Construction sector joint health and safety committees: Can their effectiveness be assessed using the JHSC assessment eTool?

Background: Joint health and safety committees (JHSCs) are a legal requirement for most Ontario workplaces. However, few evidence-based tools exist to assess JHSC effectiveness. The JHSC Assessment eTool has been developed and tested in the healthcare and education sectors with positive results.

Objective: The objective of this study is to test the usability and feasibility of the JHSC Assessment eTool in the construction sector.

Methods: Testing was carried out in two phases using a non-experimental study design. In the first phase, construction sector health and safety experts reviewed the content of the eTool to ensure that it had relevance for the sector. In phase two, a convenience sample of JHSCs from construction sector workplaces were recruited to pilot the eTool and provide feedback.

Results: Feedback from six constructor sector health and safety experts and six JHSC committees indicated that the eTool had value and relevance for use in the sector. Additionally, our study identified several minor areas for refinement including the addition of construction-specific resources in the final report.

Conclusions: The results of our study suggest minor modifications to the eTool for use by construction sector workplaces.