Occupational Safety General Regulations
N.S. Reg. 44/99

Part 1 Title and Definitions

Section 2 Definitions

2. In these regulations,

(a) "Act" means the Occupational Health and Safety Act ;

(aa) "adequate" means sufficient to protect a person from injury or damage to health;

(b) "ALI" means the Automotive Lift Institute;

(ba) "angle of repose" means the angle with the horizontal at which material will no longer flow freely;

(c) "ANSI" means the American National Standards Institute;

(ca) "approved" means approved by the Department or by an agency or authority designated or selected by the Department to make approvals;

(d) "ASME" means the American Society of Mechanical Engineers;

(e) "ASTM" means the American Society for Testing and Materials;

(ea) "CGA" means the Compressed Gas Association;

(f) "CGSB" means the Canadian General Standards Board;

(g) "competent person" means a person who is

(i) qualified because of their knowledge, training and experience to do the assigned work in a manner that ensures the health and safety of every person in the workplace, and

(ii) knowledgeable about the provisions of the Act and regulations that apply to the assigned work, and about potential or actual danger to health or safety associated with the assigned work;

(ga) "compressed air" means air mechanically raised to a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure;

(h) "CSA" means the Canadian Standards Association;

(i) "demolition" means the destruction or removal of all, or part, of an existing building or structure;

(ia) "Department" means the Department of Labour and Advanced Education;

(j) "designated" means, in relation to an employer, appointed in writing by the employer;

(k) "electrical installation" means the wires, machinery, apparatus, appliances, devices, material and equipment used or intended for use for the generation, transmission, distribution, supply and use of electrical power or energy, and includes a power line and power line equipment;

(l) "engineer" means a person who is registered as a member or licensed to practise under the Engineering Profession Act and is competent to do the work being performed;

(m) "firefighter" means

(i) an employee who provides fire suppression services to the public from a fire department within a municipality or local service district, or

(ii) an industrial firefighter;

(n) "guardrail" means a fall protection system consisting of vertical and horizontal members that

(i) are capable of withstanding concentrated forces, as prescribed in these regulations or an applicable standard,

(ii) warn of a fall hazard, and

(iii) reduce the risk of a fall;

(o) "hazardous substance" means chemical or biological material, dangerous goods within the meaning of the Dangerous Goods Transportation Act or a controlled product within the meaning of the Hazardous Products Act (Canada) that is likely to, because of its harmful nature, cause injury or damage to the health or safety of a person exposed to it;

(p) "hoist" means a device or equipment and its structure used for lifting or lowering material, including cranes, an automotive lift, a winch, a chain fall or other similar device, but does not include a lift truck, a power operated elevating work platform, a device to which the Elevators and Lifts Act applies or a hoist that operates in a shaft in the underground at a mine;

(pa) "ITSDF" means the Industrial Truck Standards Development Foundation;

(q) "industrial firefighter" means an employee who

(i) is designated to fight fires at the employee's place of employment, and

(ii) is employed by an employer who does not, in the normal course of its business, provide fire suppression services to the public;

(qa) "latest version" means, in relation to a standard or other publication, the latest edition of the standard or publication as supplemented, amended, added to, replaced or superseded;

(r) "lift truck" means a lift truck as defined in the latest version of ANSI standard ANSI/ITSDF B56.1, "Safety Standard for Low Lift and High Lift Trucks";

(s) "locked out" means to have

(i) isolated the energy source or sources from a machine, equipment, tool or electrical installation,

(ii) dissipated any residual energy in a system, and

(iii) secured the isolation of the energy source or sources by an inhibiting device that is operated by a key or other process,

and to have performed a "lock-out" has a similar meaning;

(t) "machine" Repealed. [N.S. Reg. 52/2000, s. 1]

(u) "manufacturer's specifications" means

(i) the written instructions of a manufacturer of a machine, material, tool or equipment that outline the manner in which the machine, material, tool or equipment is to be erected, installed, assembled, started, operated, used, handled, stored, stopped, adjusted, carried, maintained, repaired, inspected, serviced, tested, cleaned or dismantled, and

(ii) a manufacturer's instruction, operating or maintenance manual and drawings respecting a machine, tool or equipment;

