Program development
Most of the amendments to the OHSA will not only require employers to prepare, review annually and post written policies in conspicuous places to prevent workplace violence and harassment, they will also require employers to develop and maintain programs to implement such policies. 

For workplace violence programs, employers will be required to include the following “bare minimum” measures and procedures under the statute:

·       control the risks identified in a mandatory workplace violence assessment; 
·       summon “immediate assistance” when workplace violence occurs or is likely to occur;
·       require workers to report incidents of workplace violence to a supervisor; and
·       set out ways in which the employer will investigate and deal with incidents or complaints of workplace violence. 

Because workplace violence under Bill 168 includes threats of violence, the requirement to summon immediate assistance arguably includes the moment when verbal or written threats of physical violence are made against a worker.

Likewise, for workplace harassment programs, employers will be required to include the following minimum measures and procedures: 

·       require workers to report incidents of workplace harassment to a supervisor; and
·       set out ways in which the employer will investigate and deal with incidents or complaints of workplace harassment.

Risk assessment
The new legislation also requires employers to assess the risks of workplace violence that may arise from the nature of the workplace, the type of work or the conditions of work. This assessment must take into account:

·       circumstances that would be common to similar workplaces; and
·       circumstances specific to the workplace. 

Once this assessment is complete, an employer must provide a written copy of the assessment, together with its results, to a joint health and safety committee or a health and safety representative. If there is no committee or health and safety representative, workers must be advised directly of the results and must be provided with a written copy of the assessment.

Workplace violence risk assessments must be reassessed as often as is necessary to ensure that an employer’s policy and related program continue to protect workers from workplace violence. 

No similar risk assessment is required in respect of workplace harassment. 

Right to refuse work
Bill 168 also expands a worker’s right to refuse or stop work where he or she has reason to believe that workplace violence is likely to endanger himself or herself.  

Section 43 of the OHSA outlines an investigatory procedure that employers must follow upon receipt of such a report.  The amendments make it clear that until the employer’s investigation is complete, the worker must remain in a safe place that is as near as reasonably possible to his or her work station. The worker must also remain available to his or her employer for the purposes of the investigation. 

If, following the employer’s investigation, a worker still has reasonable grounds to believe that workplace violence continues to be likely to endanger himself or herself, the employer must inform an inspector from the Ministry of Labour, who will then carry out a further investigation. A worker must still remain, during the worker’s normal working hours, in a safe place that is as near as reasonably possible to his or her work station and be available to the inspector for the purposes of the Ministry of Labour’s investigation. 

The amendments do not authorize a worker to refuse work if he or she has good reason to believe that workplace harassment will occur.