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

Marginal note:Rope access

• 110 (1) Despite subsections 109(1), (3) and (4), every employer must ensure that any rope access carried out at a workplace under its control, or by any of its employees at a workplace not under its control, conforms, subject to subsection (3), to the IRATA International code of practice for industrial rope access, published by the Industrial Rope Access Trade Association.

• Marginal note:Interpretation of code

  (2) For the purpose of subsection (1), all recommendations in the code are mandatory, unless compliance with the measure is not feasible, in which case the employer must demonstrate to the Chief Safety Officer, before any non-conforming rope access is carried out, that other controls are in place to mitigate or eliminate the risk that the measure is intended to address.

• Marginal note:Alternative standards

  (3) A requirement in the code to conform to a standard in respect of equipment is satisfied by instead conforming, as applicable, to

  • (a) CSA Group standard Z259.1, Body belts and saddles for work positioning and travel restraint;

  • (b) CSA Group standard Z259.10, Full body harnesses;

  • (c) CSA Group standard Z259.11, Personal energy absorbers and lanyards;

  • (d) CSA Group standard Z259.12, Connecting components for personal fall-arrest systems (PFAS);

  • (e) European Committee for Standardization (CEN) standard EN 567, Mountaineering equipment – Rope clamps – Safety requirements and test methods; or

  • (f) European Committee for Standardization (CEN) standard EN 353-2, Personal protective equipment against falls from a height – Part 2: Guided type fall arresters including a flexible anchor line.

• Marginal note:Headwear

  (4) The personal protective equipment that every employer is required to provide to any of its employees, and to any other individual at a workplace under its control, who is engaged in rope access includes headwear that conforms to

  • (a) CSA Group standard Z94.1, Industrial protective headwear – Performance, selection, care, and use;

  • (b) ANSI/International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) standard Z89.1, American National Standard for Industrial Head Protection; or

  • (c) European Committee for Standardization (CEN) standard EN 12492, Mountaineering equipment – Helmets for mountaineers – Safety requirements and test methods.

• Marginal note:Definition of rope access

  (5) In this section, rope access means the use of ropes, in combination with other devices, to get to or from a work area or to maintain one’s position in a work area.

Marginal note:Work permit

111 A work permit is required for any activity at a workplace that requires the use of a fall-arrest system or travel restraint system.

Marginal note:Instruction and training

• 112 (1) The instruction and training that every employer must provide to its employees and other individuals at a workplace under its control who are involved in activities requiring the use of a fall-arrest system or travel restraint system includes

  • (a) an overview of the provisions of all applicable health and safety legislation and standards that relate to fall protection, including those relating to the roles and responsibilities of workplace parties;

  • (b) training on the identification of fall hazards;

  • (c) an overview of the hierarchy of controls that may be used to minimize the risk of falling and of injury from a fall;

  • (d) training on the different means of fall protection and the most suitable application of each;

  • (e) instruction on selecting all relevant components of the fall-arrest system or travel restraint system, including connecting hardware;

  • (f) instruction on assessing and selecting specific anchors for use with the fall-arrest system or travel restraint system;

  • (g) training on the effects on the human body of a fall — including free fall and swing fall — and fall-arrest, which must address maximum arresting force and the purpose of energy absorbers;

  • (h) instruction and training on the use, storage, maintenance and inspection — including pre-use inspection — of fall-arrest systems, travel restraint systems and their components, including practice in inspecting, fitting, adjusting and connecting the systems and components; and

  • (i) instruction and training on emergency response procedures to be used if a fall occurs, including practice in carrying them out.

• Marginal note:Timing

  (2) The instruction and training must be provided

  • (a) before the work that requires the use of the fall-arrest system or travel restraint system begins; and

  • (b) at least once every three years.

PART 23Falling Objects

Marginal note:Risk of injury

• 113 (1) The risk of injury from falling objects and material at the workplace, whether they are falling over or from a height, is a prescribed risk for the purpose of paragraph 210.02(2)(a) of the Act.