(ua) "mobile crane" means a mobile crane to which the latest version of CSA standard CSA Z150 , "Safety Code on Mobile Cranes" applies;

(v) "NFPA" means the National Fire Protection Association;

(va) "overhead crane" means any mechanical device or structure that is used to raise, lower and move material that travels overhead and that incorporates a

(i) power driven drum, bridge and cable or rope,

(ii) single or multiple girder, and

(iii) moveable bridge carrying a moveable or fixed hoisting mechanism,

but does not include wall cranes, cantilever gantry cranes and semi-gantry cranes;

(vb) "personal flotation device" means personal protective equipment that is capable of supporting a person with their head above water without the direct effort of the person wearing the equipment;

(w) "power line" means the above-ground or underground wiring that is used to distribute electricity;

(x) "power line equipment" means the components that are required to distribute electricity by means of a power line;

(y) "power operated elevating work platform" means a mobile horizontal working surface that provides access and support to a person at a workplace, and that is elevated and lowered by means of a mechanism and [that complies with] Part 23: Scaffolds and Other Elevated Work Platforms, of the Workplace Health and Safety Regulations made under the Act, including a standard listed in subsection (4) thereof;

(z) "powered mobile equipment" means self-propelled equipment that is designed to operate on land in conditions other than a public highway, but does not include equipment primarily designed to transport persons, a lift truck or a power operated elevating work platform;

(aa) "SAE" means the Society of Automotive Engineers;

(ab) "structural fire-fighting" means the activities of rescue, fire suppression and conservation of property from fires involving buildings, structures, vehicles, vessels, aircraft or other large objects constructed by human effort;

(ac) "surface mine" means a work or undertaking, other than a trench, for the purpose of opening up, proving, removing or extracting any metallic or non-metallic mineral or mineral bearing substance, rock, earth, clay, sand or gravel by means of an open excavation, and includes a pit or quarry;

(ad) "tower crane" means any mechanical device or structure that

(i) incorporates a power-driven drum and cable or rope and a vertical mast or tower and a jib,

(ii) is of the traveling, fixed or climbing type, and

(iii) is used exclusively for raising, lowering and moving material;

(ae)"trench" means an excavation in which the excavation depth exceeds the excavation width;

(af) "work area" means a location at the workplace at which an employee or self-employed person is or is likely to be working;

(ag) "worked" means drilled, blasted, extracted, excavated, loaded or subjected to other similar work.

[N.S. Reg. 52/2000, s. 1; 151/2003; 53/2013, ss. 1, 93]

Part 4 Ventilation, Lighting, Sanitation and Accommodation

Section 15 Ventilation

15. An employer shall

(a) provide for a supply of fresh air into, and the removal of air from, a workplace or part thereof that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient to

(i) keep the air reasonably pure, and

(ii) render harmless all gases, vapours, dust or other impurities that are likely to endanger the health or safety of any person therein;

(b) where a process is carried on that produces a gas, vapour, dust or other impurity that is likely to be inhaled to an injurious extent by a person in the workplace, provide and use such mechanical means as are capable of

(i) preventing such inhalation so far as is reasonably practicable,

(ii) effectively carrying off and disposing of the impurity, and

(iii) preventing the recirculation and re-entry into the workplace of air containing the impurity; and

(c) ensure that all ventilation systems used for controlling the dissemination of gases, vapours, dust or other impurities, including their collection systems and emptying processes, are designed, installed, operated, maintained and repaired in an adequate manner by a competent person.

[N.S. Reg. 52/2000, s. 8]

Part 5 Handling and Storage of Material

Section 47 Portable compressed gas cylinders

47. (1) In this Section and in Sections 48 and 49, "portable compressed gas cylinder" means a cylinder having a water capacity of 450 kg or less that contains or is intended to contain a compressed or liquefied gas.

(2) Subject to the Fire Safety Act , an employer shall ensure that a portable compressed gas cylinder is stored

(a) in a well-ventilated storage area where the temperature does not exceed 52°C;

(b) with cylinders grouped by types of gas and the groups arranged to take into account the gases contained;

(c) with full and empty cylinders separated;

(d) at a safe distance from all operations that produce flames, sparks or molten metal or result in excessive heating of the cylinder;

(e) securely; and

(f) with protective devices in place.

