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• 12.09 (1) If there is a risk of injury due to falling in a work place and the fall-protection plan requires that a personal fall-protection system be used, the employer must provide such a system to every person — other than a person who is installing or dismantling a fall-protection system — who is granted access to the work place.

• (2) A personal fall-protection system must meet the requirements set out in the following CSA Group standards:

  • (a) Z259.16, Design of active fall-protection systems; and

  • (b) Z259.17, Selection and use of active fall-protection equipment and systems.

• (3) The components of a personal fall-protection system must meet the requirements set out in the following CSA Group standards:

  • [...]

  • (d) Z259.2.4, Fall arresters and vertical rigid rails;

  • (e) Z259.2.5, Fall arresters and vertical lifelines;

  • [...]

  • (h) Z259.12, Connecting components for personal fall-arrest systems (PFAS);

  • [...]

  • (j) Z259.14, Fall restrict equipment for wood pole climbing; and

• (4) The components of a personal fall-protection system must be compatible and must be used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

• (5) If more than one personal fall-protection system is secured to an anchorage, a separate anchorage connector must be used for each personal fall-protection system.

• (6) The employer must ensure that a person who is using a personal fall-protection system wears and uses a full body harness.

• (7) The employer must ensure that, before each work shift, every employee inspects their personal fall-protection system in accordance with the fall-protection plan.

• (8) The employer must ensure that a person who works on an aerial device, boom-type elevating platform, scissor lift platform, forklift truck platform or any similar personnel lifting equipment in the circumstances described in subsection 12.07(1) uses a fall-restraint system that is connected to

  • [...]

  • (b) if no anchorage is specified by the manufacturer, an anchorage that is certified by a person who is authorized to exercise the profession of engineering in Canada and that meets the requirements set out in CSA Group Standard Z259.16, Design of active fall-protection systems.

• (9) If the use of a fall-restraint system would prevent the person referred to in subsection (8) from carrying out their work, the employer must ensure that a fall-arrest system is used.

[...]

• 12.06 (1) If there is a risk of injury due to falling in any of the circumstances described in paragraphs 12.07(1)(a), (b) or (c) in a work place, the employer must, before any work activities begin,

  • (a) develop a fall-protection plan in consultation with the work place committee or the health and safety representative; and

  • (b) ensure that a copy of the fall-protection plan is readily available at the work place for consultation.

• (2) The fall-protection plan must specify

  • [...]

  • (b) the fall-protection systems that have been chosen to protect against the identified hazards;

  • (c) if a personal fall-protection system is used, the anchorage to be used during the work;

  • (d) if a fall-arrest system is used, the clearance distance below each work area;

  • (e) if there are no manufacturer’s instructions with respect to the storage, maintenance, inspection, testing, fitting, installation, use or dismantling of equipment that is used in a fall-protection system and that is provided by an employer, the procedures to be followed for the purposes of paragraphs 12.05(1)(a) to (d); and

  • (f) the rescue procedures to be followed if a person falls.

• (3) The fall-protection plan must include, in annex, a copy of any manufacturer’s instructions with respect to the storage, maintenance, inspection, testing, fitting, installation, use or dismantling of equipment that is used in a fall-protection system and that is provided by an employer.

• (4) The fall-protection systems referred to in paragraph (2)(b) are to be chosen in consultation with the work place committee or the health and safety representative, as appropriate for the work area and activity in question, taking into account the following order of priority:

  • (a) passive fall-protection system;

  • (b) fall-restraint system;

  • (c) fall-arrest system; and

  • (d) fall hazard zone system.

• (5) The clearance distance referred to in paragraph (2)(d) must be sufficient to prevent a person from hitting the ground or an object or surface below the work area during a fall.

[...]

12.01 The following definitions apply in this Part.

fall hazard zone

fall hazard zone  means a defined area bordering on an edge that is unguarded against a risk of falling. (zone de risque de chute)

fall hazard zone system

fall hazard zone system  means a system that consists of a fall hazard zone that is supervised by a fall hazard zone monitor. (système pour zone de risque de chute)

fall-arrest system

fall-arrest system  means a collection of protection equipment that attaches a person to an anchorage and is designed and configured to arrest a free fall. (dispositif antichute)

fall-protection system

fall-protection system  means a system that is designed and configured to eliminate or reduce the risk of a person falling, restrain a person who is at risk of falling or arrest a person’s fall. The system may be composed of one or more of the following:

• (a) a passive fall-protection system;

• (b) a fall-restraint system;

• (c) a fall-arrest system;

• (d) a fall hazard zone system. (dispositif de protection contre les chutes)

fall-restraint system

fall-restraint system  means a collection of protection equipment that attaches a person to an anchorage and is designed and configured to prevent the person from getting close to an unguarded edge. (dispositif de retenue contre les chutes)

passive fall-protection system

passive fall-protection system  means a system of physical barriers that is designed and installed to prevent a person from falling, including guardrails, fences, barricades or covers. (dispositif passif de protection contre les chutes)

personal fall-protection system

personal fall-protection system  means a fall-restraint system or fall-arrest system. (dispositif individuel de protection contre les chutes)

[...]

