Some employers required to develop fall prevention code of practice
As of Jan.1, 2011, New Brunswick’s new fall protection regulations under its Occupational Health and Safety Act are in force.
•A new provision which requires employers to develop their own fall prevention code of practice where there is a risk of workers falling from a height of 7.5 metres or more. Detailed specifications as to which such codes must include is also set out in the amended regulation.
•The introduction of a ‘control zone’ in work such as weather stripping. Where a control zone is used, there must also be a competent person acting as a safety monitor.
•New requirements for competency and training and for the maintenance of training records.
WorkSafe New Brunswick is hosting a number of information sessions on these new regulations in February. For more information, go to: http://www.worksafenb.ca/index_e.asp.
These new regulations are extensive and introduce some new regulatory concepts to prevent fall-from-heights accidents.
Falling from heights, especially on construction projects, continues to be a leading cause of work-related fatalities and serious injuries in many jurisdictions.
Amendments include:
•Guardrails and travel restraints are to be given preference over less restrictive fall prevention strategies.
•Place duties on employers, contractors and ‘owners of the workplace’. So presumably these duties would apply even where the owner of the workplace is not the prime contractor, or the constructor, as in Ontario’s legislation.