(3) Subject to the Fire Prevention Act, an employer shall ensure that a portable compressed gas cylinder is

(a) not exposed to corrosive materials or corrosion-aiding substances; and

(b) protected from falling and from having objects fall on it.

(4) An employer shall prominently post in a storage area for portable compressed gas cylinders the names of the gases stored and signs prohibiting smoking.

[N.S. Reg. 53/2013, s. 25]

Section 48

48. (1) No person shall

(a) roll a portable compressed gas cylinder on its side;

(b) subject a portable compressed gas cylinder to rough handling; or

(c) move a portable compressed gas cylinder with a lifting magnet.

(2) Where appropriate lifting mechanisms have not been provided on a portable compressed gas cylinder, an employer shall ensure that suitable cradles or platforms for holding the cylinder are used for lifting it.

Section 49

49. An employer shall ensure that a portable compressed gas cylinder is

(a) securely fastened and in an upright position during transportation, unless designed for transport in another orientation;

(b) has a protective cap attached or located on the cylinder or the cylinder is positioned in a manner that will provide an equivalent level of safety during transportation; and

(c) is transported in a manner that will prevent damage to the cylinder and its components.

Part 10 Welding, Cutting, Burning and Soldering

Section 109 General provisions

109. (1) In this Part, "welding or allied process" means any specific type of electric or oxy fuel gas welding or cutting process including those processes referred to in Appendix A of the latest version of CSA standard CSA W117.2 , "Safety in Welding, Cutting, and Allied Processes", and includes

(a) arc welding, brazing, solid-state welding, soldering, resistance welding, and other welding; and

(b) allied processes such as arc cutting, oxygen cutting, thermal spraying, thermal adhesive bonding and other cutting.

(2) An employer shall, where reasonably practicable, comply with the requirements of the latest version of CSA standard CSA-W117.2, "Safety in Welding, Cutting and Allied Processes".

[N.S. Reg. 52/2000, s. 56; 53/2013, s. 44]

Section 110

110. (1) An employer shall ensure that welding or allied process equipment is erected, installed, assembled, started, operated, used, handled, stored, stopped, inspected, serviced, tested, cleaned, adjusted, carried, maintained, repaired and dismantled in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications.

(2) An employer shall ensure that a welding or allied process is performed by a competent person.

[N.S. Reg. 53/2013, s. 93]

Section 111

111. (1) An employer shall ensure that, before a welding or allied process is commenced, the person who is to operate the equipment has inspected the area surrounding the operation to ensure that adequate precautions have been taken

(a) to remove from the area all hazardous material or processes that produce combustible, flammable or explosive material, dust, gas or vapour; and

(b) to prevent fire or explosion.

(2) Where a welding or allied process is performed above an area where a person may be present, an employer shall ensure that adequate means of protection are taken to protect a person below the operation from sparks, debris and other falling hazards.

Section 112

112. (1) Except where an employer has demonstrated that a person at or near a welding or allied process is not excessively exposed to radiation or reflection, the employer shall provide adequate screens or prevent a person from entering the work area.

(2) Where screening is used in accordance with subsection. (1), the employer shall ensure that the screening is adequate to prevent radiation and reflection from affecting a person at or near the workplace.

Section 113 Work on containers

113. (1) An employer shall ensure that no person performs a welding or allied process on a container, pipe, valve or fitting that

(a) holds or may have held an explosive, flammable or otherwise hazardous substance; or

(b) may become pressurized to the point of being a hazard to a person at the workplace,

unless the welding or allied process is performed in accordance with a written work procedure established by the employer.

(1A) Where a welding or allied process is performed on a natural gas pipeline or a liquids pipeline associated with a natural gas pipeline, an employer shall ensure that an engineer certifies that the written work procedure required under subsection (1) is in accordance with American Petroleum Institute standard API Recommended Practice 2201, "Procedures for Welding or Hot Tapping on Equipment in Service", Fourth Edition, September 1995.

