The following are the definitions of supervisor and worker for the purposes of the "Health & Safety in the Workplace" training"
Supervisor:
A supervisor is a person who has charge of a workplace and/or authority over a worker.
For the purposes of the "Health & Safety in the Workplace" training the term supervisor refers to:
- Individuals who hold managerial/supervisory responsibilities such as Senior Administrators, Deans, Associate Deans, Department Heads, Executive Directors, Directors, Managers and Supervisors
- Faculty members or principal investigators who have charge over an area or activity and some degree of authority over graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, research associates, research assistants, academic assistants, administrative staff and/or other workers as defined in in the OHSA (see below).
- Team leaders, lead hands, or other individuals who are responsible to organize and oversee the work of other workers in the work area (see worker definition below)
- Laboratory technicians, graduate students or research assistants who have been given the responsibility to oversee the operation of a laboratory or direct other workers
Worker:
A worker, as defined under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), includes the following:
- a person who performs work or supplies services for monetary compensation
- students hired by the University to perform paid work-study program or co-operative education placement duties for the University; and
- students, learners or trainees who are participating in an unpaid work experience program, approved by a post-secondary institution
Volunteers and students not meeting the definition above are not covered under the definition of a worker, however, they should also be afforded the same protection as a worker under the Act.
For the purposes of the "Health & Safety in the Workplace" training a worker refers to:
- All permanent faculty and staff
- New, transferred, returning from extended absence, contract, supply or temporary workers, including sessional instructors
- Faculty members who do not have charge over an area or activity and do not have authority over graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, research associates, research assistants, academic assistants, administrative staff and/or other workers.
- Students who are paid to perform work, such as graduate and teaching assistants, research assistants, work-study students.
- Students participating in an unpaid work experience program, placed at the University of Windsor.