Marginal note:Means of protection

• 109 (1) Every employer must ensure that whichever of the following means of fall protection is most appropriate in the circumstances is provided whenever a person at a workplace under its control is in a location referred to in section 108:

  • [...]

  • (d) a fall-arrest system that conforms to and has been selected in accordance with — and every component of which conforms to and has been selected in accordance with — all applicable CSA Group standards in the Z259 series; or

• (2) Every occupational health and safety program must

  • (a) set out factors, including efficacy and feasibility, to be considered by the employer in determining the most appropriate means of fall protection for the purpose of subsection (1);

  • (b) address the assembly, maintenance, inspection, use and disassembly, as the case may be, of all means of fall protection provided and their components, including by establishing a schedule for their inspection; and

  • (c) if fall-arrest systems are to be provided at the workplace, address the risks associated with the potential for swing as a result of anchorage placement when a fall-arrest system is being used.

• Marginal note:Fall-arrest system required

  (3) Despite subsection (1) and paragraph (2)(a), the employer must ensure that a fall-arrest system described in paragraph (1)(d) is provided to every person

  [...]

• Marginal note:Use

  (4) The employer must ensure that any means of protection referred to in paragraphs (1)(c) to (e) that it provides is used in accordance with the standards referred to in those paragraphs and, in the case of a fall-arrest system provided to a person referred to in paragraph (3)(b), is secured to an anchorage point that is approved by the platform’s manufacturer or a professional engineer.

• (5) The employer must ensure that any safety net provided

  • (a) is positioned as close as feasible to, and in any case no further than 4.6 m below, the area from which there is a risk of a fall;

  • [...]

  • (c) is positioned and maintained so that its maximum deflection does not permit any portion of a person who falls into it to come into contact with any other surface;

  • (d) is kept free of debris, obstructions or intervening objects that could be struck by a person falling into it; and

• (6) The employer must ensure that

  • (a) all anchorages used in a means of fall protection are capable of withstanding the following forces in any direction in which the force may be applied:

    [...]

  • (b) any self-retracting device used in a means of fall protection is

    [...]

  • (c) any lanyard used in a fall-arrest system is equipped with an energy absorber, unless

    • [...]

    • (ii) the fall-arrest system is designed by a competent person to

      • (A) limit the free fall to less than 1.2 m and the arresting force to less than 4 kN, and

Marginal note:Means of protection

• 109 (1) Every employer must ensure that whichever of the following means of fall protection is most appropriate in the circumstances is provided whenever a person at a workplace under its control is in a location referred to in section 108:

  • [...]

  • (d) a fall-arrest system that conforms to and has been selected in accordance with — and every component of which conforms to and has been selected in accordance with — all applicable CSA Group standards in the Z259 series; or

• (2) Every occupational health and safety program must

  • (a) set out factors, including efficacy and feasibility, to be considered by the employer in determining the most appropriate means of fall protection for the purpose of subsection (1);

  • (b) address the assembly, maintenance, inspection, use and disassembly, as the case may be, of all means of fall protection provided and their components, including by establishing a schedule for their inspection; and

  • (c) if fall-arrest systems are to be provided at the workplace, address the risks associated with the potential for swing as a result of anchorage placement when a fall-arrest system is being used.

• Marginal note:Fall-arrest system required

  (3) Despite subsection (1) and paragraph (2)(a), the employer must ensure that a fall-arrest system described in paragraph (1)(d) is provided to every person

  [...]

• Marginal note:Use

  (4) The employer must ensure that any means of protection referred to in paragraphs (1)(c) to (e) that it provides is used in accordance with the standards referred to in those paragraphs and, in the case of a fall-arrest system provided to a person referred to in paragraph (3)(b), is secured to an anchorage point that is approved by the platform’s manufacturer or a professional engineer.

• (5) The employer must ensure that any safety net provided

  • (a) is positioned as close as feasible to, and in any case no further than 4.6 m below, the area from which there is a risk of a fall;

  • [...]

  • (c) is positioned and maintained so that its maximum deflection does not permit any portion of a person who falls into it to come into contact with any other surface;

  • (d) is kept free of debris, obstructions or intervening objects that could be struck by a person falling into it; and

• (6) The employer must ensure that

  • (a) all anchorages used in a means of fall protection are capable of withstanding the following forces in any direction in which the force may be applied:

    [...]

  • (b) any self-retracting device used in a means of fall protection is

    [...]

  • (c) any lanyard used in a fall-arrest system is equipped with an energy absorber, unless

    • [...]

    • (ii) the fall-arrest system is designed by a competent person to

      • (A) limit the free fall to less than 1.2 m and the arresting force to less than 4 kN, and