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Canada–Nova Scotia Offshore Area Occupational Health and Safety Regulations (SOR/2021-248)

Regulations are current to 2024-03-06 and last amended on 2022-01-01. Previous Versions

PART 2Occupational Health and Safety Management and Oversight (continued)

Marginal note:Occupational health and safety program

  •  (1) Every occupational health and safety program must

    • (a) set out procedures for ensuring that all employees at the workplace comply with the program and with Part III.1 of the Act and all regulations made under that Part;

    • (b) set out procedures for ensuring that employees are competent persons in respect of all tasks to be carried out by them and are kept aware of activities and occurrences that may have an impact on their health or safety at the workplace;

    • (c) set out procedures for keeping training and competency records in respect of employees;

    • (d) set out procedures for keeping records necessary for the auditing of the program;

    • (e) set out procedures and schedules that conform to paragraph 210.019(1)(p) of the Act for carrying out inspections for the purpose of hazard identification;

    • (f) prioritize the implementation of hazard control measures in the following order:

      • (i) measures that involve the elimination of hazards,

      • (ii) measures that involve the selection of less hazardous means of carrying out work and activities,

      • (iii) measures that involve the use of engineering controls to reduce the risks posed by hazards,

      • (iv) measures that involve the use of administrative controls to reduce the risks posed by hazards, and

      • (v) measures that involve protection from the effects of hazards;

    • (g) identify the persons responsible for implementing hazard control measures, including after an occupational disease, accident, incident or other hazardous occurrence;

    • (h) set out procedures for

      • (i) the reporting of hazards by persons at the workplace to the employer, and

      • (ii) the reporting, by the employer to a committee or to the coordinator, of hazards, occupational diseases, accidents, incidents, other hazardous occurrences and failures to comply with the provisions of Part III.1 of the Act, the regulations made under that Part or the occupational health and safety requirements of any authorization issued in relation to the workplace;

    • (i) set out procedures for the prompt investigation of occupational diseases, accidents, incidents and other hazardous occurrences to determine their root cause and identify any actions that are necessary to prevent their reoccurrence; and

    • (j) set out procedures for implementing corrective and preventive measures following an occupational disease, accident, incident or other hazardous occurrence and verifying the effectiveness of those measures.

  • Marginal note:Auditing

    (2) The audit referred to in paragraph 210.02(2)(h) of the Act must be carried out at as soon as practicable after any of the following occurrences and, in any event, at least once every three years:

    • (a) any change of circumstances that may affect the health and safety of persons at the workplace;

    • (b) any change made by the operator to its management system;

    • (c) the provision by a health and safety officer to the employer of a report under subsection 210.075(2) of the Act indicating non-compliance with Part III.1 of the Act; and

    • (d) the making by a health and safety officer of an order under section 210.093 or 210.094 of the Act in relation to the workplace.

  • Marginal note:Improvements

    (3) The employer must implement any improvements identified during the audit referred to in paragraph 210.02(2)(h) of the Act as soon as practicable.

Marginal note:Workplace committee

  •  (1) A workplace committee that establishes rules of procedure must include among them

    • (a) the quorum required for committee meetings;

    • (b) the manner in which the committee will address complaints or concerns of employees, work refusals, occupational diseases, accidents, incidents and other hazardous occurrences that are reported to it;

    • (c) a rule whereby a complaint or concern raised with any committee member is to be considered a complaint or concern raised with the committee as a whole; and

    • (d) the time and manner in which complaints and concerns are to be responded to and recommendations made under paragraph 210.043(5)(d) of the Act.

  • Marginal note:Minutes

    (2) Every workplace committee must, for the purpose of paragraph 210.043(4)(d) of the Act, provide a copy of the minutes of its committee meetings to any employee on request.

Marginal note:Record keeping

 All records that are required under the Act to be kept must be maintained in a manner that ensures their accessibility.

Marginal note:Posting of documents

  •  (1) The period for which an operator or employer, as the case may be, must ensure that a document is posted under paragraph 210.098(4)(a) of the Act is at least 45 days.

