Supervision

Supervisors play an important role in promoting and maintaining workplace safety. Their words and actions demonstrate how they view and value health and safety.

Appropriate and effective supervision at any level of an organization is critical to eliminating or minimizing risks to protect workers. In New Brunswick, a supervisor is a person who supervises or directs the work of employees and can include owners, managers, superintendents, overseer, lead hands, foremen, department heads, and experienced employees designated by the employer to supervise work on a temporary basis.

Employer obligations with respect to supervision
Employers are ultimately responsible to ensure a healthy and safe workplace. One of the most important ways to do this is to ensure that employees are competently and sufficiently supervised.

A competent supervisor is defined as:

  • qualified, because of such factors as knowledge, training and experience, to do supervise work in a manner that will ensure the health and safety of persons,
  • knowledgeable about the provisions of the Act and the regulations that apply to the work being supervised, and
  • knowledgeable about the potential or actual danger to health or safety connected with the work being supervised.

Supervisor obligations
Supervisors have specific obligations under the OHS Act, toward the employees under their supervision and direction. They must:

  • Take every reasonable precaution to ensure their own health and safety and that of their employees
  • Comply with the Act and regulations and ensure their employees comply with them.
  • Co-operate with WorkSafeNB health and safety officers and comply with orders issued by officers.
  • Co-operate with the health and safety committee or health and safety representatives, if any
  • Acquaint employees with hazards related to their work
  • Provide information and instruction necessary for employees to work safely

What does competently supervised mean?
For employees to be competently supervised, employers must ensure that supervisors are qualified through training and/or experience for the work to be supervised and have access to and the sufficient knowledge to be able to understand and apply:

  • The NB Occupational Health and Safety Act and regulations that apply to the work of the employees under their supervision and direction
  • The company’s safety policy and health and safety program
  • Any health and safety procedures for hazards to which their employees are exposed
  • The protective equipment required to be used by employees under their supervision
  • Any other matters necessary to ensure the employees’ health and safety

With the training and experience they bring to the job and the knowledge provided to them by the employer, supervisors can then competently meet their obligations to acquaint, inform and instruct by making sure employees under their supervision*:

  • Are aware of the hazards and risks associated with different tasks they perform. For example:
    • Tell employees about the hazards of energized machinery
      • OR
    • Verify that the employees know about the hazards of energized machinery

  • Know how to do the work safely. For example:
    • Provide the lock out procedure for machines employees work with
      • OR
    • Verify that employees have received the lock out procedure for machines they work with.

  • Have received clear steps, verbally or in writing, on how to do tasks safely. For example:
    • Show the employee, step by step, how to lock out the machine.
      • OR
    • Verify the employee knows how to apply the procedure to lock out a machine.

* In some workplaces, shiftwork can mean that the ‘supervisor in charge’ and the employees who report to them vary. In these cases, both the employer and the supervisor must confirm that the employees have been acquainted, informed and instructed, as outlined above, to ensure their health and safety.

What does sufficiently supervised mean?
Providing adequate supervision can involve spending time on the shop floor, management by walking around, observations, the use of checklists, job shadowing or other methods such as (temporarily) delegating authority to an experienced employee if other work demands prevent the supervisor from being present during a specific project. How frequently a supervisor observes their employees performing tasks is a “sliding scale”. Factors to consider, when determining how much supervision is needed to ensure work is sufficiently supervised, include:

  1. The type of work being supervised. The greater the complexity, the closer the supervision needed (such as blasting operations versus office work).

  2. Availability of detailed, written instructions. The more detailed the instructions for tasks being performed, the less direct supervision is required (such as a task for which a written procedure is available versus a task with verbal instructions).

  3. The employees being supervised. The level of supervision will depend on employees’ skills and experience with the task; are employees competent? A new employee requires more direct supervision and so may an experienced employee performing an unfamiliar or infrequent task. At the same time, an experienced workforce can become complacent, necessitating enhanced (direct) supervision.

