1st Session, 43rd Legislature
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Bill 17
THE WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH AMENDMENT ACT
| Bilingual version (PDF) | Explanatory Note |
(Assented to )
HIS MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, enacts as follows:
1 The Workplace Safety and Health Act is amended by this Act.
2 Section 1 is amended by adding the following definition:
"advisory council" means the Advisory Council on Workplace Safety and Health appointed under section 15; (« Conseil consultatif »)
3(1) The following is added as clauses 14(1)(d) and (e):
(d) call meetings of the advisory council;
(e) approve, with or without modifications, any recommendation submitted to the minister by the advisory council; and
3(2) Subsection 14(2) is amended
(a) by adding "members of the advisory council and" after "the Lieutenant Governor in Council,"; and
(b) in the French version, by striking out "que peut autoriser le ministre" and substituting "que le ministre autorise".
4 Section 14.1 is repealed.
5 The following is added as sections 15 and 16:
ADVISORY COUNCIL
15(1) The minister must appoint an Advisory Council on Workplace Safety and Health.
15(2) The advisory council is to consist of
(a) a chair appointed by the minister; and
(b) at least six but not more than 12 additional members, of whom
(i) 1/3 are to be appointed by the minister after consultations with organizations representing workers,
(ii) 1/3 are to be appointed by the minister after consultations with organizations representing employers, and
(iii) 1/3 are to be appointed by the minister after consultations with technical and professional bodies whose members are concerned with the general purposes of this Act.
15(3) The chair is a member of the advisory council but does not have a vote in the affairs of the council.
15(4) A member of the advisory council holds office for the term set by the minister, which must not exceed three years, and continues to hold office after their term expires until the member is re-appointed, the appointment is revoked or a successor is appointed.
15(5) A majority of the members of the advisory council that includes at least two members appointed under subclause (2)(b)(i) and at least two members appointed under subclause (2)(b)(ii) constitutes a quorum.
16(1) The advisory council must meet at the call of the minister or the chair, but in any case at least once a year.
16(2) The advisory council may advise or make recommendations to the minister on the following matters:
(a) workplace safety and health generally, and the protection of workers in specific workplace situations;
(b) the appointment of consultants and advisors by the minister;
(c) any matter relating to workplace safety and health on which the minister seeks the council's opinion.
16(3) At least once every five years, the advisory council must review this Act and its administration and report its findings and recommendations, if any, to the minister.
16(4) The advisory council must review any matter relating to this Act and its administration when requested to do so by the minister and report its findings and recommendations, if any, to the minister.
16(5) A review under subsection (3) or (4) must be conducted in accordance with any terms of reference determined by the minister and issued to the advisory council.
Transitional — review currently underway
6 If, on the day this Act comes into force, the minister is conducting a review under section 14.1 of The Workplace Safety and Health Act as it read immediately before the coming into force of this Act, then
(a) section 14.1, despite its repeal by section 4 of this Act, continues to apply until the minister completes the review; and
(b) the five-year period under subsection 16(3), as enacted by section 5 of this Act, starts to run on the day the minister completes the review.
7 This Act comes into force on the day it receives royal assent.