This document discusses the legal requirements for recognizing and preventing occupational diseases in Canada. It outlines that there are 14 occupational health and safety jurisdictions in Canada, including one federal jurisdiction, three territorial, and ten provincial. The federal jurisdiction is governed by the Canada Labour Code Part II and associated regulations. These regulations require employers to investigate workplace hazards, set occupational exposure limits, implement control measures, conduct medical examinations and report occupational diseases and hazardous incidents. The goal is to eliminate hazards, reduce hazards, and provide personal protective equipment to protect workers' health and safety.

1. Trinidad and Tobago National Safety Week
April 28 – May 4, 2013
Recognition and Prevention of
Occupational Diseases
Legal requirements
Eva Karpinski, M.Sc., P.Eng.
Industrial Hygiene Engineer
Occupational Health and Safety Division
Workplace Directorate

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Canada
14 OHS Jurisdictions:
 1 federal
 3 territorial
10 provincial

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Jurisdiction
Federal
 federal public service
 inter-provincial trucking
 railways
 airports and airlines
 banks
 radio and TV
 grain elevators and flour mills
(about 10% of all workplaces in Canada)

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Regulatory Framework
 Canada Labour Code Part II
 Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations (COHSR) linked
with disease prevention:
– Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS)
– Hazardous Substances Regulations
– Levels of Sound Regulations
– Lighting Regulations
– Confined Spaces Regulations
– Safety Materials, Equipment, Devices and Clothing
– Hazard Prevention Program Regulations
– Violence Prevention in the Work Place
– Hazardous Occurrence Investigation, Recording and Reporting
 Standards referenced in Regulations

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Purpose of Canada Labour Code Part II
“…prevent accidents and injuries to health…”
“Preventive measures should consist first of the elimination
of hazards, then the reduction of hazards and finally, the
provision of PPE, … . All with the goal of ensuring the health
and safety of employees.”

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Hazard investigation
The COHSR require that if there is a likelihood that the health or safety
of an employee in a work place is or may be endangered by exposure to
a hazardous substance, the COHSR require that the employer carry out
an investigation.

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In the investigation the following criteria must be considered:
• chemical, biological and physical properties of a hazardous
substance
• routes of exposure
• acute and chronic effects
• quantity of the substance handled
• manner in which the substance is stored, used, handled and
disposed of
• control methods
• concentration or level of the substance

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Hazard investigation report must contain:
• Observations respecting the criteria considered
• Recommendations respecting the manner of compliance
• Recommendations respecting sampling and testing methods
The employer must develop and maintain a written procedure for the
hazard control.
A report must be kept by the employer for a period of 30 years.

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Occupational exposure limits
The COHSR require that an employee be kept free from exposure to a
concentration of an airborne chemical agent in excess of the value for
that chemical agent adopted by the ACGIH, in its publication entitled
TLVs and BEIs Based on the Documentation of the Threshold Limit
Values for Chemical Substances and Physical Agents & Biological
Exposure Indices.
Note: ACGIH TLV review process is being developed to allow for the new TLVs where the referenced
TLVs are not suitable, to be reviewed by the stakeholders and the Labour Program (federal authority
having jurisdiction) and if a new occupational exposure limit is proposed, to recommend the change to
the Minister of Labour for adoption.

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Sampling and testing methods
It is required that air samples of the chemical agent be taken
and the concentration determined in accordance with:
 the standards set out by the US National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in the NIOSH Manual of
Analytical Methods
 equivalent (or better) method to collect and analyze a
representative sample
 other scientifically proven method

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Control of hazards
COHSR require the employer to take preventive measures to protect
employees from exposure to a hazardous substance that is used,
handled, processed or stored in the workplace.
Control measures must be taken in the following order of priority:
 elimination of hazard
 reduction of hazard
 provision of personal protective equipment, clothing, device or material
 administrative procedures

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Medical examinations
Where a hazard investigation report recommends a medical
examination for the employee, the employer must:
 consult a physician
 not permit the employee to handle the substance unless a physician
declares the employee
– fit, or
– fit with specified restrictions to handle the hazardous substance

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Reporting occupational diseases
When an employer becomes aware of an occupational disease affecting
any of his employees in the course of employment, the COHSR require
that the employer
 take necessary measures to prevent a recurrence of the occupational
disease
 submit to the Minister a written report indicating the number of
occupational diseases during the 12 month period

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Hazardous occurrence incident report
The written report contains among other information
– a description of the disease sustained by the employee
 The description is used by the Labour Program to classify (or “code”) the
occupational disease by type.
 The classification (or coding) is done using the CSA Z795-03, Coding of
Work Injury or Disease Information Standard, and specifically the Nature
of Injury or Disease.
 The information is entered into the Labour Program Database, Hazardous
Occurrences module, for subsequent retrieval and analysis.

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Compensation
 Provincial Worker’s Compensation Boards

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References
 Canada Labour Code Part II
 Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations:
– Hazardous Substances Regulations
– Hazard Prevention Program Regulations
– Hazardous Occurrence Investigation, Recording and Reporting

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Questions?
Thank you!