Summary Offence Tickets for workplace safety infractions can be handed out starting July 1
Employers and employees who breach workplace health and safety legislation in Saskatchewan could now be ticketed for offences.
The province has added Summary Offence Tickets (SOTs) as a new enforcement tool. They are designed to encourage compliance of health and safety rules and to reduce workplace injuries, said Don Morgan, Saskatchewan’s labour relations and workplace safety minister.
“This new tool deals with reoccurring or potentially dangerous contraventions that require immediate action,” he said.
The province said employers and employees have had six months to become familiar with the offences and penalties associated with SOTs, which can be handed out starting July 1, 2014.
There are 12 ticketable offences that relate to a variety of occupational health and safety provisions including fall protection, safe work conditions in excavations/trenching, personal protective equipment, submission of progress reports to the Occupational Health and Safety Division, and submission of information requested by the director. As a result of consultations on The Occupational Health and Safety Act, regulations were amended to introduce summary offence ticketing.
Two Occupational Health and Safety Officers have been designated to issue tickets with fines that range from $250 to $1,000 plus appropriate victim’s surcharges, depending on the offence.
