Northern Safety Network Yukon

Harassment & Violence Prevention

Support for a positive culture in Yukon workplaces

The Violence and Harassment Prevention Regulation will come into effect on September 4, 2021.

The Government of Yukon has approved a new regulation aimed at preventing violence and harassment, two serious workplace hazards. The regulation will help to foster a positive culture in the workplace as well as physical and psychological safety for Yukon workers. Enhancements to the existing regulations about hazard assessment have also been approved, making them clearer and easier to understand.

Harassment and violence in the workplace have far-reaching effects on the health and well-being of workers as well as on their job stability and job satisfaction. Harassment and violence may also have an impact on the overall economy resulting from costs associated with absenteeism, lost productivity, and job turnover.

Resources

YWCHSB

Regulation to Amend the OH&S Regulations

YWCHSB What We Heard Report

Yukon OH&S Act & Regulations

YWCHSB Violence and Harassment home page

Download a Workplace Violence Prevention Guide here

Checklists

The following checklists may be useful for orientation or training purposes.

Workplace roles and responsibilities checklist an overview of workers’, supervisors’ and employers’ roles and responsibilities to prevent workplace violence and harassment.

Due diligence to prevent workplace violence and harassment checklist an overview of the steps to demonstrate due diligence when planning to prevent workplace violence and harassment

Information, Training, Legislation:

Hazard assessment on YWCHSB’s website.

Yukon legislation:

Local Supports

This is not an exhaustive list of local supports for Yukoners experiencing violence and harassment in the workplace. Please check out other resources such as counsellors and employee assistance programs.

The Process

  1. Complete a hazard assessment
  2. Create policies and procedures
  3. Training and communication
  4. Implement, evaluate, and adjust

Step 1: Complete a Harassment & Violence Hazard Assessment of your workplace

The following three sample forms will help to get you started with identifying hazards and managing risks:

Job Hazard Analysis

  • To identify hazards a person could be exposed to from a newly implemented (or amended) process or equipment.
  • Can be rewritten to create site-specific procedures and practices, which can then be added to a company’s programming for workers to reference in the future.

Workplace Risk Assessment

  • To look broadly at the hazards a person could be exposed to while at a worksite or on a project.
  • Can be used as a planning document for other aspects of a safety management system such as identifying missing procedures, information to include in orientations and work scheduling.

Field Level Risk Assessment

  • To identify hazards a person could be exposed to at a specific time, based on the conditions and activities present at that time.
  • For worksites where the conditions and activities may change on a daily or hourly basis.

Source – YWCHSB – Hazard Assessment

Step 2: Create Policies & Procedures

Violence and harassment are hazards in any workplace, so all employers need a written policy and procedures that say what everyone in the workplace must do to prevent these hazards from causing harm.

Policy and procedures Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Template are available from YWCHSB to help workplaces develop statements that meet the requirements of the Regulations.

Step 3: Train & Communicate

Employers have to train workers about hazards, the violence and harassment prevention policy and procedures, and how to respond to incidents and injuries. Document this training by keeping records of when the training happened, who attended and what was taught.

Step 4: Implement

Employers need to check if their policy and procedures are working by:

  1. Checking that workers know what to do.
  2. Checking if workers are doing what is expected of them.
  3. Finally, employers will want to know if any changes could be made to help workers better understand the policy and procedures.

Ongoing and effective planning, implementing checking and updating of prevention measures help to keep workplaces healthy and safe.

Source – YWCHSB – Workplace Violence and Harassment Prevention Guide

Workplace Harassment and Violence Event Report and Investigation Tools:

The Yukon Workers' Compensation Health and Safety Board (YWCHSB) has developed an investigation report template below:

These additional resources may also be helpful: