Oil and Gas Occupational Safety and Health Regulations (SOR/87-612)

Short Title

1 These Regulations may be cited as the Oil and Gas Occupational Safety and Health Regulations.

PART IGeneral

Interpretation

1.1 In these Regulations,

Act

Act means Part II of the Canada Labour Code; (Loi)

advanced first aid certificate

advanced first aid certificate means the certificate issued by an approved organization for the successful completion of a first aid course of at least five days’ duration, other than a mariners’ first aid course; (certificat de secourisme avancé)

ANSI

ANSI means the American National Standards Institute; (ANSI)

API

API means the American Petroleum Institute; (API)

approved organization

approved organization means the St. John Ambulance, the Canadian Red Cross Society or the Workers’ Compensation Board of British Columbia; (organisme approuvé)

ASME

ASME means the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; (ASME)

basket

basket means a personnel transfer basket; (nacelle)

Canadian Electrical Code

Canadian Electrical Code means CSA Standard C22.1-1990 Canadian Electrical Code, Part I, dated January 1990; (Code canadien de l’électricité)

CPR course

CPR course means a training course in cardiopulmonary resuscitation based on the publication of the Journal of the American Medical Association entitled Standards and Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiac Care, dated June 6, 1986, as reprinted by the American Heart Association; (cours RCP)

CSA

CSA means the Canadian Standards Association; (CSA)

dangerous substance

dangerous substance[Repealed, SOR/88-199, s. 1]

drill floor

drill floor means, in respect of a drilling rig or drilling unit, the stable platform surrounding the slip setting area that provides support for employees during drilling operations; (plancher de forage)

drilling rig

drilling rig means the plant and associated support equipment used to make a hole or well by boring or other means for geophysical, exploration or production purposes; (appareil de forage)

drilling unit

drilling unit means a drillship, submersible, semi-submersible, barge, jack-up or other vessel used in drilling and includes a drilling rig and other related facilities; (installation de forage)

electrical equipment

electrical equipment means equipment for the generation, distribution or use of electricity; (outillage électrique)

elevating device

elevating device means an escalator, elevator, basket or other device for moving passengers or freight; (appareil de levage)

emergency first aid certificate

emergency first aid certificate means the certificate issued by an approved organization for the successful completion of a first aid course of at least one day’s duration; (certificat de secourisme d’urgence)

environmental conditions

environmental conditions means meteorological, oceanographical and other natural conditions, including ice conditions, that may affect the operations of a work place; (conditions environnementales)

field accommodation

field accommodation means living, eating or sleeping quarters provided by an employer for the accommodation of employees at a work place; (logement sur place)

fire hazard area

fire hazard area means an area that contains or is likely to contain explosive or flammable concentrations of a hazardous substance; (endroit présentant un risque d’incendie)

first aid attendant

first aid attendant means a medic or a qualified person who is a holder of an emergency first aid certificate, a standard first aid certificate, a mariners first aid certificate or an advanced first aid certificate or of a registered nurse’s certificate recognized under the laws of a province; (secouriste)

first aid room

first aid room means a room used exclusively for first aid or medical purposes; (salle de premiers soins)

high voltage

high voltage means a voltage of more than 750 V between any two conductors or between a conductor and ground; (haute tension)

hot work

hot work means welding, burning, rivetting, drilling, grinding, chipping or any other work where a flame is used or sparks are produced; (travail à chaud)

locked out

locked out means, in respect of any equipment, machine or device, that the equipment, machine or device has been rendered inoperative and cannot be operated or energized without the consent of the person who rendered it inoperative; (verrouillé)

mariners first aid certificate

mariners first aid certificate means the certificate issued by an approved organization for the successful completion of a mariners’ first aid course of at least five days’ duration; (certificat de secourisme maritime)

medic

medic means a qualified person who

• (a) has experience with helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft evacuation for medical purposes,

• (b) is the holder of an advanced cardiac life support certificate or basic cardiac life support instructor’s certificate recognized by the Canadian Heart Foundation, and

• (c) is the holder of

  • (i) a registered nurse’s certificate recognized under the laws of a province and has clinical experience in intensive care or emergency practice,

  • (ii) a paramedic certificate issued by a college in a province and has clinical experience, or

  • (iii) an Occupational Qualification VIB Medical Assistant Canadian military certificate; (technicien médical)

medical practitioner

medical practitioner[Repealed, SOR/88-199, s. 1]

Minister

Minister[Repealed, SOR/2021-118, s. 8]

National Building Code

National Building Code means the National Building Code of Canada, 1985, issued by the Associate Committee on the National Building Code, National Research Council of Canada, dated 1985, as amended to January 1987; (Code national du bâtiment)

