Nova Scotia reviews rigid health and safety regulations

Published February 10, 2015

(Feb. 10/15) Due to Restaurants Canada’s concerns with proposed changes to Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, the Nova Scotia government is going back to the drawing board.

What this means for you
The proposed changes would have placed unduly onerous requirements on foodservice employers. If approved, you would have:

  • to ensure your employees in workplace safety committees received 21 hours of mandatory training;
  • restrictive requirements on in-house trainers; and
  • strict auditory rules (i.e. noise/music monitoring, reduced exposure times, employee auditory testing, and preventive measures).

Our action
Restaurants Canada and other business organizations rallied together to oppose these proposed changes. We also took our concerns to Minister Kelly Regan.

We support a healthy and safe environment for our members, their employees and customers However, given the high turnover rates, demographics and offsite training expense, it is cost-prohibitive for foodservice employers to meet these prescriptive requirements. Instead, we recommended outcome-based training requirements. We also took issue with the hearing loss regulations, especially for bars and nightclubs, which by definition, play loud music.

We’re pleased the government listened to us, and will work together on any new proposals.

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