Working Alone Legislation for New Brunswick

In New Brunswick, employers must comply with the Code of Practice for Working Alone Regulation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The regulation requires employers to establish a written Code of Practice to protect employees who work alone and address the risks associated with their assigned work. The Code must identify potential risks, establish procedures to minimize those risks, and explain how a lone worker can obtain emergency assistance and how the employer will provide assistance if the worker is injured or otherwise faces a threat to their health or safety. Employers must provide any equipment required by the Code, ensure it is followed, and provide training to lone workers and their supervisors.

Work Alone Resources for New Brunswick

Code of Practice for Working Alone

1. Title

This Regulation may be cited as the Code of Practice for Working Alone Regulation — Occupational Health and Safety Act.

2. Employer Responsibility

An employer shall establish a code of practice to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of an employee who works alone at any time at a place of employment from risks arising out of, or in connection with, the work assigned.

3. Required Information

An employer shall ensure that the code of practice includes, without being limited to, the following information:

(a) The name, address, location and telephone number of the place of employment;

(b) The name, address, location and telephone number of the employer;

(c) The nature of the business conducted at the place of employment;

(d) Identification of the possible risks to each employee who works alone that arise out of or in connection with the work assigned;

(e) The procedures to be followed in order to minimize the risks identified in paragraph (d); and

(f) Details of the means by which an employee who works alone can secure emergency assistance and the employer can provide emergency assistance in the event of injury or other circumstances which may endanger the health or safety of the employee.

4. Equipment and Compliance

An employer shall:

Provide any equipment required in a code of practice established under section 2; and

Ensure that the code of practice is adhered to at the place of employment.

5. Employee Responsibilities

An employee who works alone at any time shall adhere to the code of practice established under section 2.

6. Training

An employer shall implement a training program in respect of a code of practice established under section 2 for:

Each employee who works alone at any time; and

Each supervisor who is responsible for an employee who works alone at any time.

7. Availability of Code

An employer shall ensure that a copy of the code of practice established under section 2 is readily available to an officer on request.

8. Relationship to Other Regulations

Where there is an inconsistency between a code of practice established under this Regulation and any other regulation, that other regulation prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.

Key Requirements

New Brunswick requires employers to establish a Code of Practice specifically for working alone. The Code must identify the risks associated with lone work, establish procedures to minimize those risks, and explain how workers can obtain emergency assistance and how the employer will respond to an emergency.

Employers must provide the equipment required by the Code, ensure the Code is followed, and provide training to both lone workers and their supervisors.

New Brunswick — Specific Code of Practice Requirement

Unlike jurisdictions that rely primarily on a general duty to protect workers, New Brunswick specifically requires employers to establish a documented working-alone Code of Practice. The regulation does not prescribe a universal check-in interval; instead, the employer's Code must address the risks of the work and the means of obtaining and providing emergency assistance.