Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations (SOR/86-304)

• 16.8 (1) Subject to subsection (2), if a hazard for skin or eye injury from a hazardous substance exists in the workplace, the employer shall ensure that shower facilities to wash the skin and eye wash facilities to irrigate the eyes are provided for immediate use by employees.

• (2) If it is not practicable to comply with subsection (1), the employer shall provide portable equipment that may be used in place of the facilities referred to in that subsection.

• (3) If, due to adverse or extreme weather conditions, it is not possible to comply with either subsection (1) or (2), the employer shall provide personal protection equipment for all employees likely to be exposed to the hazardous substance for all parts of their bodies that may be injured because of the presence of hazardous substances in the workplace.

First Aid Rooms

• 16.9 (1) If 200 or more employees are working at any time in a workplace, the employer shall ensure that a first aid room is provided and that it is clearly identified by a conspicuous sign.

• (2) A first aid room may be used for purposes other than first aid if

  • (a) the minimum floor area required for first aid is maintained;

  • (b) there is no potential for delay in the administration of first aid; and

  • (c) the use for those other purposes will not impede the treatment of an injured employee or pose a hazard to employees.

• (3) Subsection (1) does not apply if a health unit or medical treatment facility at which medical treatment is provided without charge to employees is readily accessible.

• 16.10 (1) Every first aid room provided in accordance with section 16.9 shall be

  • (a) under the supervision of a first aid attendant;

  • (b) located as close as practicable to the workplace and within easy access to a toilet room;

  • (c) situated on a minimum floor area of 10 m² and constructed to allow for optimum ease of access to persons carrying a patient on a stretcher;

  • (d) maintained in an orderly and sanitary condition; and

  • (e) equipped with

    • (i) a washbasin supplied with cold water and hot water that meets the standards set out in Part IX,

    • (ii) a storage cupboard and a counter,

    • (iii) a separate cubicle or curtained-off area with a cot or bed equipped with a moisture-protected mattress and two moisture-protected pillows,

    • (iv) a table and two or more chairs,

    • (v) a telephone, or other effective means of communication, and an up-to-date list of appropriate emergency contacts and telephone numbers for use in emergencies, and

    • (vi) the first aid supplies and equipment set out in Schedule IV to this Part.

• (2) In every first aid room referred to in subsection (1),

  • (a) the air shall be changed at least once each hour; and

  • (b) the temperature

    • (i) shall be maintained at not less than 21^oC, measured one meter above the floor, when the outdoor temperature is 21^oC or less, and

    • (ii) to the extent that is reasonably practicable, when the outdoor temperature in the shade exceeds 24^oC, shall not exceed the outdoor temperature.

Transportation

16.11 Before assigning employees to a workplace, the employer shall

• (a) ensure that for that workplace there is an ambulance service or other suitable means of transporting an injured or ill employee to a health unit or medical treatment facility; and

• (b) provide for that workplace a means of quickly summoning the ambulance service or other suitable means of transportation.

Teaching First Aid

• 16.12 (1) The courses for the basic first aid certificate and for the standard first aid certificate shall include the subjects set out in Schedule V.

• (2) Basic, standard and advanced first aid attendant training courses, including wilderness first aid courses, shall be given by a qualified person who holds a valid certification from an approved organization attesting that they are competent to deliver first aid training.

• (3) For advanced first aid, including wilderness first aid, the employer shall determine, in consultation with the workplace committee or the health and safety representative, the first aid training requirements for the workplace, having regard to the particular nature of the workplace.

• (4) The employer shall review the training program with respect to advanced first aid, including wilderness first aid, in consultation with the workplace committee or the health and safety representative at least once every three years and whenever there is a change of circumstances that may affect the content of the training.

• (5) Basic, standard and advanced first aid certificates, including wilderness first aid courses, are valid for a maximum of three years from the date of issue.

Records

• 16.13 (1) If first aid is required by this Part to be rendered, the first aid attendant who renders the first aid shall

  • (a) enter in a first aid record the following information:

    • (i) the date and time of the reporting of the injury or illness,

    • (ii) the full name of the injured or ill employee,

    • (iii) the date, time and location of the occurrence of the injury or illness,

    • (iv) a brief description of the injury or illness,

    • (v) a brief description of the first aid rendered, if any,

    • (vi) a brief description of arrangements made for the treatment or transportation of the injured or ill employee, and

    • (vii) the names of witnesses, if applicable; and

  • (b) sign the first aid record beneath the information entered in accordance with paragraph (a).

• (2) The information referred to in subsection (1) shall be entered

  • (a) if first aid was rendered to an employee at a remote workplace detached from the main party or on a snowmobile or other small vehicle, in the first aid record stored in the first aid kit at the site of the main party or work site; and

  • (b) in any other case, in the first aid record stored in the first aid kit.

• (3) The employer shall keep a first aid record containing information entered in accordance with subsection (2) for a period of two years beginning on the date of that entry.

• (4) Persons with access to first aid records shall keep the information contained in the records confidential, except as required for the purposes of meeting reporting obligations under Part XV.

• (5) On receiving a written request from a workers’ compensation authority for the province where the workplace is located or a medical practitioner, the employer shall provide an employee with a copy of the first aid record pertaining to the employee’s treatment.

• (6) The employer shall maintain a record of the expiry dates of the first aid certificates of the first aid attendants and make it available to them.