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On Board Trains Occupational Health and Safety Regulations (SOR/87-184)

Regulations are current to 2024-03-06 and last amended on 2023-12-15. Previous Versions

PART VIIHazardous Substances (continued)

[
  • SOR/88-200, s. 14
  • SOR/2015-143, s. 73(F)
]

DIVISION IGeneral (continued)

[
  • SOR/88-200, s. 6
]

Hazard Investigation (continued)

 On completing the investigation and after consulting with the work place committee or the health and safety representative,

  • (a) the qualified person shall make, sign and date a written report that contains their

    • (i) observations respecting the matters set out in subsection 7.3(2), and

    • (ii) recommendations respecting the measures that should be taken in order to comply with sections 7.6 to 7.23, including recommendations respecting sampling and testing methods; and

  • (b) the employer shall establish and keep up-to-date a written procedure controlling the concentration or level of the hazardous substance in the work place and make it readily available for examination by employees in any form, as determined in consultation with the policy committee or, if there is no policy committee, the work place committee or the health and safety representative.

 The employer shall keep the report for a period of 30 years after the date of the report.

  • SOR/2015-143, s. 32

Substitution of Substances

 No person shall use a hazardous substance in a work place if a non-hazardous substance or one that is less hazardous can be used instead.

Ventilation

 Every ventilation system used to control the concentration of an airborne hazardous substance shall be so designed, constructed and installed that

  • (a) the concentration of the airborne hazardous substance does not exceed the values and percentages referred to in sections 7.20 and 7.21; and

  • (b) if there is no value or percentage set out in respect of the airborne hazardous substance, its concentration is not hazardous to the health or safety of employees.

  • SOR/88-200, s. 14
  • SOR/95-105, s. 23
  • SOR/2015-143, ss. 33, 73(F)

Storage, Handling and Use

 Every hazardous substance stored, handled or used in a work place shall be stored, handled or used in a manner whereby the hazard related to that substance is reduced to a minimum.

  • SOR/88-200, s. 14
  • SOR/2015-143, s. 73(F)

 Subject to section 7.11, if a hazardous substance is stored, handled or used in a work place, any hazard resulting from that storage, handling or use shall be confined to as small an area as possible.

 Every container for a hazardous substance that is used in a work place shall be designed and constructed in such a way that it protects employees from any health or safety hazard that is caused by the hazardous substance.

  • SOR/2015-143, s. 34

 The quantity of a hazardous substance for use or processing in a work place shall, if feasible, be limited to the quantity required in one work day.

 If, in a work place, a hazardous substance is capable of combining with another substance to form an ignitable combination and there exists a hazard of ignition of the combination by static electricity, the employer shall comply with the standards set out in the 2007 edition of the United States National Fire Protection Association publication NFPA 77 entitled Recommended Practice on Static Electricity.

  • SOR/88-200, s. 14
  • SOR/2015-143, s. 35

 [Repealed, SOR/88-200, s. 7]

Assembly of Pipes

 Every assembly of pipes, pipe fittings, valves, safety devices, pumps, compressors and other fixed equipment that is used for transferring a hazardous substance from one location to another shall be

  • (a) marked, by labelling, colour-coding, placarding or any other mode, to identify the hazardous substance being transferred and, if appropriate, the direction of the flow;

  • (b) fitted with valves and other control and safety devices to ensure its safe operation; and

  • (c) adequate for its intended purpose having regard to the corrosiveness, pressure, temperature and other properties of the hazardous substance transferred therein.

  • SOR/88-200, ss. 8, 14
  • SOR/2015-143, s. 73(F)
  • SOR/2016-141, s. 23

Employee Education and Training

  •  (1) Every employer shall, in consultation with the policy committee or, if there is no policy committee, the work place committee or the health and safety representative, develop and implement an employee education and training program with respect to hazard prevention and control at the work place.

  • (2) The employee education and training program shall include

    • (a) the education and training of each employee who handles or is exposed to or who is likely to handle or be exposed to a hazardous substance, with respect to

      • (i) the product identifier of the hazardous substance,

      • (ii) all hazard information disclosed by the supplier or by the employer on a safety data sheet or label,

      • (iii) all hazard information of which the employer is aware or ought to be aware,

      • (iv) the observations referred to in subparagraph 7.4(a)(i),

      • (v) the information disclosed on a safety data sheet referred to in section 7.25 and the purpose and significance of that information, and

      • (vi) in respect of hazardous products in the work place, the information required to be disclosed on a safety data sheet and on a label under Division III and the purpose and significance of that information;

    • (b) the education and training of each employee who operates, maintains or repairs an assembly of pipes referred to in section 7.15, with respect to

      • (i) every valve and other control and safety device connected to the assembly of pipes,

      • (ii) the procedures to follow for the proper and safe use of the assembly of pipes, and

      • (iii) the significance of the labelling, colour-coding, placarding or other modes of identification that are used; and

    • (c) the education and training of each employee who is referred to in paragraph (a) or (b), with respect to

      • (i) the procedures to follow to implement sections 7.8, 7.9 and 7.11,

      • (ii) the procedures to follow for the safe storage, handling, use and disposal of hazardous substances, including procedures to be followed in an emergency involving a hazardous substance, and

      • (iii) the procedures to follow if an employee is exposed to a hazardous substance in gas, liquid, solid, vapour, fume, mist, fog or dust form that escapes from processing equipment, from control emission equipment or from a hazardous substance into the work place.

