Occupational Health and Safety Code

The Occupational Health and Safety Code provides specific technical health and safety rules and requirements for Alberta workplaces.

Alberta Regulation 191/2021

Part 12 General Safety Precautions

Contents

 

Housekeeping

 

185

An employer must ensure that a work site is kept clean and free from materials or equipment that could cause workers to slip or trip.

 

Lighting

 

186(1)

An employer must ensure that lighting at a work site is sufficient to enable work to be done safely.

186(2)

An employer must ensure that a light source above a working or walking surface is protected against damage.

186(3)

An employer must ensure that there is emergency lighting at a work site if workers are in danger if the normal lighting system fails.

186(4)

Emergency lighting must generate enough light so that workers can

(a) leave the work site safely,

(b) start the necessary emergency shut‑down procedures, and

(c) restore normal lighting.

 

Pallets and storage racks

 

187(1)

An employer must ensure that pallets used to transport or store materials or containers are loaded, moved, stacked, arranged and stored in a manner that does not create a danger to workers.

187(2)

An employer must ensure that racks used to store materials or equipment

(a) are designed, constructed and maintained to support the load placed on them, and

(b) are placed on firm foundations that can support the load.

187(3)

A worker must report any damage to a storage rack to an employer as quickly as practicable.

187(4)

The employer and the workers at a work site must take all reasonable steps to prevent storage racks from being damaged to the extent that their integrity as structures is compromised.

 

Placement of roofing materials

 

187.1(1)

An employer must ensure that supplies and roofing materials stored on the roof of a residential building under construction are located not less than 2 metres from a roof edge.

187.1(2)

An employer must ensure that the weight of supplies and roofing materials referred to in subsection (1) is uniformly distributed.

 

Restraining hoses and piping

 

188(1)

An employer must ensure that a hose or piping and its connections operating under pressure are restrained if workers could be injured by its movement if it fails or if it is disconnected.

188(2)

Despite subsection (1), if a hose or piping and its connections operating at a working pressure of 2000 kilopascals or more cannot be restrained, in order to prevent a failure that could injure workers, an employer must ensure that the hose or piping and its connections are designed, installed, used, inspected and maintained

(a) in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications, or

(b) in accordance with specifications certified by a professional engineer.

188(3)

Subsection (1) does not apply to properly maintained fire hoses used by competent workers.

 

Securing equipment and materials

 

189

If a worker may be injured if equipment or material is dislodged, moved, spilled or damaged, both the employer and the worker must take all reasonable steps to ensure the equipment or material is contained, restrained or protected to eliminate the potential danger.

 

Skeleton structures

 

190(1)

An employer must ensure that the erection drawings and procedures for a project that includes connecting the structural parts of a skeleton structure are prepared and certified by a professional engineer.

190(2)

The erection drawings and procedures referred to in subsection (1) must

(a) show the sequence in which the structure is to be erected,

(b) show the horizontal and vertical placement of base structures and footings, and

(c) ensure that the structure is stable during assembly.

190(3)

If the erection procedures referred to in subsection (1) must be changed because of site conditions or unanticipated loads on the skeleton structure, the employer must ensure that the changed, additional or alternative procedures are prepared and certified by a professional engineer before they are implemented.

190(4)

An employer must ensure that a competent worker at a work site where a skeleton structure is being erected

(a) coordinates the operation until the structure is permanently stabilized, and

(b) directs the removal of the temporary supporting structures.

 

Signallers

 

191(1)

If this Code requires signals to be given by a designated signaller, an employer must designate a competent worker to give the signals.

191(2)

An employer must ensure that, if the designated signaller uses hand signals, the signaller wears high‑visibility safety apparel that clearly identifies the worker as a designated signaller.

191(3)

A designated signaller using hand signals must wear the high‑visibility safety apparel required by the employer under subsection (2).

191(4)

Before giving a signal to proceed, a designated signaller must ensure that there are no hazards in the vicinity.

191(5)

If a signaller is designated, an equipment operator must take signals only from the designated signaller.

191(6)

An employer must ensure that only one designated signaller at a time gives signals to an equipment operator.

191(7)

Despite subsections (5) and (6), an equipment operator must take a “STOP” signal from a worker who is not a designated signaller.

191(8)

Despite subsections (5) and (6), if signals cannot be transmitted properly between a designated signaller and an equipment operator, an employer must ensure that

(a) additional designated signallers are available to transmit signals, or

(b) a means of ensuring clear and complete communication other than using designated signallers is provided.

 

Stabilizing masonry walls

 

192

An employer must ensure that temporary supporting structures

(a) are used to stabilize a masonry wall that is more than 2 metres high during its erection, and

(b) are not removed until the wall is permanently stabilized.

 

Tire servicing

 

193(1)

An employer must ensure that a competent worker services, inspects, disassembles and reassembles a tire or tire and wheel assembly in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications.

193(2)

An employer must ensure that the manufacturer’s service manuals for tires and wheels serviced by the employer are readily available to workers.

193(3)

An employer must ensure that a competent worker inflates a tire mounted on a split‑rim or locking ring wheel only if

(a) the wheel assembly is in a tire cage or is similarly restrained, and

(b) flying parts from split‑rim or locking ring failure or tire rupture can be contained.

193(4)

An employer must ensure that a worker uses a clamp‑on type of connector to inflate split‑rim and locking ring wheels.

193(5)

If a clamp‑on type of connector is used to inflate a tire, the employer must ensure that the worker

(a) uses an in‑line pressure gauge and positive pressure control, and

(b) inflates the tire from a safe position out of the immediate danger area.

193(6)

A person must not inflate a tire with a clamp‑on type of connector unless the person is in a safe position and out of the immediate danger area.

 

Vehicle traffic control

 

194(1)

If vehicle traffic at a work site is dangerous to workers on foot, in vehicles or on equipment, an employer must ensure that the traffic is controlled to protect the workers.

194(2)

An employer must ensure that a worker on foot and exposed to traffic wears high‑visibility safety apparel.

194(3)

A worker on foot and exposed to traffic must wear high‑visibility safety apparel.

194(4)

If a worker is designated by an employer to control traffic, the employer must ensure that the designated traffic controller wears high‑visibility safety apparel that

(a) clearly identifies the worker as a designated traffic controller, and

(b) is retroreflective if the worker is controlling traffic in the dark or visibility is poor.

194(5)

A worker designated to control traffic must wear high‑visibility safety apparel that complies with subsection (4).

194(6)

If a worker is designated by an employer to control traffic, the employer must ensure that the designated traffic controller uses a handheld signal light if it is dark or visibility is poor.

194(7)

If traffic on a public highway is dangerous to workers, an employer must protect the workers from the traffic using

(a) warning signs,

(b) barriers,

(c) lane control devices,

(d) flashing lights,

(e) flares,

(f) conspicuously identified pilot vehicles,

(g) automatic or remote‑controlled traffic control systems,

(h) designated persons directing traffic, or

(i) methods described in the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Canada (1998), and its updates, published up to and including June 30, 2009 by the Transportation Association of Canada.

 

Working on ice

 

195(1)

If a worker is to work on ice and the water beneath the ice is more than 1 metre deep at any point, an employer must ensure the ice will support the load to be placed on it.

195(2)

The employer must test the ice for the purposes of subsection (1)

(a) before work begins, and

(b) as often during the work as necessary to ensure the safety of the workers.