Offshore Occupational Health and Safety Consultations Begins

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT/LABOUR--Offshore Occupational Health and Safety Consultations Begin

Offshore workers will be given the same kind of protection provided to land-based employees with proposed changes to Nova Scotia's Offshore Accord legislation.

The province of Nova Scotia, in partnership with the governments of Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador, today announced plans to begin public consultation on the laws regarding occupational health and safety in the offshore oil and gas industry. The changes are intended to turn many of the current safety practices into law.

"We promised we would develop a legal framework to give our offshore workers the same measure of protection they would have if they worked onshore," said Gordon Balser, Nova Scotia's Minister of Energy. "The changes we are bringing forward for discussion meet that commitment."

"Offshore employment has become a reality for more than a thousand Nova Scotians," said David Morse, Minister of Environment and Labour. "With these changes, we're responding to that reality by changing our laws to offer workers the same kind of protection whether they work onshore or offshore."

Public comments and suggestions will be taken completely online. The East Coast Offshore Occupational Health and Safety Web site, at www.offshoreOHS.ca , has been set up to bring together points of view from distant geographic locations. Members of the public with an interest in offshore worker safety can comment in writing on the proposed changes. The comments will be made available publicly on the site. The deadline for submissions is Dec. 31.

Legislation to implement the changes is expected to be completed and introduced in Parliament and the legislatures of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador following the consultation process.

More information on the changes and public submissions are now available on the Web site.