Alert First Aid

Alberta Legislation

Alberta Fire Safety

This material has been extracted from the Acts and Regulations of the Province to help students understand the subject. It is not an official source of information and must not be used for any other purpose.

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE 2009

Part 7 Emergency Preparedness and Response

Emergency response plan
115(1) An employer must establish an emergency response plan for responding
to an emergency that may require rescue or evacuation.
115(2) An employer must involve affected workers in establishing the
emergency response plan.
115(3) An employer must ensure that an emergency response plan is current.

Contents of plan
116 An emergency response plan must include the following:
(a) the identification of potential emergencies;
(b) procedures for dealing with the identified emergencies;
(c) the identification of, location of and operational procedures for
emergency equipment;
(d) the emergency response training requirements;
(e) the location and use of emergency facilities;
(f) the fire protection requirements;
(g) the alarm and emergency communication requirements;
(h) the first aid services required;
(i) procedures for rescue and evacuation;
(j) the designated rescue and evacuation workers.

Rescue and evacuation workers
117(1) An employer must designate the workers who will provide rescue
services and supervise evacuation procedures in an emergency.
117(2) An employer must ensure that designated rescue and emergency workers
are trained in emergency response appropriate to the work site and the potential
emergencies identified in the emergency response plan.
117(3) The training under subsection (2) must include exercises appropriate to
the work site that simulate the potential emergencies identified in the emergency
response plan.
117(4) The training exercises referred to in subsection (3) must be repeated at the intervals required to ensure that the designated rescue and evacuation workers are competent to carry out their duties.

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Equipment
118(1) An employer must provide workers designated under section 117 with
personal protective clothing and equipment appropriate to the work site and the
potential emergencies identified in the emergency response plan.
118(2) Workers who respond to an emergency must wear and use personal
protective clothing and equipment appropriate to the work site and the
emergency.

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Part 8 Entrances, Walkways, Stairways and Ladders

Entrances, Walkways, Stairways

Safe entry and exit
119(1) An employer must ensure that every worker can enter a work area safely
and leave a work area safely at all times.
119(2) An employer must ensure that a work area’s entrances and exits are in
good working order.
119(3) An employer must ensure that a work area’s entrances and exits are free
from materials, equipment, accumulations of waste or other obstructions that
might endanger workers or restrict their movement.
119(4) An employer must ensure that, if a worker could be isolated from a
primary escape route,
(a) there is a ready, convenient and safe secondary means of escape from
the work area, and
(b) the secondary escape route is readily useable at all times.
119(5) An employer must ensure that all workers are familiar with escape routes
from the work area.

Doors
120(1) An employer must ensure that doors to and from a work area can be
opened without substantial effort and are not obstructed.
120(2) An employer must ensure that a door used to enter or leave an enclosed
area that poses a hazard to workers entering the area
(a) is kept in good working order, and
(b) has a means of opening it from the inside at all times.
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Walkways, runways and ramps
121(1) An employer must ensure that a walkway, runway or ramp
(a) is strong enough to support the equipment and workers who may use
it,
(b) is at least 600 millimetres wide,
(c) is wide enough to ensure the safe movement of equipment and
workers, and
(d) has the appropriate toe boards and guardrails required by Part 22.
121(2) An employer must ensure that the surface of a walkway, runway or ramp
has sufficient traction to allow workers to move on it safely.

Stairways
122(1) An employer must ensure that
(a) the width of the treads and the height of the rise of a stairway are
uniform throughout its length, and
(b) the treads of a stairway are level.
122(2) An employer must ensure that
(a) a stairway with 5 or more risers has the appropriate handrail required
by this Code, and
(b) a stairway with open sides has a handrail and an intermediate rail or
equivalent safeguard on each open side.
122(3) An employer must ensure that temporary stairs are at least 600
millimetres wide.

Handrails on stairways
123(1) This section applies to stairways with 5 or more risers.
123(2) An employer must ensure that a stairway is equipped with a handrail
that
(a) extends the entire length of the stairway,
(b) is secured and cannot be dislodged,
(c) is between 800 millimetres and 920 millimetres above the front edge
of the treads, and
(d) is substantial and constructed of lumber that is not less than
38 millimetres by 89 millimetres or material with properties the same
as or better than those of lumber.

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123(3) An employer must ensure that posts supporting a handrail
(a) are spaced not more than 3 metres apart at their vertical centres, and
(b) are constructed of lumber that is not less than 38 millimetres by 89
millimetres or materials with properties the same as or better than those of lumber.

Ladders — General
Restriction on use
124 An employer must ensure that workers do not use a ladder to enter or
leave an elevated or sub level work area if the area has another safe and
recognizable way to enter or leave it.

Prohibition on single rail
125 A person must not make a ladder by fastening cleats across a single rail or
post.

Prohibition on painting
126(1) Subject to subsection (2), a person must not paint a wooden ladder.
126(2) A wooden ladder may be preserved with a transparent protective
coating.

Use near energized electrical equipment
127 An employer must ensure that a ladder used during the servicing of
energized or potentially energized electrical equipment is made of nonconductive
material.