(2) Where a container, pipe, valve or fitting holds or may have held an explosive, flammable or other hazardous substance, and subsection (1A) does not apply, an employer shall include in the written work procedure required under subsection (1), provision

(a) for disconnecting and blanking off or moving out of alignment pipes or locking out valves in the closed position; and

(b) that after ventilation, a competent person shall

(i) where reasonably practicable, examine the area to be welded or processed to ensure that it is free from residue,

(ii) test air samples to ensure that explosive, flammable or hazardous amounts of gases or vapours have been reduced to less than 1% of the lower explosive limit in areas to be welded or processed, and

(iii) certify, in writing, that work involving the application of heat can be safely undertaken and that the conditions tested in the area to be heated are likely to be maintained within a predicted and recorded range for the entire time the certification is valid.

(3) The certificate referred to in subclause (2)(b)(iii) shall include

(a) the signature of the competent person;

(b) the date and time the tests were performed;

(c) the type of work that

(i) can be performed in the area to be heated, and

(ii) is explicitly banned in the area to be heated;

(d) the means by which the work is to be performed;

(e) the expiry date and time of the certificate; and

(f) a record of any tests performed and of any test results.

(4) No certification issued under subclause (2)(b)(iii) shall be valid for longer than 24 hours after the time of the examination and test required to be performed under subclauses (2)(b)(i) and (ii).

(5) An employer shall ensure that no person uses the exhaust of an internal combustion engine as a means of decreasing the concentration of flammable and explosive gases and vapours in the area to be welded or processed.

[N.S. Reg. 52/2000, s. 57; 4/2004, s. 2; 53/2013, ss. 45, 93]

Section 114

114. An employer shall ensure that a compressed gas hose line or welding cable is adequately protected from damage.

Section 115

115. (1) No operator of an electric welding machine shall leave the machine unattended without removing the electrode.

(2) An employer shall ensure that appropriate welding and ground leads are used to fasten the electric supply cable securely so that the inner wires of an electric welding machine are not exposed to damage and the cable cannot be separated from the fittings.

Section 116 Gas welding and allied process

116. (1) An employer shall ensure that a person performing a gas welding or allied process tests a regulator and its flexible connecting hose immediately after it is connected to a gas cylinder, to ensure that there is no leak of the gas supply.

(2) No person shall perform a test required in subsection. (1) with a substance that is oil, fat or grease based.

(3) Where a leak of the gas supply develops during the performance of a gas welding or allied process

(a) the person performing the welding or allied process shall cut off the supply of gas; and

(b) the employer shall ensure that work is not resumed until the leak is repaired.

[N.S. Reg. 52/2000, s. 58]

Section 117

117. Where a gas welding or allied process is carried on, the employer shall

(a) provide a flashback arrestor between the torch and the fuel gas and oxygen supply that

(i) prevents the reverse flow of fuel, gas, oxygen or air from the torch to the supply lines, and

(ii) stops a flame from burning back from a torch into the supply lines;

(b) ensure that hose lines or pipelines for conveying the gases to the burner and the couplings are legibly marked or identified to ensure the hoses are not interchanged; and

(c) ensure that the torch is ignited by a lighting device that is designed for that purpose.

Section 118 Acetylene

118. Where an employer manufactures acetylene in the workplace, the employer shall establish a written procedure to ensure the health and safety of a person in the workplace.

119. Repealed. [N.S. Reg. 53/2013, s. 46]

[N.S. Reg. 52/2000, s. 59; 53/2013, s. 46]

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT
S.N.S. 1996, c. 7

Section 3

3. In this Act,

(a) "aggrieved person" means an employer, constructor, contractor, employee, self-employed person, owner, supplier, provider of an occupational health or safety service, architect, engineer or union at a workplace who is directly affected by an order or decision;

(b) "analyst" means a person appointed as an analyst by the Minister pursuant to this Act;

(c) "Board" means the Labour Board established under the Labour Board Act;

(d) "committee" means a joint occupational health and safety committee established pursuant to this Act;

(e) "compliance notice" means a response, in writing, to an order of an officer, describing the extent to which the person against whom the order was made has complied with each item identified in the order;

(f) "constructor" means a person who contracts for work on a project or who undertakes work on a project himself or herself;

