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.

(4) Every employer shall, in accordance with the regulations, establish and implement a policy respecting the prevention of harassment in the workplace.

[N.S. 2007, c. 14, s. 7; 2010, c. 66, s. 5; 2024, c. 10, s. 13]

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.

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]

9. (1) An employer shall ensure that adequate personal protective equipment or devices required for an assigned task are used, based on

(a) the nature of the task;

(b) the location and conditions of the workplace; and

(c) any hazards that may affect the health and safety of persons in the workplace.

(2) Where personal protective equipment or devices are required under the Act or these regulations, an employer shall ensure that

(a) an employee receives adequate training in the proper use and care of the personal protective equipment or devices; and

(b) an employee wears or uses the personal protective equipment or devices in accordance with the instruction and training provided.

(3) An employer shall ensure that all personal protective equipment or devices required under the Act or these regulations are

(a) maintained by a competent person; and

(b) tested or visually inspected before each use,

in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications.

(4) Where a person identifies any defect in personal protective equipment or devices that may impair the adequacy of the equipment or devices, the employer shall ensure that the personal protective equipment or devices are not used until they are repaired.

[N.S. Reg. 52/2000, s. 3; 53/2013, s. 93]

9A An employee shall wear or use personal protective equipment or devices as required under clause 9(2)(b).

[N.S. Reg. 52/2000, s. 4]

13. (1) Where a person is exposed to a respiratory hazard that may cause injury or disease, an employer shall provide and ensure the use of an adequate respirator that is appropriate to the hazard.

(2) An employer shall ensure that the compressed breathing air used in a respirator complies with or exceeds the latest version of CSA standard Z180.1 , "Compressed Breathing Air and Systems".

(3) An employer shall ensure compliance with the latest version of CSA standard CSA Z94.4 , "Selection, Use, and Care of Respirators", in respect of

(a) the selection, use, maintenance and testing of a respirator; and

(b) the training of users of a respirator.

(4) Repealed. [N.S. Reg. 53/2013, s. 11]

[N.S. Reg. 52/2000, s. 7; 53/2013, s. 11]

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]

24. An employer must ensure that, on a regular basis, waste material and debris are

(a) collected or positioned so as to prevent a hazard; and

(b) removed from a workplace to a suitable disposal area.

[N.S. Reg. 53/2013, s. 17]

2.1 In this Part,

"physical agent", in relation to threshold limit values for occupational exposure, means an agent of acoustic, electromagnetic, ergonomic, mechanical or thermal nature;

"threshold limit values" means the threshold limit values established by the TLVs and BEIs that represent

(i) for chemical substances, the airborne concentrations of chemical substances and conditions under which it is believed that nearly all healthy workers may be repeatedly exposed, day after day, over a working lifetime, without adverse health effects,

(ii) for physical agents, the levels of exposure and conditions under which it is believed that nearly all healthy workers may be repeatedly exposed, day after day, without adverse health effects,

"TLVs and BEIs" means the latest version of the publication of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists of threshold limit values and biological exposure indices.

2.3 An employer must comply with, and ensure compliance with, the threshold limit values for exposure to all of the following, as listed in the TLVs and BEIs:

(a) gases;

(b) vapours;

(c) mists;

(d) fumes;

(e) smoke;

(f) dust;

(g) chemical substances;

(h) physical agents.

3.5 (1) An employer must ensure that an employee who works with, or may be exposed to, a hazardous product in the course of their work activities is educated in all of the following:

(a) the content required on a supplier label and workplace label, and the purpose and significance of that information;

(b) the content required on a safety data sheet and the purpose and significance of the information on the safety data sheet.

(2) An employer must ensure that an employee who works with, or may be exposed to, a hazardous product in the course of their work activities is trained in all of the following:

(a) procedures for the safe use, storage, handling and disposal of a hazardous product;

(b) procedures for the safe use, storage, handling and disposal of a hazardous product contained or transferred in any of the following:

(i) a pipe,

(ii) a piping system including valves,

(iii) a process vessel,

(iv) a reaction vessel,

(v) a tank car, tank truck, ore car, conveyor belt or similar conveyance;

(c) procedures to be followed if an employee may be exposed to fugitive emissions;

(d) procedures to be followed in case of an emergency involving a hazardous product;

(e) how to locate a safety data sheet at the workplace and the format it may be found in.

(3) An employer must ensure that the employee education and training required by subsections (1) and (2) are developed and implemented

(a) for that employer’s workplace; and

(b) in consultation with the committee, or representative, if any.

(4) An employer must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that

(a) the employee education and training required by subsections (1) and (2) enable an employee to protect the employee’s own health and safety and the health and safety of others at the workplace; and

(b) the knowledge of an employee is periodically evaluated using written tests, practical demonstrations or other suitable means.

(5) An employer must review the education and training required under this Section at least annually, or more frequently if required by a change in work conditions or available hazard information, and in consultation with the committee or representative, if any, to ensure the education and training continue to comply with relevant legislation and regulations.

(6) If a change is made to the education or training as a result of the review under subsection (5), an employee affected by the change must be provided with additional education or training about the change.

[N.S. Reg. 119/2024, Sch. A]