  4. The (potential) consequences and outcomes of the work being performed. The greater the likelihood of an incident and the more severe the potential injury, the greater the need for direct supervision (hazards and risk are normally higher in construction compared to office work).

Supervisors spending more time on the shop floor, looking for unsafe conditions, hazards or unsafe acts, and taking steps to promptly correct them will result in a safer workplace. During this time, supervisors can ensure:

  • Employees' performance meets safety expectations by correcting unsafe behaviours
  • That everyone has the tools and/or equipment they need and that the tools are properly maintained to carry out their work safely, and
  • New hazards that might result from changes in personnel, equipment, process or materials are identified and controlled before the change takes place.

As with any other management system in an organization (quality assurance, change management, project management), the responsibility to ensure competent and sufficient supervision begins with the employer, and then can be delegated downward to other designated staff. Sufficient supervision can best be achieved when employers put in place performance evaluations that consider effective supervision and regularly assess their supervisors’ competency. This should be done at least annually and any gaps identified during the evaluations should be addressed.

How supervisor behaviours influence the workplace safety culture
Supervisors are well-positioned to be safety champions, establishing safety as an organizational value. Performing regular safety activities can achieve a positive safety culture, but first and foremost, supervisors must ensure they themselves work safely (setting a good example for the employees).

Safety activities can include:

  • Performing inspections and investigations
  • Involving employees in health and safety decisions that impact their work
  • Participating on the health and safety committee
  • Delivering tool box or safety talks
  • Observing employees and reinforcing safe behaviours through positive feedback
  • Recognizing employees for identifying and reporting hazards, unsafe working conditions, near misses and incidents
  • Demonstrating that safety is at least as important as production and quality
  • Maintaining a daily journal or log book with safety results

Other specific situations in the Act or regulation requiring supervision
For the provisions listed below, supervisors have additional responsibilities:

  • Investigating and addressing a work refusal
  • Providing supervision to an employee who may have to use respiratory protective equipment
  • Erecting a structural framework
  • Blasting, when more than one blaster is involved in a blasting operation
  • Providing supervision to a person learning to operate a hoisting apparatus
  • Engineering inspection of a mobile crane
  • Apprenticing for electrical work , and when lifting, setting or removing poles, light standards or similar work
  • Diving operations
  • Logging and silviculture operations
  • Underground Mining (Reg. 96-105)
“their own”. “Incident trends in New Brunswick show that some supervisors have been seriously injured while carrying out work that they considered unsafe for their own employees. Supervisors must work safely to set a positive example for the employees they supervise. See the Hazard Alert in the Resources tab”
“protective equipment” means any piece of equipment or clothing designed to be used to protect the health or safety of an employee. This includes personal protective equipment (PPE), seat belt, straps for carrying storage batteries, mats, shields and insulted objects for working on electrical equipment but does not include safeguards.
“competent” means
  1. (a) qualified, because of such factors as knowledge, training and experience, to do assigned work in a manner that will ensure the health and safety of persons,
  2. (b) knowledgeable about the provisions of the Act and the regulations that apply to the assigned work, and
  3. (c) knowledgeable about potential or actual danger to health or safety connected with the assigned work
“For Safety Talks, pull down the menu beside the Type box under Publications, and click on Safety Talks. This will bring up a list of Safety Talks”

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT
S.N.B. 1983, c. O-0.2

Section 1 Definitions

1. In this Act

"Appeals Tribunal" means the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Tribunal established under the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission and Workers’ Compensation Appeals Tribunal Act ;

"Chief Compliance Officer" means the chief Compliance officer designated under section 5;

"Commission" means the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission established under the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission and Workers’ Compensation Appeals Tribunal Act;

"committee" means a joint health and safety committee established in accordance with this Act;

"construction" includes building, erection, alteration, repair, dismantling, demolition, structural maintenance, painting, moving, land clearing, earth moving, grading, excavating, street and highway building, concreting, equipment installation and alteration and the structural installation of construction components and materials in any form or for any purpose, and any work in connection therewith;

