Health and safety isn’t just an employer’s responsibility; it’s an employee’s job too. That’s the message Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) agency is making clear with its new ticketing penalties.
Now, workers in the Canadian province can face fines for breaking safety rules! Effective January 1, 2014, workers and employers that violate “ticketable provisions” of OHS legislation can be issued tickets by OHS officers. Tickets will be treated like a traffic ticket: they are an on-the-spot penalty given out following an infraction of the law, according to the OHS.
How much is at stake? Tickets will cost from $100 to $500. And, like a traffic ticket, any party that wishes to plead not guilty will have the option of attending a court date.
That is a fantastic idea. I wish we could do it here–safety really is a two-way street.