The Latest in Employment Law: A Stewart McKelvey Newsletter – Amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act, SNS 1996, c 7
On April 26, 2017, the Government of Nova Scotia announced that amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act, which were passed in May of 2016, will officially come into force as of June 12, 2017.
Overview of the Amendments
These amendments have 2 key components that employers will need to be aware of:
1) Incident reporting – the amendments better define when, how, and what incidents must be reported. The highlights are as follows:
A) Triggering Injuries
The Director must be notified as soon as possible (but no later than 24 hours) after a workplace fire, flood or accident that causes:
• unconsciousness,
• a fracture of the skull, spine, pelvis, arm, leg, ankle, wrist or a major part of the hand or foot,
• loss or amputation of a leg, arm, hand, foot, finger or toe,
• a third degree burn to any part of the body,
• loss of sight in one or both eyes,
• asphyxiation or poisoning,
• any injury that requires the admission to hospital, or
• any injury that endangers the life,
of an employee, unless the injury can be treated by immediate first aid or medical treatment and the person can return to work the following day.
B) Triggering Events
Whether injury occurs or not, the Director must be notified as soon as possible (but no later than 24 hours) after:
• an accidental explosion,
• a major structural failure or collapse of a building or other structure,
• a major release of a hazardous substance, or
• a fall from a work area in circumstances where fall protection is required by the regulations,
2) Repeat offenders – the amendments give the Director additional authority over those who put people at risk of serious injury or death by repeatedly contravening safety requirements or failing to comply with Orders from the Division.
A) Threshold Conditions
The new powers set out below can only be exercised where the following conditions exist:
• A person has “repeatedly” (more than once in the last 3 years) contravened the Act or Regulations or failed to comply with an order made pursuant thereto;
• the contravention or failure posed a risk of serious injury (“injury that endangers life or causes permanent injury”)
B) Orders for Information
Where the Director has reasonable grounds for believing that a repeat offender may contravene the Act or regulations or fail to comply with an order thereunder in a similar manner in future, the Director may order that person to provide details regarding the nature and location of future work activities.
These orders for information expire 3 months after issuing but, so long as an order is renewed before its expiry, there is no limit on the number of renewals.
C) Broader Stop-Work Orders
Where an order is made to stop work or prevent access to a worksite and an officer has reasonable grounds for believing that the same or similar source of danger exists or will exist at another of the repeat offender’s workplaces, an officer may (subject to the Director’s approval) make an order:
• stopping work at another of the employer’s workplaces (or any part thereof);
• requiring that another of the employer’s workplaces be cleared of persons and isolated by barricades, fencing or other suitable means until the danger or hazard is removed; or
• prohibiting the employer from starting work at another workplace.
D) Injunctions
Where the Director has reasonable grounds for believing that a repeat offender is likely to contravene the Act or regulations or fail to comply with an order thereunder, the Director may apply the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia for an injunction to:
• restrain the person from committing or continuing the contravention;
• require the person to comply with the order;
• restrain the person from carrying on an industry or an activity for a specific period or until such time as a specific event occurs.
The full-text of Bill 165 can be found here.
What this Means for Employers
In terms of accident reporting, the range of incidents and injuries that require notification of the Director have been expanded, and the timeline for notification has been shortened to 24 hours from as much as 7 days under the current Act. However, the amendments have also removed any uncertainty resulting from the existing Act’s failure to define “serious injury”.
Regarding repeat offenders, while compliance with OHSA legislation and resulting orders has always been important, these changes raise the stakes for any compliance failures by extending the reach of the Division to other worksites and activities and the introducing the potential for ongoing disclosure requirements.
The foregoing is intended for general information only. If you have any questions about how this may affect your business, please contact a member of our Labour & Employment practice group.
Archive
Chad Sullivan and Kathleen Nash Overview The issue of hateful and harassing social media communication has garnered much attention in both the media and, more recently, in the courtroom. In Caplan v Atas,¹ Justice Corbett…
Read MoreDaniel MacKenzie and James Galsworthy On January 15, 2021, the United Kingdom’s Supreme Court (“Court”) issued a decision which is likely to be viewed as good news for policy holders who have endured business interruption…
Read MoreGrant Machum, ICD.D and Mark Tector 2020 was a challenging year for many people and businesses. And while we are all happy to have 2020 in the rearview mirror, we anticipate that there will continue to…
Read MoreKevin Landry and William Wojcik On December 11, 2020, the federal government announced Canada’s strengthened climate plan in a document titled A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy (“Plan”). The Plan proposes to increase the carbon…
Read MoreKenneth McCullogh, QC and Conor O’Neil, P.Eng. On December 18, 2020, the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick passed the Construction Remedies Act. The new legislation will not take effect until a date to be named…
Read MoreMark Tector In a recent decision, an adjudicator upheld the dismissal of an employee/complainant who made inappropriate and offensive remarks on a call with a customer (Crawford v Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce). The complainant…
Read More2020 brought us all challenges that have been unprecedented in our time. The COVID-19 global pandemic has impacted us in ways that were unimaginable. As Atlantic Canada navigated the challenges of changing worlds, and workplaces,…
Read MoreKathleen Leighton On December 31, 2020, the Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, announced new pre-boarding COVID-19 testing requirements that would be coming into effect in short order. In particular, as of January 6, 2021…
Read MoreDaniela Bassan, QC, has published an article in volume 36 of the Canadian Intellectual Property Review. She comments on an Italian case granting copyright protection for a retail store in the cosmetics industry, and considers…
Read MoreRob Aske In late December 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) issued a key decision elaborating on the duty of honesty in relation to termination of a commercial contract. This duty was primarily established…
Read More