(g) "contractor" means a person who contracts for work to be performed at the premises of the person contracting to have the work performed, but does not include a dependent contractor or a constructor;

(h) "contracts for work" includes contracting to perform work and contracting to have work performed;

(i) "Council" means the Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Council established pursuant to this Act;

(j) "dependent contractor" means a person, whether or not employed under a contract of employment and whether or not furnishing the person's own tools, vehicles, equipment, machinery, material or any other thing, who performs work or services for another on such terms and conditions that the person is

(i) in a position of economic dependence upon the other,

(ii) under an obligation to perform duties mainly for the other, and

(iii) in a relationship with the other more closely resembling that of an employee than an independent contractor;

(k) "Deputy Minister of Labour and Advanced Education" includes a person designated by the Deputy Minister of Labour and Advanced Education to act in the stead of the Deputy Minister;

(l) "Director" means the Executive Director of Occupational Health and Safety or any person designated by the Executive Director pursuant to this Act to act on behalf of the Executive Director;

(m) "Director of Labour Standards" means the Director of Labour Standards under the Labour Standards Code;

(n) "Division" means the Occupational Health and Safety Division of the Department of Labour and Advanced Education;

(o) "employee" means a person who is employed to do work and includes a dependent contractor;

(p) "employer" means a person who employs one or more employees or contracts for the services of one or more employees, and includes a constructor, contractor or subcontractor;

(q) "former Act" means Chapter 320 of the Revised Statutes, 1989, the Occupational Health and Safety Act;

(r) Repealed. [S.N.S. 2010, c. 37, s. 117]

(s) "Minister" means the Minister of Labour and Advanced Education;

(t) "occupation" means any employment, business, calling or pursuit;

(u) "officer" means an occupational health and safety officer appointed pursuant to this Act and includes the Director;

(v) "owner" includes a trustee, receiver, mortgagee in possession, tenant, lessee or occupier of lands or premises used as a workplace and a person who acts for, or on behalf of, an owner as an agent or delegate;

(w) "police officer" means

(i) a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or

(ii) a member or chief officer of a police force appointed pursuant to the Police Act;

(x) "policy" means an occupational health and safety policy made pursuant to this Act;

(y) "practicable" means possible, given current knowledge, technology and invention;

(z) "program" means an occupational health and safety program required pursuant to this Act, unless the context otherwise requires;

(aa) "project" means a construction project, and includes

(i) the construction, erection, excavation, renovation, repair, alteration or demolition of any structure, building, tunnel or work and the preparatory work of land clearing or earth moving, and

(ii) work of any nature or kind designated by the Director as a project;

(ab) "reasonably practicable" means practicable unless the person on whom a duty is placed can show that there is a gross disproportion between the benefit of the duty and the cost, in time, trouble and money, of the measures to secure the duty;

(ac) "regularly employed" includes seasonal employment with a predictably recurring period of employment that exceeds four weeks, unless otherwise established by regulation or ordered by an officer;

(aca) "repeatedly" means occurring more than once within the preceding three year period;

(ad) "representative" means a health and safety representative selected pursuant to this Act;

(ae) "self-employed person" means a person who is engaged in an occupation on that person's own behalf and includes a person or persons operating a sole proprietorship but does not include a dependent contractor;

(aea) "serious injury" means an injury that endangers life or causes permanent injury;

(af) "supplier" means a person who manufactures, supplies, sells, leases, distributes or installs any tool, equipment, machine or device or any biological, chemical or physical agent to be used at or near a workplace;

(ag) "union" includes a trade union as defined in the Trade Union Act that has the status of bargaining agent under that Act in respect of any bargaining unit at a workplace, and includes an organization representing employees where the organization has exclusive bargaining rights under any other Act in respect of the employees;

(ah) "workplace" means any place where an employee or a self-employed person is or is likely to be engaged in any occupation and includes any vehicle or mobile equipment used or likely to be used by an employee or a self-employed person in an occupation.

