Minutes of the National Health and Safety Policy Committee (NHSPC) Meeting

This meeting was chaired by Sonia Côté Employer Co-Chair.

1. OPENING REMARKS

The Employer Co-Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. She began by conducting a roll call.

2. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF DOCUMENTS

2.1 NHSPC meeting minutes – October 14, 2015

The minutes from the previous NHSPC Meeting were reviewed. The Employee Representatives made a note of which will be corrected before publishing. In addition they also noted that “new policy” should be removed and substituted with “policy”, given that there has never been a policy on environmental sensitivities.

2.2 Action Items Report

The action item report from the October 14, 2025 NHPSC meeting was reviewed. No comments were made.

2.3 Forward agenda 2025-2026

The 2025–2026 forward agenda was reviewed. Employee representatives provided feedback regarding the asbestos testing schedule, emphasizing the need to clearly indicate that testing is conducted every five years.

2.4 Occupational health and Safety (OHS) Communication Plan

The Employer Co-Chair gave an overview of all communications that went out such as; environmental sensitivities, newsletter and respiratory protection. Employee representatives asked whether it was possible to obtain statistics on the number of people opening and reviewing these publications. The employer representatives committed to follow-up to see what information is available.

3. VERBAL UPDATES

3.1 Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Program

Completion rates for the Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention course (TD1599-007) have risen to 78.8% in Q2 from 65% in Q1. The completion rate of the training recertification continues to rise and will continue to be followed until satisfactory rates are achieved.

Since the last meeting, the NHSPC workplace harassment and violence prevention working group reviewed and updated the employee notice form to align with revised procedures. The form was also updated for accessibility and is scheduled to be published on InfoZone in January.

3.2 Wellbeing and Psychological Health and Safety

The Psych Safety Spotlight newsletter on Recognition and Reward was shared on November 17, 2025, and the January edition on Workload Management is in progress. The November MGN newsletter featured workplace factors and guidance on psychologically safe leadership, along with a spotlight on our newsletter.

Eight English and four French manager sessions on well-being have been delivered, averaging of 75–100 participants each; outreach to senior management will begin in the new year to boost attendance. A new resource, How to be a Psychologically Safe Leader, is in final development, using a five-stage approach based on the Plan (Learn); Do (Discuss); Check (Reflect); Act (Act & Follow-up) cycle. The first stage is published, and remaining stages will be released by March 2026.

On December 4, 2025, the Psychological Health and Safety Working Group reviewed its draft Terms of Reference, discussed feedback on the Psychological Hazards tool, and planned improvements. Updates were shared on tool integration with hazard analyses, development of the Employee Hazard Profile application, and initiatives to support contact centre employees’ well-being.

Employee representatives stated the importance of gathering feedback not only from management but also from contact centre agents to ensure a more comprehensive and balanced perspective. The employer representatives agreed that they would take that back to the Psychological Health and Safety Working Group to determine how best to do this.

3.3 OHS Program Updates

The Ergonomics Working Group has been established. Members are reviewing the current Office Ergonomics Standard Operating Procedure, and will provide feedback by mid-January. A meeting will be held in the new year to discuss the comments received.

Employee representatives raised questions regarding the lifespan of office chairs and the methodology used to determine when they would need replacing, suggesting that a formal policy may be warranted. The Director General of the Finance and Administration Branch committed to identifying a potential representative to participate in this working group to speak to this issue.

A discussion was held on the ongoing monitoring of the OHS program. The objective of the three-year cycle program is to review and report on the implementation of the CRA’s OHS program at the local level. This is a requirement from the Directive on OHS. OHS Officers visit each CRA occupied work place over a two year schedule to gather information. These visits include physical inspections, partner meetings, and review of key OHS documents, with the findings then compiled into reports for corrective action and program improvement.

To streamline the process, on-site interviews are being replaced by an online questionnaire, currently in development. OHS monitoring covers all aspects of the OHS Program, including psychological hazards, which have been integrated into the questionnaire. Preliminary site visit results were shared in September from the sites already monitored. The site visits and questionnaire responses are expected to be completed by March 2026, after which results will be analyzed to identify gaps and enhance the program.

The employee representative co-chair noted an expectation of receiving a detailed analysis of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) results on a more regular and current basis. The Director of Occupational Health and Safety clarified that full reporting will be provided once all data collection is complete. As the results are compiled over a three-year cycle, trends cannot be reported prematurely.

The employee representative co-chair also expressed a desire for greater visibility into what OHS Officers observe during field visits, noting that there is limited insight into ongoing conditions within workplaces. He noted that the NHSPC has no insight into what is occurring at the CRA workplaces and emphasized the need for continuous, real-time updates, including information on program compliance. For example, what correlations are there in buildings where inspections are not being done to where there are poor monitoring results. He asked, are the OHS officers reviewing areas of deficiency from monitoring with the local HSC to understand why the committee hadn’t identified and resolved these issues as part of their monthly inspections.

The employer co-chair stated they wanted more visibility on this and to see collective solutions to connect monitoring results to the continued poor results being seen in monthly inspections being done. The Director General of the Workplace Relations and Compensation Directorate suggested providing regular updates that outline key developments since the previous meeting.

The Director, National Human Resources Programs Division (NHRPD) commented that the NHSPC should be provided with all of the monitoring reports completed and that in addition to areas not meeting the OHS program requirements, that there should be visibility to the workplaces that have done very well to meet the OHS program elements.