  • Marginal note:Appeal

    (2) If a decision or order is appealed under subsection 210.101(1) of the Act, the operator or employer, as the case may be, must ensure that all related documents referred to in paragraphs 210.098(1)(a) to (d) of the Act remain posted until the 45th day after the day on which the decision or order is revoked, confirmed or varied under subsection 210.101(9) of the Act.

PART 3Reporting and Investigation

Marginal note:Report to supervisor or employer

 An employee who becomes aware of an occupational disease or an accident, incident or other hazardous occurrence at the workplace must, without delay, report it to their supervisor or their employer, orally or in writing.

Marginal note:Report to employer with control

 A supervisor to whom or employer to which — if that employer does not have control over the workplace — an occupational disease, accident, incident or other hazardous occurrence is reported under section 10 must, without delay, report it to the employer with control over the workplace, orally or in writing.

Marginal note:Employer obligations

 An employer that becomes aware of an occupational disease or an accident, incident or other hazardous occurrence at a workplace under its control must, without delay,

  • (a) take all measures necessary to ensure the health and safety of all persons at the workplace; and

  • (b) provide to the operator, in writing, a brief description of the occupational disease, accident, incident or other hazardous occurrence, including the name of any affected persons and, if applicable, the date on which and the time and location at which it occurred.

Marginal note:Notification of Chief Safety Officer

 An operator that is required under subsection 210.017(1) of the Act to notify the Chief Safety Officer of an occupational disease, accident, incident or other hazardous occurrence must do so in writing.

Marginal note:Investigation

  •  (1) An operator that is required, under subsection 210.017(2) of the Act, to investigate an occupational disease, accident, incident or other hazardous occurrence must obtain, within 14 days after the day on which it becomes known to the operator, a report, prepared by a competent person and accompanied by supporting documentation, that sets out, in respect of the disease, accident, incident or other occurrence and to a level of detail that is proportional to its actual or potential severity,

    • (a) in the case of an accident, incident or other hazardous occurrence, the date on which and the time and location at which it occurred;

    • (b) the name of the affected employee, if any;

    • (c) a description of it and of any resulting symptoms or injury;

    • (d) a description of the treatment provided, if any;

    • (e) its causal factors and root causes;

    • (f) other information relevant to its nature or impact; and

    • (g) corrective and preventive measures that could be taken to prevent a similar situation from reoccurring.

  • Marginal note:Report

    (2) The operator must submit a copy of the report and supporting documentation without delay to

    • (a) the workplace committee or the coordinator, as the case may be; and

    • (b) the Chief Safety Officer.

  • Marginal note:Material change

    (3) If the operator becomes aware of new information that may result in a material change to the report, the operator must obtain an updated report and supporting documentation and submit a copy without delay to the persons referred to in paragraphs (2)(a) and (b).

  • Marginal note:Records

    (4) For the purpose of subsection 210.017(2) of the Act,

    • (a) the records that every operator must keep include all reports obtained under subsection (1) or (3) and their supporting documentation; and

    • (b) the period for which each record must be retained is

      • (i) 40 years from the day on which it is made, if it relates to an occupational disease or exposure or potential exposure to a hazardous substance in excess of the threshold limit value or biological exposure index for that substance,

      • (ii) 10 years from the day on which it is made, if it relates to an incident other than the exposure or potential exposure referred to in subparagraph (i), or

      • (iii) five years from the day on which it is made, if it relates to any other accident or hazardous occurrence.

PART 4Training — General

Marginal note:Provision of general training

 The training that every employer must provide to each of its employees includes,

  • (a) before the employee is first transported to a workplace and then as necessary to ensure the training remains valid for the duration of the employee’s employment at the workplace,

    • (i) an offshore survival training program appropriate to the workplace location and to the means of transportation to be used to transport the employee to and from the workplace,

    • (ii) training on the legislation applicable to occupational health and safety, including the rights of employees and the duties of operators, employers, supervisors and employees, and

    • (iii) training on hydrogen sulfide safety, if hydrogen sulfide may be present at the workplace; and

  • (b) without delay on the employee’s arrival at a workplace at which they have not been present in the previous six months and before they perform any work there,

    • (i) an orientation to the hazards and emergency procedures at the workplace,

    • (ii) training in respect of any emergency duties that may be assigned to them at that workplace, and

    • (iii) if the workplace is a marine installation or structure that is equipped with lifeboats, practice in boarding a lifeboat and securing themselves on a seat.

