Regulatory Fall Protection Requirements for Western Canadian Provinces

Compliance with regulatory fall protection requirements is crucial for industries that involve working at heights. 

Below, we outline the general fall arrest requirements for each province in western Canada—British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba—including the height at which fall protection is necessary and the types of fall protection systems that must be used.

British Columbia

The Height at Which Fall Protection Is Required

Fall protection measures in British Columbia are required at and above 3 m (10 ft.) or less than 3 m if the risk of injury is greater than the risk of getting hurt from the impact on a flat surface. 

Types of Fall Protection Requirements: Systems & Equipment

• If possible, employers must use guardrails per the set requirements or similar fall restraint methods. If guardrails are impractical, they must use another fall restraint or a fall arrest system.

• The employer has to ensure that the work procedures, approved by the board and aimed at reducing the risk of injury resulting from a fall, are followed where the use of fall arrest systems is either impractical or would increase the hazard level.

Alberta

Height at Which Fall Protection Is Required

• Fall protection measures in Alberta are required when a worker is at risk of falling 3 meters or more. These fall protection requirements also apply in situations with an unusual possibility of injury if a worker falls less than 3 meters.

Types of Fall Protection Systems & Equipment

• Guardrails must protect permanent work areas if the worker is likely to vertically fall more than 1.2 meters and less than 3 meters.

• If guardrails are not practically possible, employers must implement a travel restraint system.

• If a travel restraint system is also impractical in an area, employers must implement an equally effective means to protect the workers from the fall hazard.

Saskatchewan

Fall Protection Requirements: Height at Which Protection Is Required

• Employers must implement fall protection measures at a permanent or temporary work area where a worker may fall 3 meters or more.

• These measures are also applicable in areas where the worker may fall less than three meters, but there is still a chance of injury.

• The fall protection regulations don’t apply to competent workers involved in connecting structural members of a skeletal steel or a precast structure, connecting a scaffold’s support structure, securing the load on a trailer or a truck, and installing, reattaching, removing, or disassembling the parts of a fall protection system.

Types of Fall Protection Requirements: Systems & Equipment

• A permanent work area must be secured by a guardrail or a similar edge protection barrier where the worker may vertically fall more than 1.2 meters and less than 3 meters.

• Employers must turn to a travel restraint system when using guardrails or similar barriers does not seem practical.

• If a travel restraint system is also impractical, the employer must resort to safety nets, control zones, or equally effective fall protection measures.

Manitoba

Fall Protection Requirements: Height at Which Protection Is Required

• Fall protection systems are legally required where a worker can fall a vertical distance of 3 meters or more.

• They also apply to places where, although the fall distance is below 3 meters, the risk of injury is high because of the item or surface on which the worker may land (into moving parts of machinery, water, another liquid, or hazardous substance, or an object).

Types of Fall Protection Systems & Equipment

• The first line of fall protection should be measures that remove the risk of falling entirely, like guardrails.

• Where guardrails are required for protection, employers must carefully consider the following three elements: the location of each guardrail system or fall protection system used at the workplace, the procedures to assemble, inspect, maintain, and disassemble the system, and the procedures to use for saving a worker after the fall has already occurred—all of which are part of meeting fall protection requirements.

• Suppose it’s impractical to use a guardrail system. In that case, employers must implement at least one of the following fall protection systems: travel restraint, fall arrest, safety net, or any other system approved by the Manitoba Workplace Safety and Health Branch.

For more details on the fall protection regulations for Canadian provinces, contact the safety experts in fall protection at Height Works today!