[S.N.S. 2000, c. 28, s. 86; 2010, c. 66, s. 2; 2010, c. 37, s. 117; 2011, c. 24, s. 2; 2016, c. 14, s. 1]

Section 13 DUTIES AND PRECAUTIONS

13. (1) Every employer shall take every precaution that is reasonable in the circumstances to

(a) ensure the health and safety of persons at or near the workplace;

(b) provide and maintain equipment, machines, materials or things that are properly equipped with safety devices;

(c) provide such information, instruction, training, supervision and facilities as are necessary to the health or safety of the employees;

(d) ensure that the employees, and particularly the supervisors and foremen, are made familiar with any health or safety hazards that may be met by them at the workplace;

(e) ensure that the employees are made familiar with the proper use of all devices, equipment and clothing required for their protection; and

(f) conduct the employer's undertaking so that employees are not exposed to health or safety hazards as a result of the undertaking.

(2) Every employer shall

(a) consult and co-operate with the joint occupational health and safety committee, where such a committee has been established at the workplace, or the health and safety representative, where one has been selected at the workplace;

(b) co-operate with any person performing a duty imposed or exercising a power conferred by this Act or the regulations;

(c) provide such additional training of committee members or the representative as may be prescribed by the regulations;

(d) comply with this Act and the regulations and ensure that employees at the workplace comply with this Act and the regulations; and

(e) where an occupational health and safety policy or occupational health and safety program is required pursuant to this Act or the regulations, establish the policy or program.

(3) The employer at a subsea coal mine shall provide such additional resources or information for the committee as may be prescribed by the regulations.

[N.S. 2007, c. 14, s. 7; 2010, c. 66, s. 5]

Section 17

17. (1) Every employee, while at work, shall

(a) take every reasonable precaution in the circumstances to protect the employee's own health and safety and that of other persons at or near the workplace;

(b) co-operate with the employer and with the employee's fellow employees to protect the employee's own health and safety and that of other persons at or near the workplace;

(c) take every reasonable precaution in the circumstances to ensure that protective devices, equipment or clothing required by the employer, this Act or the regulations are used or worn;

(d) consult and co-operate with the joint occupational health and safety committee, where such a committee has been established at the workplace, or the health and safety representative, where one has been selected at the workplace;

(e) co-operate with any person performing a duty or exercising a power conferred by this Act or the regulations; and

(f) comply with this Act and the regulations.

(2) Where an employee believes that any condition, device, equipment, machine, material or thing or any aspect of the workplace is or may be dangerous to the employee's health or safety or that of any other person at the workplace, the employee shall

(a) immediately report it to a supervisor;

(b) where the matter is not remedied to the employee's satisfaction, report it to the committee or the representative, if any; and

(c) where the matter is not remedied to the employee's satisfaction after the employee reports in accordance with clauses (a) and (b), report it to the Division.

Section 35

35. (1) An employer shall notify the committee or representative, if any, of the existence of reports of

(a) workplace occupational health or safety inspections; and

(b) workplace occupational health or safety monitoring or tests,

undertaken at the workplace by, or at the request of, an officer or the employer and, on request, the employer shall make the reports available to the committee or the representative.

(2) An employer shall make available to an employee at a workplace, on request, reports of

(a) workplace occupational health or safety inspections; and

(b) workplace occupational health or safety monitoring or tests,

undertaken at the workplace by, or at the request of, an officer or the employer.

(3) Within twenty-one days of receiving a request in writing from the committee, representative or, where there is no committee or representative, an employee at a workplace for any information of a health or safety nature other than that specified in subsection (1), the employer shall respond in writing and the response shall

(a) provide the requested information; or

(b) give reasons for not providing the information, in whole or in part,

and where it is not reasonably possible to provide a response before the expiry of the twenty-one day period, provide within that time a reasonable explanation for the delay, indicate to the committee, representative or employee when the response will be forthcoming and provide the response as soon as it is available.

(4) Where the committee, representative or employee makes a request pursuant to subsection (3) and is not satisfied that the explanation provided for a delay in responding is reasonable in the circumstances, the chair or co-chairs of the committee, the representative or the employee, as the case may be, shall promptly report this fact to an officer.