  • (3) An employer shall, in consultation with the policy committee or, if there is no policy committee, the work place committee or the health and safety representative, review, and if necessary, revise the employee education and training program referred to in subsection (1)

    • (a) at least once a year;

    • (b) whenever there is a change in conditions in respect of the hazardous substances in the work place; and

    • (c) whenever new hazard information in respect of a hazardous substance in the work place becomes available to the employer.

 [Repealed, SOR/88-200, s. 9]

  •  (1) The employer shall keep a written record of the education and training given to each employee referred to in paragraphs 7.16(2)(a) to (c)

    • (a) readily available for examination by employees in any form, as determined in consultation with the policy committee or, if there is no policy committee, the work place committee or the health and safety representative; and

    • (b) for two years after the day on which the employee ceases

      • (i) to handle or be exposed to or to be likely to handle or be exposed to the hazardous substance, or

      • (ii) to operate, maintain or repair the assembly of pipes.

  • (2) The record shall include the name of the employee who was educated and trained and the date of the education and training.

Medical Examinations

  •  (1) Where the report referred to in section 7.4 contains a recommendation for a medical examination, the employer may consult a physician regarding that recommendation.

  • (2) Where the employer

    • (a) consults a physician pursuant to subsection (1) and the physician confirms the recommendation for a medical examination, or

    • (b) does not consult a physician pursuant to subsection (1),

    the employer shall not permit an employee to work with the hazardous substance in the work place until a physician, acceptable to the employee, has examined the employee and declared the employee fit for work with the hazardous substance.

  • (3) Where an employer consults a physician pursuant to subsection (1), the employer shall keep a copy of the decision of the physician with the report referred to in section 7.4.

  • (4) The cost of a medical examination referred to in subsection (2) shall be borne by the employer.

  • SOR/88-200, ss. 11(E), 14
  • SOR/2015-143, s. 73(F)

Control of Hazards

  •  (1) No employee shall be exposed to a concentration of

    • (a) an airborne chemical agent, other than airborne asbestos fibres, in excess of the value for that chemical agent adopted by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists in its publication entitled Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) and Biological Exposure Indices (BEIs), as amended from time to time; or

    • (b) an airborne hazardous substance, other than a chemical agent, that is hazardous to the health or safety of the employee.

  • (1.1) An employer shall ensure that an employee’s exposure to a concentration of airborne asbestos fibres is as close to zero as possible, but in any event the employer shall ensure that the concentration does not exceed the value for airborne asbestos fibres adopted by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists in its publication entitled Threshold Limit Values (TLV) and Biological Exposure Indices (BEI), as amended from time to time.

  • (2) If the concentration of an airborne chemical agent is likely to exceed the value referred to in paragraph (1)(a), or the concentration of airborne asbestos fibres is likely to exceed zero or that there is a concentration of an airborne hazardous substance that is hazardous to the health and safety of the employee, air samples shall be taken by a qualified person and the concentration of the chemical agent, airborne asbestos fibres or hazardous substance shall be determined

    • (a) in accordance with the standards set out in the United States National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health publication entitled NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods, 5th edition, dated 2003;

    • (b) in accordance with a method used to collect and analyze a representative sample of the chemical agent with accuracy and with detection levels at least equal to those which would be obtained if the standards referred to in paragraph (a) were used; or

    • (c) if no specific standards for the chemical agent are set out in the publication referred to in paragraph (a) and no method that meets the requirements of paragraph (b) exists, in accordance with a scientifically proven method used to collect and analyze a representative sample of the chemical agent.

  • (3) A record of each test made pursuant to subsection (2) shall be kept by the employer for three years after the date of the test.

  • (4) A record referred to in subsection (3) shall include

    • (a) the date, time and location of the test;

    • (b) the chemical agent for which the test was made;

    • (c) the sampling and testing method used;

    • (d) the result obtained; and

    • (e) the name and occupation of the qualified person who made the test.

  • SOR/88-200, s. 14
  • SOR/95-105, s. 26(F)
  • SOR/2015-143, ss. 37, 72, 73(F)
  • SOR/2017-132, s. 6
  • SOR/2019-246, s. 179
  •  (1) Subject to subsection (2), the concentration of an airborne chemical agent or combination of airborne chemical agents in a work place shall be less than 50 per cent of the lower explosive limit of the chemical agent or combination of chemical agents.

  • (2) Where a source of ignition may ignite the concentration of an airborne chemical agent or combination of airborne chemical agents in a work place, that concentration shall not exceed 10 per cent of the lower explosive limit of the chemical agent or combination of chemical agents.

 Compressed air, gas or steam shall not be used for blowing dust or other substances from structures, machinery or materials if

  • (a) there is a risk of any person being directly exposed to the jet or if a fire, explosion, injury or health hazard is likely to result from that use; or

  • (b) that use would result in either a concentration of an airborne chemical agent that is in excess of the values referred to in paragraph 7.20(1)(a) or subsection 7.20(1.1) or a concentration of an airborne chemical agent or combination of airborne chemical agents that is in excess of the maximum concentration set out in subsection 7.21(1) or (2).

  •  (1) Compressed air shall not be used for cleaning clothing contaminated with

    • (a) asbestos; or

    • (b) another airborne chemical agent with an exposure limit referred to in paragraph 7.20(1)(a) that is lower than 1 mg/m3.

  • (2) If compressed air is used to clean any other clothing,

    • (a) eye protectors that meet the standards set out in CSA Standard CAN/CSA-Z94.3-07, Eye and Face Protectors, as amended from time to time, shall be worn; and

    • (b) either the maximum compressed air pressure in the pipeline shall be 69 kPa (10 psi) or a safety nozzle limiting the air pressure to no more than 69 kPa (10 psi) shall be used.

  • SOR/2015-143, s. 38
 

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