Safety Office, Commissary Building
University of Waterloo
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
Phone 519 888 4567 Ext. 33587
Fax 519 886 8082
Email: safety@uwaterloo.ca
Under Policy 34, Health, Safety and Environment, Section 4 B "Members of the University community have the right to refuse work or assignments that they believe are unsafe. In such cases the refusal must be immediately reported to their supervisor. The supervisor must investigate the situation as prescribed by University procedures."
The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) states that a worker may refuse to work or do particular work when they have reason to believe that:
The OHSA sets out a specific procedure to be followed by workers, supervisors and Joint Health, Safety and Environment Committee (JHSC) members in a work refusal. The work refusal procedure should only begin after a worker has made a complaint to a supervisor about a health and safety concern. Refer to the work refusal process flow chart for more detail.
A worker has the duty to work in accordance to the OHSA and the regulations and has the right to seek their enforcement. The employer is not allowed to discipline a worker who has obeyed the law. However, this provision does not apply if the work refusal was made in bad faith, or if the worker continues to refuse after the Ministry of Labour inspector finds that the work is not likely to endanger the worker.
Safety Office, Commissary Building
University of Waterloo
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
Phone 519 888 4567 Ext. 33587
Fax 519 886 8082
Email: safety@uwaterloo.ca
The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is centralized within our Office of Indigenous Relations.