GBE: Staff Health and Safety

Through its safety policies and various other policies and regulations pertaining to employees, the Board of School Trustees (the “Board”) will seek to ensure staff members' safety during working hours and assist them in the maintenance of good health. 

On the advice of the medical officer, the Board may require an employee or a contractor to undergo an examination: 

• by a medical practitioner and to submit to the school medical officer a certificate signed by such practitioner setting out his/her conclusions about the employee's physical, mental, and emotional health. 
• by a qualified person designated by the Minister of Health and to submit to the school medical officer a certificate signed by the person conducting the examination setting out the person's conclusions about the physical, mental, and emotional health of the employee or contractor. 

Failure to comply with these requirements is grounds for the employee to be summarily dismissed by the Board. 

All expenses connected with examinations required under the terms of the School Act will be borne by the Board. 

The Board has approved an Employee Health Service that seeks to meet the mandates of the School Act by: 

• pre-placement screening of medical reports of employees*;
• assessment of employees' health prior to their return to work after a significant illness;
• assessment of employees' health after referral by the Human Resources Division. 

* A physician's written report and proof of chest x-ray or tuberculin test, within 12 months prior to the date of appointment, are required of newly appointed teachers.

In addition to meeting the legal requirements, the Board supports the efforts of the Employee Health Service to develop voluntary services in the following areas:

• health promotion (voluntary health counselling in groups and individually; workshops in stress management, health hazard appraisal, nutrition, and healthy lifestyles);
• health monitoring (specific analysis of health risks on behalf of employee groups);
• health advocacy (provision of medical opinions and statistics to support proposals connected with health matters). 

The Board approves the following guidelines for the use of the Employee Health Service: 

• if an employee who has previously voluntarily referred himself/herself to the school medical officer is subsequently required under the School Act (see above) to undergo an examination and submit a certificate, any such certification of conclusions will be evaluated by a school medical officer other than the officer who originally saw the employee; 
• staff members who advise an employee to seek the services of the Employee Health Service should first encourage the employee to consult his/her own physician; 
• the observance of professional confidentiality is one of the fundamental rules of ethical conduct, and no person shall divulge confidential information about an employee or an employee's health without that employee's consent; 
• the employee shall be advised of the findings of any physical examination he/she is required to undergo; 
• the practice of occupational medicine is not meant to encroach on private medical practice, and non-occupational diseases, or ailments not affecting the employee's work or the health of his/her students, remain the responsibility of the employee's own physician.

Occupational Safety And Health 

Medical Examinations - Senior Officials 

Senior officials should have a complete medical examination yearly. The report of each examination is to be submitted to the school medical officer for evaluation, and a report will be made to the Board whether, in the school medical officer's opinion, the senior official's health is such that he or she can continue to perform the assigned work for the Board.  The examination will be paid for by the Board.

DMT Responsibility:AS-HR