"contracting employer" means a person who through a contract, agreement or ownership, directs the activities of one or more employers";

"contractor" means

(a) a person who by contract undertakes all the work at a project site,

(b) an owner who undertakes all or part of the work at a project site, or

(c) an owner who by contract engages more than one person to undertake all or part of the work at a project site;

"discriminatory action" means any action by an employer or union that adversely affects an employee with respect to any terms or conditions of employment, opportunity for promotion or membership in a union, and includes the action of dismissal, layoff, suspension, demotion, transfer of job location, reduction in wages, change in hours of work or reprimand;

"employee" means

(a) a person employed at or in a place of employment, or

(b) a person at or in a place of employment for any purpose in connection therewith;

"employer" means a person who employs one or more employees or the person’s agent;

health and safety representative" means a health and safety representative elected under section 17 or designated under section 17.1;

"medical examination" means a medical examination satisfactory to the Commission;

"mine" means any work or undertaking for the purpose of opening up, proving, removing or extracting any metallic or non-metallic mineral or mineral bearing substance, rock earth, clay, sand or gravel;

"Minister" means the Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour;

"occupational disease" means any disease or illness or departure from normal health arising out of employment, and includes an industrial disease as defined by the Worker's Compensation Act ;

"officer" means an occupational health and safety officer appointed under section 5;

"owner" includes a trustee, receiver, mortgagee in possession or a tenant or a person for whose direct benefit on completion work is being done, but does not include a landlord who, under the terms of the lease, has transferred all responsibility for risks in relation to a place of employment;

"peace officer" Repealed. [S.N.B. 1990, c. 22, s. 26]

"place of employment" means any building, structure, premises, water or land where work is carried on by one or more employees, and includes a project site, a mine, a ferry, a train and any vehicle used or likely to be used by an employee;

"project site" means any building, structure, premises, water or land where construction is carried on;

"protective equipment" means any piece of equipment or clothing designed to be used to protect the health or safety of an employee;

"sub-contractor" means a person who by contract undertakes part of the work at a project site;

"supervisor" means a person who is authorized by an employer to supervise or direct the work of the employer’s employees;

"supplier" means any person who manufactures, supplies, sells, leases, distributes or installs any tool, equipment, machine, device or any biological, chemical or physical agent to be used by an employee;

"union" means

(a) a trade union as defined under the Industrial Relations Act,

(b) any organization other than a trade union referred to in paragraph (a) representing employees to whom this Act applies formed for purposes that include the regulation of relations between employers and employees that has a written constitution, rules or by-laws setting forth its objects and purposes and defining the conditions under which persons may be admitted as members thereof and continued in such membership.

[S.N.B. 1989, c. 28, s. 1; 1990, c. 22, s. 36; 1994, c. 70, s. 5; 1998, c. 41, s. 92; 2000, c. 26, s. 232; 2001, c. 35, s. 1; 2006, c. 16, s. 127; 2007, c. 10, s. 71; 2007, c. 12, s. 1; 2014, c. 49, s. 34; 2017, c. 63, s. 43; 2019, c. 2, s. 103; 2019, c. 38, s. 1]

DUTIES OF EMPLOYERS, OWNERS, CONTRACTORS, SUB-CONTRACTORS, SUPERVISORS, EMPLOYEES AND SUPPLIERS

Section 9 Duties of employer

9. (1) Every employer shall

(a) take every reasonable precaution to ensure the health and safety of its employees;

(b) comply with this Act, the regulations and any order made in accordance with this Act or the regulations; and

(c) ensure that its employees comply with this Act, the regulations and any order made in accordance with this Act or the regulations.

