Manitoba is asking for public input aimed at improving the legislation governing the safety of technical equipment such as boilers, electrical installations and elevators. This announcement was made by Family Services and Labour Minister Jennifer Howard.
“We want inspection processes to work more smoothly to ensure the public is protected,” said Howard. “We are working on changes we think will make these laws easier to navigate and more consistent.”
The review of Manitoba’s public safety legislation has a number of key goals including:
• modernization of safety standards,
• consistent treatment of stakeholders across industry and sectors,
• simplification and consolidation where possible,
• creating consistent appeal mechanisms, and
• creating a legislative framework that ensures public safety while serving stakeholders efficiently and effectively.
Enforcement will also become more consistent, as the penalties for contraventions and enforcement mechanisms currently vary from one act to the next.
A committee of industry and labour representatives will be brought together to review the submissions and make recommendations to government about implementation. The committee will include representatives from the electrical, boiler and pressure vessel, elevator, gas and oil equipment, and power engineer sectors.
The full discussion paper is available on the OFC’s website at www.firecomm.gov.mb.ca. Submissions can be emailed to firecomm@gov.mb.ca with Technical Safety Review in the subject line or mailed to Technical Safety Review, Office of the Fire Commissioner, 508-401 York Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3C 0P8. Deadline for submissions is Nov. 15.
