Canada–Nova Scotia Offshore Area Occupational Health and Safety Regulations — 109
Means of protection 109 (1) Every employer must ensure that whichever of the following means of fall protection is most appropriate in the circumstances is provided whenever a person at a workplace under its control is in a location referred to in section 108 : (a) a guard-rail; (b) temporary flooring; (c) a travel restraint system that conforms to and has been selected in accordance with — and every component of which conforms to and has been selected in accordance with — all applicable CSA Group standards in the Z259 series; (d) a fall-arrest system that conforms to and has been selected in accordance with — and every component of which conforms to and has been selected in accordance with — all applicable CSA Group standards in the Z259 series; or (e) a safety net that, unless it is to be used in or around the helicopter landing deck area of a marine installation or structure, conforms to ANSI/American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) standard A10.11, Safety Requirements for Personnel Nets and has been installed, inspected and tested in accordance with that standard. Occupational health and safety program (2) Every occupational health and safety program must (a) set out factors, including efficacy and feasibility, to be considered by the employer in determining the most appropriate means of fall protection for the purpose of subsection (1); (b) address the assembly, maintenance, inspection, use and disassembly, as the case may be, of all means of fall protection provided and their components, including by establishing a schedule for their inspection; and (c) if fall-arrest systems are to be provided at the workplace, address the risks associated with the potential for swing as a result of anchorage placement when a fall-arrest system is being used. Fall-arrest system required (3) Despite subsection (1) and paragraph (2)(a), the employer must ensure that a fall-arrest system described in paragraph (1)(d) is provided to every person (a) who is on a fixed ladder more than 6 m in length; (b) who is on an elevating work platform , as defined in section 103 ; or (c) who uses a work-positioning system. Use (4) The employer must ensure that any means of protection referred to in paragraphs (1)(c) to (e) that it provides is used in accordance with the standards referred to in those paragraphs and, in the case of a fall-arrest system provided to a person referred to in paragraph (3)(b), is secured to an anchorage point that is approved by the platform’s manufacturer or a professional engineer. Safety net (5) The employer must ensure that any safety net provided (a) is positioned as close as feasible to, and in any case no further than 4.6 m below, the area from which there is a risk of a fall; (b) extends at least 2.4 m beyond that area on all sides or, if the area is a gangway, at least 1.8 m beyond both sides; (c) is positioned and maintained so that its maximum deflection does not permit any portion of a person who falls into it to come into contact with any other surface; (d) is kept free of debris, obstructions or intervening objects that could be struck by a person falling into it; and (e) is, if connected to another safety net, connected using splice joints that are at least as strong as the weakest of the nets. Components (6) The employer must ensure that (a) all anchorages used in a means of fall protection are capable of withstanding the following forces in any direction in which the force may be applied: (i) 22 kN, in the case of non-engineered anchorages, and (ii) twice the maximum arresting force anticipated, in the case of engineered anchorages; (b) any self-retracting device used in a means of fall protection is (i) anchored above the user’s head, unless the manufacturer’s instructions allow for a different anchorage location, and (ii) used in a manner that (A) minimizes the hazards of swinging, and (B) limits the distance that a user who fell would drop to less than 1.2 m; and (c) any lanyard used in a fall-arres