New regulations take effect in January, align with national standards
The Workers Compensation Board (WCB) of Prince Edward Island is set to introduce updated workplace first aid requirements on January 1, 2025.
These changes, part of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act General Regulations, align with the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) guidelines to ensure consistency and improved safety across workplaces in the province.
The updates will mandate that first aid training and first aid kits be tailored based on a workplace’s first aid risk assessment. This shift emphasizes assessing the level of risk within a workplace rather than simply relying on the number of employees as the determining factor.
“By adopting the CSA standards, we will have a clearer set of first aid training requirements that will create a more harmonized system across Canada,” explains Danny Miller, the WCB’s Director of Occupational Health and Safety.
“Workplace first aid training requirements and the selection of first aid kits will now be based on the workplace’s first aid risk assessment. This assessment factors in the level of risk rather than the number of workers in a workplace. Therefore, it’s important for employers in PEI to conduct this workplace first aid risk assessment so they can make informed decisions for each of their work sites and locations.”
WorkSafeBC recently amended the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation relating to occupational first aid, while Nova Scotia made changes to its workplace first aid standards in the summer.
To assist employers in complying with the new regulations in P.E.I., the WCB has published a Workplace First Aid Regulations Guide, which outlines the updated requirements for provincially regulated workplaces. The guide includes a template for conducting workplace first aid risk assessments, while a two-page summary of changes is also available in the form of a Prevention Update.
Employers with questions are encouraged to contact the WCB’s Occupational Health and Safety Division by calling 902-368-5697 or toll-free at 1-800-237-5049 in Atlantic Canada. Queries can also be directed to [email protected].