(2) Without limiting the generality of the duties under subsection (1), every employer shall

(a) ensure that the necessary systems of work, tools, equipment, machines, devices and materials are maintained in good condition and are of minimum risk to health and safety when used as directed by the supplier or in accordance with the directions supplied by the supplier;

(a.1) ensure that the place of employment is inspected at least once a month to identify any risks to the health and safety of its employees;

(b) acquaint an employee with any hazard in connection with the use, handling, storage, disposal and transport of any tool, equipment, machine, device or biological, chemical or physical agent;

(c) provide the information that is necessary to ensure an employee’s health and safety;

(c.1) provide the instruction that is necessary to ensure an employee’s health and safety;

(c.2) provide the training that is necessary to ensure an employee’s health and safety;

(c.3) ensure that work at the place of employment is competently supervised and that supervisors have sufficient knowledge of all of the following with respect to matters that are within the scope of the supervisor’s duties:

(i) this Act and any regulations under this Act that apply to the place of employment;

(ii) any safety policy for the place of employment;

(iii) any health and safety program for the place of employment;

(iv) any health and safety procedures with respect to hazards in connection with the use, handling, storage, disposal and transport of any tool, equipment, machine, device or biological, chemical or physical agent by employees who work under the supervisor’s supervision and direction;

(v) any protective equipment required to ensure the health and safety of the employees who work under the supervisor’s supervision and direction; and

(vi) any other matters that are necessary to ensure the health and safety of the employees who work under the supervisor’s supervision and direction;

(c.4) ensure that work at the place of employment is sufficiently supervised;

(d) provide and maintain in good condition such protective equipment as is required by regulation and ensure that such equipment is used by an employee in the course of work;

(e) co-operate with a committee, where such a committee has been established, a health and safety representative, where such a representative has been elected or designated, and with any person responsible for the enforcement of this Act and the regulations.

(3) An employer shall develop a program for the inspection referred to in paragraph (2)(a.1) with the joint health and safety committee, if any, or the health and safety representative, if any, and shall share the results of each inspection with the committee or the health and safety representative.

[S.N.B. 2001, c. 35, s. 3; 2007, c. 12, s. 2; 2013, c. 15, s. 4; 2019, c. 38, s. 4; 2022, c. 32, s. 5]

Section 9.1 Duties of supervisors

9.1 (1) Every supervisor shall

(a) take every reasonable precaution to ensure the health and safety of the employees who work under the supervisor’s supervision and direction;

(b) comply with this Act, the regulations and any order made in accordance with this Act or the regulations;

(c) ensure that the employees under the supervisor’s supervision and direction comply with this Act, the regulations and any order made in accordance with this Act or the regulations; and

(d) co-operate with

(i) a committee, if a committee has been established,

(ii) a health and safety representative, if a representative has been elected or designated, and

(iii) any person responsible for the enforcement of this Act and the regulations.

(2) Without limiting the generality of the duties under subsection (1), every supervisor shall

(a) acquaint the employees under the supervisor’s supervision and direction with any hazard in connection with the use, handling, storage, disposal and transport of any tool, equipment, machine, device, or biological, chemical or physical agent;

(b) provide the information that is necessary to ensure the health and safety of the employees under the supervisor’s supervision and direction; and

(c) provide the instruction that is necessary to ensure the health and safety of the employees under the supervisor’s supervision and direction.

[S.N.B. 2019, c. 38, s. 5]

RIGHT TO REFUSE

Section 21 Protection of employee's right

21. (1) An employee's right under section 19 to refuse to do any act is protected,

(a) if the employee has reported the employee’s concern to their supervisor under section 20,

(i) until remedial action recommended by the supervisor under section 20 is taken by the supervisor or employer to the employee's satisfaction, or

(ii) until the supervisor has advised the employee under section 20 to do that act;

(b) if the employee has referred the matter to a committee under section 20,

(i) until remedial action recommended by the committee under section 20 is taken by the employer to the employee's satisfaction, or

(ii) until the committee has advised the employee under section 20 to do that act;

(c) if the employee has referred the matter to an officer under section 20,

(i) until remedial action ordered by the officer under section 20 is taken by the employer to the officer's satisfaction, or

(ii) until the officer has advised the employee under section 20 to do that act, and

(d) if the employee has appealed the advice of an officer given under subsection 20(11) to the Chief Compliance Officer, until the decision of the Chief Compliance Officer is rendered.