• Marginal note:Toe board or panel

  (2) Subject to subsection (3), every employer must ensure, at each workplace under its control, that wherever there is a risk of objects or material falling from a raised work area onto a person below, a toe board or other solid or mesh panel that extends from the floor of the raised area to a sufficient height to prevent the objects or material from falling from the raised area is installed.

• Marginal note:Alternative measures

  (3) If the installation of a toe board or panel is not feasible, the employer must ensure that

  • (a) the objects or material are fastened to something in a manner that would, if they were to fall, prevent them from reaching a person below;

  • (b) a safety net is positioned below the raised area to catch the objects or material; or

  • (c) the area below and adjacent to the raised area is barricaded so that no person may enter it while work is underway.

PART 24Materials Handling

Marginal note:Definitions

114 The following definitions apply in this Part.

personnel transfer

personnel transfer means the transfer by crane of persons between a vessel and marine installation or structure, between vessels or between marine installations or structures. (transfert du personnel)

signaller

signaller means a person who directs, by means of visual or auditory signals, the safe movement and operation of materials handling equipment. (signaleur)

Marginal note:Lifting risks

• 115 (1) The risks associated with the use of materials handling equipment, including to lift persons or things, are prescribed risks for the purpose of paragraph 210.02(2)(a) of the Act and the occupational health and safety program in respect of a workplace at which materials handling equipment is to be used for lifting must

  • (a) identify the types of lifts that are expected to be performed at the workplace;

  • (b) set out criteria for classifying lifts by risk level, including criteria relating to the type of lift, its complexity, its physical elements, the expertise of those involved in carrying it out and the environmental conditions in which it is carried out;

  • (c) set out procedures for the preparation and performance of lifts by type and risk level, including

    • (i) communication requirements among all persons involved in the lifts,

    • (ii) in the case of lifts of persons, the required use of personal protective equipment by the person being lifted, and

    • (iii) in the case of lifts of persons over the water, the availability of fast rescue boats;

  • (d) identify any operational limits on lifting operations and any environmental conditions, such as wind, sea state and temperature, that may affect those operations, including by reducing the load that the materials handling equipment is able to safely handle or support;

  • (e) set out procedures for the maintenance, inspection, testing, repair and replacement of lifting equipment, fixed pad eyes and loose lifting gear; and

  • (f) set out procedures for communicating the provisions of the program that relate to lifting operations to all persons who are involved in carrying them out and all other persons in the vicinity who may be affected by them.

• Marginal note:Personnel transfer risk

  (2) For the purpose of paragraph (1)(b), a personnel transfer must not be classified as a low risk lift.

Marginal note:Work permit

116 A work permit is required for all lifts carried out at a workplace using materials handling equipment, except those classified under the occupational health and safety program as low risk.

Marginal note:Prohibitions

117 It is prohibited for

• (a) any employee to use or attempt to use materials handling equipment at a workplace if they have reason to doubt they can do so safely; or

• (b) any signaller to direct any movement of materials handling equipment that would pose a risk to the health or safety of any person.

Marginal note:Hazardous conditions

118 The employer must ensure that no person uses materials handling equipment at a workplace under its control in conditions in which that use presents a risk to the health or safety of any person unless necessary to prevent a greater risk to the health or safety of any person.

Marginal note:Manual handling

119 Every employer must ensure that, if the manual handling of any thing may be hazardous to the health or safety of an employee, including because of its weight, size, shape or toxicity, that thing is, to the extent feasible, handled only using materials handling equipment.

