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Statutes of Newfoundland 1999


CHAPTER 28

AN ACT TO AMEND THE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT

(Assented to December 14, 1999)

Analysis

1. S.2(i) R&S
Definitions

2. S.5 Amdt.
Specific duties of employers

3. S.7 Amdt.
Specific duties of workers

4. S.14(1) Amdt.
Members of council

5. S.20 R&S
Medical practitioner

6. S.25(b) R&S
Duties of division

7. S.26.1 Added
Search with warrant

S.26.2 Added
Requirement to provide assistance

8. S.36(1) R&S
Codes of practice

9. S.37 R&S
Committees

10. S.58 R&S
Medical examinations

11. S.61(2)(a) R&S
Registration of workers

12. S.62 R&S
Medical reports

13. S.65(3) Added
Regulations

14. S.65.1 Added
Deviation from regulations

15. S.67 R&S
Offences

16. S.69 Added
Powers of court on conviction
S.70 Added
Limitation period

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:


RSN1990 cO-3

1. Paragraph 2(i) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(i) "officer" means an occupational health and safety officer appointed under this Act and includes a medical practitioner providing services under section 20 while he or she is providing those services;

 

2. Paragraph 5(e) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(e) shall ensure that his or her workers are given operating instruction in the use of devices and equipment provided for their protection;

 

3. Section 7 of the Act is amended by adding immediately after paragraph (a) the following:

(a.1) shall use devices and equipment provided for his or her protection in accordance with the instructions for use and training provided with respect to the devices and equipment;

 

4. Subsection 14(1) of the Act is amended by striking out the words "Workers' Compensation Commission" and substituting the words "Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission".

 

5. Section 20 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Medical practitioner

20. (1) The minister may obtain the services of a medical practitioner licensed to practice medicine in a province or territory of Canada who has training and experience in occupational health and safety.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the minister may, where the services of a medical practitioner are required under this Act, obtain the services of a qualified medical practitioner in the province who does not have training and experience in occupational health and safety.

 

6. Paragraph 25(b) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(b) shall either alone or in conjunction with the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission, another department of the government, or an agency, prepare morbidity and accident statistics of workers and self-employed persons.

 

7. The Act is further amended by adding immediately after section 26 the following:

26.1 (1) Where the assistant deputy minister or an officer acting under this Act believes on reasonable grounds that a person is contravening or has contravened this Act the assistant deputy minister or an officer may, with a warrant issued under subsection (2), enter a workplace and do those things referred to in section 26.

(2) A provincial court judge or a justice of the peace who is satisfied on oath or affirmation that there are reasonable grounds for believing that a contravention of this Act is occurring or has occurred may issue a warrant authorizing the assistant deputy minister or officer or other person named in the warrant to enter the workplace and search for and inspect anything that will provide evidence with respect to a contravention of this Act and to do those things referred to in section 26.

Requirement to provide assistance

26.2  The owner or operator of a workplace and a person found there shall give the assistant deputy minister or officer reasonable help to enable the assistant deputy minister or officer to carry out his or her duties and functions under this Act and shall provide the information that the assistant deputy minister or officer may reasonably require.

 

8. Subsection 36(1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Codes of practice

36. (1) The minister may require

(a) all employers or principal contractors;

(b) a group or class of employers or principal contractors; or

(c) an employer or principal contractor

to establish a code of practice, or adopt a code of practice specified by the minister.

(1.1) The minister shall sign a copy of a code he or she requires to be established or adopted under section (1) and the signed copy constitutes the official version of the code for all purposes for which the code may be required to be admitted in evidence in a judicial or other proceeding.

(1.2) The minister shall publish in the gazette a notice of a requirement to establish or adopt a code under paragraph (1)(a) or (b).

 

9. Section 37 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Committees

37. Where 10 or more workers are employed at a workplace, the employer shall establish an occupational health and safety committee to monitor the health, safety and welfare of the workers employed at the workplace.

 

10. Section 58 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Medical examinations

58. A medical practitioner whose services the minister has obtained under section 20 may arrange, with a worker's consent, to have the worker medically examined by another medical practitioner in order to determine

(a) the extent of an injury suffered by a worker in the course of his or her occupation; or

(b) whether a worker is suffering from a disease that is related to the worker's occupation.