(2) Where an employee has refused to do an act pursuant to section 19, the employer or supervisor shall not assign another employee to perform that act unless that other employee has been advised by the employer or supervisor of such refusal and the reasons therefor and of the employee’s rights under this Act.

[S.N.B. 2001, c. 35, s. 10; 2004, c. 4, s. 3; 2019, c. 38, s. 11; 2022, c. 32, s. 17]

General Regulation - Occupational Health and Safety Act
N.B. Reg. 91-191

Part VII PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

Section 46

46. (1) An employer shall implement a training program for an employee who may have to use, issue, test or maintain respiratory protective equipment or supervise an employee who may have to use respiratory protective equipment.

(2) An employer shall use clause 8 of CSA standard Z94.4-93 , "Selection, Use, and Care of Respirators" as a guide to the necessary content of the training program required by subsection (1).

[N.B. Reg. 2001-33, s. 20]

Part X CONSTRUCTION, TRAFFIC AND BUILDING SAFETY

Section 94.2 Structural Framework

94.2 (1) Where structural framework is being erected using structural steel or precast concrete, an employer shall ensure

(a) that drawings for the erection of the structural framework are prepared,

(b) that an engineer

(i) certifies the drawings referred to in paragraph (a), and

(ii) establishes safe procedures for ensuring the stability of the structural framework, and

(c) that a competent person, designated by the employer to supervise the erection of the structural framework,

(i) establishes the sequence for erecting the structural framework,

(ii) ensures the stability of the structural framework during its erection, and

(iii) is present on the project site until the structural framework is stabilized.

(2) If it becomes necessary to modify the procedures referred to in subparagraph (1)(b)(ii), an employer shall ensure that the procedures as modified are certified by an engineer.

(3) An employer shall ensure

(a) that employees engaged in the erection of the structural framework are instructed in the procedures referred to in subparagraph (1)(b)(ii), or as modified under subsection (2), and

(b) that the procedures referred to in subparagraph (1)(b)(ii), or as modified under subsection (2), are followed.

(4) An employer shall ensure that the drawings referred to in paragraph (1)(a) and the procedures referred to in subparagraph (1)(b)(ii), or as modified under subsection (2),

(a) are kept on the project site, and

(b) are made available to an officer on request.

(5) Where structural framework is being erected,

(a) an employer shall ensure that all persons not engaged in the erection of the structural framework are clear of the immediate work area and have been instructed to remain clear until the structural framework is stabilized, and

(b) any person not engaged in the erection of the structural framework shall remain clear of the immediate work area until the structural framework is stabilized,

unless adequate precautions have been taken to ensure the safety of all persons in the immediate work area.

[N.B. Reg. 96-61, s. 1]

Part XII EXPLOSIVES

Section 147 Control of Blasting Operation

147. (1) Subject to subsection 148(2), an employer shall ensure that a blasting operation is conducted by a blaster who holds an appropriate certificate of qualification issued under the Apprenticeship and Occupational Certification Act for the work involved.

(2) Where more than one blaster is involved in a blasting operation, an employer shall designate one of the blasters to supervise the blasting operation.

[N.B. Reg. 93-8, s. 2]

Part XV MATERIALS HANDLING EQUIPMENT AND PERSONNEL CARRYING EQUIPMENT

Section 210.1

210.1 (1) An employer shall ensure that a person who operates a hoisting apparatus is competent or is under the direct supervision of a competent person.

(2) No person shall operate a hoisting apparatus unless the person is competent or is under the direct supervision of a competent person.

[N.B. Reg. 98-78, s. 3]

Section 213.21

213.21 (1) An employer shall ensure that a mobile crane is inspected every twelve months by an engineer or a competent person who is supervised by an engineer.

(2) An engineer referred to in subsection (1) shall certify in writing that the inspection complies with the requirements of subsection (4) and that the crane is in safe working order.

(3) A certification under subsection (2) shall provide details on the conditions under which the mobile crane was inspected.

