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Heat Stress Law in Canada
Jim’s article and the guidelines he recommends are 100% relevant to Canadian employers.
Some provinces, including British Columbia and Saskatchewan, have OHS regulations requiring specific measures to guard employees against extreme heat. All provinces also have a General Duty Clause similar to the one in the OSHA law that Jim discusses in his article.
And, just as in the U.S., Canadian employers have been fined for not protecting employees against heat-related injuries. For example, an Ontario bakery was fined $215,000 after an employee died of heat stroke. The temperature in the bakery was 36 degrees Celsius, and the outside temperature 34. The bakery had a heat stress plan but hadn’t implemented at the time of the accident [Weston Bakeries Limited, Ont. MOL News Release, Feb. 18, 2004].
A New Brunswick employer was also convicted of failing to put a heat stress prevention plan in place. Charges were laid after an employee died of heat stress.
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The Ministry of labour in Ontario has a downloadable guideline available on their website to assist employers with setting up policies and procedures for heat stress. It should be emphasised that it's not only required for an Ontario employer to have policies and procedures in place for heat stress, but that it has to be communicated to all employees so that they are aware of the signs and symptoms of the onset of heat stress. The guideline can be downloaded at: http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/hs/guidelines/gl_heat.html
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