Home › Forums › Community › Work at Height, Ontario: Do the industrial establishments (Reg. 851, OHSA, ON) required to have a written WAH Rescue plan like the constructors required (Reg 213, OHSA, ON)? If yes, then under which regulation?
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That’s a really great question because it raises a crucial point about Ontario OHS law. On its face, it seems like emergency rescue vertical fall plans are required only for construction since they’re not mentioned in the Industrial Establishments Reg. However, what often goes overlooked is the fact that Construction Project Regs requirements may also apply at industrial establishments, health care facilities and other sites you wouldn’t normally think of as being construction sites. The reason for this is that stricter OHS requirements for “construction” apply not to sites but the type of work. In other words, “construction” work can take place at any site. The key are the two definitions in Sec. 1(1) of the OHS Act:
*“construction” includes erection, alteration, repair, dismantling, demolition, structural maintenance, painting, land clearing, earth moving, grading, excavating, trenching, digging, boring, drilling, blasting, or concreting, the installation of any machinery or plant, and any work or undertaking in connection with a project but does not include any work or undertaking underground in a mine;
*“project” means a construction project, whether public or private, including,
(a) the construction of a building, bridge, structure, industrial establishment, mining plant, shaft, tunnel, caisson, trench, excavation, highway, railway, street, runway, parking lot, cofferdam, conduit, sewer, watermain, service connection, telegraph, telephone or electrical cable, pipe line, duct or well, or any combination thereof,
(b) the moving of a building or structure, and
(c) any work or undertaking, or any lands or appurtenances used in connection with construction
Bottom Line: Many of the specific requirements of the Const Project Reg apply to “projects,” including but by no means limited to the strict fall protection requirements set out in Sec. 26. Technically, though, the rescue plan is required (under Sec. 27) only if there’s a risk of drowning.
Moral: In Ontario, remember to check the Const Reg and not just the Indust Estab Reg any time your work is a project, regardless of the type of site you are. Sorry to go on so long but this is a crucial point that applies to not just fall protection but just about any kind of hazard or operation covered by the OHS regs. GlennAgreed. The larger point is that just because something isn’t expressly stated in the OHS Reg doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t gotta do it. That’s because the general duty clause, in Ontario OHS Act Sec 25(2)(h) requiring employers to “take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker” encompasses measures not directly mentioned in the Regs but which are still reasonable, in this case having a written fall rescue plan. If you read the MOL court reports, you’ll notice that many if not most of the OHS charges are under 25(2)(h). Doing the reasonable thing and being able to document such, is vital to a due diligence defence, regardless of provision you’re cited for violating.
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