(4) An engineer referred to in subsection (1) shall ensure that the inspection under subsection (1), including a visual weld inspection, is conducted in accordance with the requirements of clause 5.3.5.2.1 of CSA standard Z150-20 , "Safety code on mobile cranes" or a standard offering equivalent or better protection.

(5) An employer may accept a certification from an engineer in another jurisdiction with respect to a mobile crane if the crane has been inspected and certified in that jurisdiction in accordance with subsection (2) and the certification would otherwise be valid under this section.

(6) An employer shall ensure that a copy of the certification provided under this section is accessible to the operator when in the cab and is available to an officer on request.

(7) An employer shall ensure that a mobile crane that

(a) does not have a certification that meets the requirements of subsection (2), is inspected and certified under this section no later than twelve months after the commencement of this provision, and

(b) has a certification that meets the requirements of subsection (2), is inspected and certified no later than twelve months after the date of the certification.

[N.B. Reg. 2001-33, s. 68; 2022-79, s. 32]

Part XIX ELECTRICAL SAFETY

Section 286

286. In this Part

"electrical equipment" means any wiring, apparatus, instrument, fitting, fixture, machinery or device that transforms, transmits, distributes, supplies or utilizes electricity, but does not include energized electrical utility lines or utility line equipment or household appliances;

"electrical hazard" means a danger of electric shock, arc flash burn, thermal burn or arc blast injury resulting from contact with electrical equipment or failure of that equipment;

"electrically safe work condition" means, with respect to electrical equipment that operates at 30 VAC or 60 VDC or more, a state in which an electrical conductor or a circuit part has been disconnected from energized parts of the electrical equipment, locked out, tested to ensure the absence of voltage and, if necessary, grounded;

"energized", when applied to electrical equipment, means electrically connected to or a source of voltage;

"qualified person" means

(a) when applied to work on electrical equipment, a person who meets the requirements of section 11 or 24 of New Brunswick Regulation 84-165 under the Electrical Installation and Inspection Act;

(b) when applied to work on an energized electrical utility line or utility line equipment,

(i) a person who holds a certificate of qualification issued under the Apprenticeship and Occupational Certification Act for the distribution construction lineman trade, the powerline technician trade or the power system technician trade, or

(ii) a person who is registered as an apprentice under the Apprenticeship and Occupational Certification Act for an occupation described in subparagraph (i) and who is working under the supervision of a person described in subparagraph (i),

(c) when applied to work in an arboricultural operation described in section 369 that occurs closer to an energized electrical utility line or utility line equipment than the distances set out in subsection 289(1), an employee who meets the requirements of section 369,

(d) when applied to any other type of work that occurs closer to an energized electrical utility line or utility line equipment than a distance set out in subsection 289(1), an employee who is trained to use and follows a code of practice established by the employer, and

(e) when applied to work referred to in paragraph (a), a person who is

(i) knowledgeable about the provisions of this Act and the regulations that apply to the assigned work, and

(ii) knowledgeable about the actual and potential dangers to health and safety associated with the assigned work.

[N.B. Reg. 2001-33, s. 94; 2022-79, s. 82]

Section 294

294. (1) Where an employee is to set or remove poles, light standards or any similar object between energized electrical distribution conductors exceeding 750 volts, an employer shall ensure that the conductors are

(a) covered with adequate protective devices, or

(b) protected by an adequate guard installed on the pole before being lifted.

(2) An employer shall ensure that an employee required to perform the work described in subsection (1)

(a) wears appropriately rated rubber gloves,

(b) uses cant hooks or other appropriate controlling devices, and

(c) does not get on or off the lifting machine or device until the pole is secured in position.

(3) An employer shall ensure that a machine or device used for lifting, setting or removing poles, light standards or any similar object between or within 3 m of an energized electrical utility line or utility equipment

(a) is grounded, and

(b) if applicable, has its outriggers extended.

(4) An employer shall ensure that at least one qualified person is present at all times during the operations described in this section and that the employee described in subsection (1) works under the direct supervision of the qualified person.

