2. The foundation of this Act is the Internal Responsibility System which

(a) is based on the principle that

(i) employers, contractors, constructors, employees and self- employed persons at a workplace, and

(ii) the owner of a workplace, a supplier of goods or provider of an occupational health or safety service to a workplace or an architect or professional engineer, all of whom can affect the health and safety of persons at the workplace,

share the responsibility for the health and safety of persons at the workplace;

(b) assumes that the primary responsibility for creating and maintaining a safe and healthy workplace should be that of each of these parties, to the extent of each party's authority and ability to do so;

(c) includes a framework for participation, transfer of information and refusal of unsafe work, all of which are necessary for the parties to carry out their responsibilities pursuant to this Act and the regulations; and

(d) is supplemented by the role of the Occupational Health and Safety Division of the Department of Labour and Advanced Education, which is not to assume responsibility for creating and maintaining safe and healthy workplaces, but to establish and clarify the responsibilities of the parties under the law, to support them in carrying out their responsibilities and to intervene appropriately when those responsibilities are not carried out.

[ S.N.S. 2010, c. 66, s. 1; 2011, c. 24, s. 1]

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) "health and safety" includes both physical and psychological health and safety;

(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; 2024, c. 10, s. 11]

14. Every contractor shall take every precaution that is reasonable in the circumstances to ensure

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

(b) that the activities of the employers and self-employed persons at the workplace are co-ordinated;

(c) communication between the employers and self-employed persons at the workplace of information necessary to the health and safety of persons at the workplace;

(d) that the measures and procedures prescribed pursuant to this Act and the regulations are carried out at the workplace; and

(e) that every employee, self-employed person and employer performing work at the workplace complies with this Act and the regulations.

15. Every constructor shall take every precaution that is reasonable in the circumstances to ensure

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

(b) that the activities of the employers and self-employed persons at the project are co-ordinated;

(c) communication between the employers and self-employed persons at the project of information necessary to the health and safety of persons at the project, and facilitate communication with any committee or representative required for the project pursuant to this Act or the regulations;

(d) that the measures and procedures prescribed under this Act and the regulations are carried out on the project; and

(e) that every employee, self-employed person and employer performing work in respect of the project complies with this Act and the regulations.

23. (1) A specific duty or requirement imposed by this Act or the regulations does not limit the generality of any other duty or requirement imposed by this Act or the regulations.

(2) Where a provision of this Act or the regulations imposes a duty or requirement on more than one person, the duty or requirement is meant to be imposed primarily on the person with the greatest degree of control over the matters that are the subject of the duty or requirement.

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), but subject to subsection (5), where the person with the greatest degree of control fails to comply with a duty or requirement referred to in subsection (2), the other person or persons on whom the duty or requirement lies shall, where possible, comply with the provision.

(4) Where the person with the greatest degree of control complies with a provision described in subsection (2), the other persons are relieved of the obligation to comply with the provision only

(a) for the time during which the person with the greatest degree of control is in compliance with the provision;

(b) where simultaneous compliance by more than one person would result in unnecessary duplication of effort and expense; and

(c) where the health and safety of persons at the workplace is not put at risk by compliance by only one person.

(5) Where the person with the greatest degree of control fails to comply with a provision described in subsection (2) but one of the other persons on whom the duty or requirement is imposed complies with the provision, the other persons, if any, to whom the provision applies are relieved of the obligation to comply with the provision in the circumstances set out in clauses 4(a) to (c) with the necessary modifications.

29. (1) At every workplace where twenty or more persons are regularly employed, the employer shall establish and maintain one joint occupational health and safety committee or, at the discretion of the employer, more than one such committee and, where twenty or more persons are regularly employed by one or more constructors at a project, a constructor shall establish and maintain a joint occupational health and safety committee for the project.

(2) At a workplace where fewer than twenty persons are regularly employed, the Director may

(a) consult with the employer and employees at the workplace regarding whether a committee should be formed at the workplace; and

(b) order that a committee be established.