 

11. Paragraph 61(2)(a) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(a) may require the worker to have a medical examination of the kind and frequency determined by a medical practitioner whose services the minister has obtained under section 20;

 

12. Section 62 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Medical reports

62. (1) Where a medical practitioner

(a) has attended a worker who became ill or was injured while engaged in an occupation; or

(b) has performed a medical examination under section 58,

the medical practitioner shall, upon the request of a medical practitioner whose services the minister has obtained under section 20, give him or her the medical reports of the worker that he or she may require.

(2) Notwithstanding the Hospitals Act, a hospital shall, upon the request of a medical practitioner whose services the minister has obtained under section 20, give him or her those hospital records prepared by the staff of the hospital that he or she may require that relate to medical treatment given to a worker who became ill or was injured while engaged in an occupation.

 

13. Section 65 of the Act is amended by adding immediately after subsection (2) the following:

(3) The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may in addition to or instead of regulations made under subsection (1) adopt by reference and constitute as regulations the whole or part or provisions of a code adopted or standards fixed, with or without modification, and including amendments, by the Canadian Standards Association, or another standards organization acceptable to the Lieutenant-Governor in Council.

(4) A certificate of the minister that a document is a copy of a code or standard referred to in subsection (1) or an extract from, a modification of, or an amendment to, a code or standard is without further proof presumptive evidence of the content of that code or standard, or extract or amendment.

 

14. The Act is amended by adding immediately after section 65 the following:

Deviation from regulations

65.1 (1) Where an application is made in writing to the minister for authorization to deviate at a workplace from a provision of the regulations, the minister may authorize the deviation where the minister is satisfied that the deviation affords protection for the health and safety of workers equal to or greater than the protection prescribed by the regulations from which the deviation is requested.

(2) In applying a regulation for which a deviation under subsection (1) is authorized, a deviation and any terms and conditions authorized under this section shall, while the deviation is in effect, be substituted for the prescription or requirement in the regulations.

(3) The minister may, at his or her initiative or upon application, reconsider, confirm, vary, revoke or suspend his or her decision regarding a deviation at any time when information is produced that, had it been known when the request for the deviation was determined previously, would reasonably be expected to have resulted in a different decision from the one made at that time.

 

15. Section 67 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Offences

67. (1) A person who

(a) contravenes this Act or the regulations;

(b) fails to comply with an order made under this Act or the regulations; or

(c) fails to follow a code of practice adopted or established under section 36,

is guilty of an offence.

(2) Where a person, other than a corporation, is convicted of an offence under subsection (1), he or she is liable to a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $250,000 or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 12 months or to both a fine and imprisonment.

(3) Where a corporation is convicted of an offence under subsection (1), the corporation is liable to a fine of not less than $2,000 and not more than $250,000.

(4) In addition to a fine imposed under subsection (2) or (3) the court may impose a fine not exceeding $25,000 for each day during which the offence continues.

 

16. The Act is amended by adding immediately after section 68 the following:

Powers of court on conviction

69. (1) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this Act, in addition to another punishment that may be imposed, the court may, having regard to the nature of the offence and the circumstances surrounding its commission, make an order

(a) directing the offender to publish, in the manner directed, the facts relating to the offence;

(b) directing the offender to pay to the minister, in the manner directed, an amount for the purpose of public education in the

(i) safe conduct of the activity in relation to which the offence was committed, and

(ii) duties and responsibilities of employers and workers under sections 5 and 7 of this Act;

(c) on application by the minister made within 3 years after the date of conviction, directing the offender to submit to the minister the information with respect to the activities of the offender that the court considers appropriate in the circumstances;

(d) directing the offender to perform community service, subject to the reasonable conditions that may be imposed by the order;

(e) directing the offender to provide a bond or pay an amount of money into court that will ensure compliance with an order made under this section; and

(f) requiring the offender to comply with the other reasonable conditions that the court considers appropriate in the circumstances for securing the offender's good conduct and for preventing the offender from repeating the same offence or committing other offences.

(2) Where a person fails to comply with an order made under paragraph (1)(a) directing the publication of the facts relating to the offence, the minister may publish the facts in compliance with the order and recover the costs of publication from that person.

(3) Where the court makes an order under paragraph (1)(b) directing a person to pay an amount for the purpose of education or the minister incurs publication costs under subsection (2), the amount or costs constitutes a debt due to the Crown.

(4) An order made under subsection (1) comes into force on the day on which it is made or on another day that the court may order and shall not continue in force for more than 3 years after that day.

Limitation period

70. A prosecution under this Act or the regulations shall be started within 2 years from the date on which the offence is alleged to have been committed.

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