The Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 Review

The Occupational Health and Safety Council conducted a detailed study of The Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 and The Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 1996 and made recommendations, which have resulted in approximately 200 proposed amendments. Saskatchewan Labour is currently conducting a series of consultations on the proposed amendments to give people who may not have participated in council’s review the opportunity to provide input and to gather input on how the legislation should be drafted so that it is most effective.

The consultation process is taking place in three phases. Phase 1, which focused on those regulations that would have the greatest impact on the workplace injury rate, is now complete. The majority of these amendments come into effect October 9, 2007. The proposed amendment relating to firefighter rescue teams is pending further consultation with stakeholders.

Legislation expanding the definition of harassment under The Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 has also been passed and will come into effect October 1, 2007.

Amendments clarifying the role and responsibilities of supervisors in the healthcare sector with respect to occupational health and safety and enhancing requirements for transferring, lifting and repositioning patients have also been passed and will be published in the Saskatchewan Gazette and available on the Queen’s Printer website at http://www.qp.gov.sk.ca/ by the first week of October 2007. Amendments related to supervision will come into effect 60 days after publication in the Saskatchewan Gazette. Those related to lifting will take effect one year and 60 days after publication in the Gazette.

Once published in the Saskatchewan Gazette, amendments are also available on the Legislation page of the Labour website.  The Department of Labour continues to work with Saskatchewan Justice to finalize housekeeping and administrative amendments.

Phase 2 of the consultation process has also been completed. Proposed amendments are now under consideration. This round of consultations is focused on proposed amendments to areas such as:

• general duties of employers, supervisors, suppliers and contractors with regard to health and safety
• establishing occupational health committees and occupational health and safety programs
• occupational health and safety appeal procedures and timelines
• health and safety training and record-keeping 

Phase 3 of the consultations is scheduled to take place in the fall 2007.

Regularly updating Saskatchewan’s Occupational Health & Safety Act and regulations is an important component in the Department of Labour’s Action Plan for Healthy and Safe Workplaces. Since this plan was launched in 2003, workplace injury rates have decreased by over 18 per cent.

The proposed changes are designed to build on that success and further decrease the number of Saskatchewan workers who are injured or become ill on the job every year, while at the same time reducing the costs these injuries create for Saskatchewan businesses.

Public inquiries regarding these amendments can be directed to the Occupational Health and Safety Division of Saskatchewan Labour at 1-800-567-7233.