(3) Where an order respecting establishment of a committee is given pursuant to subsection (2), the employer shall ensure that the committee is chosen and functioning in accordance with this Act within fifteen days of receipt of the order.

33. (1) At a workplace where no committee is required pursuant to Section 29 and where the number of persons employed is five or more, the employer shall cause the employees to select at least one health and safety representative from among the employees at the workplace who are not connected with the management of the workplace.

(2) At a project where no committee is required pursuant to Section 29 and where the number of persons employed is five or more, a constructor shall cause the employees to select at least one health and safety representative for the purposes of the project from among the employees at the project who are not connected with the management at the project.

(3) At a workplace where fewer than five persons are employed, the Director may

(a) consult with the employer and employees at the workplace regarding whether a representative should be selected at the workplace; and

(b) order that a representative be selected by the employees from among the employees at the workplace who are not connected with the management of the workplace.

(4) Where an order respecting the selection of a representative is given pursuant to subsection (3), the employer shall ensure that the representative is selected and functioning in accordance with this Act within fifteen days of receipt of the order.

(5) An employee who is a representative is entitled to such reasonable time off from work as is necessary to carry out the employee's functions as a representative, and such time off is deemed to be work time for which the employee shall be paid by the employer at the applicable rate.

(6) It is the function of the representative to be involved, on behalf of the employees together with the employer, in occupational health and safety in the workplace and, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, includes

(a) the co-operative identification of hazards to health and safety and effective systems to respond to the hazards;

(b) the co-operative auditing of compliance with health and safety requirements in the workplace;

(c) receipt of and co-operation with the employer in the investigation and prompt disposition of matters and complaints with respect to workplace health and safety;

(d) participation in inspections, inquiries and investigations concerning the occupational health and safety of the employees and, in particular, participation in an inspection referred to in Section 50;

(e) advising on individual protective devices, equipment and clothing which, complying with this Act and the regulations, are best adapted to the needs of the employees;

(f) advising the employer regarding a policy or program required by this Act or the regulations and making recommendations to the employer, the employees and any person for the improvement of the health and safety of persons at the workplace; and

(g) performing any other duties assigned to the representative

(i) by the Director,

(ii) by agreement between the employer and the employees or the union, or

(iii) as are established by the regulations.

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]

4. A duty imposed on an employer by these regulations is also imposed on a contractor, constructor, supplier, employee, owner or self-employed person, to the extent of the contractor's, constructor's, supplier's, employee's, owner's or self-employed person's authority and ability to discharge the duty in the circumstances.

4. (1) A duty imposed by these regulations on an employer, is also imposed on any contractor, constructor, supplier, employee, owner or self-employed person, to the extent of the contractor's, constructor's, supplier's, employee's, owner's or self-employed person's authority and ability to discharge the duty in the circumstances.

(2) For the purpose of applying Section 23 of the Act and determining the person with the greatest degree of control,

(a) the person with the greatest authority and ability to ensure that a duty is discharged or a requirement is met is presumed to be the person with the greatest degree of control over the matter that is the subject of the duty or the requirement; and

(b) a provision in a lease or other agreement relating to property rights that gives a specified owner authority to control an aspect of lands or premises that are used as a workplace is prima facie evidence that the specified owner has the greatest degree of control over that aspect of the land or premises.

[N.S. Reg. 53/2013, s. 3]

1.4 (1) A duty imposed by these regulations on an employer is also imposed on any contractor, constructor, supplier, employee, owner or self-employed person, to the extent of the contractor's, constructor's, supplier's, employee's, owner's or self-employed person's authority and ability to discharge the duty in the circumstances.

(2) For the purpose of applying Section 23 of the Act and determining the person with the greatest degree of control,

(a) the person with the greatest authority and ability to ensure that a duty is discharged or a requirement is met is presumed to be the person with the greatest degree of control over the matter that is the subject of the duty or the requirement; and

(b) a provision in a lease or other agreement relating to property rights that gives a specified owner authority to control an aspect of lands or premises that are used as a workplace is prima facie evidence that the specified owner has the greatest degree of control over that aspect of the land or premises.