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Occupational health and safety (OHS) officers issue orders to get regulated parties to follow OHS legislation.
Changes to the Occupational Health and Safety Act and revised regulations take effect on December 1, 2021. Read more about the changes to OHS laws.
The OHS Act gives officers authority to issue orders, which requires work site parties to take measures that result in compliance with the OHS legislation.
Orders are documented on a contact report. The contact report identifies:
Contact reports must be posted at a work site until all orders in the contact report are complied with.
Compliance orders note an observed non-compliance, and require action by a specific date. In some circumstances, OHS may grant an extension for compliance.
Officers have authority to stop use of equipment that’s observed to be unsafe, or that has the potential, in the officer’s opinion, to seriously injure workers. A stop use order is lifted when the requirements of the order are met.
When an OHS officer observes that work is being done in an unhealthy or unsafe manner for workers, the officer may issue a stop work order. This order requires that work is stopped immediately, and may apply to an entire work site, multiple work sites, or to certain activities or areas of a work site. A stop work order is lifted when the requirements of the order are met.
OHS directors have the same authorities as an OHS officer, but can also require work sites or a class of work sites to carry out certain actions to ensure health and safety of workers. These include, but are not limited to:
In case of any inconsistency between this information and the OHS Act, Regulation or Code, the legislation will always prevail.
Orders may be issued to any of the work site parties described in Part 1 of the OHS Act.
A report on compliance is one way that an OHS officer can verify compliance with the order. If one is required, the officer will communicate that when the order is issued.
Report compliance with an OHS order online using your MyAlberta Digital ID for Business account.
Connect with OHS:
Phone: 780-415-8690 (Edmonton)
Toll free: 1-866-415-8690
TTY: 780-427-9999 (Edmonton)
TTY: 1-800-232-7215
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