Marginal note:Rated capacity

• 120 (1) Every employer must ensure that a competent person who is independent of the operator and employer inspects and proof tests all materials handling equipment that is to be used at a workplace under the employer’s control if

  • (a) the equipment is to be used at the workplace for the first time;

  • (b) repairs or modifications have been made to the equipment’s load-carrying components;

  • (c) the equipment has been in contact with an electric arc or current; or

  • (d) there is any other reason to doubt that the rated capacity of the equipment that was most recently certified under subsection (2) or the limitations that were most recently indicated under that subsection continue to be accurate, including as a result of damage sustained by the equipment or modifications made to it.

• Marginal note:Certification

  (2) The employer must ensure that the competent person, on the basis of the inspection and proof test, certifies in writing the rated capacity of the equipment and indicates in writing any limitations that must be imposed on its use having regard to environmental conditions.

Marginal note:Materials handling equipment

• 121 (1) Every employer must ensure, with respect to all materials handling equipment used at a workplace under its control, that

  • (a) the equipment is, to the extent feasible,

    • (i) designed and constructed to prevent the failure of any of its parts, and

    • (ii) equipped with safety devices that will ensure that any such failure does not result in a loss of control of the equipment or its load or in any other hazardous situation;

  • (b) the equipment is marked in a manner that identifies its manufacturer and model;

  • (c) the equipment’s rated capacity — or, in the case of equipment that can be operated in a range of positions or configurations, the greatest of its rated capacities — is clearly marked on a permanent part of it, in a position where the mark can be easily read;

  • (d) if the equipment can be operated in a range of positions or configurations, a chart indicating the rated capacities across that range is posted within view of the person operating it;

  • (e) the equipment’s use in existing environmental conditions, including wind, sea state and temperature, is continually assessed by the person operating it, having regard to the limitations indicated under subsection 120(2), to determine whether those conditions have reduced the load that the equipment is able to safely handle or support to below its rated capacity and, if so, the extent to which the load has been reduced;

  • (f) the equipment is operated in accordance with its rated capacity or, if applicable, its reduced capacity as determined under paragraph (e);

  • (g) any braking, steering and other control systems with which the equipment is equipped can safely control and stop the load’s movement;

  • (h) if the equipment is used for lifting, moving or positioning persons, it is equipped with at least two independent braking systems and a fail-safe control system;

  • (i) if the equipment is used for lifting, moving or positioning persons, it has — before its first use and after any repair or modification — been certified by a competent person who is independent of the operator and employer as being safe for that use, including in conjunction with any other equipment or device with which it is used;

  • (j) if the equipment is powered, it is equipped with

    • (i) an audible signalling device within easy reach of the person operating the equipment, and

    • (ii) an emergency stopping device that, when engaged, will immediately shut down and isolate the equipment and that is within easy reach of the person operating it as well as at any other location from which it is reasonably foreseeable that a person may need to stop the equipment;

  • (k) if operation of the equipment could result in a fire, it is equipped, in a location that is readily accessible to the person operating it, with firefighting equipment that is appropriate to all fire hazards that may arise;

  • (l) the equipment is designed and constructed, to the extent feasible, so that any vibration, jolting or other uneven movement of it will not cause injury to any person or impair the ability of the person operating the equipment to control it;

  • (m) any glass in the equipment’s doors, windows and other parts is of a type that will not shatter into dangerous pieces on impact;

  • (n) if the equipment is regularly used outdoors and has an operator’s compartment or position that would expose the person operating it to an environmental condition that could be hazardous to their health or safety, the compartment or position is fitted with a roof or other structure that will protect the person from the environmental condition and is constructed from non-combustible or fire-resistant material;

  • (o) any hook with which the equipment is used or equipped has

    • (i) if it is used for lifting persons, a spring-loaded latch that is locked and pinned in the closed position before use to prevent the connecting shackle from dislodging from the hook, or

    • (ii) in any other case, a spring-loaded latch or other equally effective means of preventing the load from falling off the hook;

  • (p) any self-locking eye hooks with triggers with which the equipment is used or equipped are designed to prevent the trigger from being accidentally activated;

