Frequently Asked Questions

Three different oxygen bands apply across the four provinces. Newfoundland & Labrador: between 20% and 22% (where a test shows an unsafe condition, the space is ventilated or cleaned and retested until it is). Nova Scotia: not less than 19.5% and not more than 22.5%. New Brunswick and PEI: 19.5% to 23% — New Brunswick sets that as the acceptable limit, and PEI's entry conditions apply where oxygen is below 19.5% or above 23%. All four require the atmosphere to be tested or monitored; Nova Scotia's oxygen test can be left out only where the employer can show an unsafe oxygen level is not a possibility.

All four provinces use the same core trigger: fall protection is required where a worker could fall 3 metres or more to the nearest safe surface or water — or a shorter distance where the surface below could injure the worker on contact, or into an open tank, pit or vat. Nova Scotia's rule is in its Workplace Health and Safety Regulations and PEI's in its Fall Protection Regulations, rather than in the general regulations.

In all four provinces, the regulations require the energy source to be locked out before a worker works on machinery or equipment that is shut down for maintenance or repair (in Nova Scotia, any work that would be hazardous if the equipment became energized). The details differ: New Brunswick and PEI require a lockable isolating device in addition to the normal start/stop control, and a safety lock and key supplied by the employer; Newfoundland & Labrador requires the employer to give each worker who must lock out enough personal locks, and all parts and attachments to be secured against inadvertent movement; New Brunswick and Nova Scotia require a written lock-out procedure; and New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI require the machine to be put in a zero-energy state — PEI spells this out to include stored pressure, mechanical and kinetic energy, and loose or movable parts.

In all four provinces, the Act gives a worker the right to refuse work they have reasonable grounds to believe is dangerous — to their own health or safety, or to others (in Newfoundland & Labrador, another worker or another person at the workplace; in Nova Scotia, any other person; in New Brunswick and PEI, another worker). Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia and PEI set out in the same section how the refusal is resolved — remedial action by the employer (in PEI, after the supervisor investigates), then the committee or representative, then an officer. In Newfoundland & Labrador and Nova Scotia the employer may reassign the refusing worker to other work in the meantime (in Newfoundland & Labrador, reasonably equivalent work; in Nova Scotia, subject to any collective agreement), and must pay the same wages and benefits.

All four provinces use the same headline number: once 20 or more workers are employed at a workplace, the employer must establish a joint occupational health and safety committee. Below that, Nova Scotia and PEI let the Director step in at a smaller workplace (in PEI, one with more than five but fewer than 20 persons regularly employed). In all four, the committee's size is set by agreement between the employer and the workers. New Brunswick and PEI require equal representation from each side; Newfoundland & Labrador and Nova Scotia require at least half of the members to be workers who are not connected with management.

In all four provinces, the Act lets an officer order work to stop, though the powers are written differently. Nova Scotia and PEI itemise what an order can require where there is a danger or hazard — stopping work, taking equipment out of use, clearing and barricading the area — and in Nova Scotia an oral order takes effect before it is confirmed in writing. Newfoundland & Labrador's officer must order, in writing, that work stop and all or part of the workplace be vacated where conditions pose an immediate risk, and can separately order unsafe tools or equipment out of use. New Brunswick's officer can order, in writing, that all or part of the work be suspended and that measures be taken to guard or control the source of danger.

On a construction project, fall protection is required whenever a worker may be exposed to any of the listed hazards — falling more than 3 metres; falling more than 1.2 metres where the area is used as a path for a wheelbarrow or similar equipment; falling into operating machinery, into water or another liquid, or into or onto a hazardous substance or object; or falling through an opening on a work surface (the list sets no minimum height for the last four). On those projects the worker must be protected by a guardrail system or, where that isn't practicable, by the highest-ranked method that is practicable: travel restraint, fall restricting, fall arrest, or a safety net. A guardrail is required at the open side of a floor, bridge, work platform or similar surface where a worker may fall 2.4 metres or more. In an industrial workplace, where a worker could fall more than three metres, the worker must wear a serviceable safety belt or harness and lifeline secured so the free fall cannot exceed 1.5 metres.

