Pursuant to the legislation, workers on offshore installations have the right to refuse any task which they believe is dangerous to their health and safety, or the health and safety of another person at the workplace. Where a worker has exercised his or her right to refuse and the matter is not remedied to the satisfaction of the worker the matter shall be brought to the attention of the Offshore Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee and reported to a C-NLOPB Safety Officer. If the committee is unable to resolve the matter, the matter will be investigated by a Safety Officer who has the authority to order a resolution. A person may refuse the work until either they are satisfied with the remedial action taken by the employer or a Safety Officer has investigated the matter and has rendered a decision.

A worker can report a work refusal either in writing or orally to a Safety Officer. The proper sequence for exercising this right is as follows:

• report the task being refused to the supervisor with the reason for the refusal;
• supervisor provided with the opportunity to resolve concerns;
• if concern is not remedied by the supervisor to the satisfaction of the worker, then report to the Offshore Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee for remediation (the Committee notifies the C-NLOPB at this point that a refusal has occurred);
• the Committee is provided with the opportunity to resolve concerns;
• if concern is not remedied by the Committee to the satisfaction of the worker, then a C-NLOPB Safety Officer will be requested to investigate the issue;
• a C-NLOPB Safety Officer conducts an investigation and renders a decision; and
• the employer and/or worker must abide by the decision; and

Employers, Operators and unions shall not take any reprisal against a worker for exercising his or her right to refuse.