What is the Difference Between an Advanced Safe Workplace and a Safe Workplace?

To achieve the Safe Workplace status or Advanced Safe Workplace status, you must meet the six criteria of the program. Whether you meet the criteria or not is determined by how you answered your self-reported Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) program questions in your Annual Payroll Reporting. 

The difference between an Advanced Safe Workplace and a Safe Workplace lies in your OHS Program.

You are designated a Safe Workplace if:

  1. You have an OHS Policy.
  2. You have a Hazard Identification and Control Plan.
  3. You have an Emergency Response Plan.
  4. You have clear and assigned OHS roles and responsibilities.
  5. You have worksite inspection guidelines.
  6. You have incident investigation and reporting procedures.
  7. You have a worker safety orientation process.
  8. You have OHS training.
  9. You have a plan in place to control use of hazardous substances (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System [WHMIS]).
  10. You have a safe and timely return to work program.
  11. You have either:
    a) an OHS Representative (for employers with less than 20 workers), or
    b) a Joint OHS Committee (for employers with 20 or more workers).

 You will achieve the Advanced Safe Workplace status if:

  • You meet all of the Safe Workplace criteria, and
  • Your OHS program is certified by an accredited third party in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, such as Certificate of Recognition (COR) program or International Organization of Standardization (ISO) 45001.

The Northern Safety Association (NSA) is the accredited certifying organization for COR in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. Visit their website for more information on how to become COR certified.