The employer co-chair committed to continue this discussion offline to collectively find solutions.

4. WRITTEN UPDATES

4.1 OHS Dashboard

In conjunction to the written update, the committee was provided with the Q1 2024-2025 National OHS dashboard.

The quarter illustrated 18 fumes and air quality hazards reported, with 16 being scent-related.

Injury trends shifted slightly: while ergonomic issues, slips/trips, and falls remain common, sharp-edge injuries emerged as the fourth most reported category surpassing personal medical conditions and stress-related hazards.

There was a brief discussion on how CRA employees are informed in advance of work taking place in the work place that had the potential to produce fumes or release higher levels of scents into the work place than would normally be expected. This was related to a specific incident where employees were not made aware that painting would be done outside the work place but in close proximity to it. The employer representative confirmed that it is standard practise to advise employees in advance, and if it didn’t occur, it was an oversight, not a change in procedure.

4.2 Multiple Environment Job Hazard Analysis (MEJHA) Working Group

Following an evaluation of potential ergonomic hazards for mailroom employees at the Shawinigan National Verification and Collections Centre (NVCC), the National OHSW Program and Agency Logistics and Administrative Services Division (ALASD), Mail and General Services Section developed a training presentation for use by ergo coaches to help mailroom employees eliminate or mitigate ergonomic hazards. The training solution will be shared nationally if it is successful in the Shawinigan mailroom.

The National OHSW Program and ALASD are also updating two standard operating procedures (SOPs); industrial machinery, and manual material handling. With this, they are reviewing and updating safe work procedures (SWP) for tasks such as charging electric vehicles, using dock plates, operating envelope slitters, postage meters, soldering irons, and unloading drop boxes. These will be published once complete.

4.3 Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) for Field Employees Working Group

The task hazard analysis (THA) for warrant execution is in progress, with meetings held in November and December and more scheduled for January 2026 with Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) employees. Discussions will finish by end of January, and recommendations will be submitted to CID management by March 2026.

4.4 Health and Safety Committee (HSC) and Health and Safety Representatives (HSR)

At the end of the quarter there were 727 HSC members and HSRs, including 46 non-member secretaries. HSC/HSR training is completed in two parts; the first is self-directed online, and the second part is completed in a group setting with facilitators. Of the 727 members; 489 are fully trained, 209 have completed the self-directed online training only, and 29 have taken no training.

Beginning in January 2026, the non-member secretary role will be phased out and each committee will be required to have a member secretary. Current non-member secretaries who transition into member secretaries, will be required to take Part One and Part Two of the training as all other members. Currently, 13 non-member secretaries are fully trained, 17 have completed the self-directed online training, and 16 have not completed any training. (Note that no training was required to occupy this position.)

The employee representative questioned why they were not informed of the non-member secretary role being phased out during the consultation process on this specific SOP. This topic was not brought forward as a potential change and the employee representatives were not given the opportunity to provide feedback or concerns. This change appeared in the final updated document without review. This was the second element that was introduced into the final document without review and consultation from the employee representatives, the first being the decision to remove the requirement to appoint a health and safety representative for CRA ITB employees supporting the Canada Border Services Agency onsite.

The Assistant Director, Occupational Health, Safety, and Well-being, committed to reopening the SOP to review and consult with the employee representatives on these two specific elements.

4.5 OHS Training Courses

Final edits to the French version of TD1599-001 Health and Safety for Employees are underway. Once complete, the document will proceed to final approval and is expected to be published in Q4.

Updates to both the French and English versions of TD1599-003 Health and Safety for Supervisors are in progress to reflect the renaming of HRB’s Early Intervention Return to Work (EIRTW) program to Workplace Accommodation Support (WAS). The updated course will also be published in Q4.

4.6 Workplace Health and Safety Operations

The Occupational Health and Safety officers continued collaborating with ergonomic coaches, first aid coordinators, and health and safety committee members to address regional issues and support managers through the HR Service Centre. Two awareness sessions were delivered: one for first aid/AED coordinators (11 participants) and one for health and safety committee co-chairs and secretaries (20 participants).

During this period, three workplaces were monitored. No complaints to ESDC, work refusals, or AVCs were reported. No Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Program awareness sessions were held in the quarter.

5. SECURITY BRANCH (SB)

5.1 Quarterly Incident Report

The report summarized security incidents at the CRA from July 1 to September 30, 2025, affecting employee health and safety. It covered threats, bomb threats, suspicious packages, protests, and suicide threats, along with related indicators and historical comparisons. The Work Place Health and Safety Committee was notified as required.

The SB Assistant Commissioner and Agency Security Officer indicated that the Threat and Risk Assessment (TRA) report conducted for the CRA site located in Victoria was reviewed via a teams meeting, in unredacted form, with the local health and safety committee as well as an Audit, Financial and Scientific (AFS) union representative. They requested a copy of the executive summary of the report to retain for their records. The SB Assistant Commissioner and Agency Security Officer will follow-up on this.

6. CLOSING REMARKS

The Employer Co-chair thanked everyone for their work and their participation in the meeting. Employer Co-Chair noted the next NHSPC meeting will be held on March 19, 2026

Sonia Côté  Employer Co-Chair National Health and Safety Policy Committee Image	Doug Gaetz  Employee Co-Chair National Health and Safety Policy Committee Image
Date: 2026-05-05	Date: 2026-04-29