Northern Contaminated Sites Program: Environmental, Health and Safety Policy

Approved on March 29, 2021

The health and safety of employees and protection of the environment against pollutants are an over-riding priority for the Northern Contaminated Sites Program (NCSP) within the Northern Affairs Organization (NAO) of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC). This Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) policy was developed to guide decisions and actions to ensure that the intended EHS outcomes are achieved. These intended outcomes shall include:

1. Management demonstrates its commitment to provide safe and healthy working conditions for the prevention of work-related injury, illness or disease and maintenance of a healthy environment by ensuring that:
   1. all program activities meet EHS requirements
   2. the guidance provided by this EHS Policy and other EHS guidance documents are fully implemented and monitored
   3. all staff, 3rd party contractors, visitors and local communities working on or visiting CIRNAC sites are not adversely impacted by environmental, health, and/or safety risks associated with contaminated sites
   4. sufficient resources are allocated to meet its commitments
2. All program activities comply with the requirements of the Canada Labour Code – Part II, relevant territorial and federal EHS laws and regulations, Treasury Board policies, and the requirements of CIRNAC's NCSP Management Framework. Best practices, beyond compliance, will be adopted wherever possible and beneficial to demonstrate due diligence.
3. An EHS Management System is developed to align all contaminated site work, including assessment, remediation, risk management and monitoring activities, across all levels of the organization and establish the framework for setting and reviewing program, regional and project level EHS objectives and targets.
4. An Internal Responsibility System (IRS) is implemented where: everyone has direct responsibility for environment, health and safety as an essential part of their job; they follow safe work methods and relevant regulations; and all personnel are held accountable for implementing, and adhering to, the requirements of the EHS Management System.
5. Workers, workers' representatives and/or other key stakeholders are consulted in the identification of EHS aspects and hazards, the assessment of their risk and the development and implementation of controls.
6. Needs-based training is provided at all levels within the organization to ensure that employees are aware of the risks and their responsibilities to undertake their assigned duties without accidents, injuries or harm to the environment.
7. EHS programs, projects and practices are monitored and measured against acceptable levels and improved to realize opportunities to reduce risk to human health and the environment.