Ontario sets "acceptable atmospheric levels" for a confined space at an oxygen content of at least 19.5% and not more than 23% by volume. A person with adequate knowledge, training and experience must test the atmosphere as often as necessary before and while a worker is inside. Where an oxygen or contaminant hazard exists or is likely, the space must be purged, ventilated or both before anyone enters, so acceptable levels are maintained; if that is not practical for technical reasons, a worker entering must use adequate respiratory protective equipment and equipment that lets people outside locate and rescue them.

Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety Act gives a worker the right to refuse to work or do particular work where they have reason to believe that equipment they are to use or operate is likely to endanger them or another worker, that the physical condition of the workplace is likely to endanger them, that workplace violence is likely to endanger them, or that the equipment or the physical condition of the workplace is in contravention of the Act or regulations and that contravention is likely to endanger them or another worker. Some workers — police, firefighters, and certain health-care and correctional roles — cannot refuse where the danger is inherent in their work or a normal condition of their employment, or where refusing would directly endanger another person's life, health or safety.

A joint health and safety committee is required at any workplace where 20 or more workers are regularly employed. It can also be required at a smaller workplace by a ministry order, or where a designated substance regulation applies. Where no committee is required and the number of workers regularly exceeds five, the employer must have the workers select a health and safety representative.

An employer must establish a workplace safety and health committee for each workplace with 20 or more workers regularly employed. At the same 20-worker threshold, the employer also has to have a written workplace safety and health program in place. Where a committee is not required but five or more workers are regularly employed, the employer must have a worker safety and health representative designated.

Manitoba's fall-protection requirements apply wherever a worker is at risk of falling 3 metres or more — and also at shorter distances where the surface or objects below create an increased risk of injury, or where a worker could fall into operating machinery. A guardrail system is the default; where a guardrail isn't reasonably practicable or would not be effective, the employer must use at least one of: a travel restraint system, a fall arrest system, a safety net, or another fall protection system approved by the director.

Before a worker enters a hazardous confined space, the employer must meet a list of conditions that includes a full body harness and lifeline for the entrant (unless another safe way in and out is provided from all accessible parts of the space) and an entry permit system; each entry permit has to be completed and signed by a competent person. Where there is or may be a flammable concentration, an oxygen level outside 19.5–23%, or a chemical or biological risk, the space has to be purged, ventilated or both before entry. A designated standby worker must stay at the entrance the entire time anyone is inside the space.

Saskatchewan's threshold is lower than the 20-worker threshold used in Ontario and Manitoba: the Saskatchewan Employment Act requires an occupational health committee at every place of employment where 10 or more workers of one employer work. Where a committee is not otherwise required, the director may order one, and at prescribed places of employment with fewer than 10 workers the employer must designate an occupational health and safety representative.

An employer or contractor must ensure workers use a fall protection system at a temporary or permanent work area where a worker may fall 3 metres or more, or where a fall of less than 3 metres could cause injury (with listed exceptions for certain competent workers, such as those connecting structural steel members). At a permanent work area, a worker who may fall more than 1.2 metres and less than 3 metres must be protected by a guardrail or similar barrier — or, where that isn't reasonably practicable, a travel restraint system, and failing that a safety net, control zone or other equally effective means. Where a worker may fall 3 metres or more and isn't protected by a guardrail or similar barrier, the employer or contractor must also develop a written fall-protection plan setting out the fall hazards, the fall-protection system and the rescue procedures.

Alberta ties it to how many workers an employer regularly employs. An employer that regularly employs 20 or more workers must establish a joint work site health and safety committee; where 5 to 19 workers are regularly employed, the employer must instead designate a health and safety representative. A Director can also require a committee at a designated work site.