National Fire Code

National Fire Code means the National Fire Code of Canada, 1985, issued by the Associate Committee on the National Fire Code, National Research Council of Canada, dated 1985, as amended to January 1987; (Code national de prévention des incendies)

offshore

offshore means, with respect to a work place, a location within a water-covered area that is not an island, an artificial island or an ice platform; (au large des côtes)

oxygen deficient atmosphere

oxygen deficient atmosphere means an atmosphere in which there is less than 18 per cent by volume of oxygen at a pressure of one atmosphere or in which the partial pressure of oxygen is less than 135 mm Hg; (air à faible teneur en oxygène)

production facility

production facility means production, separating, treating and processing equipment and facilities necessary in production operations, including airstrips, helicopter landing areas and field accommodation; (installation de production)

protection equipment

protection equipment means safety materials, equipment, devices and clothing; (équipement de protection)

qualified person

qualified person means, in respect of a specified duty, a person who, because of his knowledge, training and experience, is qualified to perform that duty safely and properly; (personne qualifiée)

regional office

regional office means, in respect of a work place, the regional office of the Canada Oil and Gas Lands Administration, formed under the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources and the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, for the administrative region of that Administration in which the work place is situated; (bureau régional)

standard first aid certificate

standard first aid certificate means the certificate issued by an approved organization for successful completion of a first aid course of at least two days’ duration; (certificat de secourisme général)

support craft

support craft means a vehicle, vessel, tug, ship, aircraft, air cushion vehicle, standby craft or other craft used to provide transport for or assistance to employees in a work place; (véhicule de service)

toilet room

toilet room means a room that contains a water closet or a urinal, but does not include an outdoor privy; (cabinet de toilette)

ULC Standard

ULC Standard means the Underwriters’ Laboratories of Canada Standard CAN4-S508-M83, Rating and Fire Testing of Fire Extinguishers, dated June 1983, as amended to July 1986. (norme ULC)

Prescription

1.2 These Regulations are prescribed for the purposes of sections 125, 125.1, 125.2 and 126 of the Act.

Application

1.21 These Regulations apply to any person who is not an employee but who performs for an employer to which these Regulations apply activities whose primary purpose is to enable the person to acquire knowledge or experience, and to the employer, as if that person were an employee of the employer, and every provision of these Regulations must be read accordingly.

• 1.3 (1) Subject to subsection (3), these Regulations, other than Part II, apply in respect of employees employed on or in connection with exploration or drilling for or the production, conservation, processing or transportation, other than transportation through an interprovincial pipeline, of oil or gas in Canada lands, as defined in the Canada Oil and Gas Act.

• (2) Subject to subsection (3), Part II applies in respect of employees employed in Canada lands, as defined in the Canada Oil and Gas Act, on or in connection with the transportation of oil or gas through an interprovincial pipeline.

• (3) These Regulations do not apply in respect of employees employed in the operation of ships or aircraft.

Records and Reports

1.4 If an employer is required to keep and maintain a record, report or other document referred to in section 125 or 125.1 of the Act, the employer shall keep and maintain the record, report or other document in such a manner that it is readily available for examination by the Head of Compliance and Enforcement and by the safety and health committee or the safety and health representative, if either exists, for the work place to which it applies.

Inconsistent Provisions

1.5 In the event of an inconsistency between any standard incorporated by reference in these Regulations and any other provision of these Regulations, that other provision of these Regulations shall prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.

1.6 Despite any provision in any standard incorporated by reference in these Regulations, other than a standard incorporated in section 13.7, a reference to another publication in that standard is a reference to the publication as it read on October 30, 1987.

PART IIInterprovincial Pipelines

2.1 The Canada Occupational Safety and Health Regulations apply in respect of employees employed in Canada lands, as defined in the Canada Oil and Gas Act, on or in connection with the transportation of oil or gas through an interprovincial pipeline.

PART IIIBuilding Safety

Standards

3.1 The design and construction of every building on shore shall meet the standards set out in Parts 3 to 9 of the National Building Code so far as is reasonably practicable.

Doors

3.2 Every double action swinging door that is located in an exit, entrance or passageway used for two-way pedestrian traffic shall be designed and fitted in a manner that will permit persons who are approaching from one side of the door to be aware of persons who are on the other side of the door.

Floor and Wall Openings

• 3.3 (1) In this section,

  floor opening

  floor opening means an opening measuring 300 mm or more in its smallest dimension in a floor, platform, pavement or yard; (ouverture dans un plancher)

  wall opening

  wall opening means an opening at least 750 mm high and 300 mm wide in a wall or partition. (ouverture dans un mur)

• (2) Where an employee has access to a wall opening from which there is a drop of more than 1.2 m or to a floor opening, guardrails shall be fitted around the wall opening or floor opening or the opening shall be covered with material capable of supporting all loads that may be imposed on it.

• (3) The material referred to in subsection (2) shall be securely fastened to a supporting structural member of the building.

• (4) Subsection (2) does not apply to the loading and unloading areas of truck, railroad and marine docks.

• (5) Subject to section 3.10, guardrails shall be installed around the perimeter of every work place, other than a helicopter deck, where there is a drop of more than 1 m from the work place to an adjacent area.