Section 42

42. (1) Every employer shall permit an employee selected pursuant to subsection (2) to observe workplace occupational health or safety monitoring and the taking of samples ", tests or measurements where a significant part of the rationale is based on either health or safety of employees at the workplace, unless the monitoring or taking of samples, tests or measurements takes place

(a) continuously or on a regular and frequent basis, except to observe the initial setup of the workplace occupational health or safety monitoring process and to be informed and observe the monitoring where there has been a malfunction of the monitor or alteration in the process;

(aa) in a situation that would violate an employee's personal privacy;

(b) in a location that is remote and is part of the regular task of a person employed at the location; or

(c) during an emergency situation,

and time spent by the employee in such activities is deemed to be work time for which the employee shall be paid by the employer at the applicable rate.

(2) Where there is

(a) a committee or representative at a workplace, the employee who observes workplace occupational health or safety monitoring and the taking of samples or measurements shall be selected by the committee or representative, as the case may be; or

(b) no committee or representative at a workplace, the employee who observes workplace occupational health or safety monitoring and the taking of samples or measurements shall be selected by the employees.

(3) Every employer shall provide

(a) reasonable notice to an observer of the commencement of the occupational health or safety monitoring and of the taking of samples or measurements undertaken pursuant to subsection (1); and

(b) access to a workplace for the purpose of the observation.

(4) Where an observer requests, the procedure for occupational health or safety monitoring and the taking of samples or measurements shall be identified and explained to the observer.

(5) Where an owner, constructor or contractor performs occupational health or safety monitoring or takes samples or measurements that relate to the health or safety of employees at the workplace,

(a) the owner, constructor or contractor shall provide reasonable notice to all employers at the workplace of the commencement of the occupational health or safety monitoring and of the taking of samples or measurements; and

(b) the requirements of subsections (1) to (4) apply.

(6) Where the monitoring, samples or measurements referred to in subsection (1) are conducted by, or at the request of, an officer, the officer may undertake the monitoring, samples or measurements whether or not notice has been given pursuant to subsection (3) or (5).

[S.N.S. 2010, c. 66, s. 10]

Workplace Health and Safety Regulations
N.S. Reg. 52/2013

Part 1 INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION

Section 1.2 Definitions for these regulations

1.2 In these regulations,

"Act" means the Occupational Health and Safety Act ;

"adequate" means sufficient to protect a person from injury or damage to health;

"ANSI" means the American National Standards Institute;

"anchorage" means a secure connecting point capable of safely withstanding the impact forces, as prescribed in these regulations or an applicable standard, applied by a fall-protection system;

"approved" means approved by the Department or by an agency or authority designated or selected by the Department to make approvals;

"competent person" means a person who is

(i) qualified because of their knowledge, training and experience to do the assigned work in a manner that ensures the health and safety of every person in the workplace, and

(ii) knowledgeable about the provisions of the Act and regulations that apply to the assigned work, and about potential or actual danger to health or safety associated with the assigned work,

"CSA" means the Canadian Standards Association;

"certified" means meeting the requirements of a standard as attested to by a certification organization accredited by the Standards Council of Canada or an engineer;

"Department" means the Department of Labour and Advanced Education;

"designated" means, in relation to an employer, appointed in writing by the employer;

"emergency services agency" means an agency operating within the Province for the purpose of responding to emergencies, including

(i) a municipal police force required to be maintained under the Police Act, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police,

(ii) fire departments,

(iii) ambulance services;

"engineer" means a person who is registered as a member or licensed to practise under the Engineering Profession Act and is competent to do the work being performed;

"latest version" means, in relation to a standard or other publication, the latest edition of the standard or publication as supplemented, amended, added to, replaced or superseded;

"manufacturer's specifications" means

(i) the written instructions of a manufacturer of a machine, material, tool or equipment that outline the manner in which the machine, material, tool or equipment is to be erected, installed, assembled, started, operated, used, handled, stored, stopped, adjusted, carried, maintained, repaired, inspected, serviced, tested, cleaned or dismantled, and

(ii) a manufacturer's instruction, operating or maintenance manual and drawings respecting a machine, tool or equipment;

"temporary highway workplace" means a temporary workplace on a highway, as defined in Part 24;

"work area" means a location at a workplace where an employee or self-employed person is working or may be required to work.