Atlantic Occupational Health and Safety Initiative

In 2014, the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Initiative was established. It represented a partnership between the Governments of Canada, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador, with advice from the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) and the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB).

The main objective of the initiative was to establish permanent occupational health and safety regulations in each of the Canada-NL and Canada-NS offshore areas that are appropriate for the unique hazards that exist in remote, offshore petroleum workplaces, and therefore ensure the health and safety of offshore employees and other personnel in the workplace. Accordingly, there are two regulations – one for each offshore area – which are nearly identical and will be mirrored by provincial regulations in both Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia.

Concurrent to the Atlantic OHS Initiative, the Frontier and Offshore Regulatory Renewal Initiative (FORRI) is working to modernize the regulatory framework for frontier and offshore oil and gas activities in Canada with the 'Framework Regulations'.

These initiatives aim to advance the already high standards for health and safety, environmental protection, and resource management in offshore oil and gas areas of Canada.

OHS Initiative Partnership

The OHS Initiative was a partnership between the Governments of Canada, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador, with advice from the regulators that have offshore oil and gas responsibilities under legislation and regulations.

Federally, the OHS initiative is spearheaded by Natural Resources Canada, with input and subject matter expertise provided by, the Labour Program of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and by Transport Canada. The regulations developed under this initiative must come on the recommendation of both the Minister of Natural Resources and the Minister of Labour. Additionally, the regulatory provisions that pertain to passengers in transit come on the recommendation of the Minister of Transport.

Provincially, the OHS initiative was led by the departments responsible for occupational health and safety (Nova Scotia Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration and the Department of Digital Government and Service NL). The Ministers for these Departments have oversight responsibility for the new OHS section of the Accord Acts and the regulations made under these sections. The Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables and the NL Department of Industry, Energy and Technology, whose Ministers retain provincial oversight of the remainder of the Accord legislation in each province, were contributing partners to the initiative.

The C-NLOPB and the CNSOPB have been regulator partners in the initiative, providing technical expertise and support to governments.

Background

On December 31, 2014, amendments to the federal Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act and the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act and their mirror provincial versions (also referred to as the Accord Acts) came into force. These changes established in law a new occupational health and safety regime in Canada’s Atlantic offshore area. The purpose of the new regime is to prevent accidents and injury arising out of, linked to, or occurring during the course of employment in offshore petroleum related activities.

The new occupational health and safety regime for the Atlantic offshore is based on the following principles:

Offshore occupational health and safety laws provide workers with protection at least as good as that which exists for onshore workers
Protection of employee rights (to know, to participate, to refuse and to be protected from reprisal)
Support for an occupational health and safety culture that recognizes the shared responsibilities in the workplace
Comprehensive application to offshore petroleum activities and the transport of workers
An effective and efficient regulatory regime based on mirrored provincial and federal legislation and consistency between jurisdictions

In addition to the amendments to the Accord Acts, transitional regulations were temporarily put in place to support the occupational health and safety (OHS) provisions in the Accord Acts while new OHS regulations were being developed.

CONTACT US

Offshore Petroleum Management Division (OPMD)

Kim Phillips
Senior Regulatory Officer
Natural Resources Canada
580 Booth Street, 17-A2-1
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0E4
kim.phillips@canada.ca

OHS Regulations

Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador and Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Area Occupational Health and Safety Regulations

The following regulations have been published in the Canada Gazette, Part II on December 22, 2021 and are available on the Justice Laws Website.

Early Engagement

Early Engagement Through the Regulatory Development Process

The OHS Initiative Partners were committed to meaningful and transparent engagement with stakeholders, Indigenous groups, and the public. The policy intent and draft regulations were subject to a comprehensive engagement and consultation process.

Stakeholders were engaged at numerous stages in the regulatory development process. The objective of early engagement was to obtain input on the development of policy intent and on the proposed regulatory requirements.

Stakeholders included the offshore workforce; labour unions; oil and gas operators and employers; regulators; certifying authorities; drilling, geophysical/seismic and diving contractors; helicopter and marine transfer service providers; industry associations; and, companies engaged in the offshore service and supply sector. Indigenous groups in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia were also given opportunities to engage in the regulatory development process.

NRCan and its provincial partners held engagement opportunities in Spring 2015, Summer 2016, and Summer and Fall 2017 on various topical areas to obtain input into the draft policy intent that would support the development of the regulations for both offshore areas. Engagement opportunities included written comment periods as well as in-person sessions held in both St. John’s, NL, and Halifax, NS. The input and advice received during these sessions helped to shape the final policy intent, which was presented at a follow-up engagement session in Spring 2018. This session provided an opportunity for government partners to demonstrate to stakeholders how feedback received in earlier engagements had been considered and incorporated into the consolidated policy intent, which would form the basis of the drafting instructions for the Regulations for each offshore area.

Past consultation and engagement activities that occured can be found below.

Content from external sources is not subject to the requirements of official languages, privacy and access to information.

Engagement on Initial Policy Intent

Policy Intent and Submitted Comments– Phase 1

Policy Intent and Submitted Comments – Phase 2

Offshore Diving Policy Intent and Submitted Comments

Policy Intent and Submitted Comments – Phase 3

Policy Intent and Submitted Comments – Phase 4

Early Engagement on Policy Intent

The development of the policy intent for the OHS Regulations is complete. All documentation and feedback related to the policy intent is posted below.

Note:

Some of the information below has been provided by external sources. The Government of Canada is not responsible for the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of the information supplied by external sources. Users wishing to rely upon this information should consult directly with the source of the information. Content provided by external sources is not subject to official languages, privacy and accessibility requirements.

Phase 1: Review the Draft Policy Intent document (PDF, 883 KB)