  • (q) if there is a risk that the person operating the equipment or a person being lifted, moved or positioned by it could be struck by an intruding, falling or flying object or a shifting load, it is equipped, if feasible, with a structure that is constructed from non-combustible or fire-resistant material and that will, under all foreseeable conditions, protect the person from that risk;

  • (r) any place on the equipment to which an employee requires regular access, including any operator’s compartment or position, is equipped with a safe means of access and egress that

    • (i) does not require the employee to jump,

    • (ii) would permit the emergency evacuation and rescue of the employee, and

    • (iii) can accommodate the employee’s body dimensions while they are wearing personal protective equipment;

  • (s) any item used in any operator’s compartment or at any operator’s position on the equipment provides an adequate range of adjustability to accommodate the person using it;

  • (t) the placement and design of any displays and controls on the equipment do not hinder or prevent the person operating the equipment from doing so safely;

  • (u) any pendant control with which the equipment is equipped is not hung or supported solely by its electrical wiring;

  • (v) any wire rope drum or sheave with which the equipment is equipped has a spooling device or other device to maintain the wire rope in the groove;

  • (w) all loads handled by the equipment are secured as necessary to prevent them from sliding or falling in a manner that would present a risk to the health or safety of any person;

  • (x) if the equipment is operated remotely, it is operated at a safe distance from the load being lifted;

  • (y) all tools, tool boxes, spare parts or other items carried on the equipment are securely stored;

  • (z) the equipment is not left unattended unless adequate measures have been taken to prevent it from moving;

  • (z.1) if the person operating the equipment does not have a clear and unobstructed view of the load and the area in which it is being operated, including the area through which the load is being moved, that person is directed by a competent person designated by the employer as a signaller who

    • (i) is clearly recognizable as a signaller,

    • (ii) has a continuous view of the person operating the equipment and remains in that person’s line of sight,

    • (iii) has a clear and unobstructed view of the load and the area in which the equipment is being operated, including the area through which the load is being moved, or, if that is not feasible, a continuous view of another signaller who has a clear and unobstructed view of, as the case may be, the load or the portions of the area that are not within the first signaller’s view, and

    • (iv) has no duties other than signalling while the equipment under their direction is in motion;

  • (z.2) any fuel tank, compressed gas cylinder or similar container containing a hazardous substance mounted on the equipment is

    • (i) located or protected so that it is not hazardous to the health or safety of any employee who operates or rides on the equipment,

    • (ii) connected to fuel overflow and vent pipes that are located to ensure that fuel spills and vapours

      • (A) cannot be ignited by hot exhaust pipes or other hot or sparking parts, and

      • (B) are not hazardous to the health or safety of any employee who operates or rides on the equipment, and

    • (iii) marked on its caps or covers as to its contents; and

  • (z.3) the equipment is not used in an area in which it may come into contact with an electrical cable, pipe or other supply line, structure or other thing that could, if struck, constitute a hazard to the health or safety of persons unless the person operating the equipment and, if applicable, the signaller have been informed of

    • (i) the hazard and its location, and

    • (ii) the distance that must be maintained to avoid accidental contact with the thing that constitutes the hazard.

• Marginal note:Exception to rated or reduced capacity

  (2) Despite paragraph (1)(f), the materials handling equipment may be used to handle a load in excess of its rated capacity or reduced capacity for the purposes of testing and inspection.

• Marginal note:Protection against contact

  (3) If the employer is unable to determine with reasonable certainty the location of the hazard referred to in paragraph (1)(z.3) or the distance referred to in subparagraph (1)(z.3)(ii), or if it is necessary for the materials handling equipment to be used in closer proximity than that distance, the materials handling equipment may be used in the area only if

  • (a) every electrical cable with which there is a risk of coming into contact is de-energized;

  • (b) every pipe or other supply line containing a hazardous substance with which there is a risk of coming into contact has been shut down and drained; and

  • (c) every other thing that could, if struck, pose a hazard is protected against impact from the equipment.