An employer and supervisor must ensure a worker is protected from falling at a temporary or permanent work area where the worker may fall a vertical distance of 3 metres or more; less than 3 metres where there is an unusual possibility of injury (one worse than landing on a solid, flat surface); or into or onto a hazardous substance or object, or through an opening in a work surface. At a permanent work area the trigger is lower: a fall of more than 1.2 metres. A guardrail comes first; where it isn't reasonably practicable, travel restraint, then personal fall arrest, then equally effective controls. Where a worker may fall 3 metres or more and isn't protected by guardrails, the employer must also develop a fall-protection plan for the work site.

NL's Asbestos Abatement Regulations say no person, firm or corporation may enter into or work at the business of asbestos removal unless they hold a valid asbestos abatement contractor's certificate. There is one exception: a business doing limited asbestos removal in the routine maintenance of its own property or usual place of business, with its own employees, need not be registered, provided the work is done and supervised by people trained under section 7. Separately, no one may do asbestos-abatement work unless they have completed a course of training and are qualified — or are part of a crew supervised by a qualified person and have completed on-site training given by a qualified worker as set out in Schedule B.

NB's Underground Mine Regulation requires at least seven days' written notice. An employer must give written notice to the Chief Compliance Officer — and to the joint health and safety committee, if there is one — at least seven days before proceeding with the initial development or construction of an underground mine, sinking or deepening a shaft, or installing or making a major alteration to a mine hoisting plant, among other listed projects. The plans and specifications for those projects must also be approved in writing by an engineer.

Nova Scotia's Occupational Diving Regulations set the minimum by type of dive. The default team is four — a diving supervisor, a diver's tender, a standby diver and a diver — but a SCUBA or surface-supplied dive may use three, with the supervisor also acting as the standby diver or tender, and a SCUBA dive for seafood harvesting may use three (a supervisor who also tends, and two divers). Dives using a submersible compression chamber need at least four, and deep dives five or six. The standby diver may not dive except in a health or safety emergency, and must have all the diving and communication equipment the planned depths and circumstances call for.

PEI's Workplace Harassment Regulations require an employer, in consultation with the committee or representative if there is one, to develop and implement a written policy to prevent and investigate workplace harassment, and to make it readily available to workers. PEI's definition of harassment expressly includes bullying, and covers both repeated conduct and a single occurrence that has a harmful effect on the worker's health or safety; reasonable action by an employer or supervisor in managing and directing workers is not harassment. An officer who finds the employer has not complied can issue an order under the Act.

The default limit is eight hours in any consecutive twenty-four, measured from the time the worker enters the underground mine until they leave it. The regulation lists exceptions — an emergency that extends the time, one day a week for a shift change, and certain roles such as supervisors, pump operators and cagetenders — and an employer may schedule longer hours with the consent of the workers or their trade union.

Manitoba's Operation of Mines Regulation requires the employer, in consultation with the committee, to establish written procedures to be followed in the event of a fire or other emergency underground — procedures that effectively provide for the safety of all workers and for controlling the emergency. The employer must also post the procedures underground and at the surface entrance, keep an emergency warning system ready for instant use that can promptly warn everyone underground, instruct each worker at least once a year on the procedures, the warning system, the escape routes and exits, and the refuge stations, and test the procedures and warning system at least once a year, reporting to a mines inspector and the committee within seven days.

The Mines Regulations, 2018 require an employer, contractor or owner to provide and maintain two independent exits to the surface from an underground mine, at least 30 metres apart and large enough for workers wearing self-contained breathing apparatus and carrying a stretcher. The one exception is during the exploration and development phases: a single exit is allowed if a written plan — setting out the precautions for workers and the phase in which the second exit will be developed — is submitted to the chief mines inspector for approval.

Alberta treats working alone as a hazard where a worker is alone at a work site and help isn't readily available in an emergency or if they're injured or ill. In that situation the employer must provide an effective communication system — radio, landline or cellular phone, or some other effective means of electronic communication that includes regular contact at intervals suited to the hazard. Where electronic communication isn't practicable, the employer or a designate must visit the worker, or the worker must check in, at those intervals.