it from the angle of ‘We have to do this and we don't like it’ — that really sends the wrong message. This is not an onerous task. And I think we can all agree that preventing harassment and violence and having a reliable investigation process is in everybody's best interest.”