Marginal note:Competent person

 Every employer must ensure that all instruction and training that it is required to provide under the Act is developed by and, if applicable, delivered by a competent person.

Marginal note:Records

 Every employer must retain records of all instruction and training provided under the Act for

  • (a) at least five years after the day on which the person to whom the instruction or training is provided ceases to be employed at any of the employer’s workplaces; or

  • (b) if the person to whom the instruction or training is provided is not an employee of the employer, at least five years after the instruction or training is provided.

PART 5Emergency Response and Preparedness

Marginal note:Emergency response plan

  •  (1) Every employer must, for each workplace under its control that is a marine installation or structure and having regard to the risk assessment carried out by it for the purpose of the occupational health and safety program, develop, implement and maintain a written emergency response plan in preparation for any reasonably foreseeable emergency that might compromise the health and safety of persons at that workplace or at any other workplace under its control that is a workboat or dive site associated with the marine installation or structure.

  • Marginal note:Contents of plan

    (2) The emergency response plan must

    • (a) indicate the maximum number of persons who can safely occupy the workplace;

    • (b) indicate the minimum number of persons needed at the workplace to be able to maintain safe operations in the event of an emergency;

    • (c) set out procedures for ensuring that the personnel on board list, which sets out the total number of persons at the workplace each day and the name, position, employer and, if applicable, cabin number of each, is kept up to date;

    • (d) set out the name and contact information of the operator, if the operator is not the employer with control over the workplace;

    • (e) provide for the establishment of emergency response teams;

    • (f) set out the name, position and contact information, including the usual location, of each person responsible for overseeing the emergency response teams and the implementation of emergency response procedures, as well as the name, position and contact information of those persons’ delegates;

    • (g) set out the duties of employees, including members of the emergency response teams, and the procedures to be followed by all persons during an emergency;

    • (h) indicate the muster station or other location where each employee is required to report during an emergency;

    • (i) identify the system to be used for counting employees at each muster station and determining which employees, if any, are missing;

    • (j) include a description of all emergency alarm signals that may be used, including how the order to abandon is to be given;

    • (k) set out contact information for obtaining a means of transportation to be used to evacuate the workplace;

    • (l) identify and set out contact information for all emergency response entities — and other entities operating nearby — that could render assistance in the event of an emergency;

    • (m) include verified drawings of the layout of the workplace that clearly identify the person who verified them, indicate the scale of the drawings and show

      • (i) the location of all exits, fire escapes, stairways, elevators, corridors and other exit routes,

      • (ii) the location of all muster stations, temporary refuge areas, evacuation stations and other locations where lifeboats and life rafts are stored,

      • (iii) the location, quantity and type of all equipment that may be used or worn in implementing emergency response procedures,

      • (iv) the location of manual emergency shutdown and activation devices for all safety critical systems,

      • (v) the location, quantity and type of all emergency communications equipment,

      • (vi) the location of all first aid stations, medical rooms and casualty clearing areas, and

      • (vii) the location of all designated hazardous substance storage areas; and

    • (n) identify all resources necessary for the plan’s implementation.

  • Marginal note:Availability of plan

    (3) The employer must ensure that a copy of the emergency response plan is made readily available to all employees at the workplace.

  • Marginal note:Multiple employers

    (4) If an employer has employees at a workplace not under its control, it must ensure that those employees comply with

    • (a) the duties and procedures set out in the emergency response plan developed by the employer with control over the workplace; or

    • (b) emergency duties and procedures that the employer has ensured are aligned with those referred to in paragraph (a).

 

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