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New Brunswick Safe Workplaces: The Right to a Safe and Healthy Workplace Regulations respecting workers' right to a safe and healthy workplace address only certain workplace hazards. Not all workplace hazards are regulated, and in the various jurisdictions, hazards are regulated differently. Here is a sample of common workplace hazards and the regulations meant to limit or eliminate those hazards. Compare the regulations in New Brunswick with regulations in the other provinces and territories.
Ergonomic hazards in the office can cause musculo skeletal injury (MSI) or repetitive strain injury (RSI). The injury "carpel tunnel syndrome" is an example. Regulations followed by the employer are meant to protect office workers from MSI. What is the regulation on MSI respecting workers' right to a safe and healthy workplace? Only Saskatchewan and British Columbia have regulations on the prevention of MSI in the workplace. The federal workplace jurisdiction and Manitoba will be passing ergonomics regulations soon.
Two main health effects of working with noise are hearing loss and stress. Workplace noise can be caused by traffic, pneumatic tools, power tools, machinery, ventilation systems, humans and animals, for example. Regulations followed by the employer are meant to protect workers from too much noise. What is the regulation on noise respecting workers' right to a safe and healthy workplace? Noise exposure limits in New Brunswick workplaces are found in the General Regulation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. An employer must ensure that workers are not working with noise levels above the limit set in the regulation. The limit is 85 decibels for an 8 hour shift.
Warning signs have to mark areas where the noise level is above 85 decibels. If the worker works with noise for more than 8 hours in a 24 hour period, or less than 8 hours in a 24 hour period, then the employer has to control the noise level according to the precise noise levels and work hours set in the Noise Exposure Regulation. If the noise level is higher than the legal limit, then the employer supplies the worker with hearing protection.
Regulations followed by the employer are meant to protect workers from hazardous materials, like workplace chemicals. What is the regulation on hazardous materials respecting workers' right to a safe and healthy workplace? Regulations in every province, territory, and in the federal workplace jurisdiction state that employers must educate and train workers on certain hazardous workplace materials. These materials are "classified", or named, in the Workplace Hazardous Material Information System (WHMIS). Click here for more information on WHMIS.
Some workplace materials that might be hazardous are not classified under WHIMS. These materials include cosmetics, pesticides, and objects made of wood. Hazardous materials classified under WHMIS include compressed gas, flammable and combustible materials, oxidizing materials, poisonous and infectious materials, corrosive materials and dangerously reactive materials. Each comes with a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) and a WHMIS warning label.
The MSDS and the WHMIS warning label explain the dangers of the material and how to work safely with it. In order to better protect the worker, the employer trains the worker in reading the WHMIS label and data sheet, on safely using the hazardous material, and on responding to a spill, release, fire or poisoning.
Working alone is not always hazardous, but it can be hazardous, especially when there is an injury or other emergency. Working alone is also hazardous when work is done with the public and there's a possibility of violence. Regulations followed by the employer are meant to protect workers from the hazards of working alone and from workplace violence. What is the regulation on working alone and workplace violence respecting workers' right to a safe and healthy workplace? New Brunswick's regulation on working alone is found in the Code of Practice for Working Alone Regulation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. According to the regulation, the employer sets a "code of practice" that explains how a worker working alone can be protected from the risks in the work. The code of practice names the risks; states the procedure or directions to take to minimize the risks; and details the emergency plan for a worker working alone. A worker working alone and her or his supervisor are trained in the code of practice's procedures and emergency plan. In most cases, it is illegal in New Brunswick for workers under 15 years old to work alone. |
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