A conference proposal to help small non-profits (SNP) navigate their obligations under Alberta’s occupational, health, and safety (OHS) legislation.

The risks to SNPs of Alberta’s OHS legislation was outlined in the previous blog, Safety, the Volunteer, and the Accountant. A conference/ information session was proposed to help guide volunteer boards in this respect.

OHS Conference Proposal

One Conference. CPA Alberta will host an ‘OHS Overview’ in November. This is a one-time event, although based on interest, it may spawn additional activities noted in the following section.

Conference Overview

Title: Safety and the Volunteer; How to Comply With and Excel at Alberta’s OHS Requirements.

Problem: What are the occupational health and safety (OHS) obligations of a volunteer based small non-profit (SNP) in respect to OHS Legislation in Alberta; what are the tools and best practices to meet these obligations effectively and efficiently?

Background: Volunteers are counted as unpaid employees under Alberta OHS legislation.
A non-profit organization must have a health and safety program if it has 20+ workers.
There are numerous OHS resources available but very few specific for a small non-profit.

Conference Format: This is ninety-minute virtual lunch and learn hearing from 1-2 non-profits on how they manage the OHS opportunities and obligations. The conference will be held on November 23, 2023. A pre-survey will determine the level of awareness amongst the SNP community of OHS. In addition to the presenters, best practices may be shared amongst the attendees. This is a one-time session and will be recorded/edited for future re-distribution along with conference notes. Draft Agenda:

• What Changed? OHS, the Volunteer, and What the Board Needs to Know.
  • Presenter, Ted Luyckx, 40+ year veteran of OHS and Safety Lead for the Canadian Birkebeiner Society; 15 minutes.
• The Birkie Experience. How the Canadian Birkebeiner and other has tackled and optimized the OHS requirement,
  • Presenter, Charles World, Vice President of the Birkie and organizer of other large sporting/athletic events such as Canada’s largest in support of Multiple Sclerosis, 15 minutes.
• The XXX Experience. How the non-profit [TBD] has tackled and optimized the OHS requirement, 10-15 minutes.
• What Next for the Board? How to build ‘Just Enough’ OHS to be compliant AND benefit from the requirement; how to integrate OHS into the volunteer life cycle, 20-30 minutes.
• Questions and Time Contingency. 15-25 minutes

Conference Content: Key learnings are as follows:

• Overview of OHS legislation for a volunteer based small to medium sized non-profit.
• How are volunteers counted to get to the ’20+’ number; what do <20 organizations need to have in place?
• Risks to the board in relation to the legislation, accidents with volunteers, etc.
• What happens if a volunteer is injured, access to resources.
• If a board only did three things in context of their OHS obligations, what would they be?
• How can OHS compliance enhance the volunteer experience?
• Best and better practices in Alberta
• Where does the Workers Compensation Board come into this?
• Technology, tools, and methods available to non-profits for free to close to free.

Beyond the Conference

Based on the interest and a post-conference survey, the following sessions may be planned by CPA Alberta or other partner organizations. Possible themes and ideas include:

• Annual Non-Profit Event: Repeat the above conference annually.
• Advanced OHS for the SNP: Partnering with industry, advance conferences/ training.
• OHS, SNPs, and Tech Conference: How can technology manage the OHS risk?
• CPA Training. A formal, credited course on SNPs and OHS for CPAs.
• Government of Alberta: Partner with the relevant Ministry(ies) to deliver the above.

Notes, References, and Further Reading