Know The Laws
Know the Laws of Your Province – Ergonomics Requirements
All Canadian jurisdictions require employers to protect workers from ergonomics-related hazards using one of two approaches: The 7 Direct Approach Jurisdictions Seven provinces—Fed, AB, BC, MB, NL, QC and SK—specifically address ergonomics-related hazards and the prevention of MSIs in their OHS regulations. Although the substance of these requirements varies among these jurisdictions, they generally require employers to: Conduct a risk assessment to identify possible ergonomics-related hazard. Make changes where appropriate to...
read moreConstruction Superintendent Misled Investigators
A construction site superintendent from South Dakota has been sentenced to six months’ house detention with electronic monitoring for violating an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulation with regard to the death of one of his workers.The 29-year-old victim, Carl Beck, fell 42 feet (nearly 13 meters) while helping install a motel roof in the Pittsburgh, PA, area in 2009. Superintendent Robert Christopher Kennedy, 60, pleaded guilty to a charge of failure to protect employees with anchored safety lines ...
read morePortable Heater Requirements
In the winter, it’s generally acceptable to let workers who work outside or are otherwise exposed to the elements use portable heaters to stay warm and avoid hypothermia and other cold stress related illnesses. But portable heaters pose their own hazards, such as burns and carbon monoxide poisoning. So some OHS laws have requirements for the safe use of such heaters. Here’s a chart of these requirements for each...
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Respiratory Protection Programs
Every jurisdiction’s OHS laws require employers to take precautions to protect workers from respiratory hazards. But they don’t all expressly require respiratory protection programs:
read moreFirst Aid Record Requirements
Having an adequate number of qualified first aid providers can literally mean the difference between life and death for injured workers. So it’s critical that you ensure that your company complies with the requirements for first aid providers to safeguard workers’ health and safety and avoid liability for OHS...
read moreWhat to Do When You Get a Stop Work Order
The OHS laws give safety inspectors the power to make companies take specific steps to address potential threats to workers’ health and safety. For example, inspectors may stop work at a workplace until the company takes certain steps to correct a serious health and safety problem. Stop work orders can be extremely disruptive and complying with them can be expensive. The right response to a stop work order can minimize disruption; the wrong response can make a bad situation...
read moreRequirements For Openings In Work Surfaces
Falls Through Openings Can Seriously Injure Workers—and Cost the Company. Here are just a few examples of the consequences for workers and companies from falls through openings: A worker pre-raking concrete on the 12th floor of a construction site fell through an uncovered • floor opening to the 10th floor and was seriously injured. His employer was penalized $85,750 [Viper Concrete 2000 LP, AB Govt. News Release, Sept. 13, 2010]; Workers covered a roof opening with a sheet of plywood but didn’t secure it. Another worker, who didn’t...
read moreWhen Locks are Required and When They are Not
Know the Laws of Your Province Here’s what your jurisdiction says about when locks are required—and when they’re not Locks Required Locks Not Required Relevant Section of the OHS Law(links) FED When a guard has been removed from a machine so that repair or maintenance work can be performed on it. No specified exceptions. OHS Regs., Secs. AB a) When machinery or powered mobile equipment must be serviced, repaired, tested, adjusted or inspected; b) when piping, a pipeline or a process system containing a harmful...
read moreKnow the Laws of Your Province: Consumer Product Requirements
CONSUMER PRODUCT REQUIREMENTS Here’s what the WHMIS laws in each jurisdiction say about consumer products: JURISDICTION REQUIREMENTS LAW FED Part II (controlled products) doesn’t apply to the sale or import of any product, material or substance included in Part II of Schedule I and packaged as a consumer product [Sec. 12(f)]. Hazardous Products Act AB The following sections don’t apply if a controlled product is a product, material or substance packaged: 1) as a consumer product; and 2) in a quantity...
read moreKnow the Laws of Your Province: Paying JHSC Members
PAYING JHSC MEMBERS EMPLOYERS MUST PAY JHSC MEMBERS: RELEVANT SEC. OF THE OHS LAW FED For all JHSC functions, including meetings, preparation and travel, at the member’s regular or premium rate depending on the collective agreement or, if there’s no agreement, the employer’s policy. Canada Labour Code, Secs. 135.1(10) and (11) AB OHS laws don’t address payment of JHSC members. BC For time to attend and prepare for meetings and perform other JHSC functions. Workers’ Compensation Act, Sec....
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