Part XX UNDERWATER DIVING OPERATIONS

Section 300

300. In this Part

"atmospheric diving system" means a diving system in which the external pressure on the body of the diver using the system is normal atmospheric pressure;

"bail-out system" means an independent breathing-gas supply or breathing mixture carried by a diver that is of sufficient quantity to return the diver to the surface, a diving bell or an emergency breathing-gas supply or breathing mixture in the event of a malfunction of the primary breathing-gas supply or breathing mixture;

"bottom time" means the total elapsed time measured in minutes from the time a descending diver leaves the surface to the time the diver begins final ascent, rounded to the next whole minute;

"compressed air environment" means an environment in which respirable gases are breathed at a pressure above normal atmospheric pressure;

"decompression schedule" means the procedure detailed in an appropriate decompression table to be followed by a diver during ascent from depth in order to minimize the risk of decompression sickness;

"decompression sickness" means an illness caused by the formation of gas bubbles in the blood or body tissues as a result of pressure reduction;

"deep diving" means any mode of diving to a depth greater than 55 m;

"diver" means a person who performs work under water for compensation;

"diving bell" means a surface-tethered structure that can accommodate one or more divers under water;

"diving plant and equipment" means all plant and equipment used in an underwater diving operation that form part of the life-support system of a diver;

"diving supervisor" means a person designated by an employer under section 307;

"dressed-in" means that a diver is fully equipped to dive and is ready to enter the water, with all life-support and communications equipment tested and at hand, but not necessarily with the helmet, face plate or face mask in place;

"hyperbaric chamber" means a pressure vessel with a design pressure of 690 kPa that complies with the requirements of the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Act and that is designed for the purpose of subjecting humans to greater than atmospheric pressure, and includes associated equipment;

"lock-out submersible" means a self-propelled submersible compression chamber from which a diving operation can be carried out and that has a separate one-atmosphere chamber from which the submersible compression chamber is piloted;

"mixed gas" means a respirable breathing mixture, other than the normal proportions of respirable air, that provides sufficient oxygen to support life and does not cause detrimental physiological effects such as excessive breathing resistance or impairment of neurological function;

"no decompression limit" means, with respect to a decompression schedule in use for the depth and duration of a dive, that no decompression stop is required during the ascent from depth of a diver;

"open diving bell" means a diving bell designed so as not to be operated with a differential pressure across the hull;

"saturation diving" means a technique of diving in which the decompression schedule used allows a bottom time of unlimited duration;

"SCUBA" means self-contained underwater breathing apparatus with open-circuit compressed air;

"stage" means a cage, basket or platform in which a diver may be lowered to or raised from a work area;

"stand-by diver" means a diver who is dressed-in and who is trained and equipped to operate at the depths and the circumstances in which a submerged diver is operating for the purpose of rendering assistance to the submerged diver in the event of an emergency;

"submersible compression chamber" means a hyperbaric chamber designed for transporting a diver at atmospheric pressure or at an elevated pressure from the surface to an underwater work area and from the underwater work site to the surface;

"surface-supply diving" means a diving technique in which a diver is supplied from the dive location with a breathing mixture by way of an umbilical;

"tender" means a person who tends a diver;

"therapeutic recompression" means treatment of a diver in a compressed air environment in accordance with CSA approved practice or medical direction to treat decompression symptoms and decompression sickness;

"umbilical" means a composite cable or separate cables that extend from the surface to a diver or to the pressure vessel of occupancy of the diver and that provide a breathing mixture, power, heat or communication as may be required;

"underwater diving operation" means work performed underwater for commercial, industrial, construction or environmental purposes and includes the underwater inspection, alteration, repair or maintenance of equipment, machinery, structures or ships and the salvage of sunken property of a commercial or industrial nature.

[N.B. Reg. 2022-27, s. 40]

Part XXI LOGGING AND SILVICULTURE OPERATIONS

Section 344 Supervisors

344. An employer shall ensure that at least one supervisor is present in each work area.

[N.B. Reg. 2022-27, s. 49]