Section 26.3, subsection (3) states,
“The guardrail system or protective covering required under subsection (1) or (2) may be removed temporarily to perform work in or around the opening if a worker is adequately protected and signs are posted in accordance with subsections 44(1) and (2).”
Excerpt from the Government of Ontario’s ‘Newsroom’
Star Ornamental Company Ltd., a Stoney Creek metal fabricator, was fined $75,000 on July 27, 2009, for a violation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) after a worker was critically injured.
Since section 26.3 is very extensive, I will break up the description into two or three separate blogs to cover all the information and for my interpretations of the law.
Section 26.3 (1) states,
“Despite paragraph 1 of section 26, a guardrail system that meets the requirements of this section shall be used if a worker has access to the perimeter or an open side of any of the following work surfaces and is exposed to a fall of 2.4 metres or more:
It is not just that the law says that certain organizations must have JHSCs (joint health and safety committees) , the legal driving force behind the committee is ‘Due Diligence’. A company or individual that fails to establish a legally-required JHSC has no chance of making out a due diligence defence. The result is exposure to liability under OHS laws and even criminal liability under Bill C-45.