Ladders on extending booms
128(1) An employer must ensure that
(a) if a ladder is a permanent part of an extending boom on powered
mobile equipment, no worker is on the ladder during the articulation,
extension or retraction of the boom, and
(b) if outriggers are incorporated in the equipment to provide stability,
no worker climbs the ladder until the outriggers are deployed.
128(2) Subsection (1)(a) does not apply to professional fire fighters working on
fire fighting equipment.

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Crawl Board or Roof Ladder

Safe use
129 An employer must ensure that a crawl board or roof ladder used for roof
work
(a) is securely fastened by hooking the board or ladder over the ridge of
the roof or by another equally effective means, and
(b) is not supported by an eaves trough.

Fixed Ladders

Design criteria
130(1) An employer must ensure that a fixed ladder installed on or after
April 30, 2004 meets the requirements of PIP Standard STF05501 (February 2002),
Fixed Ladders and Cages, published by the Construction Industry Institute.
130(2) Despite the standards referenced in PIP Standard STF05501, an employer may
(a) use applicable Canadian material and process standards if the
employer ensures that the fixed ladder is designed and installed in
accordance with established engineering principles, and
(b) allow the inside diameter of a cage hoop to be as great as 760
millimetres.
130(3) If a fixed ladder is made of a material other than steel, the employer must
ensure that the design is certified by a professional engineer as being as strong as or stronger than that required by PIP Standard STF05501.
130(4) The employer must ensure that a self closing double bar safety gate, or
equally effective barrier, is provided at ladderway floor openings and platforms
of fixed ladders installed on or after April 30, 2004.
130(5) Subsection (4) does not apply at landings.
130(6) Section 327 applies to an access ladder attached to a scaffold.

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Fixed ladders in manholes
131 Despite section 130, fixed ladders used in preâ€cast reinforced concrete
manhole sections installed on or after July1, 2009 must meet the requirements of
ASTM Standard C478 07, Standard Specification for Reinforced Concrete Manhole Sections.

Rest platform exemption
132 If each worker working on a drilling rig or service rig on a fixed ladder is
equipped with and wears a climb assist device that complies with the
manufacturer’s specifications or specifications certified by a professional
engineer, an employer is not required to
(a) provide the ladder with rest platforms, or
(b) have the side rails extend not less than 1050 millimetres above the
point at which the workers get on or off.

Portable Ladders
Prohibition
133(1) A worker must not perform work from either of the top two rungs, steps
or cleats of a portable ladder unless the manufacturer’s specifications allow the
worker to do so.
133(2) Despite subsection (1), a worker may work from either of the top two
rungs, steps or treads of a stepladder,
(a) if the stepladder has a railed platform at the top, or
(b) if the manufacturer’s specifications for the stepladder permit it.
Constructed portable ladder
134(1) An employer must ensure that a constructed portable ladder
(a) is constructed of lumber that is free of loose knots or knot holes,
(b) with a length of 5 metres or less has side rails constructed of lumber
measuring not less than 38 millimetres by 89 millimetres,
(c) more than 5 metres long has side rails constructed of lumber
measuring not less than 38 millimetres by 140 millimetres,
(d) has side rails that are not notched, dapped, tapered or spliced,
(e) has side rails at least 500 millimetres apart at the bottom, and
(f) has rungs that are
(i) constructed of lumber measuring not less than 21 millimetres by
89 millimetres,
(ii) held by filler blocks or secured by a single continuous wire, and

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(iii) uniformly spaced at a centre to centre distance of 250 millimetres
to 300 millimetres.
134(2) An employer must ensure that a twoâ€way constructed portable ladder
that is wide enough to permit traffic in both directions at the same time,
(a) has a centre structural rail along the length of the ladder,
(b) is at least one metre wide, and
(c) is constructed of materials that are substantial enough in size to
accommodate the maximum intended load.

Manufactured portable ladder
135 An employer must ensure that a portable ladder manufactured on or after
July1, 2009 meets the requirements of
(a) CSA Standard CAN3 Z11 M81 (R2005), Portable Ladders,
(b) ANSI Standard A14.1 2007, American National Standard for Ladders —
Wood — Safety Requirements,
(c) ANSI Standard A14.2 2007, American National Standard for Ladders —
Portable Metal — Safety Requirements, or
(d) ANSI Standard A14.5 2007, American National Standard for Ladders —
Portable Reinforced Plastic — Safety Requirements.

Securing and positioning
136 A worker must ensure that
(a) a portable ladder is secured against movement and placed on a base
that is stable,
(b) the base of an inclined portable ladder is no further from the base of
the wall or structure than oneâ€quarter of the distance between the
base of the ladder and the place where the ladder contacts the wall,
and
(c) the side rails of a portable ladder extend at least 1 metre above a platform, landing or parapet if the ladder is used as a means of access
to the platform, landing or parapet.

Fall protection
137(1) An employer must ensure that a worker working from a portable ladder
from which the worker may fall 3 metres or more uses a personal fall arrest
system.
137(2) Subsection (1) does not apply while the worker is moving up or down the
portable ladder.

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137(3) Despite subsection (1), if it is not reasonably practical to use a personal
fall arrest system, a worker may work from a portable ladder without fall
protection if
(a) the work is a light duty task of short duration at each location,
(b) the worker’s centre of balance is at the centre of the ladder at all times
even with an arm extended beyond the side rails of the ladder, and
(c) the worker maintains threeâ€point contact whenever the worker extends an arm beyond a side rail.