February 2023 OHS Update

by Kasa Consulting

An organizations get back to having visitors, contractors, and external parties visiting their locations, it is a good opportunity to review your company’s orientation and check-in and out process and review this process with your employees. This has not been completed on a regular basis for several organizations and therefore getting back into this routine can ensure that the company is doing their due diligence while being responsible for others coming to your location.

There are several updates to Alberta’s OHS code to come in March 31, 2023; as previously noted, it is suggested to review the available resources to identify which are applicable to your organization. They can be found through this link: OHS Publication. Upcoming legislation changes (alberta.ca). In addition, here are the monthly areas identified as
Change highlights: First Aid – Part 11 in the OHS Code
Change highlights: Oil and gas wells – Part 37 in the OHS Code
Incident reporting and investigation
Health and safety programs
Participation in health and safety for small business owners and workers
Health and safety committees and representatives

First aid training
First aid training is now required to meet the CSA standard to align with the national standard; this is to demonstrate harmonizing of the first aid requirements in Canada. Another change that will affect several organizations is that a first aider is not required to get a new certificate or complete a new first aid before their valid first aid certificate is expired. This means that a first aider is not required to complete the course again from an approved training provider until the certificate expires.
Another key point to take into consideration is that Table 4 to 7 in Schedule 2 of the OHS Code will change to align with the national standards with the required number of first aiders and the required first aid equipment and supplies. It is suggested to review these changes and verify that your organization has met these standards to continue compliance.

Incident Reporting and Investigation
Reporting incidents internally is just one part of the overall incident reporting process. Another key aspect of the reporting process is to notify external parties, which may include OHS. There are the following instances where OHS needs to be notified of an incident:
• Worker fatality
• A workplace, injury, illness, or incident that results in a worker fatality, a worker being admitted to hospital, or a worker injury or illness that the employer believes may lead to hospital admission
• A worker is overexposed to radiation
• An unplanned or uncontrolled explosion/fire/flood; a crane, derrick or hoist collapse or upset, or a full or partial building or structural collapse or failure where a person is injured or become ill, or, there are not related injuries or illnesses
• A mine or mine site incident
• A potentially serious incident

An organization can either call 1-866-415-8690 as soon as practicable for some instances, or report online on oirportal.labour.alberta.ca .