Law of the Year
Traffic Control Persons
As of Jan. 1, workers are no longer permitted to work as traffic control persons (TCP) unless they’ve completed training as prescribed by the WHSCC, which must approve TCP training providers.
 

Other Notable Regulatory Changes
Workplace Smoking
On July1, the province’s ban on …

Law of the Year Distracted Driving On June 6, changes to the Motor Vehicle Act that bar drivers from using cell phones (except when operated in a hands-free manner), texting devices and portable entertainment devices while driving took effect. The new law also prohibits …

Law of the Year Psychological Harassment On Feb. 1, an amendment to Manitoba’s Workplace Safety and Health Regulation took effect that expands the term “harassment” to include psychological harassment, such as bullying, intimidation and humiliation. Employers must modify their existing harassment policies and procedures to …

Law of the Year Work Refusals In May, WorkSafeBC amended its guideline on work refusals to:Define what constitutes an “undue hazard”;Explain the test for determining whether a worker has reasonable cause to believe that an undue hazard exists; andClarify the requirement for further …

Law of the Year Distracted Driving Bill 16, the Traffic Safety (Distracted Driving) Amendment Act, 2010, took effect Sept. 1. It bars drivers from reading, writing or attending to personal hygiene or grooming and holding/using hand-held, portable communication/entertainment devices, such as cell phones, laptops or …

Law of the Year Psychological Health & Safety In June, the Mental Health Commission of Canada announced that it was working with the Bureau de normalisation du Québec and the CSA to develop the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety …

OHS laws let workers refuse work they reasonably believe is dangerous. Once a refusal is initiated, companies must determine whether the refusal is a justified assertion of a safety right or an act of insubordination subject to discipline. Responding to refusals isn’t simply about figuring …

On Oct. 4, 2011, Scott Vaughan, the federal Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, tabled his annual report in the House of Commons. Under the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act, the government is required to prepare annual climate change plans and the Commissioner is required …

This is the video released today by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration. 

By Barbara Semeniuk, BSc CRSP Well, it’s December and the end of the year is fast approaching. As a safety professional, there are some loose ends that require tiding up now. Statistics from This Year The first loose end is ensuring that you’ve created statistics …